Climates And Biomes Flashcards
Greenhouse effect
Energy from the sun that reaches the surface reflected, absorbed, then re radiation as infra-red radiation
Infrared radiation is absorbed and re-radiated by certain gases in the atmosphere…such as…
-Water vapour
-Carbon dioxide (volcanos, respiration)
-Methane (CH4)-anaerobic decomposition
-N2O from wet soils and low o2 water area
-ozone (O3) broken O2 by UV
The mean temperatures of Earth in summer and winter are…?
14°c and -18°c
About ____ of incoming solar radiation-composed of visible and ultraviolet light-is reflected back into space by atmosphere, clouds and earths surface
The remaining solar radiation is absorbed by_____, which become warmer and emit _____
1/3
Clouds, earth surface
Infrared radiation
Much of the emitted infrared radiation from the earth is absorbed by_____
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
Warmed greenhouse gases re emit _______, some goes out to space, but most return to earth
Infrared radiation
Climate
Average weather conditions at a particular place over a (long) period
-main factor that influences the distribution and abundance of organisms
-temperature and precipitation
The earths spherical shape and tilt of earths axis results in uneven hearing of earth surface which in turn cause….
Air circulation patterns
Precipitation patterns
At higher altitudes, light strikes the earths surface at a _____ angle and is spread over a ______ area
At the equator, the sun is closer to the perpendicular and shines ________ on the earth surface
Lower
Greater
Directly down (higher angle=smaller area but extremely warm)
Albedo
Examples
Fraction of solar energy reflected by an object
-snow: 80-95%
-clouds: 10-95%
-grass: 10-25%
-asphalt: 5-10%
Rainforests are found where
Major deserts are found where
Near equator
30° N/S
Hadley cells patterns
-At the ITCZ, the sun heats the moist tropical air, causing it to rise.
-the rising air experiences adiabatic cooling, which causes water vapour to condense into rain and fall back to earth.
-the condensation of water vapour produces latent heat release. This causes the air to expand and rise further up into the atmosphere
-the warm, rising air displaces the cooler, drier air above it to the north and south
-the cool, dry air singles and experiences adiabatic heating. It reaches earths surface as warm, dry air, and flows back towards the equator
Rotation of the earth is faster at the _____ than it is at the ____. This results in what effect?
Equator
Poles
Coriolis effect
The coriolis effect causes deflections where in the northern and Southern Hemisphere?
In northern: if heading North, deflected East. If heading south, deflected west.
In southern: if heading North, deflected west. If heading south, deflected east
Coriolis effect
The deflection of an objects path due to the rotation of the earth.
Clockwise in N hemisphere: westerlies and northeast trade winds
Counterclockwise in the S hemisphere: southeast trade winds, westerlies
Gyers
A large scale water circulation pattern between continents
-The middle between imposing winds heading clockwise and counterclockwise
-Accumulate trash!!!!
-redistribute energy by transporting both warm and cold ocean water around the globe.
Upwelling coasts are important, as they bring what to the ocean
Nutrients
Why is London warmer than winnipeg even though it’s higher in latitude
-warm Gulf Stream water
-surrounded by water which has high heat capacity
Thermohaline circulation
Global pattern of surface - and deep water currents that flow as a result of variations in temperature and salinity that change the density of water.
- Warmer water flows from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Atlantic, where some of it freezes and evaporates
2.the remaining water, now saltier and denser, sinks to the ocean bottom
3.the cold water travels along the ocean floor, connecting the worlds oceans.
4.the cold, deep water, eventually rises to the surface and circulated back to the North Atlantic
Why is there more temperature variation in the northern hemisphere?
Less water, more land
Mountains
-built by geological processes and thus concentrated in belts of geological activity
-soils are generally well-drained and thin
Islands in the sky
______ and _____ change with elevation and latitude
Climate
Flora and fauna
Mountain ranges in north and South American generally run ____
While mountain ranges in suppose and Asia generally run
North to south
East to west
Weather
Variation in temperature and precipitation over periods of hours of days
Atmosphere
600 km thick layer of air that surrounds the planet
Equinox’s and the suns position
March and September equinox
Sun is positioned directly over equator. Equator received greatest amount of solar radiation and the poles receive less.
Earths surface revives more solar energy per square meter near the ____ than the ____
Equator
Poles
Solar equator and where it shifts
The latitude recovering the most direct rays of the sun
Shifts from 23.5°N in June to 23.5°S in December
Atmospheric currents
The circulations of air between the surface of earth and the atmosphere
-driven by unequal heating and that warm air rises
-circulation of air in Hadley cells
Inter tropical convergence zone
The area where the two Hadley cells converge and cause large amounts of precipitation
-moves throughout year and causes rain seasons
Polar cells
The atmospheric currents that move air between 60-90° latitudes in the northern and Southern Hemispheres
Ferrel cells
Areas of air circulation that lack distinct atmospheric currents between 30°-60° latitude
What drives water currents
-coriolis effect
-salinity
-topography of ocean basins
-wind
-unequal heating
Upwelling
An upward move to if ocean water
El-NIÑO-southern oscillation (ENSO)
The periodic changes in winds and ocean currents in the South Pacific, causing weather changes throughout much of the world.
-warm water to South America
-cold water to Australia
Which hemispheres revives more precipitations
Southern
Rain shadows
A region with dry conditions found on the leeward side of a mountain range as a result of humid winds from the ocean, causing precipitation on the windward side
-dry zone
Plant hardiness zones
Zones that describe which plants can live where based of of average annual extreme minimum temperatures
Convergent evolution
A phenomenon in which two species descended from unrelated ancestors look similar because they have evolved under similar selective forces
Biomes
Geographic region that contains communities composed of organisms with similar adaptations
Land and aquatic biomes are determined by what
Land-main producers
Aquatic-depth, salinity, flow
Nine biomes and there groups based off average annual temperature
<5°c
-tundra
-boreal forest
5-20°c
-temperate rainforest
-temperate seasonal forest
-woodland/scrubland
-temperate grassland/cold dessert
> 20°c
-tropical rainforest
-tropical seasonal forest/savanna
-subtropical desert
Climate diagrams
A graph that plots the average monthly temperature and precipitation of a specific location on earth
Growing season
The months in a location that are warm enough to allow plant growth
For every 10°c increase in temperature, plants need an additional ___cm of monthly precipitation
2
Major aquatic biomes
Streams
Rivers
Ponds
Lakes
Freshwater marshlands
Saltmarshlands
Estuaries
Mangroves swamps
Intertidal zones
Coral reefs
Open ocean
Lotic vs lentic
Flowing fresh water
Sessile fresh water
Streams vs rivers
Narrow channel of fast-flowing fresh water (creek)
Wide channel of slow- flowing fresh water
Riparian zone
A band of terrestrial vegetation alongside river and streams that is influenced by seasonal flooding and elevated water tables
Allochthonous
Autochthonous
Inputs of organic matter, such as leaves, that come from outside an ecosystem (streams)
Inputs of organic matter that are produced by algae and aquatic plants inside an ecosystem (rivers)
Ponds and lakes
An aquatic biome that is smaller than a lake and is characterized by no flowing fresh water with some area of water that is too deep for plants to rise above the waters surface
Larger than a pond and is characterized by non flowing fresh water with some area of the water that is too drop for plants to rise above the waters surface
How are lakes subdivided
-littoral zone: shallow area around the edge of a lake or pond containing rooted vegetation
-limnetic zone: the open water beyond the littoral zone, where the dominant photosynthetic organisms are floating algae
-profundal zone: area in a lake that is too drop to receive sunlight
-benthic zone: area consisting of sediments at the bottom of lakes, ponds and oceans
Temperature subdivisions of lakes and ponds
-epilimnion: surface layer
-thermocline: middle Seth of water that experiences a rapid change in temperature over a relatively short amount of time.
-hypolimnion: deeper layer of water
Spring turnover
The vertical mixing of lake water that occurs in early spring, assisted by winds that drive the surface currents
Stratification
The condition of a lake or pond when the warmer, less dense surface water floats on the cooler denser water below
Fall turnover
The vertical mixing of lake water that occurs in fall, assisted by winds that drive the surface currents
Freshwater wetlands
An aquatic biome that contains standing fresh water, or soils saturated with fresh water for at least part of the year, and is shallow enough to have emergent vegetation throughout all depths
Swamps
Marshes
Bogs
Salt marshes
A saltwater biome that contains no woods emergent vegetation
-found along coasts of continents in termperate conditions often with estuaries
Estuaries
An area along the coast where the mouths of freshwater rivers mix with the sat water from oceans.
-salt tolerant vegetation
-salt marshes in temperate zones with Jon woody vegetation
-mangrove swamps in tropical and subtropical
Mangrove swamps
A biome that occurs along tropical and subtropical coasts and contains salt-tolerant trees with roots submerged in water
4 species of mangroves
Intertidal zone
A biome consisting of the narrow band of coastline between the levels of high tide and low tide
Coral reefs
A marine biome found in warm, shallow water that remain at 20°c year round
-often surround volcanic islands
Neritic zone
Oceanic zone
The ocean zone that is beyond the range of the lowest tidal level and extends to depths about 200m
The ocean zone beyond the neritic zone (sparse nutrients)
The neritic and oceanic zone may be subdivided vertically into _____ and _____ zones
Photic: the ads of the neritic and oceanic zones that contains sufficient light for photosynthesis by algae
Aphotic: water is so deep that sunlight cannot penetrate
Tundra
The coolest books characterized by a treeless expanse above permanently frozen soil
Permafrost: a phenomenon whereby layers of souls are permanently frozen
-Found in Arctic regions
-low precipitation
-acidic
Boreal forest
A Biome densely populated by evergreen needle-leaved trees, with a short growing season and severe winters.
-low species diversity due to low temp
-Canada, Minnesota
Temperate rainforest
A books known for mild temperatures and abundant precipitation denominated by evergreen forests
-pacific coast of NA
Temperal seasonal forest
A books with moderate temperature and precipitation conditions dominated by deciduous trees
-Northern hemisphere
-south east Canada
Woodland/scrubland
A biome characterized by hot, dry summers and mild,wet Winters, a combination that favours the growth of drought-tolerant grasses and shrubs
-found around Mediterranean Sea
-12 month growing season
Temperature grassland/cold desert
A books characterized by hot, dry summers and cold, harsh winters and dominated by grasses, non wordy flowering plans and drought-adapted shrubs
-prairies in NA
Tropical rainforests
A warm and rainy biome characterized by multiple layers of lush vegetation
-generally call within 20°N/S
-Central America
-Congo
Tropical seasonal forests
A biome characterized with warm temperatures and pronounced wet and dry seasons dominated by deciduous trees that shed their leaves during the dry season
-30°N/S of equator
-savannas (Kenya)
Subtropical deserts
A biome characterized by hot temperatures, scares rainfall, long growing seasons and sparse vegetation
-20-30°N/S
-Sahara
Thermohaline circulation drivers
-water freezes and excluded salt so warm water around that becomes more concentrated with salt, which then becomes more dense and sinks.
-high precipitation around ITCZ creates more water and therefore less salt
Macro climate
Microclimate
Large scale
Small scale
Microclimate includes what aspects
-vegetation
-ground colour
-burrows/boulders
-cold pockets
-Riparian vegetation: interphase between aquatic and terrestrial habitat
Slope aspect effect
N slope is more humid and cooler
S slope is more warm and dry
In northern hemisphere!!!!
Opposite in southern.
How much decrease in temperature can occur due to a plants shade
Up to 45°c soil to 21°c soil
Nurse effect!!
Nurse effect on cacti
Cacti grow near shrubs that provide the nursing effect
Humic material
Indiscernible organic matter
Plant or animal…no one knows
Ground colour of beaches example
White sand beach’s can be 45°c while Black sand beaches can be 65°c
Soil
Complex mixture of living and non-living material
-classification based on vertical layering
-profile provides a snapshot of soul structure in a constant state of flux.
-characteristics determined by climate, parent material, vegetation, topography, age
Soil horizons types
O horizon-Organic layer freshly fallen
A horizon-Mixture of minerals, clay, silt and sand + organic matter from above.
E horizon-layer leaches if it’s minerals, found in older soils
B horizon-Clay, humus, and other materials leached from A horizon-often contains plant roots
C horizon-weathered parent material
R layer- unaltered parent material (bed rock)
Can you have soil without every horizon
Yes
Podsolization
Cool moist environments, acidic soils, clay particles break down
Laterization
Warm moist environments, clay particles break down, Si leached, Fe3+, and Al3+ ions remain
How are terrestrial and quantum biomes determined
By predominant vegetation
-associated with particular climates: temp and prec
By flow, depth and salinity
Climate diagrams axis
10°c equivalent to ____mm prec
Temperature plotted on left vertical acid
Precipitation plotted on right vertical axis
20
Adequate moisture for plant growth occurs when precipitation is _____ temperature
Above
Origin of lakes and ponds
Glacial, oxbow (aging rivers leaves parts), tectonic
Salt marshes and mangrove forests land to sea transition
-high productivity
-tides and river flow
-transportation of organisms, nutrients, oxygen, removal of wastes
-extremely vulnerable to human intrusion
What 3 species of mangroves adapted to tide and flooding tolerance to n mangroves
Rhizophora in water
Avicenia in intermediate spot
Laguncularia in sanded area
Herb-dominated salt marshes are found at _________
Mangrove forests are found in ______
Mid to high latitudes
Tropical and subtropical environments where minimum sea surface temperature is >16°c
Intertidal zone can be divided vertically as:
-supratidal fringe: seldom covered by high tide, often wetted by waves
-upper intertidal: covered only during highest tides
-middle intertidal: covered/ uncovered by typical tides
-lower intertidal: uncovered during lowest tides
-sub-tidal: covered by water even during lowest tides
Types of tides
Semidiurnal: two periods of low and high tides daily
Diurnal: single low and high tides each day
Coral reefs types
Fringing reefs
Barrier reefs
Atolls
Kelp beds
Temperate
-structure similar to terrestrial forests
-canopy at waters surface
