Geo 3B: Climate change and the location and distribution of natural environments

Question 1

Define biome

Answer 1

A major regional or global biotic community, such as a grassland or desert, characterized chiefly by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate.

Question 2

Define ecosystem

Answer 2

A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

Question 3

Spacial causes and changes of forests

Answer 3

Reduced habitat and biodiversity - Karri forests SW Australia. Reduced annual rainfall, reduced habitat, inland vulnerability.

Increase in pests and their distribution, Mountain pine beetle - British Columbia, Canada and Colorado, USA. Increase in temperatures, lack of frosts and severe winters, carbon sink.

Increase fire risk and impacts on biodiversity and forest distribution(US/Canada/Australia/Indonesia).
Warming and drying climates, sought, el nino evens, increasing fuel loads.

Question 4

Spacial causes and changes of aquatic ecosystems

Answer 4

Coral bleaching of reefs(great barrier).
High sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, prone to diseases, reduced habitat range.

Rivers(Bangladesh, Canada).
Flooding, change delta distribution. bank erosion, fish habitats, flooding of wetlands, low lying, below 10m ASL, salinization
Atlantic Salmon insufficient stream flow, breeding habitats

Question 5

Spacial causes and changes of polar regions

Answer 5

Decreasing sea ice(Arctic, Antarctica)
Polar bears, penguins, longer feeding journey, starvation, drowning, declining population

Food chains disruption - Southern Ocean
Ocean krill, blue whales, changes to size, metabolism and risk of predation.

Colonisation of new species - Antarctica, Alaska, Canada
Increased temperatures, expansion of habitat range, melting permafrost.