Measuring Environmental Change Flashcards
What non-living factors affect the distribution of organisms?
The average rainfall or temperature. Oxygen levels also affect animals living in water.
Example of how living factors affect the distribution of living organisms?
Koala bears can only survive where eucalyptus trees grow.
How can non-living factors cause changes?
The average temperature may fall or rise, the oxygen concentration in the water may change. A change in the amount of sunlight, the strength of the wind or the average rain fall may affect an environment.
How can living factors affect the environment?
If a new predator moves into an area it might affect distribution. A new disease-causing pathogen may appear and wipe out a species of animal or plant. Different plants may appear and provide food or home for a whole range of different species.
How are non-living able to indicate environmental change?
Satellites - measure the temperature of the sea surface and the amount of snow and ice cover.
Automatic weather stations - tell us the atmospheric temperature at various locations.
Rain gauges - measure rainfall to find out how much the average rainfall changes each year.
How can you measure environmental changes using living indicators?
Air pollution can be monitored by lichens that are very sensitive to the concentration of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere.
Some invertebrate animals, like mayfly larvae, are good indicators of water pollution because they are sensitive to the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water.
Rat-tailed maggots and sludge worms indicate a very high level of polluted water.
