Module 6 Vegetation Flashcards
What is a plant?
Is a multicellular organism that can do photosynthesis and has cell walls containing cellulose
What are plants green?
This is because plants have chlorophylls which absorb red light and carotenoids which absorb blue light but only reflect green light, don’t absorb it
Why do plants turn red in fall?
Cause chlorophylls (which absorb red) die off
Define an ecosystem?
Communities of organisms that interact in interdependent ways, building a foodweb or trophic structure
What types of levels do organisms in an ecosystem compose?
Trophic levels and decomposers (bacteria)
How does an ecosystem collapse?
If you remove a species that has no other species which can fill it’s niche or introduce a invasive species
What are two examples of ecosystem collapse?
Post west coast colonization sea otters were killed in mass quantities and the populaton was decimated. Sea otter used to eat sea urchins, sea urchins ere connected to kelp in area, sea urchins population exploded when sea otters died, sea urchin then killed excess amoutns of kelp causing an ecosystem failure.
There’s also adding a trophic level, cane toad decimated first trophic level of plant as they had no natural predators due to being poisonous.
How do you quantify vegetation?
To calculate biomass you dry the samples and then weigh them in order to compares weight without factor of moisture. Usually made to validate satellite images.
How do you quantify vegetation in terms of production?
Calculate how much co2 is consumed in an area in order to find how much biomass was originally produced, calc co2 consumed by using an eddy covariance system.
What is a biome?
a grouping of similar ecosystems
What is the most important factor in determining a biome distribution?
climate
What are the four major biomes?
Forest
Grassland
Desert
Tundra
What are the characteristics of a tropical rainforest biome?
Has no seasonality as it’s wet all year round, has a high temperature, and has dense biomass. These areas are usually where the ITCZ is as this is where the air is warmest, low pressure, and produces the most ppt.
What are the characteristics of a temperate forest biome?
This biome exists at mid latitudes at areas that are outside of rainshadow, these areas stay warm, these areas have summer monthly temps above 10 degrees. Vegetation includes broadleaf and mixed forest as well as coniferous forest.
Describe the characteristics of the Boreal forest biome
These are polar climates, at high latitudes, get majority of water from snow melt, are majority coniferous trees that grow here.
Describe the characteristics of grassland biomes
Exists in dry conditions where rainshadows are but still need some ppt, the trees and shrubs are near rivers here and the water table is high which is what produces tall grasses.
Describe characteristics of the Savanna biome
The biome that transitions between the forest and the grassland, is marked by an intense dry period as the itcz seperates at these areas which is what leads to less ppt.
Describe characteristics of the desert biome
Subtropical high pressure belts dominate here
Plants vascular systems are different here and have mutations which allow them to conserve water
Describe the tundra biome?
Plants adapted to short growing season, poorly drained soils, high winds, has permafrost near this area
What is a microclimate?
A microclimate is an area within a koppen climate classification zone that is idfferent from that climate zone.
ex: rocks in a creek in a dry area, these rocks will be moist and grow moss so microclimate.
What causes microclimates?
Variability in temp, ppt, and soil
How can slope cause a microclimate?
Vegetation is difficult to grow on a steep slope.
As thinner soils on stepper slope, water falls off etc
can have dry microclimate due to slope.
How does aspect (the orientation of a slope) cause microclimates?
In the NH, south facing slopes will be more irradiated as they face the sun, this causes less growth due to evaporation but more specialized growth of drought durable plants.
How can elevation influence a microclimate
At higher elevations there’s less moisture in the air and cold temps, this is why at high elevations plant life is less
What’s an ecotone?
An ecotone is a transition area between 2 biomes. Usually seperated by tree lines
Can tree liens move, can biomes move? What does that mean for climate?
Treelines can move and biomes cna move, but if biomes move that means the whole climate is also moving.
Name two examples on biome shifts
The sahel, and the ice age in our past
What is plant succession?
The natural changes that occur in a biome over time, leading to the most complex assemblage of vegetation possible for that biome.
What is primary succession?
To get primary succession you need a natural event that rips and shows bedrock to occur, and then need erosion to get soil from it and then primary succession too occur.
What is secondary succesion?
vegeatation grows after soils been established but something removed the previous vegetation
What events could set the stage for secondary succesion?
fire, flood, landslides, hurricanes
In secondary succesion do we also have pioneer species?
Yes, but they show up fast as seeds were already there.
