Module 6 Vegetation

Question 1

What is a plant?

Answer 1

Is a multicellular organism that can do photosynthesis and has cell walls containing cellulose

Question 2

What are plants green?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Why do plants turn red in fall?

Answer 3

Cause chlorophylls (which absorb red) die off

Question 4

Define an ecosystem?

Answer 4

Communities of organisms that interact in interdependent ways, building a foodweb or trophic structure

Question 5

What types of levels do organisms in an ecosystem compose?

Answer 5

Trophic levels and decomposers (bacteria)

Question 6

How does an ecosystem collapse?

Answer 6

If you remove a species that has no other species which can fill it’s niche or introduce a invasive species

Question 7

What are two examples of ecosystem collapse?

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

How do you quantify vegetation?

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

How do you quantify vegetation in terms of production?

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

What is a biome?

Answer 10

a grouping of similar ecosystems

Question 11

What is the most important factor in determining a biome distribution?

Answer 11

climate

Question 12

What are the four major biomes?

Answer 12

Forest
Grassland
Desert
Tundra

Question 13

What are the characteristics of a tropical rainforest biome?

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

What are the characteristics of a temperate forest biome?

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

Describe the characteristics of the Boreal forest biome

Answer 15

These are polar climates, at high latitudes, get majority of water from snow melt, are majority coniferous trees that grow here.

Question 16

Describe the characteristics of grassland biomes

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Describe characteristics of the Savanna biome

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Describe characteristics of the desert biome

Answer 18

Subtropical high pressure belts dominate here
Plants vascular systems are different here and have mutations which allow them to conserve water

Question 19

Describe the tundra biome?

Answer 19

Plants adapted to short growing season, poorly drained soils, high winds, has permafrost near this area

Question 20

What is a microclimate?

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

What causes microclimates?

Answer 21

Variability in temp, ppt, and soil

Question 22

How can slope cause a microclimate?

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

How does aspect (the orientation of a slope) cause microclimates?

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

How can elevation influence a microclimate

Answer 24

At higher elevations there’s less moisture in the air and cold temps, this is why at high elevations plant life is less

Question 25

What’s an ecotone?

Answer 25

An ecotone is a transition area between 2 biomes. Usually seperated by tree lines

Question 26

Can tree liens move, can biomes move? What does that mean for climate?

Answer 26

Treelines can move and biomes cna move, but if biomes move that means the whole climate is also moving.

Question 27

Name two examples on biome shifts

Answer 27

The sahel, and the ice age in our past

Question 28

What is plant succession?

Answer 28

The natural changes that occur in a biome over time, leading to the most complex assemblage of vegetation possible for that biome.

Question 29

What is primary succession?

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

What is secondary succesion?

Answer 30

vegeatation grows after soils been established but something removed the previous vegetation

Question 31

What events could set the stage for secondary succesion?

Answer 31

fire, flood, landslides, hurricanes

Question 32

In secondary succesion do we also have pioneer species?

Answer 32

Yes, but they show up fast as seeds were already there.