Let’s dance.
• Stand up. Your face is earth. I am the sun.
• Where is your north pole?
• Your forehead is North America. Where is New York?
California? (Help each other)
• Where does the sun rise? Set? Now rotate. How
long does this take?
• The earth is tilted. How much? Where is the north
star for you?
• Why do we have summer? Winter?
• Now revolve but don’t rotate. How long does this
take?
Core Case Study: Connections b/t
Wind, Climate, and Biomes
• Wind
– Driven by solar energy
• Circulates
– Heat
– Moisture
– Plant nutrients
– Soil particles
– Long-lived air pollutants
Dust Blown from West Africa to
the Amazonian Rain Forests
Video!
7-1 What Factors Influence Climate?
• Concept 7-1 An area's climate is
determined mostly by
– solar radiation,
– the earth’s rotation,
– global patterns of air and water
movement,
– gases in the atmosphere,
– and the earth’s surface features.
The Earth Has Many Different
Climates
• Weather – short term
• Climate – long term pattern
• Air circulation in lower
atmosphere due to
– Uneven heating of the earth’s
surface by the sun
– Rotation of the earth on its axis
– Properties of air, water, and land
The Earth Has Many Different
Climates
• Currents
– Prevailing winds
– Earth’s rotation
– Redistribution of heat from the sun
• Link between air circulation, ocean
currents, and biomes
Ocean currents video
• http://www.montereyinstitute.org/noaa/lesso
n08.html
Natural Capital: Generalized Map
of the Earth’s Current Climate
Zones
Connected Deep and Shallow
Ocean Currents
El Niño, La Niña
• http://esminfo.prenhall.com/science/geoanim
ations/animations/26_NinoNina.html (not
funny)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvmeUSt
Fvz8 (Funny)
Global Air Circulation – prevailing
winds
Energy
Transfer by
Convection
in the
Atmosphere
Global Air
Circulation,
Ocean
Currents,
and Biomes
Greenhouse Gases Warm the
Lower Atmosphere
• Greenhouse gases
– H2O
– CO2 *
– CH4 *
– N2O *
• Greenhouse effect – good and bad
• *Human-enhanced global warming
Flow of Energy to and from the Earth
The Earth’s Surface Features Affect
Local Climates
• Heat absorption by land and water
• Effect of
– Mountains
• Rain shadow effect – windward (wet),
leeward (dry)
– Cities
• Microclimates
Rain Shadow Effect
Death Valley
Photo: L. Kern, 2014
Photo: L. Kern, 2014
Photo: L. Kern, 2014
7-2 How Does Climate Affect the
Nature and Locations of Biomes?
• Concept 7-2 Differences in average
annual precipitation and temperature
lead to the formation of tropical,
temperate, and cold deserts, grasslands,
and forests, and largely determine their
locations.
Climate Affects Where Organisms
Can Live
• Major biomes – regions with
similar climate, soil, plants, animals
• Latitude and elevation
• Climates can be categorized by
– Annual precipitation
– Temperature
The Earth’s Major Biomes
Generalized Effects of Elevation
and Latitude on Climate and
Biomes
St. Mary Lake, Glacier NP, Montana
No plants can
grow here.
Tundra,
lichens,
mosses
Boreal forest
(taiga)
Photo: L. Kern, 2012
Another
view at
Glacier
Photo: L. Kern, 2012
Photo: L. Kern, 2012
Going-to-the-sun Road, Logan Pass
th
July 4 , 2012
Going-to-the-sun road
Purple/gray patches are
areas where pines were all
killed in a forest fire, 2006.
Photo: L. Kern, 2012
In summer, the
snowmelt makes
hundreds of
waterfalls.
Photo: L. Kern, 2012
Close-up of the previous pic.
Photo: L. Kern, 2012
Natural Capital: Average Precipitation and
Average Temperature as Limiting Factors
Science Focus: Staying Alive
in the Desert
• Plant adaptations
– Either drop leaves (mesquite, creosote) when
dry or no leaves (succulents), leaves are waxy
– Deep tap roots or shallow widespread roots
– Large seeds that can lie dormant for long
periods
• Animal strategies and adaptations
– Small size, nocturnal, get water from breaking
down fats, thick skins, excrete dry wastes
There Are Three Major Types of
Deserts
• Tropical, Temperate, Cold deserts
• Fragile ecosystem
– Slow plant growth
– Low species diversity
– Slow nutrient recycling
– Lack of water
• Wind blown dust storms in Saraha increased 10x since 1950 due to
– Overgrazing
– Drought due to
• Climate change
• Human overuse of water
– SUV connection: 4x4s driving over
surface, allowing it to crumble and be
picked up by winds.
Climate
Graphs
of Three
Types of
Deserts
There Are Three Major Types of
Grasslands
• Tropical
– Savanna
• Grazing animals – eat grasses
• Browsing animals – eat twigs and
leaves
• Temperate
– Tall-grass prairies (up to 88cm/yr)
– Short-grass prairies (25 cm/yr)
Grasslands – why no trees
• Fires are common in grasslands
• Fires and winds hinder tree growth
• Many of these areas are degraded
by overgrazing
There Are Three Major Types of
Grasslands
• Arctic tundra: fragile biome
• Adaptations of plants and animals
• Permafrost – layer in soil where
water stays frozen 2+ years!
• Permafrost doesn’t allow water to
permeate soil – lakes and ponds
• Alpine tundra
Climate
Graphs of
Tropical,
Temperate,
and Cold
Grasslands
Temperate Shrubland: Nice
Climate, Risky Place to Live
• Chaparral, temp shrubland
• Near the sea: nice climate
• Prone to fires in the dry season
– Fire resistant roots
– Seeds sprout with fire
• Thin soil, not very fertile
Chaparral Vegetation in Utah, U.S.
There Are Three Major Types of
Forests
• Tropical
• Temperate
• Cold
– Northern coniferous and boreal
forest / taiga
There Are Three Major Types of
Forests
• Tropical rain forests
– Broadleaf, evergreen trees
– Temperature and moisture
– Stratification of specialized plant and
animal niches
– Little wind: significance – seed
dispersal
– Rapid recycling of scarce soil
nutrients
– Impact of human activities
There Are Three Major Types of
Forests
• Temperate deciduous forests
– Temperature and moisture
– Broad-leaf, deciduous trees
– Slow rate of decomposition:
significance
– Impact of human activities – most
disturbed
There Are Three Major Types of
Forests
• Evergreen coniferous forests: boreal
and taigas
– Temperature and moisture
– Few species of cone: bearing trees
– Slow decomposition: significance
• Coastal coniferous forest
• Temperate rain forests
Climate
Graphs of
Tropical,
Temperate,
and Cold
Forests
Some
Components
and
Interactions
in a Tropical
Rain Forest
Ecosystem
Stratification of Specialized Plant
and Animal Niches in a Tropical
Rain Forest
Mountains Play Important
Ecological Roles
•
•
•
•
•
Majority of the world’s forests
Habitats for endemic species
Help regulate the earth’s climate
Can affect sea levels
Major storehouses of water
– Role in hydrologic cycle (see slide #28
again)
7-3 How Have We Affected the
Word’s Terrestrial Ecosystems?
• Concept 7-3 In many areas, human
activities are impairing ecological and
economic services provided by the earth’s
deserts, grasslands, forests, and
mountains.
Humans Have Disturbed Most of
the Earth’s Lands
•
•
•
•
Deserts
Grasslands
Forests
Mountains
NATURAL CAPITAL
DEGRADATION
Major Human Impacts on Terrestrial Ecosystems
Deserts
Grasslands
Forests
Clearing for
Large desert cities Conversion
agriculture,
to cropland
Soil destruction by Release of CO2 livestock grazing,
off-road vehicles
to atmosphere timber, and urban
from burning development
Soil salinization
grassland
Conversion of
from irrigation
diverse forests to
Overgrazing tree plantations
Depletion of
by livestock
groundwater
Damage from offOil production road vehicles
Land disturbance and off-road
and pollution from vehicles in
Pollution of
mineral extraction arctic tundra forest streams
Mountains
Agriculture
Timber extraction
Mineral extraction
Hydroelectric dams
and reservoirs
Increasing tourism
Urban air pollution
Increased ultraviolet
radiation from ozone
depletion
Soil damage from off-road
vehicles
Stepped Art
Fig. 7-20, p. 158