Chapter 7 Climate and Terrestrial
Biodiversity
Georgia Average
January Temperature
Chapter Overview Questions
 What
 How
factors effect the earth’s climate?
does climate determine where the
earth’s major biome’s are found?
Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d)
 What
are the major types of desert biomes?
 What
are the major types of grassland
biomes?
 What
are the major types of forest and
mountain biomes?
 How
have human activities affected the
world’s desert, grassland, forest, and
mountain biomes?
Core Case Study- Blowing in the Wind:
A Story of Connections

Wind connects most life on earth
 Wind moderates temperature by distributing heat


Keeps tropics from being unbearably hot.
Prevents rest of world from freezing.
Next
Trade Winds: Engines of History
Similarities Between Wind & Water Currents?
Global Ocean Currents
Core Case Study
Blowing in the Wind:
A Story of Connections
Figure 5-1
Core Case Study
Blowing in the Wind:
A Story of Connections
Wind connects most of life
on earth.
 Nutrients (PO4 and Fe)
from Africa to Bahamas
and Brazil
 Nutrients (Fe) from Gobi
Desert (China) to Pacific
Ocean phytoplankton
Figure 5-1
Wind also transports microbes, particulates,
pesticides, and toxic elements (Pb, Hg, Cd, etc)
Sahara Dust storms have increased
10x since the 1950s due to drought,
overgrazing, and driving of SUVs
on desert soils
Red soil particles and US-banned
pesticides blowing from Africa to
Florida have made it difficult for FL
to meet federal standards
Iron-rich African dust contributes to Fl
toxic algae blooms called “red tides”.
Toxics and dust from China contribute up to 10% (or
more) of US West Coast smog.
CLIMATE: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
is a local area’s short-term physical
conditions such as temperature and
precipitation.
 Climate is a region’s average weather
conditions over a long time.
 Weather

Latitude, elevation, and distance from the ocean
help determine climate, by determining
temperature & precipitation.
Earth’s Current Climate Zones
Figure 5-2
Solar Energy and Global Air
Circulation: Distributing Heat via
Convection
 Finish
these sentences:
rise.
Warmer fluids ________
sink.
Cooler fluids _______
Solar Energy and Global Air
Circulation: Distributing Heat

Global air circulation
is affected by 4
factors:
 (1)uneven heating of
the earth’s surface by
solar energy, and
 (2)seasonal changes
in temperature and
precipitation, and
Coriolis Effect
 Global
air
circulation is
affected by (3)
the rotation of
the earth on its
axis, and
Next
Convection Currents
 Global
air
circulation is
affected by (4) the
properties of air
water, and land.
Convection Cells
 Heat
and moisture
are distributed over
the earth’s surface by
vertical currents,
which form six giant
convection cells at
different latitudes.
Figure 5-6
Tropic of
Cancer
Equator
High mountains
Polar ice
Polar grassland (arctic
tundra)
Temperate grassland
Tropical grassland
(savanna)
Chaparral
Coniferous forest
Temperate deciduous forest
Tropical forest
Desert
Tropic of
Capricorn
Fig. 5-9, p. 106
Ocean Currents:
Distributing Heat and Nutrients
 Ocean
currents influence climate by
distributing heat from place to place and
mixing and distributing nutrients.
next
Review: Climate Change and the
Greenhouse Effect
next
Climate Change:
Considerable scientific evidence and
climate models indicate that large
inputs of greenhouse gases from
anthropogenic (human-generated)
activities into the troposphere can
enhance the natural greenhouse effect
and change the earth’s climate in our
lifetimes.
Climate Change: Greenhouse Gases




Water- the most important natural
one! Not greatly affected by humans
CO2 - THE most affected by humans,
mostly fossil fuels and deforestation.
Methane, CH4 – 23x more powerful
per molecule than CO2, but we make
MUCH less CH4 than CO2. From fossil
fuels, rice paddies, & tropical dams.
Nitrous oxide, N2O – From agriculture,
mostly from fertilizers.
Climate Change: Effects


Raise sea levels
Alter precipitation patterns
 Some areas will get much less rain,
causing droughts
 Some areas will get much more rain,
causing floods


Shift areas where we can grow crops
Shift areas where plants and animals
can be found
Rain Shadow Effect
Windward Side
Leeward Side
Mojave Desert: Formed in the rain
shadow of the Sierra Madre Range
Mojave Desert
Joshua Trees
http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/ecoregions/nam-ecoregions-list.htm
BIOMES:
CLIMATE AND LIFE ON LAND
 Different
climates lead to different
communities of organisms, especially
vegetation.


Biomes – large terrestrial regions characterized
by similar climate, soil, plants, and animals.
Each biome contains many ecosystems whose
communities have adapted to differences in
climate, soil, and other environmental factors.
BIOMES:
CLIMATE AND LIFE ON LAND
Figure 5-9
Tropic of
Cancer
Equator
High mountains
Polar ice
Polar grassland (arctic
tundra)
Temperate grassland
Tropical grassland
(savanna)
Chaparral
Coniferous forest
Temperate deciduous forest
Tropical forest
Desert
Tropic of
Capricorn
Fig. 5-9, p. 106
BIOMES:
CLIMATE AND LIFE ON LAND
 Biome
type is determined by precipitation,
temperature and soil type
Next
Polar
Tundra
Subpolar
Temperate
Coniferous
forest
Desert
Deciduous
Forest
Grassland
Chaparral
Tropical
Desert
Rain forest
Savanna
Tropical
seasonal
forest
Scrubland
Fig. 5-10, p. 107
BIOMES:
CLIMATE AND LIFE ON LAND
 Parallel
changes occur in vegetation type
occur when we travel from the equator to the
poles or from lowlands to mountaintops.
Figure 5-11
DESERT BIOMES
 Deserts
are areas where evaporation
exceeds precipitation.
 Deserts
have little precipitation and little
vegetation.

Found in tropical, temperate and polar regions.
 Desert
plants have adaptations that help
them stay cool and get enough water.
DESERT BIOMES
 Variations
in
annual
temperature (red)
and precipitation
(blue) in tropical,
temperate and
cold deserts.
Figure 5-12
Freezing point
Month
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
Mean monthly temperature (C)
Tropical Desert
Example: Saudi Arabia
Fig. 5-12a, p. 109
Freezing point
Month
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
Mean monthly temperature (C)
Temperate Desert
Example: Sonoran Desert, in southern Arizona
Fig. 5-12b, p. 109
Freezing point
Month
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
Mean monthly temperature (°C)
Polar Desert
Example: Gobi Desert in northern China and Mongolia
Fig. 5-12c, p. 109
DESERT BIOMES
 The
flora and
fauna in desert
ecosystems
adapt to their
environment
through their
behavior and
physiology.
Figure 5-13
Does the desert biome have aesthetic value?
Mojave Desert (CA, USA)
Sonoran Desert, AZ, USA, and South into Mexico
GRASSLANDS AND CHAPARRAL
BIOMES
 Variations
in
annual
temperature
(red) and
precipitation
(blue).
Figure 5-14
Freezing point
Month
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
Mean monthly temperature (C)
Tropical grassland a.k.a. “savanna”
Example: Sub-Saharan Africa
Fig. 5-14a, p. 112
Freezing point
Month
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
Mean monthly temperature (C)
Temperate grassland
Example: Great Plains of the United States
Fig. 5-14b, p. 112
Polar grassland: arctic tundra
Freezing point
Month
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
Mean monthly temperature (C)
(different from alpine tundra)
Fig. 5-14c, p. 112
GRASSLANDS AND CHAPARRAL
BIOMES
 Grasslands
(prairies) occur in areas too moist
for desert and too dry for forests.
 Savannas
are tropical grasslands with
scattered tree and herds of hoofed animals.
Savanna- Tropical Grassland
Savanna- Tropical Grassland
Temperate Grasslands
 Cold
winters and hot
dry summers
Figure 5-15
Temperate Grasslands
 Deep
and fertile soil (rich in humus) that make
them ideal for growing crops and grazing cattle.
Figure 5-15
Temperate Grasslands
 Temperate
tallgrass prairie
ecosystem in North
America.
Figure 5-16
Polar Grasslands a.k.a. Tundra
 Polar
grasslands
are covered with ice
and snow except
during a brief
summer.
Figure 5-17
TUNDRA






Cold
Usually treeless
Largest biome
Low precipitation, but
somewhat moist
Thin topsoil over
permafrost
Nutrient poor
Long-tailed jaeger
Grizzly bear
Caribou
Horned lark
Willow
ptarmigan
Mosquito
Snowy owl
Arctic
fox
Dwarf
Willow
Lemming
Mountain
Cranberry
Moss campion
Producer
to primary
consumer
Primary
to
secondary
consumer
Secondary
to
higher-level
consumer
All producers and
consumers to
decomposers
Fig. 5-17, p. 114
Chaparral
 Chaparral
has a
moderate
climate but its
dense thickets of
spiny shrubs are
subject to
periodic fires.
 Primarily in
California
 Mediterranean
climate
Figure 5-18
FOREST BIOMES
 Forests
have enough precipitation to support
stands of trees and are found in tropical,
temperate, and polar regions.
FOREST BIOMES
 Variations
in annual
temperature (red)
and precipitation
(blue) in tropical,
temperate, and
polar forests.
Figure 5-19
Freezing point
Month
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
Mean monthly temperature (C)
Tropical rain forest
Examples: Amazon and Indonesia
Fig. 5-19a, p. 116
Freezing point
Month
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
Mean monthly temperature (C)
Temperate deciduous forest
Example: Eastern US
Fig. 5-19b, p. 116
Freezing point
Month
Mean monthly precipitation (mm)
Mean monthly temperature (C)
Polar evergreen coniferous forest
(boreal forest, taiga)
Examples: Northern Canada and Russia
Fig. 5-19c, p. 116
Tropical Rain Forest
Figure 5-21
Tropical Rain Forest
Figure 5-21
Tropical Rain Forest
 Tropical
rain forests
have heavy rainfall
and a rich diversity
of species.


Found near the
equator.
Have year-round
uniformity warm
temperatures and
high humidity.
Figure 5-20
Rainforest Organisms
are Specialists!
Emergent
layer
Harpy
eagle
Toco
toucan
Canopy
Understory
Woolly
opossum
Brazilian
tapir
Black-crowned
antipitta
Shrub
layer
Ground
layer
Fig. 5-21, p. 118
Tropical Rain Forest
 Filling
such niches enables species to avoid
or minimize competition and coexist
Figure 5-21
Temperate Deciduous Forest
 Most
of the trees
survive winter by
dropping their
leaves, which
decay and
produce a nutrientrich soil.
Figure 5-22
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Figure 5-22
Broad-winged
hawk
Hairy
Woodpecker
Gray
Squirrel
White oak
White-tailed
deer
White-footed
mouse
Metallic
wood-boring
beetle and
Larvae
Mountain
Winterberry
Shagbark hickory
Fungi
May beetle
Long-tailed
weasel
Bacteria
Producer
to primary
consumer
Racer
Wood frog
Primary
to
secondary
consumer
Secondary
to
higher-level
consumer
All producers and
consumers to
decomposers
Fig. 5-22, p. 120
Evergreen Coniferous Forests
 Consist
mostly of
cone-bearing
evergreen trees that
keep their needles
year-round to help
the trees survive
long and cold
winters.
Figure 5-23
Temperate Rain Forests:
Coastal OR, WA, & Northern CA
Figure 5-24
MOUNTAIN BIOMES

High-elevation islands
of biodiversity
 Often have snowcovered peaks that
reflect solar radiation
and gradually release
water from the
“snowpack” to lowerelevation streams and
ecosystems.
 Can have alpine tundra
above the tree line.
Figure 5-25
MOUNTAIN BIOMES

Vast reservoirs of forests throughout the world.

MOUNTAIN BIOMES
1.3 billion people (18% of the world’s population) live
in or on the edges of mountain ranges.
MOUNTAIN BIOMES
Over 4 billion people (59% of global population) depend
on water from mountain snowpack & glaciers.
MOUNTAIN BIOMES
Himalaya:
Headwaters
of India’s
Ganges
River
MOUNTAIN BIOMES
Gangotri Glacier,
one of the
sources of the
Ganges
Figure 5-25
HUMAN IMPACTS ON
TERRESTRIAL BIOMES
 Human
activities have damaged or disturbed
more than half of the world’s terrestrial
ecosystems.
 Humans
have had a number of specific
harmful effects on the world’s deserts,
grasslands, forests, and mountains…
NATURAL CAPITAL
DEGRADATION
Major Human Impacts on Terrestrial Ecosystems
Deserts
Grasslands
Large desert cities Conversion
to cropland
Soil destruction by Release of CO2
off-road vehicles
to atmosphere
from burning
Soil salinization
grassland
from irrigation
Overgrazing
Depletion of
by livestock
groundwater
Oil production
Land disturbance and off-road
and pollution from vehicles in
mineral extraction arctic tundra
Forests
Clearing for
agriculture,
livestock grazing,
timber, and urban
development
Conversion of
diverse forests to
tree plantations
Damage from offroad vehicles
Pollution of
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
Fig. 7-20, p. 158