Photosynthesis

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Outline

• Climate and the Biosphere
• Solar Radiation
• Global Wind Circulation
• Terrestrial Ecosystems
• Tundra
• Forests
• Shrublands
• Grasslands
• Deserts
• Aquatic Ecosystems
• Life Zones
• Lakes
• Estuaries
• Seashores
• Oceans

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Climate and the Biosphere

• Climate
• Prevailing weather conditions in a region
• Determined primarily by temperature and
  precipitation
• Influenced by a multitude of factors including
  latitude, tilt of the earths axis, and
  topography
• Effects of solar radiation
• Spherical earth
• Rotation and path of the earth around the sun

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Distribution of Solar Energy
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Global Wind Circulation
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Rain Shadow

• Consider a coastal mountain range
• Windward side of the mountain
• Winds rise
• Release moisture
• Leeward side
• Dry winds subside
• Evaporates existing water and rarely rains
• Rain shadow

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Formation of a Rain Shadow
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Terrestrial Communities

• Biomes
• A particular mix of plants and animals adapted to
  living under certain environmental conditions
• Often delineated by climate
• Tend to repeat wherever temperature and
  precipitation are the same

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Pattern of Biome Distribution
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Climate and Biomes
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Tundra

• Arctic tundra
• Encircles Earth just south of ice-covered polar
  seas in Northern Hemisphere
• Covers 20 of Earths land surface
• Trees are not found in the tundra because growing
  season is too short
• Roots cannot penetrate permafrost

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The Tundra
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Coniferous Forests

• Taiga typifies coniferous forest with
  cone-bearing trees
• Trees well adapted to cold
• Leaves and bark have thick covering
• Needle-like leaves can withstand weight of heavy
  snowfall
• Temperate Rainforest (Old-Growth Forests) of
  Pacific Northwest
• Evergreen forest

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The Taiga
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Temperate Deciduous Forests

• Found south of taiga in eastern North America,
  eastern Asia, and much of Europe
• Four well-defined seasons with long growing
  seasons
• Tallest trees form a canopy
• Ground-life is plentiful

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Temperate Deciduous Forest
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Tropical Forests

• Found in equatorial regions
• Plentiful rainfall
• Most animals live in trees
• Abundant insect life
• Epiphytes grow in many areas
• Soils are nutrient-poor
• Rapid recycling of nutrients
• Swidden agriculture successful but destructive

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Levels of Life in a Tropical Rain Forest
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Representative Animals of theTropical Rain
Forests of the World
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Shrublands

• Tend to occur along coasts that have hot, dry
  summers and cool, wet winters
• Shrubs adapted to withstand arid conditions
• Dense shrubland in California known as chaparral

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Shrubland
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Grasslands

• Occur where annual rainfall is greater than 25
  cm, but generally insufficient to support trees
• Grasses well adapted to changing environment
• Temperate Grasslands
• Savannas

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Temperate Grassland
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The Savanna
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Deserts

• Usually found at latitudes of about 30o in both
  north and south hemispheres
• Descending winds lack moisture
• Annual rainfall less than 25 cm
• Large temperature differential between day and
  night

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The Desert
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Aquatic Ecosystems

• Lakes
• Bodies of water classified by nutrient status
• Oligotrophic - Nutrient-poor
• Eutrophic - Nutrient-rich
• Lake Stratification
• In temperate zones, deep lakes are stratified in
  the summer and winter

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Freshwater and Saltwater Ecosystems
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Types of Lakes
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Lake Stratification in a Temperate Region
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Aquatic Life Zones

• Plankton
• Important community in fresh water and salt water
• Phytoplankton - Algae
• Zooplankton - Animals
• Life Zones
• Littoral zone - Closest to shore
• Limnetic zone - Sunlit areas
• Profundal zone - Below light penetration
• Benthic zone - Soil-Water interface

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Zones of a Lake
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Coastal Communities

• Estuaries
• Partially enclosed bodies of water where fresh
  water and seawater meet and mix
• Organisms must be able to adapt to changing
  salinity
• Estimated over half of all marine fishes require
  development in estuaries

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Estuary Structure and Function
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Types of Estuaries
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Seashores

• Littoral zone lies between high and low water
  marks
• Rocky Shores
• Many attached organisms
• Littoral zone of rocky beach divided into
  subzones
• Sandy beach
• No attachment sites available
• Nearly all permanent residents dwell underground

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Seacoasts
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Oceans

• Major ocean currents move heat from the equator
  to cooler parts of the biosphere
• Gulf Stream warms east coast of North America and
  parts of Europe
• El Nino Southern Oscillation
• Cold upwelling off west coast of South America
  subsides

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Ocean Currents
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Oceans

• Pelagic Division
• Neritic Province
• High concentration of organisms due to sunlight
  penetration and supply of inorganic nutrients
• Coral Reefs
• Oceanic Province
• Lacks inorganic nutrients
• Does not have high concentration of phytoplankton

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Oceans

• Benthic Division
• Includes organisms that live on or in
• Continental Shelf (sublittoral zone)
• Continental Slope (bathyal zone)
• Abyssal Plain (Abyssal zone)
• Interrupted by hydrothermal vents
• Organisms are dependent on debris sinking down
  from above

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Marine Environment
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Ocean Inhabitants
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Review

• Climate and the Biosphere
• Solar Radiation
• Global Wind Circulation
• Terrestrial Ecosystems
• Tundra
• Forests
• Shrublands
• Grasslands
• Deserts
• Aquatic Ecosystems
• Life Zones
• Lakes
• Estuaries
• Seashores
• Oceans

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