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Why are plants used to define and area?
The are immobile and easily visible
What supports more vegetation?
Warmer climates and increased rainfall
Where are tundras found?
Areas ow low temp and precip, high latitudes
Arctic Tundra vs Alpine tundra
Arctic: High latitude
Alpine: High elevation
What biome exists in the highlighted area?
Tundra
What is temperature range of the tundra?
-35-12 degree C
Term for permanently frozen spoil
permafrost
What is peat soil?
Partially decomposed vegetation cause by low decomp rate, occurs in tundra
What are some vertebrates of the tundra?
Arctic fox, caribou, snowshoe hare, snowy owl, ect.
Vertebrates characteristic of an ALPINE tundra
Mountain goat, pika
Characters of Taiga
Forested, high elevation, discontinuous permafrost
Where are taigas located ?
Areas of Russia and Canada
How do trees survive in taiga
Narrow shape of leaves for water retention, unique shape of tree
Characteristic evergreens of taiga
fir, spruce, pine
Why is fire important in the taiga?
Seed release from cones
Why is nitrogen limiting in taiga
much of it is tied up in undecomposed matter
Vertebrates of taiga
elk, lynx, moose, marten
Characters of temperate forests
lower latitudes, can be deciduous coniferous or mixed, fire important
What is a boreal-mixed forest ecotone
Gradation of boreal into northern temperate coniferous forests
What is the forest in the map?
Jack Pine Forest
Where are montane coniferous forests located?
Rockies, Sierra Nevada, Cascade
Trees characteristic of montane coniferous forest
lodgepole, mt. hemlock, red fir, giant sequoia, ponderosa pine, costal redwoods
What is niche partitioning?
microclimate specializations
Where are the only primary growth in the US?
High in Appalachian mt.
Plant adaptions for rainforest vegetation
Large leaf tips, drip tips
What allows for rapid recycling of nutrients in rainforests?
Higher microdiversity
What are plants the root on the surface of other plants? Example?
Epiphytes, Bromeliads
Parasitic plant that leeches nutrients from host plants
Strangler vines
What are buttress roots?
Large wide roots on shallowly rooted trees
Characteristic of Heliconia
cup shaped, collects rainwater that hummingbirds collect, provides roost for tent bat
Tropical Rainforest vs Cloud Rainforest
Tropical: ~ <10 latitude
Cloud: elevation of ~ 1000-2500m
What is unique about leaf cutter ants
They take leaves to colony to decompose and provide nutrients to fungi that the plants eat (mutualism)
Latitude of deserts
~20-30 N and S
Max temps in desert
50C
Hot vs Cool Desert
Hot- created by rising air from rainforest that dries and heats as it falls
Cool- created by a rain shadow
Whats unique about kangaroo rat?
Creates metabolic water
Indicator species of Great Basin
Sagebrush
Indicator species of Chihuahuan
Creosote bush
Indicator species of Tallgrass prairie
Big bluestem
Indicator species of Sonoran
Saguaro cactus
Indicator species of deciduous temperate forest
hickory, oak
Indicator species of Mojave
Joshua tree
Indicator species of mixed grass prairie
Little bluestem
Indicator species of shortgrass prairie
Blue gramma
Desert?
Sonoran Desert
Desert?
Mojave
Desert?
Chihuahuan
What county makes up stopover point for migratory bird
Woods Co. (salt flats) and Alfalfa Co. (great salt plains)
What is the largest biome in N.A.? Historical percentage vs percentage now?
Temperate Grassland, 42% → 12%
How is the hydrological cycle powered?
solar radiation
Process where plants lose water through stomata
transpiration
Ways water is released into atmosphere
transpiration, respiration, evaporation
Percentage of water that is freshwater
2.6
Percentage of freshwater held as ice
80%
Where is there maximum light penetration, and primary productivity in the water column
Photic/Euphotic Zone
Water zone where only blue and green light penetrates
Twilight/Dysphotic Zone
Water where no no light or photosynthesis occurs
Aphotic zone
What is the maximum depth of light penetration?
100m
Area in water where there is a significant drop in temp, what depth does it occur
Thermocline, 120-240m
What nutrients are limiting depth decreases
Nitrate and phosphate
Ocean Zone of highest primary productivity, shallow water, high light penetration
Neritic zone
Zone prone to evaporation and higher temps
Littoral zone
Range of continental slope
700-4000 m
Range of abyssal zone
4000-6000 m
Zone that is >6000m
Hadal zone
How deep can trenches get
36,000 ft
What is the term for cycling nutrient rich mud caused by wind
Upwelling
What causes “Red Tides”
Dinoflagellates containing xanthophyll
What causes ciguatera poisoning
Consuming something that has eaten another organism that has consumed dinoflagellates (biological concentration)
Charcters of Pfisteria
cyst form turns to trophozoite, malignant or benign, can cause large fish die off, 24 morphological types
What is equivalent to tropical forests in the ocean
Coral reefs
How much of calcium is taken up by coral reefs, what form?
1/2 that enters the ocean, CaCO3
How much carbon do coral reefs remove/year
700 billion Kg
What is coral
Cnideria (polyp)
What do coral use to bring in food
stinging nematocyst
What do dinoflagellates provide to coral?
nutrients, CO2
What type of algae helps in solidifying CaCO2 and strengthens exoskeleton
Coralline
What temperature range for coral?
20-35C
What are most coral in regards to salt content, what does this make them vulnerable to
Stenohaline (tolerable to narrow range), runoff
Why are coral usually in clear clen water?
Sediment effects light penetration, zooxanthellae shedding, and pollutes mucus string
What is the most common reef?
Fringing
Characteristic of fringing reef
Very close to shore, very shallow water, most vulnerable
Characters of a barrier reef
Usually located near a lagoon, can be near a fringing reef. protected by lagoon separating it from mainland
Characters of atoll
Occurs around volcano, volcano sinks into ocean, rarest of reefs
Deep sea zone above 200 m
Photic/ epipelagic zone
Deep sea zone from 200m to ~1000m
Mesopelagic zone
Deep sea zone 1000m-4000m
Bathypelagic zone
Deep sea zone 4000m-6000m
Abyssopelagic zone
Deep sea zone >6000m
Hadopelagic zone
How deep is Mariana trench?
36,070ft
Where does food come from in deep sea
Dense water carrying food from above
Where does oxygen come from in deep sea?
Overturning along the great ocean conveyor
What is the enzyme that produces light in photophores
Luciferase
How do deep water organisms control light production
controlling blood circulation
Purpose of photophores
attracting food and mates
Where are many photophores located?
Along ventral surface
What is counterillumination
photophores on ventral that break up silhouette
Adaptions of mesopelagic zone fish
small size, slower metabolic rate, less food intake, large eyes, large mouth
What is the phenomenon of very large fish in deep sea
Abyssal gigantism
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