Biosphere and Global Climate Patterns

Tyler Boswell, Jacob Mingolla, Amanda Kim

What is Ecology?Ecology:• Scientific study of interactions between organisms and their

environments• Used to make decisions about environmental issues

 Biotic Factors: • Living organisms (prokaryotes, protists, animals, fungi, and

plants) in an environment Abiotic Factors: • Nonliving physical and chemical conditions of an

environment• Examples of abiotic factors in the environment are sunlight,

water, temperature, soil, and wind

The Five Levels of Ecology    

 1. Individual Organisms: • Smallest unit of ecological study• Single organism in an environment • Able to adapt to the environment to meet challenges of

environment 2. Populations:   • Group of individual organisms of same species living in the

same area• Ecological experiments often examine factors of an

environment affecting size and growth of a population

The Five Levels of Ecology (continued)3. Communities:• All of the organisms that inhabit a particular area make up a

community• Ecologists study the interactions between the organisms in a

communityo An example of a community is a coral reef, where livings things

including fish, coral animals, algae, and other organisms live around and in the reef

4. Ecosystems:• An ecosystem includes both the abiotic and biotic factors of an area• Ecologists are interested in the flow of energy and chemicals in the

ecosystemo A real life example of an ecosystem is a coral reef, where the

living species and nonliving conditions (e.g. temperature and sunlight) interact

The Five Levels of Ecology (continued)

5. Biosphere:• Sum of all of Earth's ecosystems• Largest and broadest area of study for ecologists• Ecologists investigate global issues in the biosphere, including

climate change and its effect on living thingso Biosphere can be pictured as an "envelope" of air, land, and

water supporting all living things on Earth. It consists of both the atmosphere of several kilometers high to oceans to a depth of several kilometers

• Closed system-- all of the chemicals in the living and nonliving things of the biosphere come from within the systemo An exception to this rule is meteorites, which add material to

the Earth

Organization of Ecology Video

Patchiness of the Biosphere

• Biosphere is not uniform- mess of different ecosystems such as deserts, grasslands, forests, and rivers

• Environmental variations due to differences in abiotic factors such as temperature, soil type, and availability of water and light

 Habitats: • Specific environments of where organisms live,

created by patchiness of biosphere• Each habitat has characteristic abiotic and biotic

factorso Microhabitats within a habitat are small and differ

in characteristics from the surrounding, more extensive habitat

Abiotic FactorsSunlight: • Provides light and warmth, energy source for almost all ecosystems• Powers photosynthesis (main producers for terrestrial (land)

ecosystems)• Creates different microhabitats• Factors such as tall trees or bodies of water affect how much

sunlight reaches organisms  Water:• All organisms contain water• Can dissolve gases and solutes such as oxygen and salt• Terrestrial organisms have adaptations allowing them to keep from

drying out and losing water quickly

Abiotic Factors (continued)Temperature: • Most life exists between 0°C and 50°C• Most enzymes are denatured past 50°C• Some organisms have adapted to exist in extreme

temperatures (over 80°C) Soil:• Product of abiotic forces (water, wind, etc) and actions of

organisms on the rocks and minerals of the Earth's crust• Structure and chemical makeup of soil and rock affect types

of plants able to grow, affecting the other organisms that can exist there  

Abiotic Factors (continued)Wind: • Affects distribution and activities of organisms• Moves clouds and rain and stirs up bodies of water (creating

currents bringing nutrients from bottom of lakes and ponds)• Plants depend on wind to disperse pollen and seeds to grow

 Severe Disturbances:• Natural disturbances such as fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic

eruptions• In areas of infrequent occurrence, many organisms have not

adapted to the disturbanceso However, in areas of common occurrence, organisms have

adapted to their environments (plants in dry scrublands can quickly regrow after a fire from their roots)

Uneven Heating of Earth's Surface• Energy from sun warms the Earth's surface, but due to the

Earth's spherical shape, different locations on the Earth's surface receive different amounts of solar energy

• At equator, sun's rays strike Earth most directly, at latitudes, but farther from equator rays strike the surface at lower angles, thus the same amount of solar energy spreads over a larger area

• Regions farther from the equator absorb less heat and experience cooler temperatures than regions closer to the equator

Different Temperature ZonesTropics • Between 23.5° N latitude (Tropic

of Cancer), 23.5° S latitude (Tropic of Capricorn)

• Warmest temperature zone

Polar Zones• Receive least amount of direct

sunlight year-round• North of 66.5º N is called the Arctic

Circle, the region South of 66.5º S is called the Antarctic Circle

• Coldest temperature zones Temperate Zones• Seasonal temperatures changes can

be very large in some zones• In general, temperature zones

experience less extreme temperatures than other zones 

Global Patterns of Abiotic Factors

• Uneven heating of the Earth's surface affects global patterns of winds and precipitation to existo Example pattern: Warm air can move moisture, moves

higher into atmosphere, eventually cooling and forming clouds Areas close to equator have warm temperatures and

heavy rainfall year round • Rising and falling of air masses, combined with rotation of

the Earth, produces predictable wind patterns  • Wind patterns, rotation of the Earth, and shapes of

continents produce surface currents

Global Patterns of Abiotic Factors (continued)Currents: • River-like flow patterns within a body of water• Can move warm water to polar zones, and cold water to

tropics• Currents can greatly affect regional climates among areas of

similar latitudeo ex. the Gulf Stream carries warm water northward from

the Tropics, making the climate of Western Europe warmer than other regions of similar latitudes

 

Local Climate 

Local Climate- The climate of a small area such as a cityVariations may be influenced by:• Nearby Large Water Bodies 

o Oceans and large lakes affect climate because water absorbs and release heat more gradually than most substances

o Areas near shore tend to be cooler in summer than inland areas, while release of heat from water to the air results in milder winters near the shore than inland

• Mountains o Air temperature declines by 6°C every 1000-meter increaseo Mountains near a coast can block the flow of cool, moist

air from the ocean, causing different climates on opposite sides of the mountain range

Microclimate

• Microclimate- the climate in a specific area that varies from the surrounding climate region o Can be produced by shade, snow cover, or windbreaks

• Small-scale differences from a climate in a specific area

• Example: A fallen log where life thrives under conditions completely different than the surrounding environment

Thank You!Any Questions?