Lecture 8 Topography, Soils and Biomes

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Lecture 8Topography, Soils and Biomes
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• Topography
• Rain shadows
• Riparian forests
• North/south orientation

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• Soil
• What is it?
• Where does it come from?
• Factors affecting formation
• Parent material
• Biotic processes
• Climate
• Topography
• Time (age)

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Soil Layers Horizons
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• Nutrients and Soil Cation Exchange
• Cation positively charged
• Attracted to negatively charged soil
  particles/organic matter
• Binding of Cations cation exchange capacity ?
  index of soil fertility
• impacted by
• Soil age
• Parent material
• Water flow, precipitation, vegetation
• Podsolization
• Laterization
• pH
• Cation exchange priority
• Al3gtHgtCa2gtMg2gtKNH4gtNa

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Acidic Bogs Special conditions - Plants from
acidic bogs
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• Biomes
• Biome Major regional ecological community of
  plants and animals
• Climate zone system Heinrich Walter
• 9 major divisions see Fig 5.4
• Climate diagrams relate annual cycle of ppt and
  temp.
• Whittaker system based on vegetation type and
  combined ppt/temp. factors
• Worldwide in distribution
• Convergent evolution of adaptations
  convergence

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• 9 biomes and corresponding Climate zones - Walter
• Tropical rain forest
• Equatorial
• Tropical seasonal forest/savanna
• Tropical
• Subtropical desert
• Subtropical desert
• Woodland/shrub land
• Mediterrean
• Temperate rain forest
• Warm temperate
• Temperate seasonal forest
• Nemoral
• Temperate grassland/desert
• continental
• Boreal forest
• Boreal
• Tundra
• polar

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• Climatogram
• Graphical representation of monthly mean
  temperature and precipitation for a location
• Enables rapid comparison of climatic factors of
  different regions

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• Climatogram
• Graphical representation of monthly mean
  temperature and precipitation for a location
• Enables rapid comparison of climatic factors of
  different regions

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• Limnology - study of inland waters
• Ecology of Freshwater Ecosystems
• Rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands

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Lakes - Structure

• Structure
• Littoral zone Shallows
• Limnetic zone Open lake
• Epilimnion Warm surface layers.
• Metalimnion Temperature changes with depth.
• Hypolimnion Cold dark waters.

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Lake Structure
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Lakes - Physical Conditions

• Light
• Lake color depends on light absorption and
  biological activity.
• Temperature
• Lakes become thermally stratified as they warm.
• Water Movement
• Wind-driven mixing of the water column is
  ecologically important.

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Seasonal Temperature Changes
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Lakes - Chemical Conditions

• Oxygen
• Oligotrophic Low biological production, although
  often well oxygenated.
• Eutrophic High biological production, but may be
  depleted of oxygen.

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Marine Environments

• Estuaries
• Marine Shores
• Shallow Marine Waters
• Oceans

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Estuaries, Salt Marshes, and Mangrove Forests

• Estuaries are found where rivers meet the sea.
• Salt Marshes and Mangrove Forests are
  concentrated along low-lying coasts.
• All driven by ocean tides and river flow.
• Transport organisms, nutrients, oxygen, and
  remove wastes.
• Extremely vulnerable to human intrusion.

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• Oceans Horizontal and Vertical Zones
• Vertical Zones (extending from the shore)
  Littoral/Neritic/Oceanic
• Horizontal Zones (by depth)
• Marine biologists have their own sense of
  geography!

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• Marine Systems Regions
• Littoral intertidal
• Wave action, intermittent drying, variations in
  salinity
• Benthic refers to sea bottom
• Neritic ocean over continental shelf -
  100-200m
• Oceanic Continental slope to open ocean

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Neritic Zone Over continental shelf
Oceanic Zone From continental shelf to open
ocean