Chapter 11: Terrestrial Flora and Fauna

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Chapter 11 Terrestrial Flora and Fauna

• Quick Review of the Previous Session
• Natural Distribution
• Terrestrial Flora
• Terrestrial Fauna
• The major Biomes
• Human Modifications of Natural Disturbance Pattern

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Quick Review

• What is photosynthesis? What is Net primary
  production?
• What do you understand by Ecosystems, Food Chain
  and food web? How are they related ?
• Let us identify some Bio-geochemical Cycles
  Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, Hydrologic
  cycle
• What Biomes and Ecotones?

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What is photosynthesis? What is Net Primary
Production?
Net Photosynthesis Total Produced Used in
Respiration
Net Primary Productivity Net photo synthesis/
year/ unit area
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Quick Review

• What do you understand by Ecosystems, Food Chain
  and food web? How are they related
• Ecosystem Includes all biotic and abiotic
  processes in biosphere that can be applied at
  different scales (includes environmental
  Interactions)
• Food Chain and food Web Show graphical
  representation of flow of energy from one
  organism to another. Food web consists of
  multiple food chains.
• Food Pyramid An approach of representing links
  as a part of the food chain as primary consumers,
  secondary consumers and so on

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Food Chain
Figure 10-8
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Food Pyramid
Figure 10-9
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Quick Review

• Let us identify Bio-geochemical Cycles Carbon,
  Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, Hydrologic cycle

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Which cycle is this? What are sources and sinks?
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The Oxygen Cycle
Figure 10-6
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Which cycle is this? What are sources and sinks?
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Quick Review

• What Biomes and Ecotones?

A biome is a large area on the Earth's surface
that is defined by the types of plants and
animals living there. A biome can be partially
defined by the local climate patterns. The
transition between two biomes is an Ecotone
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Terrestrial Flora and Fauna

• Why are we interested in Flora and Fauna in
  geography
• 1. Terrestrial flora and fauna is the most
  significant visual component of the landscape
• 2.   Flora and fauna is sensitive indicator of
  environmental attributes
• 3.   Flora and fauna influences human settlement
  and activities

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1. Natural Distributions

• Natural distribution of species or group of
  organisms depends on four conditions
• 1. Evolutionary Development
• 2. Migration and dispersal
• 3. Reproductive success
• 4. Extinctions

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1. Natural Distributions

• Evolutionary Development
• According to Darwins theory of natural
  selection, there is a normal process of descent,
  with modifications from parents
• Long slow endless process
• May be localized or in several localities
• Acacia in every continent but Eucalyptus in
  Australia

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Natural Distributions

• Migration/Dispersal
• 1.   Animals possess active mechanism for
  locomotion
• 2.   Plants engage in passive migration,
  particularly dispersal of seed by
• wind
• water
•   animals

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Migration/Dispersal
Example Coconut Palm
Figure 11-4
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Natural Distributions

• Reproductive Success
• causes of poor reproductive success
• heavy predation
• climatic change
• food supply failure

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Reproductive Success
Figure 11-5
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Natural Distributions

• Extinction
• 1.   Plant succession one type of vegetation is
  replaced naturally by another
• 2.   Extinction permanent dying out of an entire
  species
• a.   ½ billion species have become extinct
  throughout time

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Natural Distributions

• What do you think is the impact of human being on
  natural distributions?
• Biodiversity Hotspots Threatened, Rare and
  Extinct
• http//www.livescience.com/environment/060411_glob
  al_warming.html
• Role of climate change and global warming
• Think about the role of conservation and
  stewardship

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2. Terrestrial Flora

• Common characteristics
• Most very hardy
• Common characteristics Roots, stems, leaves and
  reproductive organs
• Perennials Plants that endure seasonal
  climatic fluctuations from year to year
• Annuals Plants that perish during times of
  climatic stress (such as winter) but leave behind
  a reservoir of seeds to germinate during the next
  favorable period

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Terrestrial Flora

• Environmental Adaptations
• Main adaptations against environmental stress
• Xerophytic Adaptations withstand dry conditions.
  Roots, stems and leaves modified
• Hygrophytic Adaptations
• hydrophytes permanently immersed in water
  (water lily),  
• hygrophytes (ferns, moss, rushes)
• Reproductive adaptation plants lie dormant for
  years 
• Competition determines which plants can grow where

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Environmental Adaptations
Xerophytes
Figure 11-7
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Environmental AdaptationsHygrophytes
http//blogs.nature.com/news/blog/reports_from_the
_field/everest_expedition/
Figure 11-8
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Terrestrial Flora

• Floristic Terminology
• A.   Floristic Terminology
• 1. bryophytes plants that reproduce through
  spores mosses, and liverworts
• 2. pteridophytes ferns, horsetails, club
  mosses
• 3. plants that reproduce through seeds
• a.   gymnosperms/conifers (naked seeds)
• b.    angiosperms (vessel seeds)  flowering plants

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Terrestrial Flora

• By trunk composition
• Woody plants
• Herbaceous
• By structure
• hardwood
• softwood
• By leaf shape
• broadleaf trees
• needleleaf trees
• By leaf retention
• evergreen tree
• deciduous tree

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Floristic Terminology
Figure 11-9
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Terrestrial Flora

• Spatial groupings
• Climax vegetation a stable plant succession of
  relatively constant composition
• seral associations stages leading up to climax
  vegetation
• Spatial groupings are approximations
• Always remember that the role of human being
  influences the natural processes

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Spatial Groupings of Plants

• Vegetation Associations
• Forest ( trees growing closely)
• Woodland ( trees spaced widely)
• Shrubland ( dominated by short woody plants)
• Grassland (grasses and forbs)
• Desert ( climate rather than association)
• Tundra ( low growing plants in cold regions)
• Wetland areas that may have shallow or standing
  water

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Vegetation Associations
Figure 11-10
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Vertical Zonation
Figure 11-13
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Local Conditions Sunlight
Figure 11-16
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3. Terrestrial Fauna

• Less conspicuous than vegetation so relatively
  difficult to study than vegetation
• Two main characteristics
• Mobility
• Depend on plants or other animals
• 90 are invertebrates (Insects, spiders etc)
• Vertebrates Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds,
  mammals

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Environmental AdaptationsPhysiological, Behavior
and reproductive
Figures 11-18(a) and (b)
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Environmental AdaptationsCompetition (
direct/Indirect)Competition for food or water
Competition for territorySocial groupings
Herds or flocks or colonies
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Cooperation Symbiosis Two dissimilar animals
may live togetherMutualism, Commensalism and
Parasitism
Figure 11-20
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Zoogeographic Regions
Figure 11-25
Function of higher latitude Less diverse
Transitional between Paleartic Neoarctic
Birds reptiles snakes
Most diverse Mammals/ vertebrates
Diverse endemic mammals
Primitive Primates
Unique
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4. Major Biomes

• 11 major biomes
• Tropical rain forest, Tropical deciduous forest,
  Tropical scrub and tropical savanna (Af, Am, Aw)
• Desert (BW/BS)
• Mediterranean Woodlots and scrub (Csa, Csb)
• Mid lat grass lands, Mid lat deciduous forest
  (Cfa, Cwa, Dfa,Dfb, Dwa,Dwa, Dwb )
• Boreal forest (Dfc, Dwd, Dwc, Dwd)
• Tundra (ET)
• Mountains and icecaps (EF)

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Major World Biomes
Figure 11-27
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Tropical Rain Forest Removal
Figure 11-C
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Central American Deforestation
Figure 11-B
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Midlatitude Grassland
Figure 11-43
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Midlatitude Deciduous Forest
Figure 11-46
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Boreal Forest
Figure 11-48
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5. Human Modification of Natural Distribution
Patterns

• Removing Organisms
• Modifying Habitat
• Introducing Species to New Habitats
• Conservation and stewardship is the greatest
  responsibility

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Further readings

• Multimedia
• "Alien Invasion" Online News Hour with Jim
  Lehrer. July 1, 2004 report on efforts to combat
  invasion of alien plant and animal species in the
  United States.
• "Exploring the Canopy Frontier" - National
  Geographic Society lecture by ecologist and
  climber Nalini Nadkarni about her research in the
  rain forest canopy. (11740) (RealPlayer
  required)
• "Hot Times in Alaska" Scientific American
  Frontiers. This episode investigates the impact
  of climate change on Alaska's ecosystems.
•  World's Biggest Tiger Preserve - NPR/National
  Geographic Radio Expeditions visits The Hukawng
  Valley in Myanmar where an entire valley nearly
  the size of Vermont is being set aside as a tiger
  reserve.
• "The Birds of the Boreal" NPR/National
  Geographic Radio Expeditions
• "The Last American rain forest" - Morning
  Edition (NPR) segment from Oct. 22, 1998 reports
  on the last great temperate rain forest in
  America, Alaska's Tsongass National Forest.
  (836) (RealAudio Required)
•   Readings
•  Where Have All the Songbirds Gone? from the
  "Why Files " Web site
• Grassland Initiative (NASA EOS)
• "Root Causes of Biodiversity Loss" -  CIESN,
  World Resources Institute.
• Web Sites
• Wild World Terrestrial Ecoregions (NGS/WWF) -
  rich resource for information about global
  ecosystems. Organized by biogeographical realm.
• Biodiversity Hotspots - investigate endangered
  regions at this web site.