Global Climate Classification and Vegetation Relationships

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Global Climate Classification and Vegetation
Relationships
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Weather vs. Climate

• Weather
• short-term condition of the atmosphere
• days, weeks
• meteorologists
• Climate
• long-term (30 year) average of weather conditions
  and extremes
• climatologists

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Climate Determinants

• Insolation and Temperature
• latitude, altitude, land-water, ocean currents,
  mountain barriers
• Precipitation
• Air pressure (ITCZ and Subtropical Highs)
• Air mass influences
• Prevailing winds

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The Köppen Climate Classification

• A Tropical (equatorial regions)
• B Deserts (arid, semiarid)
• C Mesothermal (mild winter)
• D Microthermal (boreal, cold winter))
• E Polar (always cold)
• H Highland (mountains, plateaus)

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The Köppen Climate Classification

• 3 letter system
• First letter temperature
• Second letter precipitation
• Third letter finer shades of temp
• Csb mediterranean
• C middle latitude temps
• s summer dry
• b warm summers (as opposed to hot a)

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Reading a Climograph
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Koppens Categories
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Climate Regions
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Vegetation Regions
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Tropical Climates (A)
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Tropical Climates (A)

• 1/3 of Earths total surface (about 20 ºN to 20
  ºS)
• Consistently warm (all months gt 18ºC/64.4 ºF)
• Daily temp range exceeds annual temp range
• Subcategories based on rainfall (ITCZ influence)

• Subcategories based on rainfall distribution
• Tropical rainforest (Af)
• Tropical savanna (Aw)

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Tropical Rainforest (Af)

• High rainfall all year (gt2 / month)
• Warm every month
• Precipitation exceeds evaporation.
• Straddles Equator by 5o - 10o

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• Tropical Rainforest (Af)
• Vegetation Highest average biomass on earth.
  Highest biodiversity on earth! Thousands of
  species, tall trees, many canopy layers,
  evergreen, broadleaf trees, epiphytes, lianas
  (vines), climbers, stranglers, ferns
• Fauna More species than all other biomes
  combined!, colorful insects, amphibians,
  reptiles, and birds, few large animals, high
  density of biomass and incredible species
  diversity
• Other Among most threatened biomes

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Lianas
Buttresses
Epiphytes
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Deforestation, Malaysia
Strangler Fig
3-Toed Sloth, Panama
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• Savanna (Aw) Tropical Grassland Climates
• The tropical wet and dry or savanna (Aw) has an
  extended dry season during winter.
• Region/Distribution Subequatorial Africa, and
  South America, Southern India (25 N and S
  Latitude)
• Vegetation Continuous cover of grasses,
  scattered trees or shrubs
• Other Susceptible to desertification

Masai Reserve, Kenya
Acacia and Wildebeest Serengeti Plain, Tanzania
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Dry / Semiarid Climates (B)

• Occupy about 1/3 of Earths land area (Most
  extensive climate over land surface)
• Evaporation exceeds precipitation (water
  deficit)
• Subcategories
• Desert (BW)
• Steppe (BS)

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Dry Arid / Semiarid Climates (B)
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Deserts (BW) dry
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Deserts (BW)

• Temperature
• Widest range up to 100oF/day!
• Hot at low latitudes, wide variation at higher
  latitudes

• Precipitation
• Scarce lt10 inches/year
• Unreliable wide variation from average
• Intense convective downpours

• Desert Causation
• High Pressure Cells and resultant stability
• Rainshadows

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• True Deserts (BW)
• Vegetation Widely scattered thorny bushes,
  cacti, small flowers, extensive shallow roots or
  long tap roots, shrubs, succulents
• Fauna Many rodents, lizards, toads, snakes and
  other reptiles, many birds, owls, vultures, many
  insects (adaptive strategies)
• Other Deserts cover roughly 1/3 of earth. May be
  growing due to desertification.
• Steppe semi-arid high elevation or high latitude
  

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Desert Plant Survival Strategies

• schlerophyllous adaptations - small, waxy leaves
  or thorns replace leaves
• succulents - stems modified to spongy water
  storage structures
• ephemerals (obligate seeders) - fast reproductive
  cycle
• wide spacing with shallow roots - collect sparse
  rainfall

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Anza-Borrego State Park, CA Winter 2004/2005
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Organ Pipe CactusOrgan Pipe National Monument,
Arizona
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Steppe (BS) temperate grasslands

• more precipitation than BW
• narrower temperature ranges
• grasslands

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• Temperate Grassland/Steppe (BS)
• Region/Distribution Central North America, parts
  of Africa, Australia, SE South America (Pampas)
• Soil very fertile soils, best on earth
• Vegetation Grass tall to short prairie, pampas,
  steppe. Sod forming grasses, Sparse bushes,
  occasional trees in some areas
• Fauna large grazing animals, bison, antelope,
  wild horses, kangaroos, giraffes, burrowing
  animals rabbits, prairies dogs predators
  coyotes, lions, leopards...
• Other Most N. American grasslands have been
  converted to agricultural fields. Wild grazers
  replaced by cattle, sheep, goats. Less than 1 of
  original grasses left.

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Mesothermal Climates/Temperate (C)

• True seasonality (air mass conflict)
• Subdivisions based on precipitation variation
• Humid Subtropical (Cfa)
• Mediterranean (Cs)

Humid Subtropical Broad-leaf Deciduous Forest
Allegheny Mtns., Pennsylvania
Mediterranean Coastal Sage ScrublandChannel
Islands N.P., California
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Mesothermal Climates (C)
Humid Subtropical (Cfa)Mediterranean (Cs)
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Humid SubtropicalMidlatitude Forests

• Hot summer, substantial year-round precipitation
• Low latitude east coasts (warm currents).
• Summer max precipitation.
• Cold spells seasonality.

Cfa - New Orleans, LA
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• Temperate Broad-leafed Forest (Deciduous)
• Region/Distribution Western Europe, East Asia,
  Eastern U.S.. Between 30-50 north or south
• Soil brown soils, good for agriculture
• Vegetation Broad-leafed deciduous trees,
  (120-150 tall), oaks, hickories, maples,
• Fauna mammals such as white tail deer,
  porcupines, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, most
  carnivores eliminated by hunting i.e. wolf,
  mountain lion, bobcat many birds frogs and
  salamanders, snakes
• Other Plants and animals well adapted to
  seasonality including hibernation, migration

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Mediterranean

• Dry summers (shifting subtropical highs)
• Surrounds Mediterranean
• Also on west coasts near 30o N and S (Australia,
  S. Africa, Chile)

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• Mediterranean
• Region/Distribution West coast and Central
  California, SW. Australia, tip of S. Africa, West
  Peru. Chile, Mediterranean (good wine places!)
• Vegetation Scrubland, scattered trees (oaks,
  eucalyptus), grasses. Fire tolerant,
  sclerophyllous (hard-leafed) evergreens,
  chaparral (scrubby evergreen)
• Fauna Burrowers like ground squirrels, gophers
  deer, mountain lions, coyotes, many birds
• Other Susceptible to fire during dry season,
  some species need fire to regenerate susceptible
  to erosion and desertification, development
  threatened biome

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Chaparral
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Manzanita
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Microthermal Climates (D)
Only found in Northern Hemisphere
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Subarctic Climates (Boreal or Taiga)

• 50o-70o N latitude
• long, bitterly cold winters
• highest annual temp range up to 100O F
• Great annual temperature ranges
  (continentality, air mass conflicts)

Dw Calgary, Canada
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• Coniferous (Boreal) Forest Koppen D
• Region/Distribution Northern parts of North
  America, Europe and Asia, South So. America, much
  of Russia
• Vegetation Coniferous (mostly evergreen) forest,
  ex. Spruce, Fir, Pine, Larch, needle-leaved
• Fauna Large herbivores moose, elk small
  herbivores squirrels snowshoe hare, beaver
  Predators wolves, foxes, bears, lynx, weasel
  family Mosquitoes in summer
• Other Acid rain, logging , oil drilling, hunting
  of predators

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Fir Trees, Alaska
Spruce Needles
British Columbia
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Polar Climates (E)- all months lt 50OF
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Polar Climates (E)- all months lt 50OF

• Tundra (ET)
• warmest month 32-50?F
• Ice caps (EF)
• warmest month below 32?F
• Both have very low precipitation

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Koppen Classification ET
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TundraRegion/Distribution North of the
Boreal Forest, high latitudes of northern
hemisphere in a belt around the Arctic Ocean,
near the coast Soil Permafrost, no true soil
development Vegetation Low growing lichens,
mosses, grasses, sedges, dwarf shrubs, small
plants typically ground hugging or warmth
preserving in some wayFauna Small burrowing
mammals, lemmings, also foxes, lynx, owls,
grizzly bear, caribou and musk ox migrants
Other many insects in summer, standing water
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Highland Climates (H)

• How are these like the poles? How different?

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Highland Climates (H)

• How are these like the polar regions? How are
  they different?
• Lower temperatures
• More moisture available
• More insolation
• High winds in both

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Where in the world?
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Koppen Af - Hilo, Hawaii
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Where in the world?
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Koppen Dfd - Verkhoyansk, Russia (67.4 N, 133.3 E)

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Where in the world?
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Koppen Af - Iquitos, Peru (3.4 S, 73.2 W)

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Where in the world?
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Koppen Dfa - West Point, NY
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Where in the world?
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Koppen Csb - San Francisco, California
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Where in the world?
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Koppen Cfa - Sydney, Australia Elev 62 ft
   Lat 33 52' S    Long 151 02' E
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Where in the world?
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Koppen Csb - Santiago, Chile Elev 1706 ft
   Lat 33 27' S    Long 70 42'W

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Where in the world?
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Koppen BW - Phoenix, AZ Elev 337.4 m    Lat 33
26'N    Long 112 00'W
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Where in the world?
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Koppen Aw - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Elev 61.3 m
   Lat 22 55' S    Long 43 12'W
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The Köppen Climate Classification

• A Tropical (equatorial regions)
• B Deserts (arid, semiarid)
• C Mesothermal (mild winter)
• D Microthermal (boreal, cold winter)
• E Polar (always cold)
• H Highland (mountains, plateaus)

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The Köppen Climate Classification

• A Tropical (equatorial regions)
• B Deserts (arid, semiarid)
• C Mesothermal (mild winter)
• D Microthermal (boreal, cold winter)
• E Polar (always cold)
• H Highland (mountains, plateaus)

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Riparian Vegetation
Vegetation that grows along water courses. Often
supports richer diversity of plant and animal
life, including more hardwood trees in a dry
environment.
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Vertical Zonation of Vegetation
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Vegetation Succession
Climax Stage
Pioneer Stage
Occurs after disturbances fires, storms,
landslides, etc.
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Ecological Invasions

• California Invasive Species Old World Grape,
  livestock, Eucalyptus (Gum Trees), wild hog,
  mustards, horse, Mediterranean grasses/mustards
• Methods of Transfer
• Domesticated animals (fur, droppings)
• Ornamentals
• International tourism/migrations (New Zealand)
• Problems with Invasives
• Often out-compete native species.
• Dont provide habitat for local fauna.
• Upset balance of ecosystem.

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The American Chestnut
100 feet tall, thick symmetrical branches, over
an acre of greenery, about a million lush leaves
in all. Massive quantities of protein-rich
nuts. In 1904 a handful of Asian chestnut trees
were planted in New York City at the Bronx Zoo.
An Asian chestnut blight quickly destroyed over
99.99 percent of the American Chestnut population
- almost all of four billion trees - annihilating
at least six specialized insect species,
decimating wild turkey populations, and depriving
humans of a priceless resource in a single
generation. This loss represented one fourth of
the tree cover in the Appalachians!
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