Deserts (Arid, Semi-Arid, Coastal and Cold)

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Deserts (Arid, Semi-Arid, Coastal and Cold)

• Found around a belt of 30 degrees north and south
  latitude.
• North Africa (Sahara), Southwest United States
  (Mojave), Middle East (Syrian), Australia (Great
  Sandy)

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Abiotic Factors

• Temperatures exhibit daily extremes because the
  atmosphere contains little humidity to block the
  Sun's rays. Desert surfaces receive a little more
  than twice the solar radiation received by humid
  regions and lose almost twice as much heat at
  night.
• Wind patterns carry down dry air from the upper
  atmosphere.

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Plant and Animal Species

• Conditions force plant and animal species to
  adapt in ways that allow for their survival
  (water storage, spines, camouflage, nocturnal,
  estivate)
• Autotrophs Barrel Cactus, Brittle
• Heterotrophs Coyote, Thorny Devil, Armadillo
  Lizard, Desert Tortoise, South American gray fox,
  Kangaroo rats, burrowing owls

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Environmental Issues Cont

• Desertification
• The process of land once suitable for agriculture
  into desert. This process often expands
  preexisting desert land and it is currently
  happening, most significantly in the Sahel region
  of north Africa. The extreme drought that
  started in the 1950s has caused a significant
  portion of the Sahel to become desert land,
  fusing with the Sahara Desert. More desert
  more desolate land less biodiversity.
• Once again there are no true solutions because it
  is a natural occurring event.

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Environmental ConcernsOil Extraction

• The desert is often destroyed for the purpose of
  extracting fossil fuels from below the earths
  surface. Switching more of our energy sources to
  renewable resources and thus decreasing the
  demand for oil would help to preserve the
  surviving desert. Furthermore, if oil is going to
  be taken, regulations should be imposed on the
  amount and method as to do so with the least
  amount of harm.

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Tundra

• Latitude and longitude
• Arctic Circle
• Most northern parts of Northern Hemisphere
• From about 60 N and above
• Countries and regions
• Arctic Circle
• Russia
• Canada
• Siberia

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Abiotic Factors

• Wind patterns
• 30-60 mph (48-97 km/hr)
• Forces plants to grow close to ground to survive
• Geographic features
• Ground is permanently frozen
• Permafrost underneath the ground surface
• Melts just enough during summer to allow plant
  growth/reproductions
• Solar radiation
• during summer 24 hrs/day of sunlight
• Allows for additional plant growth
• Periods during the winter where no sunlight for
  weeks
• Major reason for how cold the arctic tundra can
  become

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Major Autotrophs Heterotrophs

• Autotrophs adaptations low to ground,
  insulating silky hairs
• Arctic moss, Pasque flower, bearberry
• Heterotroph adaptations camouflage, thick fur,
  fat for insulation
• Arctic fox, caribou, polar bear, snowy owl

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Environmental Issues

• Global warming
• Melting the permafrost which holds thousands of
  plant remains
• Carbon is released into atmosphere from plants,
  greenhouse gas effect
• Decreases the carbon sink
• Solutions
• Increase number of fuel-efficient cars
• Increase number of forestlands

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Environmental Issues continued

• Pollution from Oil Drilling
• Kills surrounding plants, disrupts herding routes
  of animals like caribou
• Tracks from oil trucks cause permafrost to melt
  when hit by sun, erode and become bigger
• Disrupts natural habitats
• Solutions
• Use different fuel options (cooking oil)
• Only buy oil from Middle East

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Alpine Tundra

• Not restricted to latitude/longitude boundaries
• Location Examples Himalayan Mountains, Andes
  Mountains, Rocky Mountains

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Abiotic Factors

• Geographic features alpine tundra begins above
  timberline, either on gentle slopes where the
  soil has developed large meadow areas or on
  windswept slopes
• Solar radiation the little amount of atmosphere
  at high altitudes exposes the Alpine to UV
  sunlight at dangerous levels
• Poor soil conditions

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Autotrophs Heterotrophs

• Autotroph adaptations
  low to ground, dark colors,
  small leaves
• Moss Campion, Alpine Phacelia, Bear Grass
• Heterotroph adaptions thick fur, camouflage,
  jump and climb over rocks
• Mountain Goat, Yak, Chinchilla, Alpaca, Llama

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Environmental Issues

• The Alpine Tundra is very fragile and can be
  damaged very easily. About 1/3 of the world's
  soil-bound carbon is held in the frozen tundra.
  Global warming is a huge threat because if the
  tundra permafrost is melted, the carbon dioxide
  will be released into the atmosphere. This will
  create an imbalance of chemicals in the
  atmosphere.
• We can prevent global warming by using compact
  fluorescent light bulbs, recycling, or using
  public transportation.

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Environmental Issues

• Hunting is another major problem in the Alpine
  Tundra. This area contains many animals that can
  not be found anywhere else in the world.
  Over-hunting has caused animals inhabiting the
  Alpine Tundra to be added to the endangered
  species list.
• To prevent over-hunting, restrictions can be
  placed on the hunting of certain species in the
  tundra.

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Taiga Scandinavian and Russian Taiga
Longitude and Latitude 6010N 02456N

• Countries
• Finland
• Sweden
• Norway
• Russia

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Autotrophs Heterotrophs

• Autotrophs adaptations Plants are evergreens so
  that they can survive the cold weather, they have
  a waxy coating on their needle-like leaves
• Pine, spruce, fir
• Heterotrophs adaptations thick fur, hibernate
• Wolves, Caribou, Lynx, Arctic Fox

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Environmental Issue 1 Logging

• There are many trees in this area and so people
  are cutting them down for their own use, which
  has global consequences because they are so
  important to the absorption of carbon dioxide and
  grow incredibly slowly in the cold climate. A
  solution to this could be for governments to set
  limits on how many trees can be cut per year, as
  well as how and when to replant.

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Environmental Issue 2 Unsustainable Hunting

• This is when hunters kill animals faster than
  they can reproduce, and the numbers start to
  decrease, with greater chances of the animal
  being endangered or extinct. This can be solved
  with limits on hunting and, when the issue is
  that the animal preys on livestock, a fence or
  other form of protection around their farm
  instead of getting rid of the animals.

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Deciduous Forest

• The Deciduous forest biome is general located
  between the tropics and boreal forests all the
  way up to 60 degrees depending on the area.

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Autotroph and Heterotroph

• Autotroph adaptations
• American beech
• Heterotroph adaptations camouflage, migratory
• White Tailed deer, Orioles, Raccoon, Eastern grey
  squirrel

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Issues

• Over development is one of the main issues facing
  the deciduous forests everywhere.
• In the US urban sprawl is turning thousands of
  acres of forest into suburbs, and thousands more
  into farmland.
• This problem is made worse do to the fact that
  the east cost is not only the home of the
  deciduous forest but one of the most densely
  populated area of the United States.
• The only solution being more effective zoning
  laws and more responsible building.

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The new

• Diseases, and blights, have harassed the
  deciduous and other American forests for the last
  two centuries.
• Invasive Funguses destroyed the chestnut trees in
  the 1800
• Insects and fungi being introduced via
  international travel can be controlled by laws
  which prevent the importation of foreign invasive
  plants but not easily.

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Tropical Rainforest
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Autotrophs and Heterotrophs

• Autotroph adaptations live on tree limbs,
  parasitic, do not need soil to grow, thin bark
• Bromeliads, Orchids, Ferns, Strangler Fig
• Heterotroph adaptations arboreal, strong/long
  tails, camouflage, long sharp beaks, poisonous
• Toucan, spider monkeys, orangutans, poison dart
  frogs, sloth

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Environmental Issues of Borneo-Deforestation

• Deforestation motives timber, palm oil, rubber,
  pulp, and minerals.
• Problem Rare and specialized species are
  vulnerable to forest degradation. Solution
  special conservation efforts required to prevent
  extinction.
• Problem illegal logging. Solution more
  sufficient alternative economic developments.
• Solution to deforestation in general more
  adequate laws should be enforced with stricter
  consequences.

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Biodiversity

• The Amazon exists in layers, each layer(ex.
  Canopy, ocean floor etc)
• 30 million species of insect
• 500 mammals
• 175 lizards
• 300 other reptiles
• 3000 fruits
• Half the worlds species can be found in amazonia
• Its the most biodiverse area in the world

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• Chaparral Biome
• -The chaparral biome is found in a little bit of
  most of the continents
• -The west coast of the United States, the west
  coast of South America,
• the Cape Town area of South Africa, the western
  tip of Australia and the coastal areas of the
  Mediterranean.

All the red areas have a chaparral biome
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Autotrophs and Heterotrophs

• Autotroph adaptations waxy, waterproof coating
  on leaves, dwarf vegetation
• Coyote brush, sagebrush
• Hetertroph adaptations camouflage, large ears
• Jack rabbit, aardwolf, golden jackal

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Environmental Issues

• One environmental issue that the chaparral biome
  is facing is, the cutting down of trees. This is
  a huge problem because it is disturbing many
  plants and animals that depend on them trees for
  a habitat.
• Solution One solution can be that they limit the
  amount of trees allowed to be cut down. Also,
  they could make a law that says if you cut down
  so man trees, you are required to plants some in
  return.

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Prairie

• The North American Prairie covers parts of
  Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico,
  North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas and
  Wyoming
• It also cover part of several Canadian Provinces

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Autotroph and Heterotrophs

• Autotroph adaptations
• purple needle grass, buffalo grass, blue grama
  grass, and galetta grass
• Heterotroph adaptations need little water,
  camouflage, sharp claws
• Prairie dogs, jack rabbits, coyotes, prairie
  chickens

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The Prairie -vs- The World

• When European settlers first arrived in the
  prairie, they overgrazed the tall grass areas and
  replaces them with agricultural plants, and now
  the shortgrass prairie areas are becoming
  overgrazed
• One potential solution to this problem would be
  reintroducing the original tall grass species
  back into the area

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Savanna

• Geographical Locations

• A few countries with this biome include
• Chad
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Uganda
• Rwanda
• Australia

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Autotrophs and Heterotrophs

• Autotroph adaptations grow quickly in the wet
  
  season, lie dormant in the dry season
• red Oat Grass, Acacia Trees, Baobab Trees
• Heterotroph adaptations migration, camouflage
• Lion, gazelle, african wild dogs, cheetah,
  elephants

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Increase Human Usage

• Overuse of land for agriculture
• degradation of vegetation and soil resources
• Overuse of water resources
• nutrient losses and shifts in water balance and
  availability
• Preserve the savannas, control overgrazing, and
  manage resources effectively

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Steppe

• Located in the USA, China, Mongolia, Tibet, and
  Siberia

Approximate Latitude 45?N
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Autotrophs and Heterotrophs

• Autotroph adaptations low to ground,
  perennials. Tap roots
• Goldenrod, tumbleweeds, fringed sagebush
• Heterotroph adaptations estivate, run fast,
  flat teethed herbivores, camouflage
• Prairie dogs, northern lynx, mongolian gerbils,
  mongolian gazelle

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Major Environmental Issues

• Overgrazing
• Suggested Solution Restrictions on the number of
  animals that can graze at a time