ChemCatalyst: Sept 8, Tuesday Construct a food web for forest ecosystem Be sure to include three producers, two primary consumers, two secondary consumers and at least one apex consumer.

ChemCatalyst: Sept 9, Wednesday What is the apex consumer in forest food web?

ChemCatalyst: Sept 15, Tuesday What does “diversity” mean in relation to AP ES? What does “richness” mean? What about “evenness” and “dominance”?

Day 2: Biomes & Climate

The Earth Has Many Different Climates Weather –local areas short term condition of the atmosphere. Climate – average atmospheric conditions measured over a long period of time *

Wind, Climate, and Biomes Indirect form of solar energy, Carries heat, moisture, plant nutrients, soil particles and long lived air pollutants Dust blown from West Africa – soil nutrients in Amazonian rain forests, toxic air pollutants in the US *

Warm, less salty, shallow current Figure 7.5 Connected deep and shallow ocean currents. A connected loop of shallow and deep ocean currents transports warm and cool water to various parts of the earth. This loop, which rises in some areas and falls in others, results when ocean water in the North Atlantic near Iceland is dense enough (because of its salt content and cold temperature) to sink to the ocean bottom, flow southward, and then move eastward to well up in the warmer Pacific. A shallower return current aided by winds then brings warmer, less salty—and thus less dense—water to the Atlantic. This water can cool and sink to begin this extremely slow cycle again. Question: How do you think this loop affects the climates of the coastal areas around it? Cold, salty, deep current Connected Deep and Shallow ocean currents Fig. 7-5, p. 143

Micro-Climates Heat is absorbed and released more slowly by water than by land. Creates land and sea breezes World’s oceans and large lakes moderate weather and climate *

Effect of earth’s surface features Mountains-interrupt flow of prevailing winds and movement of storms Rain shadow effect

Draw and label this in your notes! Prevailing winds pick up moisture from an ocean. On the windward side of a mountain range, air rises, cools, and releases moisture. On the leeward side of the mountain range, air descends, warms, and releases little moisture. Figure 7.7 The rain shadow effect is a reduction of rainfall and loss of moisture from the landscape on the side of a mountain facing away from prevailing surface winds. Warm, moist air in onshore winds loses most of its moisture as rain and snow on the windward slopes of a mountain range. This leads to semiarid and arid conditions on the leeward side of the mountain range and the land beyond. The Mojave Desert in the U.S. state of California and Asia’s Gobi Desert are both produced by this effect. Rain Shadow Effect

Effect of earth’s surface features (cont) Cities -Microclimates bricks, concrete, asphalt absorb and hold heat and buildings block wind flow. Cars release large amount of pollutants. More haze and smog, higher temperatures and lower wind speeds

Climate Affects Where Organisms Can Live Major biomes: large terrestrial regions characterized by similar climate, soil, plants and animals. Latitude and elevation Annual precipitation Temperature –tropical, temperate, polar *

The Earth’s Major Biomes *

Effects of Elevation and Latitude on Climate and Biomes Draw this in your notes! Mountain ice and snow Elevation Tundra (herbs, lichens, mosses) Coniferous Forest Figure 7.9 Generalized effects of elevation (left) and latitude (right) on climate and biomes. Parallel changes in vegetation type occur when we travel from the equator to the poles or from lowlands to mountaintops. Question: How might the components of the left diagram change as the earth warms during this century? Explain. Deciduous Forest Latitude Tropical Forest Tropical Forest Deciduous Forest Coniferous Forest Tundra (herbs, lichens, mosses) Polar ice and snow Fig. 7-9, p. 147

Fragile Ecosystem Slow plant growth Low species diversity Slow nutrient recycling Lack of water Figure 7.11 Climate graphs showing typical variations in annual temperature (red) and precipitation (blue) in tropical, temperate, and cold deserts. Top photo: a popular (but destructive) SUV rodeo in United Arab Emirates (tropical desert). Center photo: saguaro cactus in the U.S. state of Arizona (temperate desert). Bottom photo: a Bactrian camel in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert (cold desert). Question: What month of the year has the highest temperature and the lowest rainfall for each of the three types of deserts? Stepped Art Fig. 7-11, p. 149

Temperate: Prairie & Stepp Tropical: Savanna Temperate: Prairie & Stepp Cold - arctic tundra: permafrost, very fragile biome Figure 7.12 Climate graphs showing typical variations in annual temperature (red) and precipitation (blue) in tropical, temperate, and cold (arctic tundra) grassland. Top photo: wildebeests grazing on a savanna in Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya, Africa (tropical grassland). Center photo: wildflowers in bloom on a prairie near East Glacier Park in the U.S. state of Montana (temperate grassland). Bottom photo: arctic tundra (cold grassland) in autumn in front of the Alaska Range, Alaska (USA). Question: What month of the year has the highest temperature and the lowest rainfall for each of the three types of grassland? Stepped Art Fig. 7-12, p. 151

Temperate Shrub land: Nice Climate, Risky Place to Live Chaparral Near the sea: nice climate Prone to fires in the dry season *

Chaparral Vegetation in Utah, U.S. Near the sea: nice climate, prone to fires in the dry season California, Around the Mediterranean, South Africa, Chile Figure 7.14 Chaparral vegetation in the U.S. state of Utah and a typical climate graph. Stepped Art Fig. 7-14, p. 152

Tropical rain forests Temperature and moisture Stratification of specialized plant and animal niches Little wind: significance Rapid recycling of scarce soil nutrients Impact of human activities *

Temperate deciduous forests Temperature and moisture Broad-leaf trees Slow rate of decomposition: significance Impact of human activities *

Evergreen coniferous forests: boreal and taigas Temperature and moisture Few species of cone: bearing trees Slow decomposition: significance Coastal coniferous forest Temperate rain forests *

Black-crowned antpitta 45 Stratification Harpy eagle Emergent layer 40 35 Toco toucan Canopy 30 25 Height (meters) 20 Wooly opossum Under story 15 Figure 7.17 Stratification of specialized plant and animal niches in a tropical rain forest. Filling such specialized niches enables species to avoid or minimize competition for resources and results in the coexistence of a great variety of species. 10 Brazilian tapir Shrub layer 5 Black-crowned antpitta Ground layer Fig. 7-17, p. 156