Ecology and the Biosphere

4/21/04


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Table of Contents

Ecology and the Biosphere

Ecology - the study of the interactions between organisms and their environments

The interactions between organisms and their environments determine their distributions and abundances

Figure 50.1 Distribution and abundance of the red kangaroo in Australia, based on aerial surveys

Figure 50.2 Sample questions at different levels of ecology

Examples of ecological questions:

Factors affecting the distribution of organisms

Biogeography

Figure 50.4 Biogeographic realms

Dispersal

Figure 50.6 Set of transplant experiments for a hypothetical species

Transplant successful - distribution limited because of dispersal problems

Invasive species

Figure 50.7 Spread of the African honeybee in the Americas since 1956

Figure 50.8 Expansion of the geographic range of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) since its discovery near Detroit in 1988

Spartina alterniflora and Spartina anglica

Spartina are physiologically resilient and vigorous

PPT Slide

PPT Slide

Willapa Bay

Puget Sound

Managing the spartina problem

Distribution of hydrogen sulfide in sediments

Tolerating anoxic sediments

Biotic factors affect the distribution of organisms

Figure 50.9 Predator-removal experiments

Limpet and urchin removal experiments

Temperature and water are major climatic factors determining the distributions of organisms

Figure 50.10 A climograph for some major kinds of ecosystems (biomes) in North America

Global climate patterns

Figure 50.12 What causes the seasons?

Figure 50.14 How mountains affect rainfall

Figure 50.15 Lake stratification and seasonal turnover (Layer 1)

Spring - surface water warms and sinks allowing mixing. Oxygen to bottom waters and nutrients to surface waters

Summer -thermocline development

summer

Figure 50.15 Lake stratification and seasonal turnover (Layer 4)

Fall

Figure 50.16 Current geographic range and predicted future range for the American beech (Fagus grandifolia) under two climate-change scenarios

Figure 50.17 The distribution of major aquatic biomes

Figure 50.18 Zonation in a lake

Figure 50.19 Freshwater biomes: Oligotrophic lake (left), eutrophic lake (top right), stream flowing into a river (bottom right)

Figure 50.20 Damming the Columbia River Basin

Figure 50.21 Wetlands (top) and estuaries (bottom)

Figure 50.22 Zonation in the marine environment

Figure 50.23 Examples of marine biomes

Figure 50.23cx Black smoker

Figure 50.24 The distribution of major terrestrial biomes

Figure 50.25a Tropical forests

Figure 50.25b Savanna

Figure 50.25bx Savanna

Figure 50.25c Deserts

Figure 50.25d Chaparral

Figure 50.25dx Chaparral

Figure 50.25e Temperate grassland

Figure 20.25f Temperate deciduous forest

Figure 20.25g Coniferous forests

Figure 20.25h Tundra

Figure 50.26 A hierarchy of scales for analyzing the geographic distribution of the moss Tetraphis

Figure 50.27 Most species have small geographic ranges

Figure 50.x1 Patterns of distribution in the biosphere

Author: Zoology

Email: rlee@mail.wsu.edu

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