Chapter 41

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• Biosphere – portion of Earth where life exists
– One huge ecosystem – interconnected group of
organisms and their physical environment
• Biomes – major types of ecosystems
• Community interactions and the abiotic
(nonliving) features of an organism’s habitat
shape its adaptations
– Sunlight, moisture, nutrients, temperature, salinity,
fire
• Earth has a wide variety of climates
– Differences reflect that planet is a sphere that rotates at
an angle to the sun
– Average temperature falls with distance from the
equator
• Precipitation also
unevenly distributes
– Intense sunlight heats air
over the equator
– Air rises and expands
– As the air rises, it cools
– Water vapor condenses
forming near-constant rain
over the tropics
– Air from equatorial region
also travels north and
south
– Convection cell – cycle of
heating and cooling, rising
and falling air
• Local features also
influence climate
– Coasts have a
milder climate than
their latitude
suggests
• Ocean stores heat
energy
– Mountains
• Top cooler than base
• Rain shadow
 Terrestrial biomes
• Overall pattern of vegetation influences which
microorganisms and animals can live in a biome
• In turn, animals contribute to the structure of the
biome
• Soils form the framework of the biome
– Climate influences soil – moisture, decomposition
• Following map shows original range of each
biome – many natural biomes replaced by farms
and cities
• Tropical rain forest
– Encircle equator
– Stunning diversity of life
– Climate constantly warm and moist
– Soils are nutrient-poor and low in organic matter
– Threatened by destruction
• Temperate forests
– Dominated by either
deciduous trees or
coniferous trees
– Most of these areas
decimated by human
development
– Deciduous trees
predominate where
winters are relatively
mild and rainfall
constant
– Summer drought and
severe winters favor
conifers
• Taiga (Boreal forest)
– North of the temperate
zone in the northern
biomes
– More than 6-month
winter
– Short growing season
– Moisture can be scarce
in winter
– Soils cold, damp, acidic
and nutrient-poor
– Slow decomposition
• Tropical savanna
– Grasslands with scattered trees or shrubs and
bands of woody vegetation along stream courses
– Warm year-round
– Distinct wet and dry seasons
– Perennial grasses dominate
– Termites are major detritivores
• Temperate grasslands
– Prairies, steppes, and
pampas
– Few if any trees (low
annual rainfall)
– Grazing and fire
suppress tree growth
– Dominated by grasses
– North American prairie
fertile and rich in
organic matter
– Farmland has replaced
prairie
• Deserts
– Dry – less than 20 cm
of rainfall per year
– Ring globe at 30° North
and South latitude
– Some occur in rain
shadows of tall
mountains
– Temperature can vary
dramatically – very hot
to below freezing
– Some nearly devoid of
life while others
species-rich
• Tundra
– Arctic tundra
• Runs across northern parts of Asia, Europe, and North
America
• Winter bitterly cold and dark
• Temperatures venture above freezing a few months
– Alpine tundra
• High mountaintops
• Summer sunlight intense
• Snow covered in winter
– Permafrost – ground frozen year round
• Mediterranean shrubland (chaparral)
– Also in smaller areas
– Summers hot and dry
– Winters mild and moist
– Shrubby plants dominate
– Plants have adaptations to slow water loss
– Fire-adapted plants
 Freshwater biomes
• Water covers 71% of Earth
• Only about 1% “fresh”
• 77% of fresh water tied up in
glaciers and ice sheets
• Only 0.3% in lakes, ponds, and
streams
• Zones of lake or pond
• Littoral – shoreline
• Limnetic – phytoplankton
• Profundal – no light
• Benthic – sediment at bottom
• Lakes age
– Younger lakes are
often oligotrophic (low
productivity)
• Deep, steep-sided, and
low in nutrients
– As lakes age, nutrients
accumulate in
sediments
• Eutrophic – high
productivity
– Lakes fill in becoming
wetlands or eventually
dry land
• Streams carry water and sediment toward the ocean
• Provide moisture and habitat along the way
• Can change along its course
• Depend heavily on land for water and nutrients
 Oceans
• Cover 70% of Earth’s surface
• Run 11.2 km deep in places
• World’s largest biome
• Most photosynthesis on Earth occurs here
– Supplies enormous amount of oxygen
• Absorb so much of sun’s energy they help
stabilize Earth’s climate
• Estuaries
– Area where fresh water river meets salty ocean
– Organisms must be able to withstand constantly changing
salinity
– Very productive
• Intertidal zone
– Along coastlines in sandy, muddy, or rocky areas
– Area between high and low tide marks
– Region of constant change as tide rises and falls
• Coral reef
– Vast underwater calcium carbonate structures
– Huge variety of organisms
– Shallow water allows for photosynthesis
– Living coral is a thin layer
• Open ocean
– Know very little
– Populations may be small and very dispersed let alone
hard to observe
– Upwelling – where cold, nutrient-rich lower layers of
water move upward
– “Bloom” of phytoplankton
– Zones
• Intertidal – shoreline
• Neritic – subdivided by depth
• Oceanic – beyond continental shelf
• Pelagic – water above ocean floor
– Photic zone – light
 Investigating life: Some like it hot
• Coral are animals – cnidarians – that build a
calcium carbonate skeleton
• May grab small animals and/or
photosynthesize using symbiotic algae
• “Bleach” – lose algal partners and die – if water
temperature rises
• Global warming
• Adaptive bleaching
– Allows coral animals to expel algae poorly suited for warm water
and replace them with better varieties
– Study reefs after El Niño events
– Found shift from one algal genotype to another
– Studied photosynthetic rates of group D under different
temperatures in lab
– Type D seems to be a high temperature specialist
– Emphasizes importance of genetic diversity