Download standard 8 - characteristics and distribution of Earth`s ecosystems

Map of World Ecosystems
Ecosystem
management
is crucial to
sustain the
Earth
•The geographically
informed person needs
to understand the
spatial distribution,
origins, functioning, and
maintenance of different
ecosystems and to
comprehend how
humans have
intentionally or
inadvertently modified
these ecosystems.
CHARACTERISTICS AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF EARTH’S ECOSYSTEMS
•
Populations of different plants and animals that
live and interact together are called a community.
This Sonoran Desert National
Monument is a great example of
a desert landscape plant and
animal community.
It includes a variety of of
biological, scientific, and
historic resources within a
functioning desert ecosystem.
Encompassing nearly 500,000
acres, the Monument was
established in January 2001 by
presidential proclamation.
The Monument’s diverse plant
communities include plants &
animals such as saguaros,
creosote bushes, agave, and
other succulents, as well as a
wide variety of wildlife, like
desert bighorn sheep, mountain
lions, desert tortoise, and over
200 species of birds.
- Photo by Bob Wick, BLM
Biosphere = Atmosphere,
Hydrosphere, Lithosphere
•
When a
community
interacts with the
other three
components of
the physical
environment—
atmosphere,
hydrosphere,
and
lithosphere—the
result is an
ecosystem. All
ecosystems are
the ‘biosphere’.
CHARACTERISTICS AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF EARTH’S ECOSYSTEMS
•
•
•
Ecosystems form distinct
regions on Earth’s surface,
which vary in size, shape, and
complexity.
They exist at a variety of
scales, from small and very
localized areas (e.g., a single
stand of oak trees or a clump
of xerophytic grasses) to
larger areas with precise
geographic boundaries (e.g., a
pond, desert biome, island, or
beach).
Small-scale garden ‘ecosystem’
California’s diverse
ecosystems or bioregions
Larger scale ecosystems can
form continent-wide belts,
such as the tundra, taiga, and
steppe of northern Asia.
Great Plains ecosystem
•
The largest ecosystem is the
planet itself (the biosphere).
Map of
Ecosystems,
Bioregions, or
Biomes in the
US
Vegetative Zones in Arizona by Elevation
Minnesota Ecosytems
In Minnesota we see three main
ecosystems: prairies, deciduous woods,
and northern coniferous forests.
This landscape variation is caused by
differences in climate and precipitation
from north to south. As the ecosystems
change, so too does the flora and fauna
of the state.
All of these ecosystems have been
altered dramatically since human
settlement began. The prairie landscape
has been especially affected.
Wolf Lake is located on the northwest
edge of Hammond, Indiana and the far
southeast edge of Chicago, Illinois. The
lake covers more than 450 acres in
Indiana and has a maximum depth of 18
feet.
The ecosystem degradation problem in
Wolf Lake includes proliferation of exotic
plant species, low diversity of plant and
fish species, lack of adequate water
depths, poor aquatic habitat, negative
impacts from contaminants, and
shoreline erosion.
Proposed project features include
creating approximately 25 acres of new
aquatic and wetland habitat plantings:
restoring approximately 5,000 feet of
shoreline; creating deep holes to locally
diversify the lake bottom; controlling
aquatic and shoreline exotic and
undesirable plant species using
herbicidal and biological controls;
clearing channels, and creating openings
in dikes and causeways to restore
natural water levels in the project area.
Aquatic Ecosytems
•
All elements of the environment, physical and human, are part of several different but nested ecosystems.
http://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/i-spy-ecosystem
They are dynamic
and everchanging
Changes in one
ecosystem ripple
through others
with varying
degrees of
impact
The web of
ecological
interdependency
is fragile
•
As self-regulating open systems that maintain flows of energy and matter, they naturally move toward
maturity, stability, and balance in the absence of major disturbances.
•
In ecological terms, the physical environment can be seen as an
interdependent web of production and consumption cycles.
Cycles that Power Ecosystems
Water Cycle
Energy Cycle
Carbon Cycle
Change & Vulnerability of Ecosystems
•
The stability and balance of ecosystems is altered by large-scale natural
events such as El Niño, volcanic eruptions, fire, or drought.
Change & Vulnerability of Ecosystems
Ecosystems are equally or more drastically transformed by human activities
BALANCE is a key concept in understanding how human intervention can work to restore
the ‘overproduction’ and ‘overuse’ disruptions we have caused in the global ecosystem
Mangroves
The benefits of
mangroves on the
tropical ecosystem
are great:
Prevent Erosion
Provide Habitat
Provide Shade
Mangroves are in
danger of being lost
due to unsustainable
coastal-use practices
(over-use and
pollutants)
Florida Everglades
ANWR (Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge)
Gulf Coast
The BP OIL SPILL in the Gulf of Mexico
Go to the NYT interactive article about the BP Oil Spill (website below). The image that you see on this slide has a
dot in the place the oil spill originated. At the website, you can click an arrow, and watch as the oil spills
throughout the Gulf, increasingly growing larger and larger.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/01/us/20100501-oil-spill-tracker.html?ref=us
Sonoran Desert
The invasion of non-native species
threatens the Sonoran Desert
Ecosystem.
Invasive species upset the natural
balance of the unique Sonoran Desert, as
they disrupt other natural environments
Note: Some non-native species are not a threat to
native species
The Land of Little Rain,
first edition cover, 1903
The Desert Smells Like Rain
By Elizabeth Larson, PhD
Lecturer, School of Geographical
Sciences and Urban Planning,
Arizona State University, 2010.