Review #4 - Geog 1001 – Fall 2005

Vegetation adaptations to the environment: When temperature and precipitation aren’t “just right”

·         Slides of ecological succession, disturbances, glacial landforms (climate change), vegetation adaptations

·         Two factors: temperature (energy) and precipitation (water)

·         Two scenarios: Too much (too hot; too wet) or not enough (too cold; too dry)

·         Know long-term adaptations to conditions that are too dry

·         Define “stomata”, types of photosynthesis (CAM, C3, C4)

·         Know short-term modifications to conditions that are too dry

·         Too Wet? Know both long-term adaptations and  short-term modifications; give examples for both

·         Too hot? Know long-term adaptations (we didn’t do short-term modifications for this one)

·         Too cold? Know long-term adaptations between temperature ranges 0 to -5 C; -5 to -40 C, below -40 C (be able to give examples when I gave examples of species)

·         Be able to compare figs 20.3 with both 5.14 and 10.2 with a focus on North America

·         Know triggers and plant response to short-term “too cold” exposure

·         Know how changes in air quality affect short-term plant physiological response  (SO₂, NOx, O₃)

·         Know how increasing [CO₂] affects C3 and C4 CO₂ assimilation (the graph I did in class); What are the ecological implications for this?

Global Climate Change

·         Does climate change? Be able to describe the new findings from the newest Antarctic ice core (what did it reveal?)

·         Where’s the evidence for climate change? Describe all of the points we made about how we know about global climate change (pros/cons…) What is the O18/O16 ratio? How does it tell us about climate change?

·         What are the Mechanisms for climate change? (recall the importance of positive feedbacks):

·         Changes in the Solar Constant (Solar output): Is it increases or decreasing? Does it explain recent warming?

·         Changes in Earth’s Orbit? Milankovitch Theory: Changes in eccentricity, wobble (precession), and variation in title angle over a 96,000-year period.

·         Changes in Land Configuration and Surface Characteristics: Explain continental displacement, mountain ranges, and vegetation changes

• What was this course about?
• List key concepts or themes that kept reoccurring throughout the course.
• What were some connections between the lectures and the labs?
• List and explain key aspects of climate.
• Describe the general geographical distribution of important aspects of climate.
• How does the geographic distribution of “climate” influence the geographic distribution of vegetation?
• Compare and contrast features of the six major biomes.
• How does climate affect vegetation shape, structure, distribution, physiology?
• Explain how feedbacks affect climate.
• Explain how vegetation affects climate.
• Describe some possible feedback connections between climate and vegetation
• Describe the connection between climate, water, and vegetation.
• Describe the connection between climate, temperature, and vegetation.