1. Hierarchy of Complexity
_The biosphere is the thin life-bearing outer layer of the Earth. It extends from the deepest parts of the ocean to miles high into the atmosphere. It is very large and very complex. To study the relationships in nature, ecologists (scientists who study ecology) investigate different levels of organization or smaller pieces of the biosphere. The levels increase in complexity as the numbers and interactions between organisms increase, which is why it is called the hierarchy of complexity.
The levels of organization are:
· Individual organism - the lowest level of organization is the organism itself - one organism of one (any) species; an example can be one elk (as in the picture above) or one pine tree or one bacteria
· Population - the number of organisms of a single species that occupies a certain area at a certain time;
for example, the population of betta fish in our classroom yesterday was 2; the population of humans in our classroom on Tuesday, Dec. 4th during 3rd & 4th period was __ (and zero on the same day at 10 pm);
· Biological community - a group of interacting populations that occupy the same area at the same time
For example, the populations interacting in our classroom last week during one Intermediate Science class included 16 humans, one individual ivy plants, a grey tree frog, fruit flies (consuming our rotting apple), a fungus that was decomposing the swan neck gourd, several fish of 4 different species, and a few box elder bugs we didn't count. Note that I specified the different populations of each species present in a particular location (our classroom) at a particular time (last week during one Intermediate Science class). Note also that I did NOT include any abiotic components.
· Ecosystem - a biological community AND all the abiotic factors that affect it
Abiotic factors include many things, such as temperature, precipitation, availability of water, air, light, and other non-living features such as rocks, soil, mountains etc.
It's important to note that an ecosystem can be as small as the little pond at the end of the drainpipe or the soles of your feet and as big as a forest growing on a mountainside. Ecosystems have no strictly defined boundary, and they can overlap with other ecosystems (just as a turtle that is part of a river ecosystem might leave the river to lay her eggs in a grassy riverbank and become part of the grassland ecosystem).
Using our classroom as an example, we could list all the populations in the biological community AND the abiotic factors such as the temperature (determined by how we set the thermostat), precipitation (none-unless the roof leaks), amount of sunlight or electric light, the walls and floor and furniture in the classroom, the glass of the windows, the water coming through the faucet and every other abiotic thing that is in our classroom. Another example could be the prairie next to our playground and say the time frame is the last 6 months - the biological community would include different species of bacteria, worms, various species of birds, deer, fox, humans, different species of flowering grasses and plants etc. and the abiotic parts would include the average temperature, the amount of sunlight and precipitation, the air, the slope of the hill and the soil and rocks that make up the hill etc.
· Biome - large geographic areas on the planet that have two things in common: 1) they share the same climate and 2) have similar, but not necessarily identical types of plant/animal communities; biomes can be in very different locations, even on different continents, but still belong to the same biome
Look below for a section that describes biomes in more detail
· Biosphere - the thin life-bearing outer layer of the Earth that extends from the deepest parts of the ocean to miles high into the atmosphere
"bio" is latin for life and "sphere" is geometric shape similar to a ball or the earth.
The levels of organization are:
· Individual organism - the lowest level of organization is the organism itself - one organism of one (any) species; an example can be one elk (as in the picture above) or one pine tree or one bacteria
· Population - the number of organisms of a single species that occupies a certain area at a certain time;
for example, the population of betta fish in our classroom yesterday was 2; the population of humans in our classroom on Tuesday, Dec. 4th during 3rd & 4th period was __ (and zero on the same day at 10 pm);
· Biological community - a group of interacting populations that occupy the same area at the same time
For example, the populations interacting in our classroom last week during one Intermediate Science class included 16 humans, one individual ivy plants, a grey tree frog, fruit flies (consuming our rotting apple), a fungus that was decomposing the swan neck gourd, several fish of 4 different species, and a few box elder bugs we didn't count. Note that I specified the different populations of each species present in a particular location (our classroom) at a particular time (last week during one Intermediate Science class). Note also that I did NOT include any abiotic components.
· Ecosystem - a biological community AND all the abiotic factors that affect it
Abiotic factors include many things, such as temperature, precipitation, availability of water, air, light, and other non-living features such as rocks, soil, mountains etc.
It's important to note that an ecosystem can be as small as the little pond at the end of the drainpipe or the soles of your feet and as big as a forest growing on a mountainside. Ecosystems have no strictly defined boundary, and they can overlap with other ecosystems (just as a turtle that is part of a river ecosystem might leave the river to lay her eggs in a grassy riverbank and become part of the grassland ecosystem).
Using our classroom as an example, we could list all the populations in the biological community AND the abiotic factors such as the temperature (determined by how we set the thermostat), precipitation (none-unless the roof leaks), amount of sunlight or electric light, the walls and floor and furniture in the classroom, the glass of the windows, the water coming through the faucet and every other abiotic thing that is in our classroom. Another example could be the prairie next to our playground and say the time frame is the last 6 months - the biological community would include different species of bacteria, worms, various species of birds, deer, fox, humans, different species of flowering grasses and plants etc. and the abiotic parts would include the average temperature, the amount of sunlight and precipitation, the air, the slope of the hill and the soil and rocks that make up the hill etc.
· Biome - large geographic areas on the planet that have two things in common: 1) they share the same climate and 2) have similar, but not necessarily identical types of plant/animal communities; biomes can be in very different locations, even on different continents, but still belong to the same biome
Look below for a section that describes biomes in more detail
· Biosphere - the thin life-bearing outer layer of the Earth that extends from the deepest parts of the ocean to miles high into the atmosphere
"bio" is latin for life and "sphere" is geometric shape similar to a ball or the earth.
2. What is climate?
To learn more about climate click on the image above.
As Mark Twain once said, "Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get."
Here's what scientists say: Climate is the average temperature and precipitation in a location for the last 30 years.
Precipitation can be in the form of rainfall, fog and mist, snow, sleet etc.
There are 3 major climate types:
Temperate climate: characterized by warm summers and cold winters
Polar climate: No true summer; cool to very cold temperatures
Tropical climate: No true winter; hot to warm or mild temperatures
Within these major climate zones, there are regions where there is a lot of precipitation (like the rainforest) and regions where there is very little precipitation (like the desert or the tundra). This combination of temperature and availability of water determines what kinds of plants grow and what types of animals live there. (You wouldn't find a snowy owl living in the tropical rainforest, but you would find it living in the tundra and the boreal forests of North America and Northern Europe and Northern Asia).
Here's what scientists say: Climate is the average temperature and precipitation in a location for the last 30 years.
Precipitation can be in the form of rainfall, fog and mist, snow, sleet etc.
There are 3 major climate types:
Temperate climate: characterized by warm summers and cold winters
Polar climate: No true summer; cool to very cold temperatures
Tropical climate: No true winter; hot to warm or mild temperatures
Within these major climate zones, there are regions where there is a lot of precipitation (like the rainforest) and regions where there is very little precipitation (like the desert or the tundra). This combination of temperature and availability of water determines what kinds of plants grow and what types of animals live there. (You wouldn't find a snowy owl living in the tropical rainforest, but you would find it living in the tundra and the boreal forests of North America and Northern Europe and Northern Asia).
To remember the difference between weather (what's happening today) and climate (the average temperature and precipitation over the last 30 years, use the following quote:
"Weather is your mood, but climate is your personality" unknown author
3. The problem with biomes....(or, science is sometimes messy)
_Scientists all agree that biomes are groups of ecosystems that share the same climate and plant/animal communities. For example, all the earth's tropical rainforests ecosytems together make up the rainforest biome.
But scientists don't all agree on what is a biome and what is not. For example, some scientists argue that the extreme polar regions in Antarctica and the Arctic are not biomes because there are no plants, even though there are animals. As it turns out, recently discovered evidence now shows there are 3 species of plants hidden in Antartica's mountains, so perhaps they will revise their thinking about whether it can be called a biome!
Some scientists also argue about whether to call mountains a biome. Those who do not call mountains a biome argue that as you go to higher elevations you can move through various biomes (such as grassland to boreal forest to tundra). I personally agree with those who say that mountains are not biomes.
And then there are scientists who disagree as to whether aquatic (marine & freshwater) ecosystems should be called biomes. There are good arguments for both cases.
To make it even messier....Scientists also do not have the same naming system for the world's biomes. For example, some scientists call a boreal forest a 'taiga', even though they are the same thing. This is the same as me calling the same plant a Queen Anne's lace and you calling it a 'wild carrot'. Both are correct even though we use different names.
So what do we do??? For our purposes, we will have to accept that as new evidence is found, how we sort out what is and is not a biome will be unclear, EXCEPT that we know biomes are the collection of ecosystems around the world that share the 1) same climate and 2) similar plant and animal communities.
AND we will use the following examples of terrestrial biomes....
But scientists don't all agree on what is a biome and what is not. For example, some scientists argue that the extreme polar regions in Antarctica and the Arctic are not biomes because there are no plants, even though there are animals. As it turns out, recently discovered evidence now shows there are 3 species of plants hidden in Antartica's mountains, so perhaps they will revise their thinking about whether it can be called a biome!
Some scientists also argue about whether to call mountains a biome. Those who do not call mountains a biome argue that as you go to higher elevations you can move through various biomes (such as grassland to boreal forest to tundra). I personally agree with those who say that mountains are not biomes.
And then there are scientists who disagree as to whether aquatic (marine & freshwater) ecosystems should be called biomes. There are good arguments for both cases.
To make it even messier....Scientists also do not have the same naming system for the world's biomes. For example, some scientists call a boreal forest a 'taiga', even though they are the same thing. This is the same as me calling the same plant a Queen Anne's lace and you calling it a 'wild carrot'. Both are correct even though we use different names.
So what do we do??? For our purposes, we will have to accept that as new evidence is found, how we sort out what is and is not a biome will be unclear, EXCEPT that we know biomes are the collection of ecosystems around the world that share the 1) same climate and 2) similar plant and animal communities.
AND we will use the following examples of terrestrial biomes....
Compare the World Biome map to the climate map above and notice that many of the biomes overlap well with the climate types.
For example, look at North Africa on the biome map and you will see that it is desert and desert scrub. Compare the same region to the climate map and you will note that the climate is "dry". |
Mountains & Biomes
When you examine the climate map, you will see that the "Highland climates" "vary with altitude". This means that as you go higher into the mountains, the average temperatures decrease and the amount of precipitation may also vary. When you get to extremely high altitudes, the mountain tops are very similar to a tundra biome, with no trees and plants similar to what you would find in the tundra. But further down the mountain, there may be evergreen trees and that part of the mountain may look more like a boreal (aka taiga) forest biome. Further down the mountain still, you might a climate and organisms that are more like a deciduous forest biome.
On the biome map, they call the mountains "alpine biomes", but in reality, they can be tundra, boreal or tiaga forest, or deciduous forest biomes.
When you examine the climate map, you will see that the "Highland climates" "vary with altitude". This means that as you go higher into the mountains, the average temperatures decrease and the amount of precipitation may also vary. When you get to extremely high altitudes, the mountain tops are very similar to a tundra biome, with no trees and plants similar to what you would find in the tundra. But further down the mountain, there may be evergreen trees and that part of the mountain may look more like a boreal (aka taiga) forest biome. Further down the mountain still, you might a climate and organisms that are more like a deciduous forest biome.
On the biome map, they call the mountains "alpine biomes", but in reality, they can be tundra, boreal or tiaga forest, or deciduous forest biomes.
Investigating the World's Ecosystems and Biomes
The Blue Planet Biome website helps you understand the different types of organisms that occupy the different biomes of the world.
A wonderful website that explains and describes the world's biomes is the Blue Planet Biomes. Click on the image above to go to their biome page. You can click on the names of the biomes and it will take you to information about that particular biome's climate, plants & animals.
|
To learn about the types of plants that live in the different biomes, click on the image above.
The Duckster website also has an informative page on Ecosystems and Biomes
|
To learn about the types of animals that live in the different biomes, click on the image above.
|
Temperate Deciduous Forest
_The temperate deciduous his biome is characterized
by a moderate climate and deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves in the fall).
It once occupied much of the eastern half of the United
States, central Europe, Korea, and China, but has been chopped down throughout the world by humans to make fields for crops. Trees such as maple, beech, oak, hickory and elm live in this biome. Because they lose their leaves and allow more sunlight during certain times of the year, more plants can grow beneath them. Wisconsin is part of this biome. I'm guessing that you can think of many of the plants, herbivores and carnivores that live here.
Virtually Visit some of the world's biomes
IThis is a really fun website where you can virtually visit 5 world biomes. It's call 360 Virtual and when you click on the biome, it takes you on a 360 view tour of that biome, including the plants and animals that can be found and nice descriptions of these biomes. If you have VR goggles, you can try looking at these biomes using them!