4.

Biogeography
a. Basic concepts
b. Biomes (Terrestrial and Aquatic)
c. Climate change
d. Introduced/invasive species
 a. Basic concepts

• Biogeography is the study of past

and present distributions of
individual species
Six biogeographic realms
 Species dispersal contributes to the distribution
of organisms

• Dispersal refers to the process of distribution of

individuals within geographic population boundaries

 Question: Is the distribution of a species limited by dispersal,

i.e. by movement of the organisms?
 Answer can be obtained by transplant experiments

• If the transplant is successful, then the organisms

just haven’t reached the target area
• If the transplant is not successful, then other factors
limit the distribution of the organisms, such as
competitors, lack of a food source, etc
Behavior and habitat selection contribute to
the distribution of organisms

Organisms may not occupy all potentially

suitable habitats. Why?
a. Evolution doesn’t lead to perfect organisms
b. Evolution is an ongoing process. Environments
change, but it takes a while for organisms to
respond
 Biotic factors affect distribution

Organisms required for potential community

members to colonize may be lacking
a. Pollinators, prey, predators that limit
competition
 Abiotic factors affect distribution

• Abiotic factors of interest include:

 Temperature (range from 0 to 45°C)

 Water
 Sunlight
 Depth
 Wind (increases heat & water loss)
 Rocks and soil
 Key Concepts

• Factors influencing weather

• Factors influencing climate
• Effect of climate on distribution of
biomes
• Characteristics of major biome types
 Weather

• Weather - Short-term set of physical

properties of the troposphere at a particular
place and time
• E.g. temperature, pressure, humidity,
precipitation, sunshine, cloud and wind
direction
 Climate

Climate is

• Area’s general pattern (average) of atmospheric

conditions over decades and longer
• Macroclimate: Consists of patterns on the global,
regional, and landscape (multiple ecosystems)
level
• Microclimate: Consists of very fine patterns,
such as those encountered by the community of
organisms underneath a fallen log. Determined
by fine-scale differences in the environment that
affect light and wind patterns
 Climate
is

the average weather patterns for an area over

a long period of time (30 - 1,000,000 years).

It is determined by

Average Precipitation and Average Temperature

which are influenced by

latitude altitude ocean currents

and affects

what they
Fig. 6-5 p. 105 where people live how people live grow and eat
 Climate
is

• Key factors that determine an area’s climate

– Uneven heating of the earth’s surface
– Seasonal changes in temperature and
precipitation Average Temperature

– Rotation of the earth on its axis

– Long-term variations in the amount of
solar energy striking the earth
– Properties of air and water
Fig. 7-2, p. 145
 Cold

Cool Temperate

Warm Temperate

Tropical

(equator)

Tropical

Warm Temperate

Cool Temperate

Cold

Climate type
 How does climate affect the nature and
locations of biomes?
• Differences in average annual precipitation
and temperature lead to the formation of
tropical, temperate, and cold deserts,
grasslands, and forests, and largely determine
their locations
 Climate helps determine where
organisms can live
• Major biomes
– Large land regions with certain types of
climate and dominant plant life
• Not uniform
• Mosaic of patches
• Change with latitude and elevation
 b. Biomes
• Biomes - Major life zones characterized by
vegetation type (terrestrial biomes) or
physical environment (aquatic biomes)
• Climate is very important in determining why
terrestrial biomes are found in certain areas
• Leads to formation of tropical (hot),
temperate (moderate) and polar (cold)
regions – deserts, grasslands and forests
 Terrestrial Biomes
• Often named for major physical or climatic factors
and for vegetation
• Characterized by distribution, precipitation,
temperature, plants, and animals
• Usually grade into each other, without sharp
boundaries which may be wide or narrow
• Climb a tall mountain from its base to the summit,
you’ll see changes as you might as you travel from
the equator to the poles
Figure 5-10
 Biomes Based on Elevation

Elevation Mountain ice

and snow
Tundra (herbs,
lichens,
mosses)
Coniferous
Forest

Deciduous Latitude
Forest

Tropical
Forest
Tropical Deciduous Coniferous Tundra Polar ice
Forest Forest Forest (herbs, and snow
lichens,
mosses)

Stepped Art
Fig. 7-8, p. 153
 30°N
Tropic of
Cancer
Equator
Tropic of Capricorn
30°S

Tropical forest Temperate broadleaf forest

Savanna Northern coniferous forest
Desert Tundra
Chaparral High mountains
Temperate grassland Polar ice
 Desert Biomes
• An area where evaporation > precipitation (< 25 cm)
• Often scattered unevenly throughout the year
• Heat of day bakes the earth causing evaporation of
water from leaves and soil
• Soils have little vegetation and moisture to store the
heat so you can roast during the day and freeze at
night
• Tropical Deserts:
– Hot and dry most of the year; few plants and a hard wind
blown surface of rocks and some sand
• Temperate Deserts:
– Daytime temperatures are high in the summer and low in
winter; more precipitation than in the topical deserts;
drought resistance vegetation - cacti
• Cold Deserts:
– Vegetation is sparse; winters are cold; summers warm or
hot and precipitation is low; plants and animals have
adapted to stay cool and get enough water

Fragile Ecosystem: slow plant growth; low species diversity;

slow nutrient recycling and lack of water
 Convergent Evolution in Biomes
• Similar characteristics can arise in distant biomes through
Convergent Evolution
– For example, cacti in North America and euphorbs in
African deserts appear similar but are from different
evolutionary lineages
 Grassland biomes
• Savannas (tropical grasslands)
• Temperate grasslands
• Tundra grasslands (artic & alpine)
• Chaparral
 Cape buffalo Wildebeest
Beisa oryx
Topi

Warthog Thompson's Waterbuck Grant's zebra

gazelle

Dry Grassland Moist Grassland

Figure 6-23a
 Giraffe

African elephant

Gerenuk

Black rhino

Dik-dik East African Blue duiker Greater Bushbuck

eland kudu

Dry Thorn Scrub Riverine Forest

Figure 6-23b
 Forest biomes
• Tropical rain forests
• Northern coniferous forests
• Temperate broadleaf forests
 Tropical Rain Forests
• Hot temperature, moisture laden air rises
resulting in constant rainfall (200 inches per year)
• Temperature is high year-round (25–29C) with
little seasonal variation
• High Biodiversity: Home to millions of animal
species, including an estimated 5–30 million still
unknown species of insects, spiders, and other
arthropods
• 2% of the land but ½ of world’s species; single tree
can have several thousand insect species
• Dominated by broadleaf evergreen plants; their
dense tops block out most of the sun not reaching
the forest floor
• Ground has little vegetation (those that do have
large leaves); vines (lianas) grow on trees to reach
the sun
• Little wind because of the dense vegetation;
plants depend on bats, birds, bees and other
species for pollination
• Rapid human population growth is now destroying
many tropical forests
 Temperate Broadleaf Forests

• Found at mid-latitudes in the Northern

Hemisphere, with smaller areas in Chile, South
Africa, Australia, and New Zealand
• Significant amounts of precipitation fall during all
seasons as rain or snow
• Winters average 0C; summers are hot and humid
(near 35C)
• Long warm summers, cold but not severe winters
and abundant moisture, often fairly spread
throughout the year
• Dominated by deciduous trees in the Northern
Hemisphere; evergreen eucalyptus in Australia
• Broad-leaf trees: oak, hickory, maple and beech;
survive cold winters by dropping their leaves in
the fall and becoming dormant; each spring, new
leaves form and turn colors in the fall
• Mammals, birds, and insects make use of all
vertical layers in the forest
• Eastern US were home to bears, foxes and pumas
(many have been killed) and the dominant
mammal often is deer
• In the Northern Hemisphere, many mammals
hibernate in the winter
• Impact of human activities: disturbed more than
any other for growing of crops, wood or cities;
within 100-200 years after it’s left undistributed, it
can return to forest
 Northern Coniferous Forests

• Spans northern North America and Eurasia and is

the largest terrestrial biome on Earth
• Cold forests are often found just south of Artic
tundra and above certain altitudes in the High
Sierras or Rockies
• Precipitation varies; some have periodic droughts
and others, especially near coasts, are wet
• Winters are cold; summers may be hot (Siberia
ranges from –50C to 20C)
• Subarctic climate: winters are long, dry and
extremely cold; sunlight may only be available 6-8
hrs; summers are short, with cool to warm
temperatures; sun shines 19 hrs
• Plant diversity is low as few species can survive
the winters when soil moisture is frozen
• Conifers such as pine, spruce, fir, and hemlock
dominate; conical shape of conifers prevents too
much snow from accumulating and breaking their
branches
• Migratory and resident birds; large mammals such
as moose, brown bears, and Siberian tigers
© Cengage Learning 2015
Fig. 7-18, p. 160
 Aquatic ecosystem categorisation

• Oceans and freshwater ecosystems are

divided into zones based on the level of the
two biggest limiting factors
– Sunlight
– Nutrients
 Categories of aquatic life

• Plankton (free floating or weakly swimming)

– Phytoplankton (plant-like, including algae)
– Zooplankton (animal-like, including jelly fish and
single celled protozoa)
• Nekton (strong swimmers and consumers)
– Fish, whales, sea turtles, etc
 Aquatic biomes
Aquatic biomes cover about 75% of the earth’s
surface. Ca. 97% are marine and 3% are freshwater

• Wetlands
• Lakes
• Rivers, streams
• Intertidal zones
• Oceanic pelagic biome
• Coral reefs
• Coastal wetlands
 Major Life Zones in the Ocean
High tide
Low tide Open Sea Sun
Coastal Zone
Sea level

Photosynthesis
Euphotic Zone
Estuarine
Zone
Continental
shelf

Twilight
Bathyal Zone

Abyssal Zone

Biological Zones in
Open Sea:

Darkness
•Euphotic zone
•Bathyal zone
•Abyssal zone
 Estuaries
• Where freshwater and saltwater meet
• Water levels are influenced by tides
• Brackish water
• Highly variable environment
‒ Salinity fluctuates with tides and precipitation
dictated by seasons
‒ Form gradient from the river entrance (oligohaline)
 river mouth
‒ Temperature
‒ Light penetration
• Flat and muddy wetlands
• Slowing of waters causes sediments to be deposited
in mouth of stream
‒ Over time, forming a delta

Sediment plume in an
estuary
• Most productive ecosystem in the world
because:
‒ Tides promote rapid nutrient circulation & remote
waste substances
‒ Minerals input from land streams & river 
estuaries
‒ Shallow waters with high level of light penetration
‒ As nutrient sink from plant decomposition
 Intertidal zone
(transition between land & ocean)
• Aka littoral zone
• The area between the mean low tide and mean
high tide, exposed during low tide
• The subtidal zone is the area that is always
submerged
• Organisms must be able to cope submersion,
exposure and pounding by surf conditions
• Two general types of communities:
1. Rocky-shore communities
2. Soft-bottom (sand to silt or a mixture - mud)
communities
 Splash
Zone

High Tide
Zone

Middle Tide
Zone

Low Tide
Zone
 Intertidal communities

• Epifauna – organisms that live on the

surface of the substrate (e.g. mud snails on
soft bottoms, barnacles on hard substrates)
• Infauna – organisms that live in the
substrate (e.g. clams burrowed in soft
bottoms)
• Meiofauna – organisms that are so small
that they live between the grains of soft
substrate
• These organisms can be sessile or motile
Problems associated with the intertidal zone

• Due to the exposure seen in the intertidal

zone, organisms face a variety of challenges,
including:
– Desiccation
– Temperature changes (can be extreme)
– Salinity changes (can be extreme)
– Interrupted feeding
– Wave action and tides
– Oxygen availability and build-up of CO2
– Limited space
 Adaptations to extreme intertidal
environments
• Mobile organisms can run and hide or clamming up to prevent
dessication and extreme salinity and temperature changes
• Can tolerate wide temperature range
• Some have body ridges to allow heat pass out of shell and
light colors to reflect heat
• Can tolerate wide salinity range (most are euryhaline
compared to subtidal which are normally stenohaline)
• Can breath in air and water
 Giant green sea on Pacific Coast are taller in sheltered areas
but have adapted to areas of heavy wave action by being shorter

Other organisms like this kelp have adapted to wave action by

being flexible
 Coral Reefs
Features
• Formed by accumulated layers of calcium carbonate (CaCO3)
• In warm, tropical waters (>21oC)
• In shallow waters where light penetrates
• Most composed of red coralline algae and symbiotic
zooxanthellae  photosynthesis
• Only corals with zooxanthellae form reefs (tropics)
• In environments with poor nutrients and low productivity
• Most diverse among marine environments
Photographs by David Doubilet Photograph by Enric Sala
Roles
• Provide habitat for a variety of organisms
• Prevent shorelines erosion
• Nutrient cycling and nitrogen fixation
• Carbon sequestration through calcification
• Provide complex food web interactions  rich
resources
• Seafood resources and natural products for
pharmaceutical
• Recreational and tourism
1. Fringing reefs
• Simplest, most common type of reef
• Occur near shore throughout tropics
‒ Form narrow band (fringe) along
shoreline
• Proximity to land  vulnerability to
sedimentation, freshwater runoff,
human influence
 PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID DOUBILET
2. Barrier reefs
• Not always obviously distinct from
fringing reefs
– Often occur farther from shore (up to
100+ km)
• May be sand cays on back reef slope
3. Atoll
• Most common in Indo-West Pacific
‒ Rare in Caribbean, tropical Atlantic
• Usually far from land
‒ Little influence from freshwater runoff,
sedimentation
• Range in size from <1 to 20+ miles in diameter
• Often influenced by trade winds
‒ Differences between windward and leeward sides Photo by Rob McIntyre

‒ Windward: Spur-and-groove, distinct algal ridge

 Photo by @ BrianSkerry Photo by Rico Besserdich

Posted by Alison Barrat Photo by Stephen Alvarez