CHAPTER 23: Terrestrial Ecosystems Buttresses

Biomes - Large trees with plank-like outgrowths

- Classified according to predominant plant type - Prop roots to support trees rooted in shallow soil that offer
- May be: poor anchorage
• Tropical forest Soil Classification
• Temperature forest - Oxisols

• Conifer Forest (Taiga/Boreal Forest) • Deeply weathered and no distinct horizon

• Desert - Ultisols

• Tropical Savanna • More seasonal precipitation

• Temperate Grasslands - Andosols

• Chaparral (shrublands) • Ash deposits quickly weather

• Tundra Characteristics:
- Warm, moist conditions
Robert Whittaker - Rapid leaching
- Plotted biome types on gradients of annual temperature and - Strong chemical weathering
precipitation - Decomposers consume dead organic matter rapidly
- Pattern: Dry Tropical Forests
• Mean annual precipitation declines with decreasing - Undergo dry season based on latitude
temperature - Influenced by Intertropical Convergence Zone

23.1 Terrestrial Ecosystems Reflect Adaptation of the 23.3 Tropical Savannas Are Characteristic of Semiarid
Dominant Plant – Life Form Regions with Seasonal Rainfall
Leaves classified based on Longevity Savanna
- Deciduous – lives for a year - Treeless areas of South America
• Based on Dormancy - Array of vegetation and open grassland, shrubs, trees
Winter—deciduous - Moisture controls density of woody vegetation
- Temperate areas • Function of rainfall
Drought—deciduous - Seasonality in precipitation
- Tropical areas - Max temperatures occur at end of wet season
- Evergreen – lives beyond a year Soils in Savannas
• Broadleaf Evergreen Leaf - Nutrient – Poor Oxisol — Deficient in Phosphorus
No distinct growing season where photosynthesis and - Alfisols
growth continue year round - Entisols — Driest savannas
• Needle – Leaf Evergreen
Growing season is very short Fire adapted, grass cover with or without woody vegetation
Nutrient availability constrains photosynthesis always present
Adapted for survival Savannas 2-Layer Vertical Structure
**Deciduous plants do not incur additional cost of maintenance - Ground cover of grasses
and respiration when conditions restrict photosynthesis 
 - Presence of shrubs or trees
Tropical Savannas
23.2 Tropical Forests Characterize the Equatorial Zone
- Controlled by precipitation, changes soil moisture
Tropical Rainforest
- Largely herbivores
- Latitudes 10oN and 10oS
• Ungulates
- Warm temperatures
- Many insects
- Amazon Rainforest
• Largest and most continuous region
23.4 Grassland Ecosystems of the Temperate Zone Vary
- Mean Temperature: 18oC
With Climate and Geography
- Minimum Precipitation: 60mm
Natural grasslands
- Midlatitude in midcontinental regions where annual
5 Vertical Layers in Tropical Rainforests: precipitation declines
- Emergent Trees o Upper Canopy o Lower Canopy - Intervention of fire and human activity
- Shrub Understory • Shrunk to less than 12% of their original size
- Ground Layer of Herbs and Ferns
Temperate grassland Grasslands accumulate a layer of mulch that retains
- Recurring drought moisture and turnovers fine roots
Native Grasslands distinguished by height: - Depending on history and degree of grazing and fire
- Tallgrass Prairie
• Dominated by big bluestem Soils in Grassland:
- Mixed-grass prairie - Mollisols

• Great Plains • Thick dark-brown to black surface

• Composed of needle-grama grass • Rich in organic matter
• Grading into desert Productivity of Temperate Grasslands
- Shortgrass Prairie - Related to annual precipitation

• Buffalo grass and forming blue grama

Desert Grassland 23.5 Deserts Represent a Diverse Group of Ecosystems
- With three-awn grass replaces buffalo grass o Annual Arid Regions/Deserts
Grassland - 15oand 30o latitude
• Central valley of California Tropical Deserts
• Rainy winters and hot, dry summers - ITCZ subsides to form high-pressure cells dominating climate
Steppes Temperate Deserts
- Treeless, except for ribbons and patches of forest - Lie in rain shadow of mountain
- Divided into 4 belts of latitude - Lack of precipitation
- Grasslands in Eurasia - High temp summer, below freezing in winter
Pampas Sahara Desert
- Major Grasslands in South Hemisphere - World’s largest desert in North Africa
- Africa and S. America
- Forage grasses and alfalfa Arid Coastal Regions
Velds - Cold ocean currents affect its development
- Southern Africa Deserts of South Africa has 3 Regions:
- Eastern Part of a High Plateau - Karoo
- Namib Desert
Australia has 4 types of grasslands: - Kalahari Desert
- Arid Tussock Grassland (north; more 20cm of rainfall)
- Arid Hummock Grasslands (less 20cm rainfall) There are both hot and cold deserts
- Coastal Grasslands (tropical summer) Cold Deserts
- Subhumid Grasslands (coastal areas) - Great Basin of North America
- Gobi
Animals in Grasslands: - Takla Makan
- Ungulates - Turkestan deserts of Asia
• Eg. Bisons and antelopes
- Burrowing animals 2 Main Vegetations in the Desert:
Eurasian Steppes and Argentine Pampas - Sagebrush
- Lacks large ungulates • Forms pure stands
- Has camels - Shadscale
Grasslands evolve over selective pressures of grazing • C4 species
- Grazing stimulates primary production - Chenopods
Major Consumption in grasslands are from: • Halophytes – tolerant of saline soils 

- Nematodes (belowground)
3 Strata in Grassland: Hot Deserts Range from Lacking Vegetation to Combination
- Crowns, Nodes and Rosettes of Plants hugging soil of Chenopods
- Ground Layer Drought – evading plants
- Belowground Root Layer - Produce seeds when moisture and temperature are favorable
• Half the total plant biomass Drought – evading animals
- Develop annual cycle of estivation or dormant state
Desert Plants Chaparral
- Usually deep-rooted woody shrubs - Without fire it grows taller and denser
Desert Ecosystems • Fuel loads of leaves and twigs
- Support rich animal life - Dry season; explodes when ignited
- Herbivores are generally opportunists Animals (from parallel and convergent evolution)
- Animals practice omnivory - Bird species
Primary Productivity is low - Lizard Species
- Infrequent rainfall Topography and Geology
- High rates of evaporation limit water availability - Diversity of soil conditions
Islands of Fertility Soils:
- Underneath plants in desert - Alfisols
- Higher litter input and enrichment by wastes from animals • Deficient in nutrients
- Litter decomposition is limited by low temperatures

23.6 Mediterranean Climates Support Temperate
Shrublands 23.7 Forest Ecosystems Dominate the Wetter Regions of
Shrublands the Temperate Zone
- Shrub growth either dominant or codominant Forest Ecosystems
- Fire is a frequent hazard - Dominated by broadleaf deciduous trees
Shrub - Southern Hemisphere
- Plant with multiple woody • temperate evergreen forests become predominant
- Persistent stems Asiatic Broadleaf Forest
- No central trunk - Presence reflects transition into Mediterranean region
Broadleaf Deciduous Forests
5 Regions of Mediterranean Ecosystems - Temperate regions
- North America - Autumn colors of foliage
- Central Chile Deciduous Forests
- Cape area of South Africa - 4 vertical layers or strata
- Southwestern Australia • Upper canopy
Mediterranean Climate With dominant tree species
- Hot, dry summers • Lower tree canopy/understory
- At least 1 month of drought and cool moist winters • Shrub Layer
Plants generally are: • Ground layer of herbs, ferns and mosses
- dwarf trees known as sclerophyllous - Greatest concentration and variety of life is below the ground
layer
• small leaves, thickened cuticles, hairs
Soil Type:
• sunken stomata
- Alfisols
all characteristics for reduced water loss from the hot
dry weather • With glacial materials
- broadleaf evergreen shrubs - Inceptisols
- Ultisols
Largest area of Mediterranean Ecosystem forms a
discontinuous belt around the Mediterranean Sea 23.8 Conifer Forests Dominate the Cool Temperate and
Fynbos Boreal Zones
- The vegetation is Mediterranean zone in southern Africa Conifer Forests
Mallee - Dominated by Needle – leaf evergreen trees
- Mediterranean shrub community in Australia Sequoia
- Dominated by Eucalyptus - Largest tree of all
Chaparral - Grows in scattered groves on California Sierra
- California, North America Boreal Forest or Taiga
- Sclerophyllous - Largest Expanse of Conifer Forest
- Dominated by scrub oak - Largest vegetation formation on Earth
Mediterranean shrublands
- Lack understory and ground litter
- Highly flammable
3 Major Vegetation Zones of Taiga Solifluction Terraces/ Flowing Soil
- Forest – Tundra Ecotone - Downward flow of supersaturated soil over permafrost
• Open stands of spruce, lichens and moss • This rounds ridges and irregularities in topography
- Open Lichen Woodland - Cryoplanation
• Lichens and black spruce • Molding of landscape by frost action
- Main Boreal Forest • (the rounding of ridges and irregularities of topography)

Boreal Forest/Taiga Animals:

- Region of cold lakes, bogs, rivers and alder thickets - Species tend to be low and growth is slow
- Under the controlling influence of permafrost - Invertebrates concentrated near surface
• Impedes infiltration and maintains high soil moisture - Mostly have herbivores
• Caribou
- Fire recurs in Taiga Extensive grazers
• provides a seedbed for regeneration of trees - Spread out in tundra
• Light fires favors hardwood species • Musk ox
• Severe fires eliminate hardwood competition and favor Intensive grazers
spruce and jack pine 
 - Restricted to more localized areas
regeneration - Major arctic carnivore:
• Wolf
Permafrost
- Frozen subsurface that may be hundred meters deep
Plants:
- Forces all water to remain and move above it - Low ground is covered with grasses, sedges, sphagnum etc
Interior Alaska and Central Siberia - Photosynthetically active, 3 months out of the year
- Driest winters and greatest seasonal fluctuations - Maximizes photosynthesis during the 24-hour day period
- Max 100oC fluctuations - Most tundra vegetation is underground
Boreal Forests
- Unique animal community
Alpine tundra
- Caribou - Found at lower latitudes, occurs in higher mountains
- Elk — Largest of all deer - Little permafrost
- Nesting ground for migratory neotropical birds - High elevation
- Low net primary productivity - Soils are drier
• Limited by low nutrients - Precipitation, snowfall, humidity is higher than Arctic Tundra
• Cool temperatures - Steep topography induces a rapid runoff of water
• Short growing season
• Rates of decomposition are slow under cold, wet conditions

23.9 Low Precipitation and Cold Temperatures Define the

Arctic Tundra
Tundra
- Top of Northern Hemisphere
- Frozen plain in sedges, heaths and willows with lakes and
crossed by streams
- Finnish for tunturi which means a tree-less plain
Arctic Tundra
- Falls into 2 broad types:
• Tundra with 100% plant cover and wet to moist soil
• Polar Desert with less than 5% cover with dry soil
Conditions unique to arctic tundra are the product of 3
interacting sources:
- Permanently frozen deep layer of permafrost
- Overlying active layer of organic matter and mineral soil
• Soil thaws each summer and freezes in winter
- Vegetation reduces warming and retards thawing in summer