BIOL 4120: Principles of Ecology

Lecture 4: Adaptation to Physical

Environment: Climate, Water, and
Soil
Dafeng Hui
Office: Harned Hall 320
Phone: 963-5777
Email: dhui@tnstate.edu
Topics:

4.1 Global patterns in temperature and precipitation are

established by solar radiation
4.2 Ocean currents redistribute heat
4.3 Seasonal variation in climate
4.4 Changes in water density drive seasonal cycles in
temperate lakes
4.5 Climate and weather undergo irregular and often
unpredicted changes
4.6 Topographic features cause local variation in climate
4.7 Climate and soil
 4.1 Global patterns in temperature and
precipitation are established by solar
radiation

Tropic of Cancer (latitude 23.5ºN), & Tropic of Capricorn (23.5ºS) defined by

extreme latitudes at which sun is directly overhead annually--summer &
winter solstice, respectively. This corresponds with 23.5º angle of tilt of
Earth. Thus “solar equator” (region of maximum solar input) moves relative
to latitude seasonally.
Tilt of the earth’s axis causes seasonal
variation in climate

Autumnal Equinox

Vernal Equinox

Tropic of Capricorn of Cancer

The distribution of solar energy with respect to
latitude

• Compare a temperate
region with a tropical
region
• Much greater variation
in temperate region
• Poles are not included
but see high altitude
Energy input to
atmosphere & Earth’s
surface via solar
radiation drives the
annual T: maximal at
equator, & declines to
40% of maximal
values at high
latitudes.
Temperature influences moisture content of
air
Evaporation: liquid to vapor
Condensation: from water
vapor to liquid
Vapor pressure: amount of
pressure water vapor exerts
independent of pressure of
dry air.
Saturated vapor pressure:
vapor pressure of air at
saturation (Equilibrium VP).
Absolute humidity; amount
of water in a given volume
of air.
Relative humidity: RH
3.3 Air masses circulate globally

The blanket of air surrounds the planet – atmosphere – is not static

It is in a constant state of movement, driven by the rising and sinking of air

masses and the rotation of the Earth on its axis.
Coriolis effect:
Deflection in the pattern of air
flow.
Clockwise movement in N
hemisphere, counterclockwise in
S. Hemisphere.

• Three cells and trade wind belts

• These air movements create

global precipitation pattern
Major latitudinal displacements of surface air currents: convection currents drive
Hadley cells, pulling air at surface into Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, ITCZ);
Ferrel Cells driven by low pressure zone at 20º-30º lat.; Midlatitude westerlies
converge into jet stream; polar cells driven by high pressure (cold) flows out of
polar region along Earth’s surface towards south.
Intertropical
convergence
and
subtropical
high-pressure
belt (arid
zone)
4.4 Latitudinal shifting of the sun’s
zenith causes seasonal variation in
precipitation
(e.g., Intertropical Convergence Zone shift)

Shifts of ITCZ
produce rainy
seasons and dry
seasons in the
tropics
Seasonal climate
patterns differ among
subtropical localities

A: Chihuahuan Desert (summer

rainy season)

B. Sonoran Desert (rainfall in

summer and winter, from Pacific
Ocean)

C. Majave Desert (winter rain,

summer dry: Mediterranean
climate)
4.5 Ocean currents redistribute heat

• Ocean currents also affect climate, sometimes very dramatically (source of energy
movement)
• Each ocean is dominated by great circular water movement, or gyres. Gyres move
clockwise in the N. Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the S. Hemisphere (Coriolis
effect).
• Warmer water moves away from equator and cold water moves towards equator.
Upwelling and biological productivity
 Thermohaline
circulation

Two layers
Thin warm
layer 18 oC
Deep cold
layer 3 oC

Ocean Water Currents are Determined by Salinity and Temperature

Cold and High Saline Water Sinks and Warm Water Rises
Rising and Sinking of Water Generates Ocean Currents
Ocean Currents Have Huge Impacts on Temperature & Rainfall on Land
This process occurs over hundreds of years
4.6 Temperature-induced changes in water density
drive seasonal cycles in temperate lakes
Turnover of water and
nutrient during spring
and fall
4.7 Climate and weather undergo irregular
and often unpredictable changes

Irregular variations (Little Ice Age: cooling

between mid-14 to mid-19th century)

(El Nino and La Nina)

El Nino: an abnormal warming of surface ocean
waters in the eastern tropical Pacific.
El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO): An
oscillation in the surface pressure between the
southeastern tropic Pacific and the Australian-
Indonesian regions.
Indonesia
Peru

Normal conditions, strong trade winds move surface

water westward. As the surface currents move westward,
the water warms. The warmer water of the western
Pacific causes the moist maritime air to rise and cool,
bringing abundant rainfall to the region;
Indonesia
Peru

ENSO: Trade winds slacken, reducing the westward

flow of the surface currents. Rainfall follows the warm
water eastward, with associated flooding in Peru and
drought in Indonesia and Australia.
La Nina: injection of cold water becomes
more intense than usual, causing the
surface of eastern Pacific to cool. Results
in droughts in South America and heavy
rainfall in Australia.
Values below
0 are El Nino
years
 Zimbabwe

Area affected by ENSO in one typical El Nino year in Zimbabwe (Dry

and warm)
4.8 Topography influences regional and
local patterns of precipitation
• Rain shadow:
Maui, Hawaiian Islands.
10 oN

Many trees in the rain

shadow on the Pacific
slope of Panama shed
their leaves during
the dry season
4.8 Microclimates

Microclimates defines the local, small

scale conditions in which organisms live.

These conditions include: topography

(aspect=direction a slope face, surface or
underground, beneath vegetation or not),
light, temperature, air conditions or wind
movement, moisture etc.
Vegetation also moderate microclimates.
• Most organisms exist in a microclimate that is optimal
• Scale of climate in hundreds of kilometers
• Scale of microclimate can vary from meters to
kilometers to tens of kilometers

San Gabriel
Mountains, near Los
Angeles, CA.

North facing
slope( left): pine-oak
forest

South facing slope

(right): drought-
resistant chaparral
vegetation.
 Life zones along mountain slope due to
adiabatic cooling (6oC/1km)
Lower Sonoran Zone, Upper Sonoran Zone, Upper edge, Transition Zone, Canadian, Alpine

Vegetation changes with increasing elevation in the mountains of Arizona

Saguaro catus->Agave and grasses  Oaks and grasses ponderosa pine
spurce and fir  bushes, willows, herbs and lichens (above tree lines)
 BIOL 4120: Principles of Ecology
Lecture 4: Adaptation to Physical
Environment: Climate, Water, and
Soil
Dafeng Hui
Office: Harned Hall 320
Phone: 963-5777
Email: dhui@tnstate.edu
Recap:

Ocean currents redistribute heat

Water cycling in temperate lakes
Irregular and often unpredicted changes
Local climate and microclimate

Climate and soil

4.9 Climate and the underlying bedrock
interact to diversify soils

Soil profile

Layers or
horizons

Organic Layer
Topsoil
Subsoil
Soil Horizon
4.10 Basic Soil Formation Processes
Produce Different Soils
• Regional differences in geology, climate, and
vegetation give rise to characteristically different soils
• Weathering is a process that soils are formed
• Five factors influencing weathering process: climate,
parent material, vegetation, local topography, and age
• The broadest level of soil classification is soil order
There are twelve orders of soil

• Entisol • Histosol
• Mollisol • Oxisol
• Alfisol • Vertisol
• Andisol • Spodosol
• Aridisol • Ultisol
• Inceptisol • Gelisol
 Ultisol (Laterization)

• Ultisol
• Warm climate soil
• Redish or yellowish
• Low nutrient content

Laterization: when PPT greatly exceeds ET in warm climates, water rapidly

percolated through soil and into groundwater. Soluble soil nutrients are constantly
leached out of soils, leaving behind the less soluble ions (Al+++ and Fe++) which give
soil color (whitish for Al and red for Fe) and H+ make soil acidic and nutrient poor.
Highly oxidized and deeply weathered soils in West
Tennessee.
Aridisol (Salinization)

Salinization: in very dry climates and

when loss of soil moisture due to ET
exceeds PPT, water leaves the soil
through the surface. The minerals
(NaCl) dissolved move upward from the
groundwater and result in a salt crust
on the surface of the soil.

Irrigation of dryland can result

salinization. This becomes a problem in
US southwest, Australia, Northern
Africa, China, and major areas of
dryland irrigation.
 Spodosols (Podsolization)

• Spodosols
• Cool moist regions
• Acid, shallow leaching
horizon
• Deep layer of deposition,
lower soil fertility
Podsolization: In acidic soils in cool
moist regions of the temperate zone,
clay particles break down in the E
horizon and their soluble irons are
transported downward and deposited
in the lower B horizon, reduce the
fertility of the upper layer of the soil.
 Soil Types

Alfisols, Ardisols, Entisols, Histosols, Inceptisols, Mollisols, oxisols/andisols, spodosols,

ultisols, Vertisols
The End