BIOL 2Q04 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Beringia, Soil Fertility, Continental Drift

• School: Brock University
• Department: Biological Sciences
• Course: BIOL 2Q04
• Professor: Liette Vasseur

Document Summary

Today: what determines species distributions, what are the important physical factors in terrestrial systems, how is water distributed across the earth, what are the important physical factors in aquatic systems, one home = earth, what determines species. Distributions: physical environment, tolerance limits, biotic interactions, food, predators, competitors, parasites, diseases. 51% of solar radiation reaches the surface of the earth: the remaining solar radiation is primarily reflected and scattered by the atmosphere and clouds. Range: climate as a key component of the physical environment, temperature, precipitation, soils. Seasonal variation in temperature: driven by the tilt of the. Earth"s a(cid:454)is relati(cid:448)e to the sun: which is why we have seasons, the equator stays the same, earth is tilted on a 33- degree angle. Latitudinal variation in temperature: driven by the angle of the sun rays relative to the earth surface. Latitudinal variation in precipitation: driven by the global air circulation, mid-latitude desertification, world"s largest desert are arou(cid:374)d.