BIO330H5 Lecture Notes - Intertropical Convergence Zone, Alpine Tundra, Cool Air
Document Summary
Chapter 52: ecology and the distribution of life. Ecology: scientific study of the rich and varied interactions between organisms and their environment. Communities: embracing all the organisms living together in the same area. Ecosystems: embracing all organisms in an area plus their physical environment. Biosphere: system that embraces all regions of the planet where organisms live. Environment: encompasses both abiotic and biotic factors. Climate of a region is the average of the atmospheric conditions found over a long term. Weather is the short-term state of those conditions. Climates vary greatly because different places receive different amounts of solar energy. Every place on earth receives the same total number of hours of sunlight but not the same amount of solar energy; this depends primarily on the angle of sunlight. Higher latitudes experience greater variation in both day length and the angle or arriving solar energy over the course of a year = greater seasonal variation in temperature.