BIOSC 0370 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Tropical And Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests, Tropical And Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests, Intertropical Convergence Zone
21 Mar 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Life in the tropics: an introduction to tropical forest ecology. Tropical forests = powerhouses of carbon sequestration (store carbon). Tropics are located 23. 5on (tropic of cancer) & 23. 5os (tropic of capricorn) latitudes. Abiotic conditions in the tropics: high intensity insolation (incoming solar radiation), which results in consistent, high average annual temperature. Itcz (intertropical convergence zone) & hadley cells (coriolis effect), which results in dry deserts at 30o and wet rainforests at equator: rapid elevation changes, which results in rapid climatic shifts over a small scale. Coriolis effect: the spinning of the earth shifts winds (apparent deflection) clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere. Hadley cells: warm air rising and cooling at 30 degree latitude. Orographic/rainshadow effect: very moist area on one side of mountain and arid desert on other side. Elevational changes (mountain ranges) due to tectonic uplift, lots of plates colliding. Biomes: areas with similar climatic conditions on earth, both biotically and abiotically.
