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GEOG 203: FINAL EXAM
Alexander VonHumboldt |
father of biogeography
saw vegetation as a whole, rather than small parts of botany |
abiotic |
impact of physical environment |
biotic |
impact of biology; inherent characteristics
barrier of transportation |
Niche Concept |
habitat(s) a particular plant/animal is most suited for; range
environmental variable (x), species response (y)
zone of optimum
zone of stress
zone of intolerance |
chipmunk distribution case |
2 species can live in same areas, but one takes over 1 section and the other takes over the other section and they are very mildly mixed in the middle; based on biotic characteristics |
mountain vegetation |
more like tundra at top
middle--low trees
bottom tropical (Costa Rica) |
population |
... |
community |
populations interacting together
-combination of species |
ecosystem |
communities and environment interacting together
-climate factors and living things; varying sizes; overlap
**DYNAMIC |
photosynthesis |
fundamental process of turning water and carbon dioxide into glucose, water, & oxygen |
biome |
ecosystems interacting
formed by temperature & precipitation similarities |
biodiversity |
many types of flora/fauna
highest in warmer/wetter regions: tropical rainforest |
all organisms need |
water
sunlight/heat/energy |
island diversity |
increases with size
decreases with distance from mainland |
latitudinal gradient affect on biodiversity |
higher latitudes= lower biodiversity; more in southern hemisphere than northern hemisphere |
history of ecosystems |
65million years ago: Tertiary pd=mostly warm, rainforests
1.6million years ago: Quaternary pd=mostly cold, glacial
forests fragmented over time b/c tectonic plate movement |
invasive exotic species |
species not native to land better at competing & stay around
Kudzu
Chinese Tallow
Tamarisk |
anthropogenic disturbances |
people-caused |
disturbance |
mass even that kills vegetation
resets succession
maintains habitats
maintains species diversity
create landscape patterns |
succession |
recovery of vegetation after a disturbance |
climax vegetation |
self-replacing community (instead of new, more developed/evolved species) |
serotinous cones |
cones only open with heat & distribute seeds |
forest fire frequency |
humans decrease natural fires; must prescribe fires to maintain some habitats/species |
denudation |
processes that degrade or strip down the landscape; anything that causes weathering/erosion |
relief |
change in geomorphology/elevation |
geomorphology |
science of landforms
origin, elevation, form, spatial distribution |
landforms are consequences of |
tectonic plate movement
denudational processes wear down/rearrange (erosion & deposition) |
differential weathering |
everything weathers at a different rate b/c everything is composed differently |
ridges |
formed by resistant rocks such as sandstone;
have steeper angled slopes |
valleys |
formed by less resistant rocks like shale |
resisting framework |
rocks that are in place on the landscape, often having been uplifted to high elevations by plate tectonic processes |
karst |
geological formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer of soluble bedrock (limestone)
features sinkholes; limited surface water
cockpit karst (like mattress egg shells)
tower kart (rapid rates of weathering in humid envt--China) |
mass wasting |
slope movement/mass movement
soil, sand, regolith, & rock move downslope under the force of gravity/cohesion/friction
**gravity as an agent of denudation |
erosion |
wearing away |
deposition |
drop-off after being carried away |
ingredients for mass wasting |
big, steep mountain
great tectonic activity, shattered rocks (loose rocks)
climate: occasional heavy winter rainstorms; vegetation=drought-tolerant; don't lose much water; mountain climate
fire |
colluvium |
deposit that is a consequence of mass-wasting
example=rocks at mountain bottom
typically unsorted |
angle of repose |
maximum slope where "safe" from mass wasting |
factor of safety |
how likely a slope is to fail
=strength/stress
best further away from 1 |
talus slope |
type of colluvium; fragment of rock broken off |
debris avalanche |
increases speed with slide; breaks apart and becomes fluid |
creep slide |
slow movement; evident by leaning of items on hillside |
solifluction lobe (Sweden) |
ice top layer falls out; soil moving down slope atop permafrost;
slow tundra environment |
Huascaran, Andes 1970 |
jumped 1000ft ridge; Yungay town in lowlands covered by debris |
gradient |
angle of stream
slope |
velocity |
speed/flow rate of stream
rapidness; greatest at coastal plains b/c turbulence is low |
discharge |
volume of stream
width*depth*velocity=Q |
cross-sectional area |
area in section of a stream (width/depth) |
hydrograph |
bar graph of amount of rainfall during event |
hyetograph |
line graph of discharge during/after rainfall event
flashy for urban areas; subdued for rural areas (due to amount of vegetation in the way flow) |
drainage basin |
collection area for water (first order basin nested inside 2nd order basin...)
sloping landscapes |
dendritic drainage pattern |
efficient water delivery |
trelis drainage pattern |
on valleys |
parallel drainage pattern |
eroded down rapidly |
deranged drainage pattern |
glaciers melt back |
watershed |
line separating drainage basins;
usually for smaller streams
Continental Divide=major |
hydraulic action |
water's movement picking up rocks; power |
abrasion |
water scrapes because of contact (stream pushes load along bed) |
solution |
dissolved load in stream |
base level |
gravity/streams cut down to this; ultimate=sea level |
load |
what streams carry
bed=bottom
suspended=within, tumbling
dissolved=within but unseen |
alluvium |
stream deposition as velocity decliens
along stream bed & along middle & sides of stream
|
point bar |
arc where stream meanders |
undercut bank |
where stream begins to form closed horseshoe |
oxbow lake |
created when stream cuts off "longer" route
horseshoe shape |
alluvial fans |
fluvial and mass wasting denudation
dry areas
stream sorts load & settles at mountain base like a fan |
delta |
stream slows toward ocean/gulf
stream deposits alluvium near coast & settles at mouth of river
expands coastline slowly
birdfoot or delta/triangle-shaped |