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Biomes, Screenshot 2025-03-07 at 6.31.00 PM - Coggle Diagram
Biomes
OrgOTD
3/3 Arctic lichen
- Good indicators of pollution and air quality
- They are a fungus and algae in a symbiotic relationship
- Fungus is always present in lichen, algae is from photosynthesis relationship
- Algae provides carbohydrates (algae one of few organisms that can do that)
- Fungus provides protection for the algae
- Mutualism
- Allows them to survive where they wouldn't survive on their own
- Algae can survive free living
- Some fungus have lost their ability to live on its own without the algae
- Is it really mutualism then?
- Fungus is taking advantage and the algae isn't gaining much
- Spectrum of mutualism
- Findings from nuclear tests
- Reindeer feed on lichen in the winter in places like Finland, Sweden, etc
- People in Laplands eat reindeer which become radioactive from lichen, therefore people become radioactive as well
2/28: Muskox
- Lives in Arctic Tundra
- Largest terrestrial herbivore
- Move throughout the year
- Move South during summer and North during winter
- Feed on plants
- More snow cover that prevents them from eating plants
- North of trees the wind blows the snow away allowing them to eat more grass/plants
- Sexual Selection
- Horns -- used to males to fight each other
- Plates on heads that protect male's brains
- Defense
- Stand in a line with strong ones in front and weaker ones behind
- Wolves
- Range
- Southern Asia
- At one point were only in Greenland and Canada
- Population is relatively large these days
3/5: Moose
- Classified as deer
- Elk are as well
- Only species in its genus
- Largest deer in the world
- Range
- Large
- US/Canada and Europe
- In deciduous and coniferous forests
- Adaptations
- Fur is adapted to be in northern/cold areas
- Feet/hooves adapted to walk in the snow
- Hooves lose fingers/toes so they only stand on 2 fingers
- Prevents them from sinking in the snow
- Aquatic
- Feed and cool down in the water
- Close snout in the water
- Predators
- Antlers
- Present in deer family
- Antlers fall every mating season
- Grow and fall off every mating season
- Form of sexual selection
3/7: Gall Wasp
- Lays egg in oak leave, causes it to make gall
- Diverse kinds of galls created
- Lifecycle
- Many species alternate generations
- One generation is only females, asexual reproduction
- Next generation will be sexual
- Oaks are deciduous, so they shed their leaves and wasps will fall with them
- The wasp pupates in the winter so it doesn't have to feed
- Spends the winter in gall
- Why develop in a gall?
- Great protection from predators, very hard to break
- Parasites
- Wasps have a drill like body part that they break into the chamber where the wasp larvae is developing and attach a smaller larvae to it
- Other examples of gall animals
- Goldenrod Gall Fly
- Also has galls on goldenrods in Midwestern prairies
- Galls are common
- Very small and at the root of the plant
- Do galls affect the trees?
- Doesn't seem like they do too much for the trees, no affect to fitness
Tundra
Arctic Tundra
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- Wet in summer
- Low evaporation
- Top layer of frozen soil melts but can't evaporate or sink so it creates a swamp
- Dry in winter
- Upper layer of soil freezes in winter
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- Caused by moraine
- Accumulation of unconsolidated debris previously carried along by a glacier
- Bascom is a moraine!
- Can last for thousands of years
- Growing season for plants is short and growing process is slow
- Permafrost: permanently frozen soil, deeper in the soil
- Small active layer
- Due to moderate summer temperatures, the permafrost doesn't melt causing little plant growth
Low-living plants
- Need to be able to grow under specific conditions:
- Small amounts of soil
- Covered in snow
- Permafrost
- Not a lot of predators
- No reptiles/amphibians
- Insects
- Pollinators
- Mosquitoes
- Lichen
- Reindeer
- Lemming
- Arctic wolf
- Harp seal
- Arctic fox
- Migrating birds
Antarctic Tundra
- Characteristics
- Cold
- Low precipitation
- Seasonally isolated
- Located in Antartica
- Most of it is ice and not tundra
- Low species diversity
- Lots of marine life
- Lichen are largest species group
Alpine Tundra
- Example
- Mt. Kenya
- Basically directly on the Equator
- No geographically specific area
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- Differences between Arctic and Alpine climate
- Seasonality
- Daily temperature changes
- UV radiation
- Giant Senecio in tropical tundra
- Adaptations to deal with temperature changes
- Water inside them keeps temperature regulated and warm
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Coniferous Forests
Boreal Forests
- What is a conifer?
- Group of plants, mostly trees
- Green algae is the base
- Adaptations
- Specialized against fires
- Characteristics
- Cold climate
- Low to moderate precipitation
- Low levels of evaporation
- Cold weather
- Deciduous vs Coniferous
- Dec: broad leave
- Photosynthesizes during the growing season
- Loses its leave each year
- Leaves change color at end of growing season
- Examples: ash, birch, maple, oak, willow
- Con: cone/pines/needles
- Photosynthesizes year round
- Needles stay on year round, can stay for years and years
- Adapted to the cold
- Examples: cedar, fir, juniper, pine, spruce
- 3 sections
- Northern boreal forests
- Between tundra and coniferous forest, transitional
- Central boreal forests
- Southern boreal forests
- Mix of coniferous and deciduous
- Recent development due to glaciers
- Absence of greenery at the base of trees caused by browsing by deer in winter
- Deer shape lots of forests
- Eat seedlings, if they eat too much then the trees can't regrow
- Experiments
- Fenced exclosures to prevent deer from eating the seedlings
- Abundances inside and outside exclosures
- Deer accidents more and more prevalent, dangerous for both parties
- To solve this issue, introduce predators: wolves
- 1978 a breeding pack from MN came to WI
- Conservation has increased to keep deer populations down
- World's largest biome
- Characterized by coniferous forests
- Bogs -- form of wetland
- Water only comes from rain
- Water becomes acidic and low in nutrients
- Slow decomposition, succession is slow
Mountain Forests
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- On mountains, forests are more diverse
- Differences in altitude
- Vallerys retain more moisture
- South facing slopes receive more sunlight in the northern hemisphere
- Different environments created that can suit more species
- Moderate tree diversity and more varied terrains
Temperate Forests
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- Small aspect of the biome as a whole
- Nurse logs: prevent/fight certain diseases in the ground
- Cool summers, not located by the equator
- Mild winters, oceans moderate the temperature
- Not many species found in these forests
- High rainfall causes seedlings to be washed away and prevent/harm regrowth
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Deciduous Forests
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- Loses leaves in the winter
- Why do trees lose their leaves in the winter live in warmer climates?
- Deciduous
- Better at photosynthesizing, more efficient
- Once it becomes cold they lose leaves and biomass
- Coniferous
- Needles photosynthesizing earlier
- Keep needles year round
- Going further South, the growing season is longer
- Enough time for deciduous trees to start later but still be more efficient and keep them above coniferous even after they drop their leaves
- Plant Species Diversity
- Local plant diversity depends on local environmental diversity in all biomes
- Depends on history
- European deciduous forests have lower number of species than North America and Asia
- Ice Age
- Continent of Europe has the Mediterranean Sea which pushed species South and Northern Europe became more like a tundra, not allowing most species to survive
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