12.07.2015 Views

Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

Environmental Problems, Their Causes, and Sustainability 1

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

ColdPolarTundraSubpolarDecreasing temperatureConiferous forestTemperateDesertDeciduousforestChaparralGrassl<strong>and</strong>TropicalHotDesertWetRain forestTropicalseasonalforestScrubl<strong>and</strong>SavannaDryDecreasing precipitationFigure 6-17 Natural capital: average precipitation <strong>and</strong> average temperature, acting together as limiting factorsover a period of 30 or more years, determine the type of desert, grassl<strong>and</strong>, or forest biome in a particulararea. Although the actual situation is much more complex, this simplified diagram explains how climate determinesthe types <strong>and</strong> amounts of natural vegetation found in an area left undisturbed by human activities. (Usedby permission of Macmillan Publishing Company. From Derek Elsom, The Earth, 1992. Copyright © 1992 byMarshall Editions Developments Limited. New York: Macmillan. Used by permission.)AltitudeMountainice <strong>and</strong> snowTundra (herbs,lichens, mosses)ConiferousForestDeciduousForestLatitudeTropicalForestTropicalForestDeciduousForestConiferousForestTundra (herbs,lichens, mosses)Polar ice<strong>and</strong> snowFigure 6-18 Generalized effects of altitude (left) <strong>and</strong> latitude (right) on climate <strong>and</strong> biomes. Parallel changesin vegetation type occur when we travel from the equator to the poles or from lowl<strong>and</strong>s to mountaintops. Thisgeneralized diagram shows only on of many possible sequences.112 CHAPTER 6 Climate <strong>and</strong> Terrestrial Biodiversity

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!