Transcript 2.4 How Climate Affects Vegetation

2.4 How Climate Affects
Vegetation
Geography
Journal Entry
• Write a paragraph correctly using each of
the following words:
– Their to
where
– There too were
– They’re two
• Describe the climate in your area
• Ex. PA is in the Northeast region of the
United States. There are many very cold
days, but there are many hot days too.
2.4 How Climate Affects Vegetation
• Vocabulary
– Vegetation
– Canopy
– Tundra
– Vertical climate
How does climate affect plants?
• Climate and Vegetation
– A climate must provide plants with water,
sunlight, and certain nutrients, or elements,
plants use as food.
– Plants have adaptations which enable them to
live in their particular climate. That means
that over a very long time, small, accidental
changes in a few individual plants made them
better able to survive in a particular place.
What are the 5 types of climates?
– Geographers predict the kinds of plants they
will find in a climate. They discuss five broad
types of climates: tropical, dry, moderate,
continental, and polar.
• Each has its own vegetation, or plants that grow
there naturally.
Where are the tropical climates
located?
• Tropical Climates
– Low latitudes
– Two types, both are hot and wet.
–Tropical wet and dry climate also
has two season: one with much
rain and one with very little rain.
In the rainforest, where do
trees/plants that need shade grow?
– The vegetation associated with these is tropical
rainforest.
• Growing conditions are perfect with much light, heat, and
rain.
• Thousands of plants grow in a rain forest.
• Some trees rise 130 feet into the air
• Their uppermost branches create a canopy. Little sunlight
can break through this dense covering of leafy branches.
• Other trees which are adapted to the shade grow to lower
heights
• Thousands of vines and ferns strive
Give 3 ways that plants survive in
dry climates.
• Dry Climates
– Arid and semiarid climates are very hot but receive
very little rain
– Vegetation in dry regions is sparse
– Plants grow far apart in sandy, gravelly soil
– Shallow roots are adapted to absorb scarce water
before it evaporates in the heat
– Some plants have small leaves, which lose little
moisture into the air through evaporation.
– Other plants flower only when it rains so that as many
seeds survive as possible
Where are the moderate climates?
How many climates are found
there?
• Moderate Climates
– Found in the middle latitudes
– Three types
• Mediterranean marine west coast, and humid
subtropical.
• All three climate types, rain is moderate
• Seasonal changes, but temperatures hardly ever
fall below freezing.
• Wide variety of vegetation
• Forests of deciduous trees, which lose their leaves
in the fall
Which climate has the most
precipitation?
• Tall shrubs, low bushes—or scrub—wildflowers, and a
variety of grasses.
• The Mediterranean climate receives most of its rain in
winter and summers are hot and dry.
• Plants have leathery leaves, which hold in moisture
during the dry summers
• Of the three moderate climates, the humid subtropical
climate has the most precipitation, heat, and humidity
• Supports many types of vegetation.
• Most marine west coast climates are mountainous—
cooled b y ocean currents—they support more forests
than grasss.
Where are Coniferous forests
found?
• Continental Climates
– Summer temperatures are moderate to hot
– Winters can be very cold
– Supports grasslands and forests
– Grasses tend to be tall
– Certain areas in this climate region support
large deciduous forests
– In areas where winters are colder, coniferous
forests are found
2.4 How Climate Affects Vegetation
– Coniferous trees have needles, not leaves, an
d have cones to produce seeds. These
adaptations provide protection through the
winter
– Regions with sub arctic continental climates
are much drier, with cool summers and cold
winters
– Grasses are much shorter
– Some sub arctic continental areas have huge
coniferous forests, others have few trees
What vegetation grows in the polar
climates?
• Polar climates and their vegetation
– Cold year around
– Tundra which lies along the arctic circle, has short,
cold summers and long, even colder winters
– No trees grow here
– Low shrubs b loom during brief summers.
– Mosses and strange plants call lichens grow on the
surfaces of rocks
– Northern regions of the tundra is even colder and
precipitation is very scarce
– Only low grasses, mosses, lichens and a few
flowering plants grow
2.4 How Climate Affects Vegetation
• Complete 2.4 review
• Make sure that vocabulary is finished
• You will have until tomorrow to finish your
journal entry. Please have it word
processed without error by tomorrow.
• Complete worksheet in class