Transcript Coniferous Forest Wahoo! - JBHA-Sci-US-tri1

Coniferous Forest Wahoo!
By Dr. Herskovits and Dr. Miller
You may be wondering, what is a
Coniferous Forest? Hmm…
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“Forest whose principal trees are
conifers-needles or scale-leaved
trees, mainly evergreens, with
cones.”
(www.tncccalifornia.org/glossary/)
“These are places where winters are
very cold, summers do not last very
long, and there is not much rainfall.”
(www.recycle4schools.org.uk/ecodict
_c.htm)
Location of our biome fo sho
Climatogram of our biome oh yeah
(Statistics for Beaverlodge, Alberta,
Canada)
What is the soil like in coniferous
forests?
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The soil is poor and rocky
Tree roots are shallow due to the condition
of the soil
The soil is acidic because few nutrients are
released into it and it becomes toxic for
many plants
The acidity of the soil mobilizes soluble
metals
“Available soil moisture is high as a result
of cool temperatures and low
evapotranspiration rates. Mineral soils are
generally thin and poorly drained.”
What does this type of soil mean?
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Not an ideal biome for farming
Most of the vegetation is in the form of trees and shrubs
“The soil in a coniferous forest contains variable amounts of
humus derived from leaf and needle litter. The ‘pine’
needles decay to produce an acidic soil…Because coniferous
trees retain their leaves all year, the coniferous forest floor
does not receive the same amount of sunlight…Because of
all the conditions, there are different and fewer wildflowers
and plants that grow on the coniferous forest floor.”
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5 Common Plant and Animal
Species Living in a Coniferous
Forest
Yay!
Plants
Animals
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Balsam fir tree
White spruce tree
Blueberries
Labrador tea shrub
White pine trees
Evergreen trees
Ferns
Mosses
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White tailed deer
Fox
Mice
Owls
Squirrels
Skunks
Weasels
Moose
Elk
Birds
Wolves
Chipmunks
Lynx
Food Web
An Example of a Symbiotic
Relationship in Our Biome
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Trees in coniferous forests need to fix nitrogen
from soil
But the trees cannot do this without the help of a
bacteria called Rhizobia
The trees give the bacteria nutrients and the
bacteria produce nitrogen for the tree through
nitrogen fixation
This is an example of mutualism!!
Biotic and Abiotic features of a
Coniferous Forest
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For biotic features, see slide 5
Abiotic features:
• Climate: cold and dry, snowy winters and warm
summers, temperatures below freezing for half
the year
• The sun shines for only 6-8 hours a day in
winter and 19 hours a day in the summer
• Rocks
• Soil
Human Impacts
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Carbon has been pumped into the
atmosphere from fossil fuels
The concentration of carbon dioxide is
rising
Clearcut logging
Hunting and trapping
Mining operations
Road construction and urbanization
Environmental Damage
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Acid rain
Rising levels of carbon dioxide are ruining
the atmosphere
Clearcut logging accelerates soil erosion,
degrades wildlife habitat and leads to the
loss of biodiversity
Hunting and trapping reduce the
population of fur-bearing animals
Mining operations damage the biome
because of the chemicals that are released
Possible Solutions to
Environmental Damage
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Ban clearcut logging by voting into office candidates who support this
legislature
Decrease your use of fossil fuels
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For example, don’t set your thermostat above 68°F (put on a sweater!!)
Send letters to your government representatives asking them to stop
building roads through forests
Lessen the demand for paper products (which lessens the need for
logging!)
Drive your car less=no more acid rain!
Be careful when camping. With global warming, there are hotter, dryer
conditions and manmade fires spread easily
Never throw cigarettes out of car windows
Reduce your use of wood products
Stay informed about potential destructive operations
Instead of moving to the suburbs to build a new home, look for an already
built home in town. This will save wildlife habitats and the wildlife that live
there.
Sources Cited
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http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Laboratory/Biome/bioconiferous.html
www.tncccalifornia.org/glossary/
www.recycle4schools.org.uk/ecodict_c.htm
www.lsb.syr.edu/projects/cyberzoo/coniferous.html
www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/ncfbiome.htm
http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/biomes/coni
fers/conifweb.html
http://www.newforestsproject.com/english/treeed.html#Nitrogen%20Fixat
ion%20and%20Legumes
http://ths.sps.lane.edu/biomes/coniferous3/coniferous3.html
www.inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/terres/coniferous/c_forest.htm
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101
/textbook/biogeography/biomes_northern_forest.
html
Miller, G. Tyler. Living in the Environment,
Brooks/Cole: Canada, 2004