Lecture 2 Flashcards
Effects of Water
- Habitat for flora/fauna
- Large bodies of water can affect temperature, wind
- Indirectly creates habitat
Glacial Erratic
Rock that differs from the bedrock it’s situated on, brought to the area by a glacier
Glacial Striation
Lines/scratches on existing rocks that indicate the direction of glaciers’ movement
When was the last time all of ON was covered by ice?
Ice Age/Pleistocene
Effects of glacier’s on ON’s landscape
- Scoured rocks
- Removed all soil
- Destroyed all life
- Made the land sink down
Isostatic Rebound
Land rises after being pushed down by glaciers
Lichens
Symbiotic relationship between fungus (protection) and algae/cyanobacteria (photosynthesis)
4 types of lichens - which one is usually a colonizer?
Crustose (colonizer), Folisose, Fruticose, Arboreal
After glaciers scoured Ontario, ____ grew on the bare rock
Lichens
What caused the last Ice Age, and why did glaciers form then?
What effect does the weight of ice have on glaciers?
- Ice Age happened due to a 3.3C temperature drop
- Ice forms as snow buildup > snow melt
- bottom of glacier moves slowly due to weight of ice
____ can also grow with lichens, and some are also pioneer species/colonizers
mosses
Effects of plants breaking down rocks
Rocks are physically broken down/dissolved, adding more material; a new ecosystem comes to be
Why can’t wind move particles like gravel and clay?
Gravel is too large; clay sticks together
How does succession start?
Mosses/lichens trap particles blown by wind, providing a site for other living things to grow on
What’s a common characteristic among the first plants to grow in succession?
Shade-intolerant; require sunlight (e.g. birch, poplar)
What happens as poplar trees grow in a new area?
They create shade so new poplars can’t grow; shade-tolerant trees (e.g. conifers) grow beneath and outlive them
What influences the final, stable habitat? Is it always a forest of shade-tolerant deciduous trees?
Land, topography, soil type/pH, temperature; no
What are site conditions?
Environmental conditions caused by temperature, precipitation, bedrock/soil type, glacial deposits, physiography, drainage, etc.
What is a climax forest?
Occurs when the dominant tree in the area is replaced by itself, assuming no catastrophic events occur (e.g. fire)
Trees in the tundra
Lacks a tree canopy, but has very small trees
What physiographic region is the tundra forest region located on?
Hudson Bay Lowland
What is the southern border of the tundra?
Tree line; poorly-defined border, 10-32km away from the coast of Hudson Bay
The tundra is partly protected by which provincial park (the biggest in ON, at >23.5k square km)?
Polar Bear Provincial Park
Average daily temperature in the tundra
-6C
