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Climate Zones By Altitude
The climate and ecology of different locations on the globe naturally separate into life zones, depending on elevation, latitude, and location. The generally strong dependency on elevation is known as altitudinal zonation: the average temperature of a location decreases as the elevation increases. The general effect of elevation depends on atmospheric physics. However, the specific climate and ecology of any particular location depends on specific features of that location. This article provides a list of life zones by region, in order to illustrate the features of life zones for regions around the globe. Central Europe: Switzerland and Germany * Planar zone, under 300 m (Eastern Alps), under 150 m (Central Uplands), agriculture. * Foothill zone, 300 – 800 m (Eastern Alps), 150 – 300 m (Central Uplands), oak limit (Quercus spp.). European Beech (''Fagus sylvatica''), Sessile oak (''Quercus petraea''), Pedunculate oak or English oak (''Quercus robur''), European or common ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Life Zone
The life zone concept was developed by C. Hart Merriam in 1889 as a means of describing areas with similar plant and animal communities. Merriam observed that the changes in these communities with an increase in latitude at a constant elevation are similar to the changes seen with an increase in elevation at a constant latitude. Merriam The life zones Merriam identified are most applicable to western North America, being developed on the San Francisco Peaks, Arizona and Cascade Range of the northwestern USA. He tried to develop a system that is applicable across the North American continent, but that system is rarely referred to. List The life zones that Merriam identified, along with characteristic plants, are as follows: * Lower Sonoran (low, hot desert): creosote bush, Joshua tree * Upper Sonoran (desert steppe or chaparral): sagebrush, scrub oak, Colorado pinyon, Utah juniper * Transition (open woodlands): ponderosa pine * Canadian (fir forest): Rocky Mountain Dou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Growing Season
A season is a division of the year marked by changes in weather, ecology, and the amount of daylight. The growing season is that portion of the year in which local conditions (i.e. rainfall, temperature, daylight) permit normal plant growth. While each plant or crop has a specific growing season that depends on its genetic adaptation, growing seasons can generally be grouped into macro-environmental classes. Axial tilt of the Earth inherently affect growing seasons across the globe. Geography Geographic conditions have major impacts on the growing season for any given area. Latitude is one of the major factors in the length of the growing season. The further from the equator one goes, the angle of the Sun gets lower in the sky. Consequently, sunlight is less direct and the low angle of the Sun means that soil takes longer to warm during the spring months, so the growing season begins later. The other factor is altitude, with high elevations having cooler temperatures which short ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Pine
''Pinus mugo'', known as dwarf mountain pine, mountain pine, scrub mountain pine, Swiss mountain pine, bog pine, creeping pine, or mugo pine, is a species of conifer, native to high elevation habitats from southwestern to Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Description The tree has dark green leaves ("needles") in pairs, long. The cones are nut-brown, long. Custura Bucurei.jpg, ''Pinus mugo'' subsp. ''mugo'', Romania Pinus mugo uncinata trees.jpg, ''Pinus mugo'' subsp. ''uncinata'' Swiss National Park 007.JPG, ''Pinus mugo'' subsp. ''rotundata'', Swiss National Park Бор кривул 01.JPG, On Jakupica mountain, Republic of North Macedonia Taxonomy There are three subspecies: * ''Pinus mugo'' subsp. ''mugo'' — in the east and south of the range (southern & eastern Alps, Balkan Peninsula), a low, shrubby, often multi-stemmed plant to tall with matt-textured symmetrical cones, which are thin-scaled. * ''Pinus mugo'' subsp. ''uncinata'' — in the west and nor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montane Grasslands And Shrublands
Montane grasslands and shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The biome includes high elevation grasslands and shrublands around the world. The term "montane" in the name of the biome refers to "high elevation", rather than the ecological term that denotes the region below the treeline. This biome includes high elevation ( montane and alpine) grasslands and shrublands, including the puna and páramo in South America, subalpine heath in New Guinea and East Africa, steppes of the Tibetan plateaus, as well as other similar subalpine habitats around the world. The plants and animals of tropical montane páramos display striking adaptations to cool, wet conditions and intense sunlight. Around the world, characteristic plants of these habitats display features such as rosette structures, waxy surfaces, and abundant pilosity. The páramos of the northern Andes are the most extensive examples of this habitat type. Although ecoregion biotas are most diverse in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpine Climate
Alpine climate is the typical climate for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of alpine climate. In the Köppen climate classification, the alpine and mountain climates are part of group ''E'', along with the polar climate, where no month has a mean temperature higher than . According to the Holdridge life zone system, there are two mountain climates which prevent tree growth : a) the alpine climate, which occurs when the mean biotemperature of a location is between . The alpine climate in Holdridge system is roughly equivalent to the warmest tundra climates (ET) in the Köppen system. b) the alvar climate, the coldest mountain climate since the biotemperature is between 0 °C and 1.5 °C (biotemperature can never be below 0 °C). It corresponds more or less to the coldest tundra climates and to the ice cap cli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sub-alpine Meadow
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial factor in shaping plant community, biodiversity, metabolic processes and ecosystem dynamics for montane ecosystems. Dense montane forests are common at moderate elevations, due to moderate temperatures and high rainfall. At higher elevations, the climate is harsher, with lower temperatures and higher winds, preventing the growth of trees and causing the plant community to transition to montane grasslands and shrublands or alpine tundra. Due to the unique climate conditions of montane ecosystems, they contain increased numbers of endemic species. Montane ecosystems also exhibit variation in ecosystem services, which include carbon storage and water supply. Life zones As elevation increases, the climate becomes cooler, due to a decrease in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecotone
An ecotone is a transitional area between two plant communities, where these meet and integrate. Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and sea water etc. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and grassland ecosystems). An ecotone may appear on the ground as a gradual blending of the two communities across a broad area, or it may manifest itself as a sharp boundary line. Etymology The word ''ecotone'' was coined (and its etymology given) in 1904 in "The Development and Structure of Vegetation" (Lincoln, Nebraska: Botanical Seminar) by Frederic E. Clements. It is formed as a combination of ''ecology'' plus ''-tone'', from the Greek ''tonos'' or tension – in other words, a place where ecologies are in tension. Features There are several distinguishing features of an ecotone. First, an ecotone can have a sharp vegetation transition, wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Krummholz
''Krummholz'' (, "crooked, bent, twisted" and ''Holz'', "wood") — also called ''knieholz'' ("knee timber") — is a type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in the subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, shaped by continual exposure to fierce, freezing winds. Under these conditions, trees can survive only where they are sheltered by rock formations or snow cover. As the lower portion of these trees continues to grow, the coverage becomes extremely dense near the ground. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the formation is known as tuckamore. ''Krummholz'' trees are also found on beaches, such as the Oregon coast, where trees can become much taller than their subalpine cousins. The labeling of diverse sets of tree species in different ecological contexts may be problematic. The ecological requirements of ''krummholz'' trees in the Alps, for example, are different from those in the Rockies. The terms ''scrub'' or ''shrubland'' may be more appropriate for some communit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tree Line
The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low temperatures, extreme snowpack, or associated lack of available moisture). The tree line is sometimes distinguished from a lower timberline, which is the line below which trees form a forest with a closed Canopy (biology), canopy. At the tree line, tree growth is often sparse, stunted, and deformed by wind and cold. This is sometimes known as (German for "crooked wood"). The tree line often appears well-defined, but it can be a more gradual transition. Trees grow shorter and often at lower densities as they approach the tree line, above which they are unable to grow at all. Given a certain latitude, the tree line is approximately 300 to 1000 meters below the permanent snow line and roughly parallel to it. Causes Due to their vertical s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Larch
''Larix decidua'', the European larch, is a species of larch native to the mountains of central Europe, in the Alps and Carpathian Mountains, with small disjunct lowland populations in northern Poland. Its life span has been confirmed to be close to 1000 years, with ages of around 2000 years likely. Description ''Larix decidua'' is a medium-size to large deciduous coniferous tree reaching 25–45 m tall, with a trunk up to 1.5 m diameter (exceptionally, to 53.8 m tall and 11.20 m girth .56 m diameterref name=MTCH>). The crown is conic when young, becoming broad and often irregular with age; the main branches are level to upswept, with the side branches often pendulous. The shoots are dimorphic, with growth divided into long shoots (typically 10–50 cm long) and bearing several buds, and short shoots only 1–2 mm long with only a single bud. The leaves are needle-like, light green, 2–4 cm long which turn bright yellow before they fall in the autumn, leaving the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swiss Pine
''Pinus cembra'', also known as Swiss pine, Swiss stone pine, Arolla pine, Austrian stone pine, or just stone pine, is a species of pine tree in the subgenus ''Strobus''. Description The Swiss pine is a member of the white pine group, ''Pinus'' subgenus ''Strobus'', and like all members of that group, the leaves ('needles') are in fascicles (bundles) of five, with a deciduous sheath. The mature size is typically between and in height, and the trunk diameter can be up to . However, it grows very slowly and it may take 30 years for the tree to reach . The cones, which contain the seeds (or nuts), of the Swiss pine are to long. Cones take 2 years (24 months) to mature. The to long seeds have only a vestigial wing and are dispersed by spotted nutcrackers. The species is long-lasting and can reach an age between 500 and 1000 years. In its natural environment, this tree usually reaches reproductive maturity at the age of 50 years (even 80 years, if the conditions are more e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picea Abies
''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very closely related to the Siberian spruce (''Picea obovata''), which replaces it east of the Ural Mountains, and with which it hybridizes freely. The Norway spruce has a wide distribution for it being planted for its wood, and is the species used as the main Christmas tree in several countries around the world. It was the first gymnosperm to have its genome sequenced. The Latin binomial nomenclature, specific epithet ''abies'' means "like ''Abies'', Fir tree". Description Norway spruce is a large, fast-growing evergreen coniferous tree growing tall and with a trunk diameter of 1 to 1.5 m. It can grow fast when young, up to 1 m per year for the first 25 years under good conditions, but becomes slower once over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
