Biogeography Essay Questions

Bio geography Essay Questions8 Biogeography Essay Questions1.) What is the science of biogeography?Biogeography is that get word of geographical distribution of flora and fauna con perspectivering the assorted taxonomic categoryomic take aims, familiarize and past, the habitats in which they argon found together with the involved ecological relationships. Today, at that place be devil theories in biogeography that pass on been authentic to discuss more(prenominal) than on the distribution of biological species in the world. The both of them atomic number 18 Distance-decay and Island biogeography theories. The distance-decay hypothesis asserts that the correlation and similarity amongst species in any both geographical locations leave continue decreasing as the distance between the both increases. The second biogeographical speculation, island biogeography asserts that those pockets of life (islands) that be closely spaced provide support more biological life/sp ecies. It is still this second theory that explains that these closely spaced islands ar rarely threatened by extermination if compared to the tiny isolated islands of the world. The Geographic In tropeation Systems Scientists say that the in a spunkyer place two theories were developed in order for us to be able to in full chthonicstand the distribution of species but not the distribution or horizontal soundment of human beings.As it was developed, the science of biogeography was meant to solution so numerous questions that are varied. It was developed so that it bunghole answer more or less of the questions analogous why are there so many another(prenominal) kinds of sentient beings and plants in the world. It seeks to answer why some of these animals and plants are rare temporary hookup new(prenominal)s are public. some(a) animals and plants are widely dispersed while others are confined to a limited place. The science of biogeography seeks to explain the reaso n as to why this is so. on that point are some separate of this world that are richer in toll of species compared to others. Its only by uptake of the study of biogeography that we domiciliate be in a position to understand this. in that respect are several major types of biogeography distributions. They include Endemic (restricted to specific locations), cosmopolitan (e.g.Caenorhabdities elegans and Drosophila melanogaster), and Disjunct (degage). The detached biogeographic distributions are believed to brace been ca determinationd by Vicariance and dispersal. In biogeography, evidence that send packing be based on its write up can be classified ad in basis of Paleontology and systematics.1.) Describe the 5 observations upon which the science of biogeography is founded. kick down TWO examples for each observation.a) Each and every species and other toweringer root animals are said to have a discrete and a non ergodic distribution in cartridge clip and space. A good e xample of this is the gorilla that is only found in two African forests. b) In opposite geographical regions of the world there is an assemblage of animals that are distinct and they coexist. A good example to explain this is the fauna that is found south of the renounce of Sahara together with its monkeys, antelopes, pigs and this is tot eithery different from the Australian fauna and its duck bill platypus, wombats and kangaroos. c) The differences and the similarities in these regions cannot be in any way be describe in terms of the distance between them or pull down the field of origin. A good example is that the fauna of eastern Asia and Europe is to cock-a-hoop extent similar although they are both separated by 11,500km of land. to a fault the fauna of New Guinea and Borneo are different though are separated by a small piece of land compared to the champions above which is across pissing and land. d) All those faunas that look different from those of nowadays at one ness term previously occurred in all other geographical regions. An example is the dinosaurs which existed in most parts of the geographic locations in Cretaceous. e) The faunas which resemble the ones found today and their antecedents once occurred, but its sometimes at far distances from the current domain. A good example is the subtropical-warm temperature fauna which is found in Eocene Wyoming. This includes fishes which are fresh-water, turtle groups and salamander which are restricted to southeastern parts of the United States.1.) talk about this statement The history of biogeography is essentially a continuing conflict between creation myth and empirical science.Empirical science describes that the distribution of organisms in the whole world was as a result of continuous evolution of the past existing species. Science asserts that the present fauna and flora are as a result of evolution from past organisms which were not developed as they are today. On the other side o f the creation myth, masses and especially the Christians believe that the current community of plants and animals are a output of what God created long time ago. Some of the things that are explained in the volume are in total conflict with what science has stick outd a expound account on. A good example is the Global Flood during the time of Noah. The Bible says that God instructed Noah who by then was 600 years old to clear an ark. Noah was then supposed to allow two of every unclean animal and s evening of every clean animal. All food and fresh water was then supposed to be in the ark. Noah and his family were to remain in the ark for sextuplet months until the flood waters subsided. This creation story in the book of multiplication continues to explain that after the flood waters subsided, Noah, his family and the animals that were released then were the ones who later repopulated the earth. This is in total conflict with the empirical scientists who argue that today there is in any case much of genetic diversity in the world for us to be consistent that every animal that is land based descended from the few educational activity pairs and this is nevertheless some few thousands years ago. According to empirical science, some of the species we have today in the planet impart evolve locally. This thus means that they are immobile geographically match to scientists. The scientists will require today how comes the Duckbill platypus ended up only in Australia and not anywhere else in the planet.Scientists still argue that Noah did not take any fish or coral in the ark. During the flood thus, all the fish would have expire extinct and all the corals would have been brush away. Some of the corals according to the scientists even appear older than the spendn history of the floods. For scientists they believe that there is no way the short lived species could have survived the time they were in the ark. They say that the adult whitethornflies would have died in just a few days while the larvae of many whitethornflies will require shallow fresh and running water. Other similar insects and many of them would actually vitrine the same problems. There is no way the scientists would believe that the human population could rebound in such a short period. Other controversies away from the field of evolutionary biology can in addition be seen in cosmology, thermodynamics, paleontology, geology and nuclear physics.1.) Describe the main contributions to biogeography of the people listed below. Alexander von Humbolt, Liebig, MacArthur and William. Alexander Von HumboltHe was German naturalist who is normally referred to as the father of phytogeography. He was the one who felt that study on geographical distribution was an important scientific inquiry that could lead to the discovery of laws of nature that are fundamental. He was the one who did the explorations of South and Central America together with Aime Bonpland who was a French naturalist. These two travelled along the Orinoco and Amazon rivers as they explored the Andes and the present day parts of Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia. He managed to study vegetation and climatic human bodys of Urals Mountains, Siberia and Caspian Sea. He was the one who invented the isobar and isotherm which are used today in verbal description of climatic associations of plant communities. He had a passion for the beauty of nature. He had a good description of the physical environment together with the plant distribution that are widely used in biogeography.LiebigHe was born in Darmstadt, Germany. He went to genus Paris where was working in the laboratory of Joseph Gay-Lussac. His main interest was in chemistry. He did much in order to establish chemistry as a discipline. He started the first chemical periodical for scholars. He was the one who showed that studies ilk physiology, agriculture, and psychology are only intelligible if based on go away chemical principl es. He was one of the contributors in discovery of isomerism (a condition where two different compounds may have the same chemical formula). He showed that thorough compounds can actually be dealt with in a rational way. He once rejected the current humus theory. He showed his contrasting thinking by describing that some plants will leave the soil richer in terms of carbon that they really found it. He visited England once and was not glad with the way they were setting out their sewage to the sea. He was of the opinion that they should use their sewage as a fertilizer.WilliamHe collected vertebrates in many remote regions of Hispaniola between the years 1916 and 1923. He also did collections in other regions of the world like the famous Himalayas. To date, most his collections are still in Smithsonian. He is landscape ecologist and a biogeographer. He has made tremendous contributions in the understanding of landscapes and disturbances. His research in these fields has made treme ndous go on the field of biogeography and also the academic biogeographers.MacArthurHe came up with the MacArthur and Wilson equaliser model on insular biogeography. This is a model that is used to provide a good foundation on the distribution of species on islands. Its also useful in explanation of the composition of insular biotas. Its be excite of his model that many analyses have been made on the distributions of mammals on insular habitats.5) Describe the relationships among the succeeding(a) physical factorspressure, physiography, ocean currents, latitude, temperature, light, precipitation, and windPhysiography is a description of the features and even phenomena of nature. Most of the physical features of the world cannot be well described unless we use other factors like temperature. Physiography stands for physical geography. What is in physical geography is all the physical features like the mountains, forests/vegetations among others. When we attempt to describer any cl imatic condition of a place or of a certain region, we use temperature, the level of rainfall/precipitation and the effects that winds may have on it. It thusly translates that we cannot describe most of the physical phenomena without using the other factors mentioned. They interdepend on each other for description of physical phenomena.Ocean currents depend on pressure. They usually move from where the pressure is low to where its high. Wind is said to be air in motion. Air can only be in mo0tion if one region has a high pressure compared to another. Air moves from high pressure centers to low pressure centers. This is wind. It therefore means that wind can only be thee if there is difference in pressure amounts in two regions. Ocean currents are usually associated with the precipitation. They usually make the close areas in the ocean to receive rainfall if they are usually accompany by high temperatures. Areas of low latitude have high temperatures while high latitude areas are generally cool. Light intensity in certain ecosystems helps the growth of specific organisms. Physiography/physical geography cannot be fully described if light intensity is not going to be applied to describe some of the conditions in some places (physical phenomena).1.) Give the Holdridge Bio clime salmagundi of climate for the following places Honolulu, Hawaii Adelaide, Australia Timbuktu, Mali La Paz, Bolivia. Timbuktu (Mali) human body 35 according to Holdridge bioclimatic classification it is in a tropical dry forest. The climate is characterized by high temperatures all year. There is however a go bad developed dry season compared to the tropical rain forest. The soils are just like for the tropical rain forest. Most of the evergreen tree species cause deciduous. Tree canopy is lower compared to tropical rain forest. Undergrowth is dense. There is lower species diversity. Trees have thicker back and small leaves. Roots are long and trees have thorns also. Larger mammals ar e more dominantHonolulu (Hawaii)Class 25 subtropical desert scrub with an annual climate of 24 degrees. Average temperature in a day is 29 degrees and the minimum is 21 degrees. Its humidity is moderated by its mid-ocean positioning. There is intense rainfall in the wintertime months though most of the winter days have warm smart sunshine. Rarely will temperatures go beyond 32 degrees.Adelaide (Australia)Class 30 subtropical rain forest Generally, rainfall is more than 1300mm. there are fertile eutrophic rocks. A multi layered canopy of between 10 and 60 species of trees. Most of these trees will exhibit buttressing w2hich is a feature that is common in rain forest areas.La Paz (Bolivia)Class 27 subtropical dry forest2.) Define endemism. Give and explain five characteristics associated/ agree with areas of endemism.This is a situation where a plant or an animal taxon is said to be restricted in a geographical range or a particular region. Since the times of Darwin, it has been kno wn that islands are the ones which are mostly rich in autochthonic species. Endemism will lift because of several mechanisms. The major one is the geographical isolation. In this geographic isolation, a small population that has a limited genetic diversity may be isolated. After several generations, the drift in genetics will lead to formation of a distinct species. A population that may arrive on a new island may fill different ecological niches. Other generations of natural selection may result in formation of distinct species. Again, a certain species that was widespread may nonplus extinction. This island may now become a refugia. This describes the origin of the major species of Macaronesian endemic laurels. These are mostly found in the Mediterranean region. analogspecies voluminosity of most organisms in an endemic region increases form high temperature to low tropical latitudes. Lower latitudes have high levels of endemism.Species richnessThe levels of species richness a nd those of endemism cannot be said to be infrequently correlated. Oceanic islands have high levels of endemism but will have low total of species.Unusual environmental conditionsMost endemic areas are known to have environmental conditions that are very different from other areas. There occurs independent evolution of the local adaptations. These will mostly enable the species to persist under the existing conditions.IsolationAlmost all areas of endemism are separated or isolated from others geographically. There are barriers to other areas such that even independent evolution is going to give rise to endemic taxa. historicalIn these areas there are usually changing abiotic and biotic environmental conditions. High levels of endemism may be associated with areas that have long-term ecoclimatic stability. This can even enable these populations to be able to survive global changes in climate conditions.1.) Describe the three possible tectonic base boundaries, give an example of ea ch and explain the possible consequences of a convergent boundary. different boundaryIts the soft boundary and its also called the spreading center. Two households move away from each other and mid-ocean ridges will be make. Magma from the mantle will move though a crack to the ocean and it then cols. This cooling causes the formation of oceanic pertness on both sides of the vent. When the plates continue to move, more crust will be create. The ocean basin then expands forming a ridge system. This crust formed causes the pushing of the plates on either side further. A good example of this kind of plate boundary is that of northwestward America and Europe.Convergent boundaryIts also called a subduction zone. This is a plate margin where one plate will override the other. This forces the other into below its mantle. They are boundaries which are in the form of trench. Old oceanic crust will go into these systems as there is new crust formed when the centers are spreading. They are usually locations of strong earthquakes as the action of the plate that is going down interacts with the overriding one. It can also be as a result of volcanic activity. A good place to be associated with it is Japan. The plate that is going down the other will continue to become even hotter. This is because of its proximity to the mantle. The plate will thus melt to form magma. This magma will move upwards through the crust and volcanoes are formed. A good example is the Aleutian Islands.Conservative/transform boundaryIts called orthodox as there is neither creation nor destruction of plate materials at the boundaries. What usually happens here is that the plates will slide past each other. These are usually areas where there are many earthquakes. They are caused by the accrual and release of strain when the plates slide past each other. Good examples of conservative boundaries are the San Andreas Fault in California and mid-ocean ridges, the Rockies in North America. likely consequences of convergent boundaryThese are areas that are earthquake prone. These earthquakes can cause a lot of deaths to human beings and animals. A good example is the 1883 smash of Krakatau volcano of Indonesia that killed more than 37,000 people. The hot magma contains some chemical that may be harmful to the human beings and also the existing vegetation. Where these big mountains are formed after the plate boundary formation, climatic conditions may change which may not be conducive to the existing flora and fauna.