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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.
Tundra vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sedges, grasses, mosses, and lichens. Scattered trees grow in some tundra regions. The ecotone (or ecological boundary region) between the tundra and the forest is known as the tree line or timberline. The tundra soil is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. [2]
The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurmann (1849). ). Prior to this, the two terms (vegetation and flora) were used indiscriminately, [4] [5] and still are in some co
The Holdridge life zones system is a global bioclimatic scheme for the classification of land areas. It was first published by Leslie Holdridge in 1947, and updated in 1967. It is a relatively simple system based on few empirical data, giving objective criteria. [ 1 ]
Heating of solids, sunlight and shade in different altitudinal zones (Northern hemisphere) [5] A variety of environmental factors determines the boundaries of altitudinal zones found on mountains, ranging from direct effects of temperature and precipitation to indirect characteristics of the mountain itself, as well as biological interactions of the species.
The remainder is consumed by animals while still alive and enters the plant-based trophic system. After plants and animals die, the organic matter contained in them enters the detritus-based trophic system. [15] Ecosystem respiration is the sum of respiration by all living organisms (plants, animals, and decomposers) in the ecosystem. [16]
The term "taiga" is not used consistently by all cultures. In the English language, "boreal forest" is used in the United States and Canada in referring to more southerly regions, while "taiga" is used to describe the more northern, barren areas approaching the tree line and the tundra. Hoffman (1958) discusses the origin of this differential ...
Global map showing location of the Equator. Equatorial Africa is an ambiguous term that sometimes is used to refer either to the equatorial region of sub-Saharan Africa traversed by the Equator, [1] more broadly to tropical Africa or in a biological and geo-environmental sense to the intra-tropical African rainforest region.