BIOL 2903 Lecture 1: BIOL 2903 - week 1
Document Summary
Biodiversity biological diversity the total number and variety of living things found in an area. Abiotic factors: size ontario is more than 1 million km2, great range of abiotic (non-living) factors: temperature, precipitation, wind, soil type, fire, etc, rocks made of minerals the affect the nutrient supply and soil chemistry. Sedimentary - example: limestone which is rich in calcium. Calciphiles are plants that love calcium (like poison ivy). Igneous have lots of silica, example: granite. Metamorphic retains the characteristics of the parent rock. Create highland habitats: water moves and sorts material. Rock type and lay of the land = physiographic regions (text book). Dominant canopy-forming trees define forest regions/ecological regions: tundra, hudson bay lowland, boreal, great lakes, carolinian. Indirectly creates habitats via deposits of boulders, gravel, sand, silt, and clay. One kind of boulder atop of another kind of rock. Glaciers scoured the rocks and destroyed all life in ontario. Life returned with lichens growing on bare rock.
