BIO120H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Survivorship Curve, Intertropical Convergence Zone, Seed Dispersal

• School: UTSG
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIO120H1
• Professor: James Thomson

Document Summary

Organisms found in places where they can thrive. Need certain resources and conditions (abiotic factors) Conditions not exhaustible (ex. temperature and salinity) Conditions vary across space and time (cid:314) gradients. Organisms have ranges of tolerances along these gradients. Performance of organism function of gradient: very bad conditions = death, bad conditions = survival (bare minimum, good conditions = growth, excellent conditions = reproduction. Important factors include (terrestrial): (cid:131) plants temperature, soil moisture, nutrients (esp n, p, k), disturbance (esp fire), herbivory, disease, pollinators, seed dispersers, fungi, etc. (cid:131) animals food/water, temperature, habitat quality (ex. cover, nesting sites), predation, disease. (cid:313) latitude = (cid:315) solar energy (cold) (cid:315) latitude = (cid:313) solar energy (warm) Solar energy heats up surface of land/water. This absorbed energy is released and heats up atmosphere. Adiabatic process: warm air rises (cid:314) cools (cid:314) water vapour condenses (cid:314) precipitate. Equatorial region warmest and rainiest (explains rainy tropics) Once air rises, pushed n/s of equator.