1

Patterns of global aquatic productivity.

red/orange = high chlorophyll, purple/blue = low chlorophyll

2
What drives large-scale patterns
of environmental variation?

Climate
1. Light
2. Temperature
3. Precipitation
4. Wind & Ocean circulation
* Geology (soils)

Climate oscillations (2 examples)

1. El niño / La niña
2. Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)

How do we characterize broad ecological patterns?

Biomes-based on common vegetation patterns for a
given climate (Temp, Precip) 3
Some basics and some ecological effects

• The rotation of the Earth around its axis causes daily

periodicity (day vs. night)

Circadian rhythms, individual behavior (diurnal/nocturnal/crepuscular)

• The rotation of the moon around the Earth causes lunar

cycles (tides)

Intertidal zonation, individual behavior (movement, feeding, spawning, etc.)

• The revolution of the Earth around the sun combined with

the tilted axis (23.5°) causes seasonal patterns by
hemisphere.

Annual allocation of activity and energy (hibernation, leaf-fall, migration)

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 Light

Tilt = 23.5°
5
 Electromagnetic Radiation

Photosynthetically Active Radiation

• Photons: expressed as energy (Joules),

-.%"/+$&$/'0*+"/12E/"/0+3&2E4
wavelength (distance between peaks,
nanometers), or frequency (time per
cycle, hertz).
3("%$.)/)$45.%#.(S#)$.)N4).(0.%#7(+UV)$)

• Light is what we call wavelengths sensed

by the human eye (400-700 nm)—but
50$
really everything; radio waves, “light”,
and x-rays are all the same entity.
!"#$%&'(")# *'+'I") -)%$.'/0$%$)N 2/0$%$)N
6
vision !"#$%$&'E)*+&, heat
 The greenhouse effect
the process of solar radiation striking Earth, being
converted to infrared radiation, and being absorbed and
re-emitted by atmospheric gases.

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8
 Temperature

Tilt = 23.5°
9
What time of year is it in this image?
 Broader range of temps at 60°N vs S

•Latitudinal pattern: solar heating decreases away from the

equator (latitude) as sunlight is spread across larger areas

• Un-even heating (N vs S hemisphere) due to distribution of land masses

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 Precipitation
• Solar heating causes air to rise
(lower density)
• As rising air cools, moisture
condenses (precipitation)
why you see your breath when
it’s cold and not when it’s hot

• As air descends, it warms and

evaporates water
–Hadley cells span 30 degrees
latitude
• Deserts occur at latitudes of
______
• Tropical rainforests occur at
latitudes of ______
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Latitudinal variation in precipitation

Tundra/Boreal Hadley Cell

“Solar equator”
depends on tilt...
Between 23.5* N
and 23.5* S
(ITCZ)12
 Solar equator
23.5* N -- 23.5* S
(ITCZ)

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Similar patterns can occur
across Longitude

Rain Shadow
effect

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 What’s grows out
here?
spruce
What’s grows out
here?
cedars

What’s going on
here??
agriculture

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Where should you go on vacation in Washington?

Sequim

dry places
Forks
darker

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What drives large-scale patterns
of environmental variation?

Climate
1. Light
2. Temperature
3. Precipitation
4. Wind & Ocean circulation
* Geology (soils)

Climate oscillations (2 examples)

1. El niño / La niña
2. Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)

How do we characterize broad ecological patterns?

Biomes-based on common vegetation patterns for a
given climate (Temp, Precip) 17
 Winds

• Air lags behind the rotation of the earth,

lagging more where the earth spins faster
Where does it spin faster?
equator- as circumference is widest at the equator, speed is same, slow at the poles

• Generally:
» High latitudes = westerlies (from the west)
relatively weak winds

» Mid latitudes = strong trade winds (from the NE or SE)

driven by speed of earth

» Equator = little to no wind (aka “doldrums”) 18

Doldrums
(aka Inter-tropical
convergence zone)

Rotation of the earth à 19

 WINDS
Coriolis effect the deflection in the pattern of air flow due to
differences in rotation speed

Who Tie!
wins? • 1 complete rotation / 24hr

Slower near the poles

How does rotation speed compare?
Largest circumference has
fastest rotation

• Winds deflect WITH direction of

spin moving toward poles

• And AGAINST direction of spin

Direction of moving toward equator
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Spin
Doldrums
Inter-tropical
convergence zone

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 Ocean currents
(key concepts)

• Water currents generally mimic wind patterns

– Driven by many of the same things (uneven
heating, Coriolis effect, wind)

• Surface water moving offshore causes

upwelling: deep-water nutrients into photic
(light) zone

• Ocean moderates climate (specific heat of

water very high)
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Ocean Gyres

Notice the direction of

rotation!

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 Ocean Currents

= High productivity (upwelling zones) 24

bottom of ocean filled w nutrients for thousands of years, whales die to the bottomof ocean,- accumulating in sediments lit bit of
bacterial production
 Ocean Currents

Upwelling

= High productivity (upwelling zones) 25

 ENSO
(El Niño Southern Oscillation)
El Niño—abnormal warming of E. tropical Pacific
La Niña—abnormal cooling of E. tropical Pacific

Southern Oscillation—EastàWest pressure difference in tropical Pacific

**GLOBAL CLIMATIC REPERCUSSIONS**

•First noted off Peruvian Coast-
• Warm surface water, depressed fish catches, seabird declines, high
rainfall in coastal desert

•2-7 yrs between events

• increasing frequency with global warming!

•Measured how?
• Deviations from long-term average
• “Oceanic Nino Index” (ONI) = composite of sea surface temps,
atmospheric pressure, prevailing wind

•Examples:
• Galapagos Finches (classic Darwinian selection)
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 Large-scale climate cycles

El Niño-Southern Pacific Decadal

Oscillation (ENSO) Oscillation (PDO)

El Niño La Nina Warm phase Cool phase

warm

cold

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 Large-scale climate cycles

El Niño-Southern Strong El
Pacific niño years
Decadal
Oscillation (ENSO) Oscillation (PDO)

El Niño La Nina Warm phase Cool phase

warm
Oceanic Niño Index

cold

What does a 0 on this graph mean?

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[Link]
 Galapagos Islands vegetation

La niña winter 1981-82 El niño winter 1982-83 29

Favored in
dry years
(La niña)

from Darwin’s journal 1835

Selection
pressure for large
beaks released in
El niño &
“normal” years

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PDO
Pacific Decadal Oscillation

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 Large-scale climate cycles

El Niño-Southern Pacific Decadal

Oscillation (ENSO) Oscillation (PDO)

El Niño La Nina Warm phase Cool phase

3 1.5
2 El Niño 1.0 warm
Std Devs SST

1
0.5
0
0.0
-1
-0.5
-2
La Niña cold
-3 -1.0
-4 -1.5
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Year Year
32
[Link]
 PDO and salmon catches
1.5
1.0 warm
Std Devs SST

0.5
0.0
-0.5
-1.0
cold
-1.5
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Year

Warm PDO =
Annual catch in millions of fish

Bigger returns

Cool PDO =
Bigger returns

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Mantua, N.J. et al. 1997. Bulletin American Meteorological Society 78:1069-1079
What drives large-scale patterns
of environmental variation?

Climate
1. Light
2. Temperature
3. Precipitation
4. Wind & Ocean circulation
* Geology (soils)

Climate oscillations (2 examples with relevance to PNW)

1. El nino
2. Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)

How do we characterize broad ecological patterns?

Biomes
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 Physical characteristics of the environment
affect organisms—

à drive adaptations in physiology, behavior,

etc.
• Light
• Temperature
• Nutrients
• Water availability
• Carbon dioxide (plants)
• Oxygen (animals)

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36
 Tropical Savannah Temperate Grassland/Cold Desert Boreal Forest

Serengeti NP Potholes, E. WA Whitehorse, Yukon

Tundra Tropical Rainforest Temperate Seasonal Forest

Iqaliut, Nunavut La Selva, Costa Rica New England, US
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 Major Biomes (n=9)
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 Characterizing broad ecological
patterns
39

BIOMES
classifies geographic regions according to similarity in
climate & dominant plant species

¨ similar climates tend to have organisms with similar

adaptations (parallel/convergent evolution)

¨ Based 1° on terrestrial plant communities (temperature

& precipitation as key factors)

¨ Whittaker’s biome classification:

¤ Average Annual Temperature vs. Total Annual Precipitation
 Whittaker’s Biome Classification

Tofino
40
(330cm, 9.5*C)

Vancouver
(120cm, 10.3*C)
 Characterizing broad ecological
patterns
43

BIOMES

Limitations?

n What else might affect plant communities?

Soils, consumers, disturbance (fires, floods, etc.),

topography

n Doesn’t directly relate to Aquatic Ecosystems

(algae/phytoplankton = dominant producers similar)

n But does describe major climate features important for both

terrestrial & aquatic organisms alike
 Freshwater habitat types
(macrophytes)

Photic zone
Pelagic zone (photosynthesis)

Aphotic zone
(no photosynthesis)

Associated with
open water

Associated with
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substrate/bottom
 Marine habitat types

aka. Pelagic zone

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Analyzing ecology: Mean & Median
¨ MEAN (i.e., average) is the sum of all
numbers, divided by the total number of
data points mean = median

¨ MEDIAN (i.e., the middle number) can

better describe the dataset when data
are skewed (not bell-shaped)
mean median

Example
¤ Dataset:
95, 93, 90, 85, 81, 79, 75, 63, 42, 21
¤ Mean = (95+93+… 42+21)/10 = 72.4
¤ Median = (…81, 79…) = mean (81, 79) = 80
 End of Physical Environment
lecture

Thursday: Study design

Next Tuesday: 1st in-class Case Study

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