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Summary GGH1502 Summarised Study Notes
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
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GGH1502NOTES
,Learning Theme 1 – the physical environment
1.1 Intro
- Climate is the characteristic condition of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface at a certain place
on earth
o Determining factors: air temperature & precipitation
o Determines what plants and animals inhabit a region
- Three components: Climate, animals and plants are interwoven to create biomes
- Biome: a large geographical area of distinctive plant and animal groups that are adapted to a
particular environment
o Major biomes: desert, forests, grasslands, tundra, aquatic environments
o Each biome consists of many ecosystems
- Changes in environments cause a ripple effect in other parts
1.3 Classifying the natural world
- The natural world can be divided into 4 subsystems:
Lithosphere - Earth’s crust and upper part of the mantle
- consists of rocks (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary) soil & sediments
- Weathering occurs where the lithosphere is exposed to the atmosphere. This gives
rise to the formation of soil
Atmosphere - Gaseous layers surrounding the earth
- Extends to a height of approx. 480KM above the earth’s surface
- divided into 4 part, temperatures change with height:
Troposphere, Stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere
- Weather occurs in the troposphere (lowest part)
- responsible for the distribution of climates
Biosphere - the part of the earth where all organisms live
hydrosphere - The water at or near the earth’s surface; liquid, solid or gas.
- Includes oceans, lakes, rivers, groundwater, ice, water vapour in atmosphere
The interaction of these subsystems are studied.
- The atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere function together to create the environment of the
biosphere.
- Ecology is the study of relationships and interactions between living organisms and between the
organisms and their environment.
- Ecosphere: the environment and the collection of living organisms that interact with one another and
with their non-living environment.
- Eight Biomes
Tundra - Absence of trees
- Vegetation: grasses, herbs, mosses, lichens, small woody plants adapted to
shorter growing seasons
- Little precipitation, soils are nutrient poor
- Cold climate
- Shallow soils – permafrost
- Animals hibernate or migrate in the colder season
- Located north of the Arctic Circle
Coniferous forest - Winters are cold, summers are longer than tundra
(boreal forest / taiga) - Vegetation: mostly conifers – pine/fir/spruce
- Trees are tall, narrow shape and needle leaves
- Subject to periodic fires
- Burn regeneration cycle is NB for deer’s, bears and insects
- Soils are acidic
Temperate forest - Trees are deciduous
- Almost Exclusively to N. Hemisphere
- Tall broad leaf trees
- Climate is seasonal with abundant water supply during growing season
GGH1502
, - Amphibians (salamanders/frogs) occur here
Tropical rain forest - High amounts of rainfall and warm temps. Throughout
- Vegetation: trees are evergreen, broad-leaved and pollinated by animals,
many kinds of vines & epiphytes(ferns/orchids)
- Most nutrients are stored in biomass, soil contains little organic matter
- Display multi-layered canopy – low levels of vegetation on ground due to
lack of light
- Large biodiversity
Tropical savannah - Flank tropical rainforests – Africa & S. America
- Vegetation: trees are widely spaced, grasses grow between
- Herds of grazing mammals, carnivores and scavengers occur
- Climate is warm all year, dry season for several months – fires
- Fires maintain the openness of the savannah ecosystem and are important
in nutrient cycling
Temperate grasslands - Great expanses are located in Eurasia (Steppe), N. America (prairie), S.
America (Pampa) & small patches in SA (veld)
- Trees are absent
- Vegetation is dominated by herbaceous plants, mostly grasses
- Climate is temperate, seasonal and dry
- Soils are deep and rich in organic matter
Desert - Hyper-arid desert supports very little plant life, with some species adapted
to high and variable temps.
- Temp. range: high due to lack of moisture and rainfall
- Characterised by bare rock and sand dunes
- Fog is an important source of moisture in coastal deserts
- Sporadic and intense rain may promote rapid growth of annual plants and
animals, which lie dormant.
Chaparral - Found around Mediterranean (Maquis), California (Chaparral), S. Australia
/Mediterranean/ (Mallee), Chile (Mattoral) & SA (Fynbos)
Maquis - Summers are hot and dry, winters are cold and moist
- Low evergreen trees and shrubs have thick bark and small, hard leaves
- Soils are low in nutrients
- Fire –summer – NB for development and regeneration
Morphoclimactic regions
- Morphoclimactic regions: Areas which are characterised with landforms associated with a particular
climate
Tropical humid Rainforest, rainy climate with no winter, either constantly moist or with monsoon
rains. E.g. Brazil, Central Africa
Tropical humid Savannah, rainy climate with either a dry summer or winter season. E.g. Central Africa
– Tanzania/ Kenya
Dry Desert of arid climate. E.g. Egypt, UAE
Dry Steppe or semi-arid climate e.g. Parts of Russia
Warmer humid Rainy with mild winters – incl. Mediterranean, Humid subtropical, Marine West Coast
Climates). e.g. Namibia, Mediterranean
Cooler Humid Rainy with severe winters – incl. continental warm & cool summer and sub-arctic. E.g.
Alaska & Northern Russia
Polar Tundra climate. E.g. Arctic Circle
Polar Ice caps. E.g. Greenland
1.4 Time and Spatial Scales
- Timescales range from geological time scale (millions of years) to human time (days, years, decades)
o The effects of human activities change according to the time scale that is used
- In a study of environmental change, choosing a suitable spatial scale is just as important as choosing
an appropriate timescale.
o Spatial scales range from the microscopic to the macro
- Significance to humans is the NB factor
GGH1502
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