midterm notes (1-10)

Lecture 1 • The total number of species of flora and fauna= biodiversity. • The total number and variety of living things found in an area= biological diversity. • Animals = fauna & Plants = flora • O ntario’s biodiversity = 100,000 species. • Why is Ontario so rich? ▪ 1) Size: more than a million km^2. ▪ 2) Great range of abiotic factors: range of environmental conditions such as temperature/precipitation/wind/soil type/rocks/fire ▪ 3) B IOTIC FACTORS: DOMINANT PLANTS • the foundation of all different parts of Ontario is ROCKS ABIOTIC FACTOR. • “Rocks”: made of minerals that affect nutrient supply & soil chemistry (ex. PH). BEDROCK: • The rocks under any given area are called =BEDROCK. • Some bedrocks are flat, and some are layered. The layered one is usually formed under ocean . The material of sediment settles down and the ocean recedes, the material then becomes compressed and layered rocks. Sedimentary Rock: OCEAN • T hese rocks are flat and formed from sediments and are called = sedimentary rocks. • Young rock (400-500 million years old) • Ex. Limestone= sedimentary rocks. This rock is rich in calcium (calcium bicarbonate) and is relatively soft and basic PH. • Are rocks that breaks down easily over time. • When you pour HCL on it, it effervesces (bubbles up). • Some limestones is made from animals whose fossil remains are full of calcium. • “ Calciphiles ” are plants that love basic soil and calcium like “ Poison Ivy ” Igneous rock: MAGMA • molten rock (magma) from deep underground= igneous rock ▪ these rocks are not layered. ▪ Thy usually lack calcium , have lots of silica and are hard and acidic. ▪ Ex. “ Granite ” is a common igneous rock (old rock 1-3 billion years old) ▪ When you pour HCl = NOTHING HAPPENS ▪ Some plants thrive in acidic soil ▪ Some igneous rocks formed on the earth’s surface from volcanoes= less acidic

▪ Ex. “Basalt” is volcanic rock (and not acidic ) Metamorphic rocks: PRE_EXISTING ROCK BY HEAT AND PRESSURE o “ Metamorphic”: formed from pre-existing rock that has been transformed by heat & pressure ▪ Retains the chemical characteristic of the parent rocks ▪ Granite becomes “Gneiss” (acidic and lacks calcium) ▪ Limestone becomes “Marble” (h as calcium) = EFFERVESCE Where the 3 types of rock lie? • Sedimentary rocks usually underlie FLAT terrain = “Lowlands ” • Igneous & Metamorphic rocks usually under HILLY terrain = “Highlands” • Rocks create “Relief” = elevation variation (which creates “Microclimates”) • On bedrock lies “Overburden” put there by “Glacial Deposits” o The type of land and glacial deposits affects the “Drainage” o Glacial till can trap moisture. Water and rocks: o Water is one of the most important forces in ON ▪ Carries material in a fast flowing or slow flowing manner, which determines what it leaves behind (moves and sorts materials) ▪ Ex. Boulders, gravel, sand, silt, clay ▪ Large bodies of water modifies land temperature and winds. ▪ Water also indirectly creates habitat ▪ Glacial erratic = deposited from where they exist. They are different than the type of rock they exist on. ▪ Glacial striation: scratches/too polished Physiographic regions by rock: • The type of bedrock and the type of glacial deposit affects the land physically. • Physiographic Regions: distinct areas determined by their rock type and lay of the land lay o Ex. The Canadian Shield, Hudson Bay Lowland, Ottawa-St. Laurent Lowland, Great Lakes Lowland o Each physiographic regions contains a diversity of habitats. o In some regions the deciduous trees such as oak and maple are dominant. In other parts coniferous trees are dominant. o The dominant canopy-forming trees define forest regions. 3) BIOTIC FACTORS: DOMINANT PLANTS • “Forest Regions” or “Ecological”: areas defined by their dominant plants (mainly trees)

o Ex. Tundra, Hudson Bay Lowland, Boreal Forest, Carolinian, Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lecture 2: TUNDRA • Over the past million years, ice covered all of Ontario several times =glaciation o The ice age is called the PLESTOCENE • “Granite” or “Gneiss” + HCl = no effervescing o Ex. “Marble” + HCl = effervesces • Water is a very powerful abiotic force: it forms habitats by moving rocks, is a habitat itself, modifies land temperature, and creates wind. o Continues to change ON o Leaves evidence of change with smooth rocks, randomly placed rocks “ Erratic ”, and large scratches “ Striations ” formed by ice ICE AGE OF ONTARIO • Ice covered ON millions of years ago multiple times. It was 2km deep and slow moving. o Ice moves back North, then after the weight of the ice is gone the land again = “ Isostatic Rebound ”. This has caused ON to be getting gradually larger. o Ice destroyed all life and scoured rocks o Glaciers are caused by small drops in average temperature over millions of years. o Snow buildup>snowmelt o The bare rocks in Ontario left by glacial, was first colonized by LICHENS. Beginning of colonization In Ontario • “ Lichen ” was th e first plant to grow back; directly onto rock. It is a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae . Initiates “ Succession ”, change in area which is the continuation of more plants to be able to grow. The fungus provides a house for the algae and algae provides food via photosynthesis. o “ Crustose (cluster) Lichen” colonizes on bare rocks (It is a “Pioneer Species= COLONIZERS ”) are like crust. ▪ Provides a base for other plants to grow like “ Moss ” = pioneer species (colonizers) ▪ Grows by wind blowing material and building up o 1) “ Foliose Lichen ” are leaf -like in appearance o 2) “ Fruticose Lichen ” are stock -like or fruit-like in appearance o 3) “ Arborial Lichen ” grows on trees o Liches and moss are pioneer species (COLONIZERS) that physically trap wind-blown particles and provides a site for other living things to grow. • Water and plants breakdown rocks and dissolve it into soil. • Plants and animals came from “ Glacial Refugia ” – took refuge other places and then came back after glaciation.

• “Poplars” and “White Birch” were the 1 st kinds of trees to come back because they are the first trees to colonize new soil = “ Pioneer Species” • A pioneer tree ’s characteristic: sun-lovers with tiny seeds that are wind blown also SHADE creators. o so trees like “ Balsam Fir ” and “ Spruce” that are “ Coniferous ” then came to live grow beneath them. Forests can be mixed like this or, once the shade-intolerant trees die, the other trees can take over. Eventually SHADE-TOLERANT trees outlive pioneers. o Shade-tolerant trees such as maples and spruces replace shade-intolerant (sun-loving) trees as trembling aspen (poplar). ▪ Next came “ Deciduous ” trees brought in by animals through the process of “ Zoochory ” like “Maples” an “Oaks”. ▪ But shade-tolerant deciduous are not always the end result. In some areas conifers dominate. • “Site Conditions” = are the environmental conditions (temp. percipit. Bedrock type, soil type, glacial deposit and physiography) that dictate what can grow in an area. = not the end result. • “Climax Forest ” = is a self-replacing forest with lots of seedlings (maples replaces maples) = the end result. Lecture 3: Hudson’s bay lowland physiological region : TUNDRA characteristics: • The most northerly “ECOLOGICAL” or FOREST REGION is the TUNDRA , which lies in the HUDSON BAY LOWLAND of physiographic region . • The tundra lacks a tree canopy but still have trees! • The southern most subarctic tundra in the whole world. • The northern limit of tundra is Hudson Bay and the southern limit is the tree lines = a poorly defined border that meanders at varying distance from the coast. • POLAR BEAR PARK; protects some of it= 23552= largest park in Ontario • The average temperature is - 6◦C and the ground is frozen all year round = “Permafrost” • Frozen soil= little decomposition=few nutrient and virtually no soil buildup. • Low and flat: 0-60 meters above sea level (ASL) but it Is rising 1.2m/100 yrs and moving north 400m/100 yrs. ▪ The rising is due to isostatic rebound . • Windy: it has the coldest windchill in north America. • Clay and silt deposits range from 5-75 m thick. o 8000 years ago a tyrrell sea covered all of Hudson bay lowland up to Canadian shield physiographic region. o Flat, poor draining + frozen ground +clay = LOTS of water

TUNDRA ANIMALS: • Birds: “Scaup” and “long - tailed ducks” diving ducks in the lakes & “ Scoter ” sea ducks in northern area. • In tundra zone the indicator species are not found all year round= TUNDRA SWAN • Geese: “ Canada Goose ” & “ Snow Goose ” o Millions of geese (exploded over years), ▪ This is because the transformation of forest to farmland and prairies has changed to cornfields. This has changed the migration of the geese. Now they can eat corn in the prairies and go up north to the Tundra. o Fatter females from more corn = more eggs = more geese o Geese have negative effect on tundra because they 1) dig up plant tubers (physical disturbance), which are hard to digest that produces a lot of 2) feces full of nitrogen (defecation of N). o Tundra is frozen during winter so they can’t stay there . • No turtles, salamanders and snakes in tundra because of salt. • Animals: found Tundra Swans, Wood Frogs & Chorus Frogs that are = Freeze Tolerant TUNDRA RIVER: • ½ of Canadian rivers drain into the Hudson Bay = MAIN IS winisk river o The Height of Land= Arctic WATERSHIELD is a barrier where above it the water all flows in the Arctic Ocean and below it all flows into the Atlantic Ocean • Freshwater rivers are habitats for Otters and Beavers. • Hudson’s Bay has 1/3 the salinity of oceans because of all the freshwaters. o Freezes solid in winter. o Hudson bay itself is habitat. o Animals have to deal with the salt of Hudson’s Bay is: Eiders =salt water ducks, 3 Loon species – “Common Loon”, “Red Throated Loon”, “Pacific Loon”. ▪ They eat salt water fish by using their Salt Glands = to remove the salt. o Aquatic birds are only there in the summer! ▪ Hudson Bay is habitat for marine mammals RIGNED and BEARDED SEALS and WALRUSES ▪ WALRUSES= pink in summer because they have more blood running to cool it down. ▪ A colony of Atlantic WLRUS i s found in cape Henrietta maria. o Beluga Whales Seals and Walruses are food for Polar Bears ( southernmost population of polar bears in the world!) TUNDRA INDICATOR SPECIES: • Indicator Species that are ONLY found in 1 area of Ontario are seals, walruses and polar bears (marine mammals).