The Environmental Literacy Framework (ELF) wasmade possible through financial support provided by
As part of NOAA EnvironmentalLiteracy Grant #NA09SEC490009 to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's,ANDRILL Science Management Office.
Atmosphere
Energy
Geosphere
Biosphere
With A Focus OnClimate Change
Hydrosphere
Environmental LiteracyFramework
This material is based on work supported by an Environmental LiteracyGrant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Officeof Education (NA09SEC4690009). Any opinions, findings, and conclusionsor recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the authorsand do not necessarily reflect the views of the NOAA.
Preview
Time
Materials
Vocabulary (Terms)
Unit 4-Biosphere
Biodiversity and Habitat Loss
Focus Questions:
How will climate change affect biodiversity and habitat distribution around the world?
How does climate change affect the liveable range of animals and plants within aregion?
Preview
Climate is the most important factor determining where an organism lives. Plantspecies have a tolerance range of temperature and rainfall, each species with itsown requirements. Some species have a narrow range of tolerance; others are moretolerant and able to live in a wide range of climates. Animals that depend on specificplants for food tend to live in the climate region where these plants are found.Ecosystems contain many biomes and habitats and are measured by the numberof species that live there. This is called biodiversity. Increased biodiversity createshigher productivity in the ecosystem and enhances its ability to recover whendisturbed.
50 minutes
•Three blackline masters copied for each team•Scissors•Colored pencils•Tape
BiodiversityBiomesClimate changeElevationHabitatNiche
Graphic: Rita Thomas
Environmental Literacy Framework
In the diagram above you see the different biomes of a mountain in northern Arizona.
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Unit 4-Biosphere
Activity 4C-Biodiversity and Habitat Loss
Prepare1. Research the biomes listed on the Mountain Biomes Sheet. In your science journal, create a biomes table of plants and animals found in each habitat.
2. Using the information from your biomes table, illustrate the appropriate trees, animals and other vegetation of the different biomes on the Mountain Biomes Sheet. Make it visually attractive with colored pencils.
3. Trim off the left margin of the Mountain Biomes Sheet. Cut off the pieces from the right side of the Mountain Biomes Sheet to assemble the pull-up tab. Glue the pull-up tab to the top of the Mountain Biomes Sheet matching the marks carefully so that 380 ppm (parts per million) is spaced correctly in relation to 400 ppm.
4. Cut out the center section along the dotted lines of the Biodiversity and Range Shift Model. Assemble the model by folding along the left and right margin solid lines and taping the folds around a plain 8-1/2 " x 11" piece of paper.
5. Insert the Mountain Biomes Sheet into the Biodiversity and Range Shift Model so it slides in and out. It should look like the picture to the right.
Environmental Literacy Framework
In a mountain biome, as the elevation increases, temperature decreases, there is more rain, and winters are longer. Sometimes snow remains all year long near the top. Each biome has a different range of average temperature, rainfall and length of winter. Plant and animal species vary on the mountain based on these ranges of variables. Lower on the mountain, plants and animals that tolerate warmer temperatures, less rainfall, and long summers thrive. Alpine animals, such as pikas, only live in the upper elevations of the mountains and have learned how to cope with colder temperatures, harsh winters and short summers.
As the average temperature of the Earth increases, spring starts earlier in many places and higher elevations that were cool are now warm. On mountains, warmer temperatures mean habitats move higher. Organisms that once could only live at 4000 feet now can live at 5000 feet. Pika which live near the top of mountains start to lose their habitat. As the temperature increases, their alpine habitat will continue to decrease and eventually disappear.
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Rule of thumb: It is estimated that for every 100 ppm increase in atmospheric CO2 , global temperatures increase about 1°C .
Carbon dioxide, in addition to other atmospheric gases, traps the heat radiating from the surface of the Earth, increasing the average temperature. The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere is measured in ppm, and it is increasing. In this activity, as the ppm of CO2 increases, the T (temperature) increases, and the warmer habitats migrate, or move, up the mountain. The cooler habitats shrink and space for them is decreased. The number of habitats decreases (6 to 4) on the mountain. Species (both plant and animal) die out as habitats are decreased or lost.
Rita Thomas-ANDRILL www.andrill.org
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13,000 ft.
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Jean Pennycook
*Attach a blank sheet of 8.5”x11” paper to the back, using tape to secure at the sides.You will need to fold this image at .5 margins on the sides to create a sleeve for the center sheet.
Cut out center insert
Fold
Fold
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Range ‘expansion’ of plants and animals as climate change alters habitats.
Pull-Up Tab
Cut on this line
Cut on these lines
Cut on dotted line
Alpine Tundra
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Arctic Alpine
[CO2] ---> 400 ppm 420 ppm 440 ppm 460 ppm 480 ppm 500 ppm 520 ppm 540 ppm
Spruce Fir Forest
Fir Forest
Grasslands and Desert Shrubs
Woodland Pinyon-Juniper
Pine Forest
Attach Pull-up Tab Here
TODAY380 ppm_______Attachat topmarking
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380 ppm
(cut from right side here)
Unit 4-Biosphere
5. At each climate transition, or new biome, there is a change in vegetation and types of animals that live there. Above or below their climate range, these plants and animals are less common or are not found at all. A region such as this mountain, which supports multiple habitats, provides for a large biodiversity of organisms, all interacting to create a high producing ecosystem. Note the position of the biomes against the elevation scale on the right side of the model. Record the elevation limits of each biome and the concentration of CO2 as indicated on the pull-up.
What can you say about the biodiversity of this mountain region?
6. In the Western U.S. and Rocky Mountain areas, the average winter temperature has increased 1.4°C over the last 100 years, reducing the amount of snow pack that accumulates. Pull the tab up until the 400 ppm concentration of CO2 appears.
What has happened to the biomes on the mountain?As the habitats shift up the mountain, what will happen to the space each organism has?
7. Pikas, which live in alpine regions, can not tolerate temperatures above 27°C and rarely nest in areas where the temperature exceeds 25°C. In areas where the temperature has risen, the pika has disappeared. Pull the tab up until the concentration of CO2 is 440 ppm.
What has happened to the biomes on the mountain?
Has the biodiversity on this mountain increased or decreased? Explain your answer.
What has happened to the amount of space in which the pika population can live? (Animals and plants can onlyclimb so high before they run out of 'real estate.')
8. As the depth of mountain snow pack and glaciers change, the seasonal melting and runoff have an impact on the organisms that rely on a continued supply of fresh water. Reduced runoff affects the amphibians and fish that live in the streams with repercussions all the way up the food chain. Pull the tab up until the concentration of CO2 is 480 ppm. What is happening to the ecosystems on this mountain now?
What do you expect to happen to the amount of water runoff available to organisms living on this mountain asthe climate warms?
Activity 4C-Biodiversity and Habitat Loss
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Unit 4-Biosphere9. Mountain ecosystems are isolated and disconnected from other mountains. As the climate changes and the organisms move up the mountain, the ability to move to another mountain is reduced.As a species is driven up a mountain in search of suitable habitat, what happens to the amount of space inwhich they live?
How will this affect their population numbers and availability of food?
10. Pull the tab up one more level until the ppm of CO2 is 500. Describe what has happened to the snow level, the elevation of the biomes, and the biodiversity of this mountain now. Use the tables to show that a loss of biomes means a loss of biodiversity.
Only four habitats left.
Activity 4C-Biodiversity and Habitat Loss
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Unit 4-Biosphere
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Activity 4C-Biodiversity and Habitat Loss
Ponder
You have seen that increased concentration of CO2 has altered the elevation of biomes on a mountain region as the temperature increases. Return your model to today’s conditions. It is estimated that the habitat shift up a mountain is 0.11 km per year. If the side of this mountain from 2000 feet to 13,000 feet is 10.5 km, in what year will the broadleaf forest reach 10,000 feet? Show your calculations.
Not all organisms lose in a climate change event. As winter temperatures increase, survival rate of the bark beetle also increases. These beetles damage trees and many infected trees die. The range of these wood eating insects has grown in North America, and more and more pine forests are being infected by them. How will the loss of large pine trees affect the population of other plants, birds and animals in the forest?
Practice
Got the Big Idea?
As climate change alters habitat ranges, organisms must migrate to new areas, or die out. Our model shows how habitats change in elevation in response to climate change; the same phenomenon occurs with latitude. Insects that could not tolerate the cold winters above 44°N now flourish at 50°N. In both cases, hardy species will survive and out-compete more fragile ones. Habitat loss will decrease biodiversity, which is reduced by the organisms that are pushed out, or cannot move and die. In every climate change event, there are winners and losers. As new species move into areas that in the past had not been suitable for them, other species must move on, or die.
Preparing to Present
Come up with a statement or question to engage your visitors about biodiversity and habitat shift and how it affects them. Think about what might happen if we could no longer grow corn or wheat in Iowa or Kansas. Prepare a visual to show people that different habitats support different species based on climate factors and that more habitats create a higher biodiversity which keeps an ecosystem strong.
Practice
Engage your audience with your visual about how different organisms (plants and animals) need different biomes and how a mountain can supply many different habitats. Allow your visitors to work the habitat loss model and predict what will happen as the concentration of CO2 increases. Show them how as the ecological biomes move up the mountain, the biodiversity of the mountain is reduced.
Unit 4-BiosphereActivity 4C-Biodiversity and Habitat Loss
In this hands-on activity, learners create a model to show how biomes move up a mountain as CO2
in our atmosphere increases and the climate warms. The mountain starts with six biomes and, as the climate heats up, the biomes at the highest elevations as well as the plants and animals that live there disappear. Biodiversity of the mountain is reduced.
Activity
Life Sci Standard C:A population consists of all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time. All populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem. Millions of species of plants and animals are alive today. The number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition. Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to allow its survival.
Biosphere 5: Life’s relationship with climate consists of a web of complex interactions and feedbacks. All life on Earth is affected by climatic conditions while simultaneously impacting those conditions.Biosphere 5a: Human civilization is not separate from, but is embedded in, the larger context of the complex interconnectedness of ecosystems, the biosphere, and the other major Earth systems. Humanity affects all of these systems and is in turn affected by them.
NSES CLEP ELF
3a: Individual organisms survivewithin specific ranges of temperature, precipitation, humidity, and sunlight. Organisms exposed to climate conditions outside their normal ranges must adapt or migrate, or they will perish. 3c: Changes in climate conditions can affect the health and function of ecosystems and the survival of entire species.4a:Climate descriptions can refer to areas that are local, regional or global in extent.6d: Some changes resulting from human activities have decreased the capacity of the environment to support various species and have substantially reduced ecosystem biodiversity and ecological resistance.6e: Scientists and economists predict that there will be both positive and negative impacts from global climate change.
Background Information for the Teacher
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NSES: National Science Education Standards (http://www.csun.edu/science/ref/curriculum/reforms/nses/index.html)CLEP: Climate Literacy Essential Principles (http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/Literacy/)ELF: Environmental Literacy Framework (www.andrill.org/education/elf)
Unit 4-BiosphereActivity 4C-Biodiversity and Habitat Loss
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Background Information for the Teacher
Although estimates vary, it is widely believed there are over 1.5 million organisms catalogued on the planet so far. There are perhaps 2 million species yet to be discovered. This extraordinary variety of life represents the biodiversity we enjoy here on Earth.
The variety of species, or biodiversity, is not evenly distributed around the globe, or even within a region. The biodiversity of an area is influenced by the abiotic factors in the area including temperature, precipitation, altitude, geography, and topography, as well as the biotic factors, such as the presence of other species.
Generally, biodiversity is greater in the warmer regions, near the tropics, and lower in colder regions near the poles.
It is generally believed that the greater the biodiversity, the greater the productivity of a region. This means that the presence of more species in a region produce more and different kinds of products than regions of fewer species, or low biodiversity. Change in a habitat, or loss of habitat, reduces the number and kinds of organisms that can live in an area. For instance, when agriculture develops large areas of land in a region, the number of plant species, and therefore the number of animals that live there, is greatly reduced. This change decreases the biodiversity of the land.
Extinction is a natural event in the history of Earth. However, now it is believed that many plant and animal species face extinction because of habitat disruption due to man’s development of the land and changes in the Earth’s climate patterns. When habitat is lost to urban expansion, agricultural development, or climate change, many plant and animal populations are reduced to smaller numbers which are not sufficient to reproduce and therefore cannot survive.
When populations of organisms become isolated and habitat area becomes small, a species is vulnerable to extinction from a region or from the planet. When food plants can no longer grow in an area, the animals that depend on those plants must move or die out. Climate change on Earth is shrinking some habitats and expanding others. There are winners and losers in these changes. When habitats shrink, the number of individuals in the species may become so small they cannot sustain the population. Extinction may occur. When habitats expand, populations increase. Some plant species will expand their range, and along with them, the animals that depend on them for food. As climate factors change, some species will move out, while others will move in.
Because climatic factors change with altitude one can experience several natural biomes as you travel up a mountain. Generally warmer at lower elevations and colder at higher elevations, many mountains support a wide range of plant and animal species and therefore a high diversity of plants and animals for the region.
In this activity, students will observe a mountain with six biomes from lower elevation grasslands to higher elevation arctic tundra. As the CO2 levels in our atmosphere increase and the climate warms, the colder climate biomes near the top of the mountain begin to disappear. As the colder climate range disappears, the plants and animals in that region also disappear.
Activity 4C-Biodiversity and Habitat Loss
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Unit 4-Biosphere
Glossary
Unit Activity Vocabulary Word Definition
Biology Biodiversity Biodiversity The diversity of a region based on the number and kinds of different plant and animal organisms.
Biology Biodiversity Biomes
Communities of plants and animals, which are defined geographically and climatically. (E.g., rainforests are a biome defined as warm all year round with plenty of rain and sunlight, generally found near the equator with lush plant growth and a diversity of animals.)
Biology Biodiversity Climate change
A significant change in the weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to thousands of years. The change may range over a specific region or the entire Earth.
Biology Biodiversity Elevation The height above a fixed reference. The most commonly used reference is sea level.
Biology Biodiversity Habitat The environment where a plant or animal normally lives and grows.
Biology Biodiversity Niche How an organism makes a living in its environment and utilizes the resources available to it.
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