Activity 2.3 – Biosphere and Interconnections

 

Concept Map of Energy and Its Forms, created by Jennifer Mouser using Text2MindMap, https://tobloef.com/text2mindmap/ (click to enlarge)
Concept Map of Biodiversity, created by Jennifer Mouser using Text2MindMap, https://tobloef.com/text2mindmap/ (click to enlarge)

Concept Map of Biomes and Ecozones, created by Jennifer Mouser using Text2MindMap, https://tobloef.com/text2mindmap/ (click to enlarge)


Earth's biosphere is composed of many different types of biomes and ecozones, which allow for a great amount of biodiversity, and all of which - and the life forms within - use energy to live and work. The interconnectivity of the three concepts represented in the concept maps above (energy and its forms, biodiversity, and biomes and ecozones) can be seen all across the world in countless different examples which are easy to see once you understand the concepts.


To better understand the concepts outlined above, we can look at a specific example. The Edwards Plateau is an ecozone of central Texas that hosts a number of plants and animals, including rare species only found in this specific region. In this we see the biodiversity (or ‘species richness’) of the area; skunks, foxes, turtles, catfish, cacti, and hundreds of other species of plants and animals exist here. The Edwards Plateau has a varied terrain featuring steep canyons, hills, lakes, rivers, and streams and is also known for its caves and limestone deposits (tpwd.texas.gov). This is an example of an ecozone within a grassland biome (Freedman, 2015). Like all other biomes on Earth, it receives energy via solar radiation. The plants absorb this energy via photosynthesis to live, and animals and humans in the region consume the plants and other animals that live on the plants for energy. Solar energy is also used by cold-blooded animals to stay warm (for example, a snake laying on a rock to absorb the residual thermal energy from the sun’s rays after sunset when the temperatures drop to increase its body temperature).

References

Freedman, Bill. Environmental Science: A Canadian Perspective. Environmental Science a Canadian perspective BILL FREEDMAN DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES DIGITAL EDITIONS HALIFAX, NS, CANADA, 2015.

"Texas Ecoregions." Texas Parks and Wildlife, tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education/online-course/wildlife-conservation/texas-ecoregions#:~:text=location%20of%20woodlands.-,South%20Texas%20Plains,woodlands%20were%20once%20more%20exten.

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