Transcript ENV 259 - Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

Lecture 3 – Climate, Soils, and Forest Systems
 Many types and patterns of weather impact Ohio
 Climate v. Weather: What’s the difference?
 Weather
 Temperature
 Precipitation
 Humidity
 Wind
 Barometric Pressure
 Cloudiness
 Climate: weather over a long, long period of time
 Ohio Climate
 Classified as Continental climate
 Moderate extremes of wet/dry and hot/cold
 Winters cold enough to support fixed period of stable snow
 Relatively low summer precipitation
 Lake Erie further modifies Continental climate
 Canadian and Arctic
Cold Fronts
 Pacific Cold Fronts
 Warm Fronts
 Lake Erie is our
Major Weather
Producer
 Jan 25.7
 July 71.9
 Feb 28.4
 Aug 70.2
 March 37.5
 Sept 63.3
 April 47.6
 Oct 52.2
 May 58.5
 Nov 41.8
 June 67.5
 Dec 31.1
Annual Average 52 F
 Lake Erie!
 Late autumn/early winter causes “lake effect snow”
 Lake Effect snow: NW winds blowing across lake
pick up lake moisture and deposit as snow inland
 Tornadoes - 70% during spring, 90% come from
southwest, 1st in Geauga County 1804, none in Vinton
 Floods – early spring/late winter is common, frozen
ground can’t absorb rain (2/28/2011), also led to worst
in 1913, led to dams/levees
 Cold Lake Erie can drop land temperatures by 20
degrees in spring
 Reason for violent spring weather?
Elevation Map
 What causes fluctuating lake levels?
 Heavy snow falls
 Rain
 Seiches
 Draught (no NOT drought)
 Temperature variations
 Hail
 Fog
 Temperature inversions
 Gallia County 1934 –
113 degrees
 turn on the AC
(ok- no AC then)
 Extended 90 degree
days not uncommon
in Southern Ohio
 Mean max temp in
Cleveland about 84
 Formed when water
condenses around
dust particles
 Blown high in the air
by rising currents
 Water freezes and
drops, circulates, and
finally too heavy
 Size related to
number of
circulations
 Fog is a cloud at the earth's
surface
 Colder, heavy air drops into
warmer valleys and produces
cloud
 Hot air rises in late summer/early autumn
 Traps layer of cool air beneath
 Pollutants are trapped near the ground
 Sunny / hazy days – September, warm with light
winds
 “Cloud season” – Cold air in November from Canada
picks up Lake Erie water vapor (Nov / Dec top cloud
months)
 First frosts – anywhere from September to November
but Lake delays in Cleveland
 Lake effect snow…
 Orographic Lifting
 Winds across
unfrozen Lake Erie
 Pick up water vapor
 Collides with colder
air in higher
elevations (Chardon)
 Winter storm tracks
 Winter temperatures
 Winter snow
 Alberta Clipper – fast
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moving, cold/light snow
Panhandle Hook – through
handle of Ok, heavy wet
snow
Westerly Lows – Great
Plains, no moisture, smaller
accumulations of snow
Gulf Coast Low – lots of
moisture, rain or the
wettest snow
East Coast Lows – heavy
snows but only impact
Cleveland with the
“Noreaster”
 Perry County February 1899 – 39 below zero
 Average annual lowest temperature in Cleveland is
0 to 5 degrees
 1976 to 1978 saw some of the toughest on record
 1976-1977 coldest in weather history
 Variation – Chardon average 106 inches to Scioto
County at 15 inches
 1901 Blizzard dropped 31 inches of snow, 10 foot
drifts
 Great Thanksgiving Storm of 1950 lasted 6 days and
40 inches
 Blizzard of 1978 – lowest barometer in history,
hurricane winds, only 12 inches of new snow but 20
foot drifts
 Millions of years where Ohio was under ancient seas and
then “dry” out
 Plant and animal sediment compressed into sedimentary
rock over time
 Land masses eroding from wind, water, glaciers
 Plant and animal material continues to break down in wet
areas (lakes, bogs, wetlands)
 Land masses floating in oceans and running into each other, pushing
up mountains (plate tectonics –see slide next page)
 Can range from several feet
thick to thin (inches)
 Uppermost layer of earth’s
crust
 Ohio has 100’s of different
soils
 Mineral soils
 Organic soils
 Parent material – different bedrock, glacial till,
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organics
Climate – temperature, moisture
Living organisms – plant and animal
influences
Topography – formation at different elevations
Time – more developed soils have usually
developed over longer period of time
 O: organic
 A: topsoil
 B: subsoil
 C: parent material
 R: bedrock
R- Bedrock
 Lake Plain soils
 Glaciated Appalachian Plateau soils
 Till Plain soils
 Unglaciated Appalachian Plateau soils
 Bluegrass Region soils
 Flood Plain, Bog, & Lake Sediments
 All soils are classified into one of
the nearly 400 Soils Series – (and
NO you don’t need to know all 400)
 soils with similar characteristics are
grouped together
 5 Physiographic Regions
 Derive from ancient
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lakes material left by
Wisconsinan
Fertile but poorly
drained soils
Large # of soil series
Parent material in nw
Ohio: from great black
swamp
Flat topography
“Truck” crops
Lake Plain Soils
 Rolling and hilly
 Parent material - mostly from
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Wisconsinan, some from
Illinioian along southern border
Loam/silt loam till
Primarily well-drained
Hilly terrain more conducive to
wheat and less on row crops
Beach/maple forests
Many streams reversed path
i.e. Cuyahoga River (next slide)
Glaciated Appalachian Plateau Soils
 Slightly more rolling than lake
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plains
Better drained
Soils influenced primarily by
topography
Topography - rolling
Parent material-glacial high
lime till (Limestone Bedrock)
Fertile – corn and beans
Till Plains Soils
 Very hilly
 Parent material - local in
origin, derived from
sandstone, siltstone, shale,
limestone bedrock
 Well drained, less fertile,
but good forest
development
 Many different types of soil,
mostly acid in pH
Unglaciated Appalachian
Plateau soils
 Parent material - non-local
limestone and shale
 Varies in thickness
 Generally clayey & rocky
 Many referred to as Prairie Soils
Bluegrass Region Soils
 Flood Plains
 Flooding brings alluvial deposits…results in
undeveloped soils…always adding new parent material
 Influenced by soil/erosion upstream
 Deep, loamey, silty, clayey, sandy soils
 Very fertile soils
 Bogs
 Organic soils (Till Plains & Glaciated Plateau)
 Consist of black/brown organic material decomposing
 Vast Forest Wilderness
 Deciduous vs conifer
 Soil fertility resulted in tree diversity
 Oaks, hickories, beeches, maples, tuliptrees, walnuts, elms,
gums, chestnuts, ashes (some >150 ft tall)
 Beech & Sugar Maple - NE
 Nuts, maple syrup/sugar
 Oaks - S, SE
 Mast- what is that? Wildlife food source
 Conifers – SE
 Infertile, dry soils
 “Swamp” Species – W
 Oaks that like their feet wet
 Branching & shape
 Leaves
 Bark
 Buds i.e. tulip tree bud
 Location
 “Seeds”
 Tree species grow specifically on particular soils
 Oaks, hickories on deep well drained soils (have deep
root system, drought resistant)
 Black walnut, tulip tree on deep, moist, well drained
soils
 Alkaline = “sweet”
 Acidic= “sour”
 Topography influences where certain trees grow
Important species to
the ecology of many
forests in North
America.
Shade Tolerant.
Can grow
comfortably in any
type of soil, except
sand.
Red Oak
Important species to the ecology
of many forests in North
America.
Shade Tolerant.
Bark ridges that appear to have
shiny stripes down the center.
Tolerant of many soils and
varied situations, although it
prefers the glacial drift and welldrained borders of streams.
Tulip Tree
Grows rapidly in
rich, moist soils
of temperate
climates.
morels
Favors dry habitat
and ridgetop
exposure.
“Ridgetop tree"
sometimes called
"rock oak"
because of
montane and other
rocky habitats.
This tree prefers
well-drained
loam or clay, but
will also grow
on very poor,
sandy soil.
 1st year
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Horseweed dominant; crabgrass, pigweed
2nd year
Asters dominant; crabgrass
3rd to 18th year
Grass scrub community; broomsedge grass, pines coming in during this stage
19th to 30th year
Young pine forest
30th to 70th year
Mature pine forest; Understory of young hardwoods
70th to 100th year
Pine to hardwood transition
100th year plus
Climax oak-hickory forest
Young Forest
Mature Forest
Climax Forest
 Canopy trees (oaks, tulip trees)
 Understory trees (sugar maples)
 Shrubs, small trees (dogwood, mtn. laurel)
 Groundcover (green plants, seedlings, ferns)
 Progressively less light/greater protection
 Forest = dynamic, interactive system
 Fertile soil grows a tree
 Tree supports wildlife with food, habitat, shelter
 Supports other organisms
 Tree dies and falls to forest floor
 Organisms breakdown tree
 Return to soil
 Grow another tree
 Plants and animals use it throughout the process
 Influenced by nature of the soils and soil
development
 Direct relationship between Flora (plants) and
Fauna (animals) – both need each other to survive
 Predator-Prey interactions
 Adaptations
 Predator: sharp teeth, strong claws
 Prey: color, senses, speed, tastes/odors
 Balanced system for survival – no over prey
 Carrying capacity-level of species that various
habitat can support
 Smaller animals typically reproduce more rapidly
than larger
 Wildflowers
 Spring Peepers
 Migrating Birds
 Fawns
 Buds opening
 Woodcock Dance
 Trees leaf out
 Birds come alive
cicada
 Species diversity
 Shade is the best habitat
The pileated
woodpecker
White footed
mouse
 Plant growth slows
 Animals prep for winter
 Fall migration begins
 Color changes
 Hibernation
 Resident populations
 Quiet, leaf off
 Limited food supply and water sources
 Entire ecosystem is a dynamic system
 Started with rock
 Climate and weather influence breakdown
 Turned to soil, serves as basis for plant growth
 Plants provide food, shelter, habitat
 Return to the earth
 Starts all over and supports new set of organisms
along the way
 Cleveland Lakefront State Park– (near MLK Blvd &
Lake Erie)
 Talk about:
 Dike 14- history & ecology- now a nature preserve
 Invasive species – top 10 invasive plant species in Ohio
 Current Event Analysis
 Due by next class meeting