1. Chapter 11: Terrestrial Flora
and Fauna
McKnight’s Physical Geography:
A Landscape Appreciation,
Tenth Edition, Hess

2. Terrestrial Flora and Fauna
• Ecosystems and Biomes
• Terrestrial Flora
• Terrestrial Fauna
• Zoogeographic Regions
• The Major Biomes
• Human Modification of Natural Distribution
Patterns
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3. Ecosystems and Biomes
• Ecosystem—community of plants
and animals living together
• Numerous ecosystem scales
• Biomes
– large recognizable assemblage of
plants and animals in interaction
with environment
– Identified by dominant vegetation,
biomass
– Ten major types
• Ecotones
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Figure 11-1

4. Terrestrial Flora
• Most significant visual component of landscape
• Sensitive indicator to other environmental attributes
• Influence on human settlement and activities
• Plant characteristics
– Hardy
– Perennials
– Annuals
– Highly variable in size
– Common characteristics: roots, stems, branches,
leaves
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5. Terrestrial Flora
• Floristic terminology
– Two types, seeds and spores
– Spore reproduction
• Bryophytes—mosses and
liverworts
• Pteridophytes—ferns, horsetails
– Seed reproduction
• Gymnosperms—seeds in cones,
also called conifers
• Angiosperms—seeds encased
in protection, all other plant life is
of this type
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Figure 11-3

6. Terrestrial Flora
• Floristic terminology (cont.)
– Woody plants versus herbaceous plants
– Evergreen trees versus deciduous trees
– Broadleaf trees versus needleleaf trees
– Hardwoods versus softwoods
• Environmental adaptations
– Plants have changed their tolerance relative to their
environmental conditions
– Two most prominent adaptations involve availability of
water
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7. Terrestrial Flora
• Xerophytic adaptations
– Roots modified in shape
and size to seek
moisture
– Stems modified as a
means to store moisture
– Leaf surface modified to
decrease transpiration
– Lie dormant for years
until they receive rain,
then reproduce rapidly
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Figure 11-4

8. Terrestrial Flora
• Hygrophytic adaptations
– Hydrophytes—those
that are completely
submersed in water
– Hygrophytes—those
which require frequent
water soakings
– Extensive root systems
– Hygrophytic plants
supported by buoyancy
of water instead of
stems
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Figure 11-6

9. Terrestrial Flora
• Competition and inevitability of
change
– Plants are competitive for area
– Floristic pattern of Earth’s
surface is impermanent
– Eventual pattern of constant
plant composition—climax
vegetation
– Seral stages
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Figure 11-5

10. Terrestrial Flora
• Spatial associations of plants
– Need generalization to interpret spatial flora patterns
– Human effects
• Major floristic associations
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Figure 11-7

11. Terrestrial Flora
• Forests
– Trees so close their leaf
canopies overlap
– Require significant annual
precipitation
– Likely to become climax
vegetation
• Woodlands
– Trees spaced more widely than
forests, no overlapping canopies
– Ground cover not inhibited by
lack of sunlight
– Drier than forest environments
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Figure 11-8

12. Terrestrial Flora
• Shrublands
– Short, woody plants such as shrubs or bushes
– Leafy foliate near ground
– Generally restricted to arid locales
• Grasslands
– Scattered trees and shrubs
– Dominated by grasses and forbs
– Prominent types include savanna, prairie, and steppe
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13. Terrestrial Flora
• Deserts (Figure 11-9)
– Widely scattered plants with
much bare ground
– Great variety of vegetation
• Tundra
– Complex mix of low plants
with no trees
– Cold climates
• Wetlands
– Shallow standing water
– Swamps and marshes
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Figure 11-9

14. Terrestrial Flora
• Vertical zonation
– Distinct pattern of vegetation
patterns in mountainous areas
– Elevation-latitude relationship
– Upper treeline
• Local variations
– Sunlight exposure
• Adret slope
• Ubac slope
– Valley bottom location, riparian
vegetation
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Figure 11-13

15. Terrestrial Fauna
• Fauna more widely
distributed than flora
• Less prominence in
geographic study
• Sometimes fauna more
sensitive to the health of an
ecosystem
• Animal characteristics
– Motile
– Need plants and/or animals for
sustenance
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Figure 11-15

16. Terrestrial Fauna
• Environmental adaptations
– Evolution impacts
– Adaptation to environmental
extremes
• Physiological adaptations
– Anatomical and/or metabolic
changes
– Example: fox ear size
– Fur-bearing mammals
common in high-
latitude/elevation
– Other examples
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Figure 11-19

17. Terrestrial Fauna
• Behavioral adaptations
– Change behavior based on
environmental stress
– Hibernation and estivation
• Reproductive adaptations
– New reproductive cycles to
overcome harsh
environmental conditions
• Example of animal
adaptations to desert life
(Figure 11-20)
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Figure 11-20

18. Terrestrial Fauna
• Competition among animals
– Indirect competition for space and
resources
– Direct competition through
predation
– Competition for food and water
– Parental instincts
• Cooperation among animals
– Social groups of animals
– Symbiosis
• Mutualism
• Commensalism
• Parasitism
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Figure 11-22

19. Zoogeographic Regions
• Broad distribution of fauna reflects energy and food
diversity distribution
• Nine zoogeographic regions based on vertebrate
distribution
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Figure 11-23

20. Zoogeographic Regions
• Ethiopian—Separated by oceanic and land
boundaries, most diverse terrestrial fauna
• Oriental—Similar fauna to Ethiopian, but fewer
species, separated by mountainous terrain,
endemic groups
• Palearctic—fauna poorer than Ethiopian or Oriental,
due to its higher latitude
• Nearctic—Mixture of Palearctic and Neotropical
regions, poor fauna, possibly joined at one time with
the Palearctic, explaining similarities in biota
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21. Zoogeographic Regions
• Neotropical—tropical portions of Americas; birds
diverse; numerous endemic fauna
• Madagascar—numerous endemic fauna due to
isolation from Africa
• New Zealand—dominated by birds, no mammals,
and limited vertebrate fauna
• Pacific Islands—numerous isolated islands, very
limited fauna
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22. Zoogeographic Regions
• Australian—isolated large
island has limited fauna
types, but 8 of 9 are
endemic
– Flora unique, 90% are
eucalyptus
– Fauna dominated by
monotremes and
marsupials
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Figure 11-17

23. The Major Biomes
• Tropical rainforest (selva)
– Greatest species
diversity
– Different heights of
vegetation
– Very dense vegetation
– Little surface vegetation
due to lack of sunlight
– Fauna generally
arboreal (tree dwelling)
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Figure 11-26

24. The Major Biomes
• Tropical deciduous forest
– Less tree density than
selva
– Lower tree heights
indicative of less
precipitation
– More ground level
vertebrates, many
arboreal vertebrates
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Figure 11-28

25. The Major Biomes
• Tropical scrub
– Subtropical steppe and
tropical savanna
climates
– Extensive grasses
– Moderately tall trees
– Numerous ground-
dwelling fauna, little
arboreal fauna
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Figure 11-29

26. The Major Biomes
• Tropical savanna
– Dominated by tall
grasses, occasional
bare ground
– Mixture of bushes and
shrubs dot landscape –
park savanna
– Mixture of fauna; African
savanna has “big game”
– Human modification of
tropical regions
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Figure 11-30

27. The Major Biomes
• Desert
– Wide flora diversity,
xerophytic flora
– Sparse plant cover,
typically shrubs
– Moderately diverse
fauna, no large-sized
animals
– Rainfall can trigger plant
germination
– Biota near oases
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Figure 11-31

28. The Major Biomes
• Mediterranean woodland
and shrub
– Pronounced wet-dry
climate (mediterranean
climate)
– Chaparral shrub growth
dominant flora
– Open grassy woodlands
common as well
– Summer wildfires
– Indistinctive fauna
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Figure 11-33

29. The Major Biomes
• Midlatitude deciduous
forest
– Dense growth of
broadleaf trees
– Widely modified by
humans
– Diversity of fauna to
match tropical regions
– Wildlife more limited
during winter due to
hibernation
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Figure 11-35

30. The Major Biomes
• Boreal forest
– Often co-located with
the subarctic climate
– Most trees are conifers
– Trees taller on southern
side of this biome
– Limited faunal species
diversity
– Number of animals
much higher than
species diversity
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Figure 11-36

31. The Major Biomes
• Tundra
– Too cold for trees to
survive
– Dense, low height plant
cover
– Animal life dominated by
birds
– Few fish and mammals,
no reptiles or
amphibians
– Alpine tundras exist at
high elevations
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Figure 11-38

32. Human Modification of Natural
Distribution Patterns
• Humans can modify
distribution patterns
astonishingly quickly
• Physical removal of
organisms
– Modification of
landscape to make
room for civilization
– Vast effects on overall
distribution patterns
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Figure 11-37

33. Human Modification of Natural
Distribution Patterns
• Habitat modification
– Tropical rainforest
removal
• 27 million acres of rain
forest lost per year
• Ecosystem effects from
rainforest removal
• Loss of biodiversity
through extinction
– Methods which
overcome the removal
of tropical rainforest
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Figure 11-40

34. Human Modification of Natural
Distribution Patterns
• Artificial translocation of
organisms
– Introduction of exotic
species
– Crops and pets
– Deliberate release of
livestock as “feral”
creatures
• Example of relocation:
the sad case of Florida
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Figure 11-46

35. Summary
• Biomes and ecosystems describe communities of
flora and fauna and their spatial location patterns
• Terrestrial flora exist in vast diversity on the Earth’s
surface
• Floral terminology is used to help understand floral
processes
• Flora undergo environmental adaptations to account
for their surrounding environment
• Flora exist competitively in nature
• There are five primary floral distributions globally
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36. Summary
• Flora is subject to a vertical zonation as well
• Terrestrial fauna are less spatially defined due to
motility
• There are two primary kinds of animals
• As with flora, terrestrial fauna undergo environmental
adaptations as their surroundings change
• Competition between animals is widely evident
• Animals work cooperatively in many instances
• There are nine primary zoogeographic regions
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37. Summary
• The ten biomes of the world help to identify the
spatial distribution of terrestrial flora and fauna and
assess their relationship to the surrounding climate
• Numerous human interactions have significantly
modified the biomes of the world
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