Ecoregions Glossary. 7.8B: Changes To Texas Land Earth and Space

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1 Ecoregions Glossary Ecoregions The term ecoregions was developed by combining the terms ecology and region. Ecology is the study of the interrelationship of organisms and their environments. The term, ecoregions, links ecology to a specific location or region of the country. Ecoregions are identified by a combination of biotic and abiotic factors that include: geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. Because ecoregions are classified by a combination of biotic and abiotic variables, the boundaries between them are sometimes fuzzy with one or more characteristics extending into adjacent regions while others are totally contained within a region. For example, the boundary of a region may be a topographic feature like the edge of a plateau, but the vegetation, being more dependent upon climatic factors, may be found on both the plateau and on the lowlands beyond the edge of the plateau. As a result of this variation on the classification criteria, boundaries between ecoregions or even the number of ecoregions identified in a geographical area may vary depending upon the classification criteria being used. As an example, ecoregions used by biologists, who are more interested in animal populations, might have slightly different defined boundaries than boundaries defined by geographers, who are more focused on landforms than on the biotic variables. The USA Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), working with similar agencies in Mexico and Canada, have defined and mapped ecoregions of North America to provide a framework for government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and academic researchers. They have created several levels of the ecoregions classification system, depending upon how general or how detailed the information needs to be. Level l is very broad, dividing North America into 15 ecoregions. At the other end of the detail scale, Level lv includes divisions using a very fine scale, resulting in hundreds of distinct ecoregions in North America. Texas Ecoregions Due to its size (266,807 sq. miles) and its geographic location, Texas has more distinct ecoregions than any other state. Texas has impressive topographic diversity, including 91 mountain peaks that are a mile or more high. The geographic location covers so much area that eastern U.S. habitats meet the western ones and southern, subtropical habitats meet the northern, temperate ones. The natural regions of Texas look different from one another, both in terms of the biotic characteristics (plant and animal communities) and the abiotic characteristics (topography, geology, soils and climate). 1

2 Texas can be divided into the following ten natural regions: 1. East Texas Pineywoods 2. Post Oak Woods and Prairies 3. Blackland Prairies 4. South Texas Plains 5. Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes 6. Edwards Plateau 7. Llano Uplift 8. Rolling Plains 9. High Plains 10. Mountains and Basins Biotic Factors in the ecosystem Biotic Factors are all the living components in an ecosystem. This includes the plants that grow, die, and decay, as well as the animals that live in the area. Abiotic Factors in the ecosystem Abiotic Factors are all the non-living components in an ecosystem, including the solid ground, the water, and the atmospheric gases. Geology Geology is the scientific study of the origin, history, and structure of Earth, including the minerals and rocks of which it is formed. Geology includes the internal Earth composition and structure as well as the changing topography of Earth s surface. Physiography Physiography is the study of the surface features of Earth and it provides the classification of landforms and topography. Hydrology Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets. Water is the most influential agent of weather, erosion, and deposition. Any investigation of changes to the land surface include a focus on the hydrology of the area. Weathering Weathering is the term used to describe the group of destructive forces that change the physical and chemical character of rock near Earth s surface. Weathering can occur on the surface of the rock while it lies still in the ground. Weathering also occurs as an on-going process while rock material is carried in streams or blown in the wind during erosion. There are two general types of weathering: mechanical and chemical. 2

3 Mechanical weathering (or physical breakdown) is the breaking down of rocks into smaller pieces. The change in the rock is physical with little or no chemical change. This is similar to what happens if you break a glass bottle. The broken chunks of glass are smaller than the original whole structure, but each chunk of glass still has the same chemistry and properties. Agents of mechanical weathering include: wind, ice, moving water, temperature changes, and plant and animal activity. Water is a powerful weathering agent. When water freezes after entering a crack or fracture in a rock, the water expands and forces a larger opening in the rock. Over time, this process can break large rocks into small pebbles. Wind can also cause significant weathering on rock surfaces. Strong winds carrying fine sand particles can act like a sandblasting machine, attacking the face of a cliff or the surface of a rock on the ground. Perhaps the greatest amount of mechanical weathering is done in streams and rivers where rock fragments are rolled around and crashed into each other, breaking off rock edges and rounding the rock particle s surface. Chemical weathering is the decomposition of rock from exposure to water and atmospheric gases. Carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water vapor are common chemical weathering agents. As rock is decomposed by these agents, new chemical compounds form. In some cases, a portion or all of the elements in the rock leach into the groundwater and are removed. Different chemical reactions occur, depending upon the chemical composition of the exposed rock surface. Some of the common weathering processes are oxidation, carbonation, hydrolysis, and dissolution. Following are descriptions of each: Oxidation: Oxidation is the process by which oxygen combines with water and minerals in the rock. Minerals such as pyroxene, pyrite, or olivine that are rich in the elements calcium, magnesium, or iron, react with oxygen and form reddish -brown clays or iron oxides. This process is similar to the changes you can observe in an iron nail as it rusts in water because it is exposed to the dissolved oxygen in the water. Carbonation: Carbonation is the process by which dissolved carbon dioxide in rainwater (or surrounding humid air) forms carbonic acid and reacts with the minerals in the rock. Carbonation occurs on rocks which contain calcium carbonate, such as limestone and chalk. The weak acid rain dissolves the calcium carbonate in the rocks and carries it away in the groundwater, leaving behind caves and underground water channels. This process of removing materials by dissolving them away from solids is called leaching. The mineral material is referred to as leachate. 3

4 Hydrolysis: Hydrolysis is the chemical reaction between the minerals in the rock and hydrogen in rain water. For example, during hydrolysis, the feldspar in granite changes to clay mineral, which crumbles easily, weakening the rock and causing it to break down. Dissolution: Dissolution occurs when all the rock material is dissolved and carried away in the groundwater. The most common example is limestone. Differential Weathering Depending upon their chemical composition, minerals react differently to the various chemical weathering agents. Feldspar and mica, two common minerals found in the rock, granite, are easily altered to clay in the presence of oxygen and water. The other major mineral in granite is quartz. Quartz is very stable under most conditions on Earth s surface, so it resists most chemical weathering processes. As a result, soils that develop from granite bedrock are composed of quartz sand grains mixed in with larger quantities of clay particles. Some minerals, easily broken down in moist conditions, are found to be very durable in an arid environment. Sometimes layers of rock are thin enough that you can see alternating layers of easily-weathered rock layered between more resistant layers. This creates an uneven surface to the face of a cliff described as differential weathering. One of the most familiar examples of this is the cliffs in the Grand Canyon,where the near vertical sections of the cliffs are made of the more resistant layers of rock. 4

5 Talus Slopes A talus slope is an accumulation of rock debris at the base of a cliff or steep mountain slope. It is a result of the weathering process loosening rocks in the cliff face until they finally fall to the base of the cliff. Because the rocks in a talus slope have only moved a short distance, they are sharp-edged in contrast to the rounded rocks and pebbles rolling around in a stream bed. The erosional agent involved in building a talus slope is gravity. Erosion Erosion is the picking up or physical removal of rock particles by an agent, such as gravity, wind, running water, or glaciers. Weathering helps break down a solid rock into loose particles that are then easily eroded. The rounded boulders and sand grains found in rivers, streams, and sandy beaches provide evidence that the rocks have been rolled around and transported great distances. Deposition Deposition is the dropping of eroded sediment by wind, running water, or ice; thus, these are considered agents of both erosion and deposition. This is an ongoing process with the sediment being transported and deposited over and over until it finally reaches a location where it is protected from erosion, sufficiently to be formed into a sedimentary rock by the cementation and compression process. This process tends to form layered, sedimentary rocks with layer after layer being laid down upon previously deposited sediment. The greater the distance the sediment is transported, the smaller and more rounded it tends to be. Gravity: Not only is gravity is the driving force that causes weathered boulders to fall off the face of a cliff but it is also the force the keeps glaciers and rivers moving down slope. 5

6 Soils Soil formation is related to five factors: parent material, climate, topography, living organisms, and time. Soils are formed as a result of the breakdown or weathering of the parent rock material. When the surface of bedrock is exposed to atmospheric gases and water, the rock surface begins to physically and chemically breakdown. Over time more and more of the rock will be altered, forming finer and finer particles. In a normal soil profile the finest-sized and most chemically altered particles (most weathered) are on the ground surface and the least weathered material lies just above the solid bedrock. In general, the longer the area has been lying undisturbed by agriculture or urban activity, the deeper and more developed the soil will be. When the living plant and animal organisms in the soil die and decay, they add organic matter to the soil. This organic material added to the rock particles in the soil is called humus. Because humus is added to the soil from the ground s surface where the plants and animals live, humus is only found in the top layers of the soil profile. Humus supplies organic nutrients to the soil and helps hold moisture in the soil. The presence of water is important to soil development because it is essential for the growth of plants that will eventually add humus to the soil. Water also plays a key role in the chemical weathering process, which speeds up the decomposition of the bedrock. It should be noted that too much water can wash away chemicals and nutrients in the soil and in the case of floods, can wash away whole layers of soil. 6

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