Organism Tolerance Ranges Explained
The question highlights a key ecological principle: temperate organisms generally possess broader temperature tolerance ranges compared to tropical organisms. This means temperate species can withstand a wider variation in temperature, both higher and lower, than their tropical counterparts.
Impact of Temperature Rise on Organisms
A global temperature increase of $2^{\circ}C$ is considered significant in ecological terms. Given that tropical organisms have narrower tolerance ranges:
- A $2^{\circ}C$ rise is more likely to push temperatures beyond the upper limit of the tolerance range for tropical species.
- Temperate organisms, having wider ranges, might still remain within their tolerable limits or be less severely impacted by this specific increase.
Therefore, the limited tolerance of tropical organisms makes them more vulnerable to a relatively small increase in average global temperature.
Conclusion on Vulnerability
Consequently, tropical organisms are expected to experience more negative effects from a $2^{\circ}C$ temperature increase than temperate organisms because the change is more likely to exceed their physiological limits.
Important Questions from Abiotic factors
- Species that co-occur in space and time tend to be similar to each other in traits such as tolerance to heat or to drought. This is most likely because of _________.
- A researcher carried out an experiment to study how daylength and temperature influence diapause in a moth species. He placed larvae in one of four treatment conditions for 2 weeks, with 30 larvae in each condition. The treatments involved two temperatures ($18\text{ }^\circ\text{C}$ or $27\text{ }^\circ\text{C}$) and two lighting conditions (12h:12h Light:Dark (LD) or complete darkness (DD)). At the end of the experiment, he counted the number of larvae that had entered diapause and those that had not. The data are shown below.Which one or more of the following conclusions can he reasonably make from these findings?
Condition Larvae in diapause Larvae NOT in diapause Treatment 1 $27\text{ }^\circ\text{C}$, 12:12 LD 2 28 Treatment 2 $18\text{ }^\circ\text{C}$, 12:12 LD 7 23 Treatment 3 $27\text{ }^\circ\text{C}$, DD 12 18 Treatment 4 $18\text{ }^\circ\text{C}$, DD 29 1 - Terrestrial plants conduct gas exchange through stomata. Having only few stomata on the leaf surface is a common adaptation to which one of the following conditions?
- Some air-breathing marine vertebrates such as whales, seals and marine turtles possess adaptations for long, deep dives. Which one or more of the following is/are examples of such adaptations?
- Which one or more of the following is/are greenhouse gas(es)?
