Melissa Stanley Biology 1407 November 26, 2016 Compare and Contrast of Texas and Minnesota Ecosystems What is a biome? Biomes are major life zones characterized by vegetation type or by the physical environment. Climate plays a role in determining the nature and location of Earth’s biomes. Texas has 10 different ecosystems with lots of diversity. Minnesota has 4 different ecosystems which are also quite diverse. Regardless of the size of the biomes or the number of biomes in each state, they are all important not just to the locate environment but on a global level because of the life they support. We are going to take a look at the different biomes, comparing climate and rainfall, as well as vegetation fauna. “Texas is 860 miles north to south and 773 miles east to west and contains 267,339 square miles with 624 miles of coastline.” (What are the Ecoregions of Texas, 1978) There are 10 different ecosystems which are Pineywoods, Gulf Prairies and Marshes, Post Oak Savanna, Blackland Prairies, Cross Timbers and Prairies, South Texas Plains, Edwards Plateau, Rolling Plains, High Plains, and Trans-Pecos. The area extends into Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. “The terrain is rolling with lower, wetter bottomlands that grow hardwood trees such as elm, mesquite and ash. This region is home to a variety of plants and animals that like woodlands and shorelines.” (Texas Parks and wildlife, n.d.) The major rivers in this area are the Sabine, Cypress, Sulpher, and Red. The major aquifer is the Carrizo-Wilcox. And the land area of the Pineywoods is 23,500 square miles. “Regional average rainfall for the area is 40-52 in./yr. and the reagional average net evaporation rate is 16-32 inches.” (Texas Parks and wildlife, n.d.) “The average temperature in the Pineywood’s region can range beteween 36(F) in the winter to upwards of 94(F0 in the summer.” (unknown,
These are very difficult questions for me personally to answer because I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I have seen the beauty of the old growth forests first-hand.
Texas and Texans. 1. 1. New York, New York, Columbus, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, Peoria, Illinois, Woodland Hills, California: National Geographic, Mc Graw Hill, 2003. 232-233. Print.
...ler C. W. "Lineations and fauts in the Texas Coastal Zone." Report of Investgations. 1976. 85, 32 pp.
Texas is the second largest state in the country and there are four different geographical regions: the Gulf coastal plain, the interior lowlands, Great Plains, and the basin and range province, Each region has contributed to the economic development of the state. The Texas
"Introduction for Creating Habitats and Homes for Illinois Wildlife." DNR. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. .
The expansion of agriculture and railroads helped form Texas’s present economy. The invention of the steam engine not only allowed people to move across the country in 7 days, instead of 6 months, but it also allowed crops and livestock to be carried to markets and places where they would be sold anywhere in the country. They could be moved to another farm in Texas as well. Since it’s such a large state, railroads were a necessity for travel, and general transportation. The railroad-building boom lasted 40 years. The production of cotton in Texas introduced some of the first slave-based cotton farms, and was the dominant crop for a very long time. After this event, Texas’s economy was forever changed.
Texas failed as a Spanish colony because of the difficult traveling. The “Texas triangle” is a region between Laredo, the coast, Rio Grande, and Nueces (document A).Traveling/trading
There are some points of comparison that are interesting to research. The themes of comparisons
Texas has a total land area of 261,914 square miles- making it the second largest state in the United States. Combined with a diverse geography, Texas has one of the most varied climates of any state. As the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases year by year, causing an increase in the Earth’s average overall temperature, changes in our climate are inevitable. We will investigate how those changes will affect the life of the everyday Texan - from our water resources, to our cities and why they are important issues that need to be addressed by our society.
The tundra artic plains completely cover most of the earth’s lands north of the coniferous forest belt. The tundra’s ecosystem is very sensitive. It doesn’t have the ability to restore itself. Controlled by sedge, heath, willow, moss, and lichen. Plains that are pretty much alike, called alpine tundra, occur above the timberline in the high mountains of the world.
Overall, Texans partake in similar food culture, but they also differ in small ways. Texas culture is highlighted by its traditional food groups and food style. All traditional Texas foods are cooked in Mexican inspired cooking styles. Mexican cooking styles influence traditional Texas foods, because Texas was originally apart of Mexico. Before the state of Texas was established, the original settlers technically lived in Mexico. The settlers and natives combined their knowledge of food and created a new food style. This new traditional food is call “Tex-Mex.” The ingredients of Tex-Mex change with the different landscapes. For instance, in the western region of Texas, food is composed of wild game and crop from the area. Western Texas wild life is made up of buffalo, cow, and javelina. This food group is often paired with native crops such as, corn, beans, and squash. “Traditional foods reveal the strong cultural tied between Mexican Americans and Texans” (Tex-Mex foods 2016, pg. 4). In the coastal region, foods differ greatly from the western region. On the coast, traditional foods consist of fish, birds, and variations sea organisms. It is a part of coastal culture to cook foods with these components. Though western and coastal food cultures are very different, they share the same Mexican inspired cooking styles. In the eastern region of Texas, wildlife thrives. In east Texas, you can find
"State Energy Profiles: Texas." US Energy Information Administration. US Department of Energy, 24 Mar. 2011. Web. 01 Apr. 2011.
Texas has a rich and long history and much of it has passed through the state over the years to become a part of its folklore. This Texas folklore is part of many cultures within the state and has even filtered outside the state. The first cultural influence on Texas was from the Paleo-American Indians. When these Indians arrived they were in a bit of a culture shock when they met the Spanish in the 16th century. In the following centuries, more people began to arrive in Texas and they brought new ways of talking, believing and doing things. The Spanish and the Mexican set the patterns south of Nueces and along the Rio Grande. Anglos brought their ways of life from the British Isles to the South and Eastern part of Texas. African Americans who came to work on the plantations on the Brazos and Trinity bottoms brought songs, stories and beliefs that came with them from Africa. Germans came directly from the Old World to the Hill Country, Cajuns came from France and eventually through Louisiana and settled in Southeast Texas. The Dutch, Danes, Polish, Czechs, Norwegians who also came here brought with them their ways of life and they all became bound together to become part of Texas. By the year 2000, Texas was made up of 54.5% Anglos, 31% Hispanic, 11.4% African Americans and another 3.1% of other ethnicities.
Extreme weather events, such as drought, are tremendously important when considering stressors to water resources. History of drought has been documented in Paleoclimate studies using long lived tree species indigenous to Texas. Tree-ring proxies are especially useful when reconstructing histories of climate change across a large region like Texas, since many can be sampled from different areas. Annual tree ring data can give a precise year-to-year temperature and precipitation records. Tree ring data has shown droughts lasting a decade or more staggered throughout the state happening randomly since the 1600’s. (why this is important to water supply) [Brenner]
The biome I have chosen is the temperate rain forest. These types of forest are homes to a few and very amazing species . The temperate rain forest are mainly made of conifer trees. They also receive high rainfall every year. The average amount of rainfall it gets is 140 centimeters, or 55 inches a year. That is a total amount of 4.58333… feet in year-round rainfall.