Visualizing Environmental Science

xi

Visuals

Our unique visual design engages students, and keeps them interested in the content.

Environmental InSight features are multipart visual

sections that focus on a key concept or topic in the

chapter, exploring it in detail or in a broader context

using a combination of photos, figures, and data.

What a Scientist Sees highlights a concept or phenomenon

that would stand out to a professional in the field. Photos

and figures are used to compare how a nonscientist

and a scientist see the issues, and students apply their

observational skills to answer questions.

Margin Glossary identifies key terms for

students within the margin of the text so

they can easily identify which terms to pay

close attention to.

WileyPLUS Icon indicates when there is additional visual

content such as videos, animations, and interactivities

available in WileyPLUS.

Process Diagrams provide in-depth coverage of processes correlated with

clear, step-by-step narrative, enabling students to grasp important topics

with less effort.

Interactive Process Diagrams provide additional visual examples and

descriptive narrative of the diagrams that appear in the text. These diagrams

allow students to Build the Process interactively to be sure they fully

understand the process. Look for them in WileyPLUS when you see the

WileyPLUS icon.

PROCESS DIAGRAMPROCESS DIAGRAM

SouthAmerica

Santiago

Santa FeSanta Cruz

Isabela San Cristobal

Fernandina

PintaGalápagos IMarchenaslands

Genovesa

Tortuga

Santa MariaEspañola

Grassquit finch (seeds)

Small ground finch(soft seeds)

Large ground finch(hard seeds)

Woodpecker finch (insects)

Medium ground finch(moderate seeds) Warbler finch (insects)

(^1) Ancestral species begins in Ecuador. There is only one finch species now in
Ecuador.
(^2) Ancestral species reaches the Galápagos Islands.
(^3) Modern species descend from ancestral species.
(^4) The apparently related species on the Galápagos Islands have different beak shapes and different diets. Darwin reasoned that finches that colonized from the mainland had
changed as the birds, now geographically isolated from each other, adapted to different diets.
Ecuador
PacificOcean
GalápagosIslands
Cactus finch (cactus)
Adapted from Figure 14.11 on p. 428 in B. W.Murck, B. J. Skinner, and D. Mackenzie.Visualizing Geology, Hoboken, NJ:
John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (2008)
TIM LAMAN/NG Image Collection
FLPA/Alamy Limited
© Christopher Vernon-Parry/Alamy
Tierbild Okapia/Science Source Images Eric Hosking/Science Source Images © Images & Stories/Alamy
J. DFigurening/VIREO
Think Critically (^) similar beaks? Is this reflected in their diet similarities?Which of the species shown have
Charles Darwin was a ship’s naturalist on a 5-year voyage around the world. During an extended stay in the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, he studied the plants and animals of each island,
including 14 species of finches.
THE PLANNER
Windward side Leeward sidew
Moist air Dry air
Rain shadowdesert
© Michael T. Sedam/CORBIS
a. (leeward side) of a mountain. Prevailing winds blow warm, moist air from theA rain shadow refers to arid or semiarid land that occurs on the far side
windward side. Air temperature cools as it rises, releasing precipitation, sodry air descends on the leeward side. Such a rain shadow exists east of the
Cascades.
b. which divides the states of WashingtonProxy Falls is in the Cascade Range,
and Oregon into a moist western regionand an arid region east of the mountains.
WHAT A SCIENTIST SEES
Rain Shadow
Environmental InSightHow climate shapes terrestrial biomes 6.2 THE PLANNER
Two climate factors, temperature and precipitation, have a predominant effect
on biome distribution.
Arizona Desert.Biomes differ in the
relative amounts of precipitation they
receive and in the seasonal distribution
of precipitation.
Alaska Tundra.At higher latitudes, temperature is more important
than precipitation in shaping biomes, as mean annual temperatures decline poleward.
Costa Rica Tropical Rain Forest. In temperate and tropical zones,
precipitation is more important than temperature in shaping biomes.
T
Arizona Biomes dDi
rperlativecipitae amt
rseasonal eceive an
of precipi
Hot DECREASING PRECIPITATION
DECREASING
TEMPERA
TURE
ColdArctic
INCREASING LATITUDE
Tropics
Wet Dry
TundraTundra
Boreal forestBoreal forest
rain forestTemperate deciduous forestdeciduous forestTemperateTemperateTemperategrasslandTemperategrasslandChaparralChaparralTemperateTemperatedesertdesert
rain forestrain forestTropicalTropical Tropical dryTropical dryforestforest SavannaSavanna Moist tropicalMoist tropicaldesertdesert Dry tropicalDry tropicaldesertdesert
Based on Holdridge, L. Life Zone Ecology. Tropical Science Center, San Jose, Costa Rica (1967).
RICHARD NOWITZ/NG Image Collection
JOEL SAR ORE/NG Image Collection
Michael Melford/NG Image Collection
enhanced green-
house effect
Additional atmo-
spheric warming
produced as human
activities increase at-
mospheric concentra-
tions of greenhouse
gases.
radiative forcing
For greenhouse
gases, the capacity to
retain heat in Earth’s
atmosphere.