Question

1. What effect does the forest canopy have on temperatures at or near the ground /water’s surface? What is the reason for these effects?

                2. What effect does a forest have on humidity ? What is the reason?

3. Since climatic factors vary spatially and temporarily, what variations could you expect in the following factos:

                                a. Temperature

                                                i. on the surface of a still pool of water in a forest opening at noon

                                                ii. within the crevice of a rock cave 1m high at night

                                b. Humidity

                                                i. on the surface of the ground in a treefall gap during the dry season

                                                ii. within a tank bromeliad 3m above the ground in the rainy season

Answer 1

1. Forest canopy reduced the diurnal fluctuations that occur due to various seasons. The difference between maximum and minimum temperature during various seasosn is controlled and is lesser than a region without canopy. Also it prevents direct sunlight on open cover as the area will be covered by forest canopy. Thus, ground temperature is well controlled, less of dryness in the area, prevention of soil and nutrients leaching, soil temperature increases if there is no forest cover. Also mositure content within the soil goes down because forest roots have a capacity to absorb sufficient amount of water along with nutrients. Forest coverage induces improvement in soil properties, induces more rain due to constant evaporation , good amount of nitrogen fixation for improved growth of several plants, gives more amount of oxygen and the quality of the air becomes better.

2. When it rains, water falls onto the top of trees and slowly moves to the soil. The evaporation in trees also induces an air with more moisture content. The water that seeps through the soil is held by the tree/plant roots and evaporation of water from the soil induces more moisture content within the air.

3.

a. Temperature plays an important role in type of forest cover.

1. High temperature induces more evaporation and drying of the pool. If the pool is covered by forest, temperature is masked by presence of forest that reduces the rate of evaporation.

ii. At night, temperature is generally low. Crevices within the rock slightly contract if temperature is below ambient temperature for the rock.

b.

i. Humidity in treefall gap will be low during a rainy season as moisture produced is less and correspondingly rate of evaporation also low due to dryness.

ii.Humidity will be moderate to high depending upon the amount of rainfall and the forest canopy coverage. If the forest cover is high, humidity increases tremendously during rainy season. These bromeliads tend to absorb water and houses salamanders during these seasons. Presence of bromeliads increases the humidity due to its ability to trap water