Prairies

Drawing including biotic/abiotic factors, biospheres and the carbon cycle:

Where is carbon stored in this ecosystem? In prairies, carbon is most heavily stored in plant roots. It is held underground.

How does it move through the spheres? Microorganisms can assist with moving carbon through spheres. We also know that carbon is moved using the process of food chain. This is when a plant or animal naturally passes on its carbon to another plant/animal.

Are there places where carbon is building up? Within plants roots and soil. Soil acts as a carbon sink which can hold plenty of carbon.

What are the causes and effects of climate change within the Prairies?

Prairies are one of the most affected areas in Canada in terms of climate change. This is primarily because of the weather. First and foremost, droughts could potentially cause wildfires and loss of wetlands in the prairies. These wetlands are necessary as humans rely on agricultural production in these areas. Changes in temperature can too, cause differences (in the composition of the prairies). For example if it begins to get warmer in the wintertime, this will cause the annual stream flow to decline. This will then reduce the water supply. If the temperature does increase, it will cause there to be shorter winters which means less oil drawn from the sand. If there is not enough water, then there will be no oil coming from the sands which would be bad for the oil industry. Another thing that this could cause would be changes in the wind patterns. However, the temperature increasing could also help the plants by providing a greater growing season. It will result in more crop growth. Forest fires would become more prominent within these areas. We already see them every summer, but we could be seeing them even more often because of global warming. This would actually result in more carbon being put into the atmosphere, increasing climate change. Ultimately, this could become a repeating domino effect. Because we could see this change in temperature, the species living in the prairies would begin migrating to other areas. This is because there wouldn’t be much water left, and their survival instincts would let them know that it is time to move. This would then immediately put an effect on the food chain. There wouldn’t be as much meat for those species in the “higher class” (in the prairies). Depending on the animal that chooses to migrate, the humans living in those areas could begin having less jobs for farming. Along with that, it could affect the meat intake and how much meat there is in that area. It is clear that changes in temperature patterns would have the greatest effect on climate change in prairies, and would be the leading factor for it.

How are the Prairies managing a bit of climate change?

Carbon fixed underground (in prairies) tends to stay in the roots and soil, making them more adaptive to climate change. This is one of the great things about the prairies, although generally, they are one of the most heavily impacted areas.

Sources:

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=97dec6313b7147a481516ab6aeb71da3

7 major changes the Prairies will see as the climate warms

http://www.kleanindustries.com/s/environmental_market_industry_news.asp?ReportID=295880

https://www.parc.ca/saskadapt/cc-research-highlights/ccia-research-prairies.html