Topics that I think you might find useful. More announcements and links are available through the class Canvas page.
Climate and vegetation distribution related
- Exploring climate diagrams for cities and regions in all parts of the world
- Exploring the vegetation anywhere in the world
- Combinations of temperature and precipitation across Earth that are relevant to a general understanding of the distributions of different biomes
- The UU tree finder to locate and identify 97 different trees on the University of Utah campus (click here to download a KMZ file of these trees as well as an additional 100 different tree species).
- Access to aerial images that would allow me to explore the vegetation in Utah over the last century
- An Excel file that allows you to calculate the incoming direct and diffuse solar radiation levels on leaves or slopes on an hourly, daily, or annual basis
- An Excel file that allows you to calculate site water balance for any combination of slope and elevation in the Wasatch Mountains
- An Excel file that allows you to calculate leaf temperatures by solving the energy budget equation
- An Excel model from von Caemmerer and Farquhar that allows you to calculate photosynthesis based on light, water availability, and Rubisco concentrations
- An Excel model that allows you to calculate photosynthetic light-use efficiencies as a function of temperature and [CO2] which then allows you to see how these environmental variations influence C3/C4 abundances
- Accessing models of water transport, cavitation, and transpiration in plants
- Models linking phenology, life cycles, and climate relevant to recent climate changes