Ecology of the Sierra Nevada

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ecology-of-the-sierra-nevada

1. How high is Ecology of the Sierra Nevada?
2. What is the geographic extent?
3. What is the dominant ecological driver?
4. What are the different layers of plants and animals you can find as you go higher up the Sierra Nevada?
5. Why do the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada get more rain than the eastern slopes?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How high is Ecology of the Sierra Nevada?From approximately 500 feet (foothills) to over 14,500 feet (high alpine)
2. What is the geographic extent?Stretches across eastern California and western Nevada, USA
3. What is the dominant ecological driver?Altitudinal gradient and the rain shadow effect creating distinct west-east precipitation differences
4. What are the different layers of plants and animals you can find as you go higher up the Sierra Nevada?As you climb higher, you see different groups of plants and animals. The foothills have scrub and chaparral, the middle levels have pine forests, higher up you find fir and lodgepole pine, and above the treeline you get a harsh alpine zone with tiny plants.
5. Why do the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada get more rain than the eastern slopes?The western side gets more rain because moist air from the Pacific rises over the mountains, cools, and drops its water as rain. When the air comes down the eastern side it warms and dries, so there is much less rain.

Altitudinal Zonation: The arrangement of distinct ecological communities in horizontal bands corresponding to changes in elevation.
Rain Shadow Effect: A phenomenon where a mountain range blocks moisture-laden winds, creating arid conditions on the leeward side.
Biodiversity: The variety of life in a particular habitat or ecosystem, including species, genetic, and ecosystem diversity.
Endemic Species: Species that are native and restricted to a particular geographic area.