Global Change Ecology: Ranges, Phenology and Regime Shifts · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Warming moves zones and splits timings

Science · Ecology & Conservation · ages 21-22
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Warming moves the places that match a cool climate species. Which way do they go?

    • Toward the poles or up mountainsides
    • Toward the equator or down to valleys
    • Nowhere, ranges never move

  2. What is a species tolerance range?

    • The set of conditions where it survives and raises young
    • The number of predators it can escape
    • The age at which it stops growing

  3. How many sudden flip cases did you meet in the lesson?

    Answer: ______________

  4. Hot water sits over a coral reef for a long spell. What happens?

    • The reef slowly cools back on its own
    • The reef flips pale and quiet if heat lasts
    • The algae grow faster in hot water

  5. A bird arrives on its old date but the insects hatched early. What pulled them apart?

    • Both partners shift at exactly the same speed
    • Partners shift at different speeds, so timing breaks apart
    • Warming stops all flowering and breeding

  6. A species tolerance zone moves on but the species stays behind. Why?

    • Dispersal lags or no livable ground lies within reach
    • The species refuses to breed in cool places
    • Predators always move first and block the way

  7. Which story shows a gradual cause giving an abrupt result?

    • A sudden frost with no lasting effects
    • A stable climate with shifting seasons
    • A slow steady warming with sudden ecosystem flips

  8. A kelp forest has tipped into collapse. A student says easing the heat reverses the change step by step. What is wrong?

    • It returns by the same gentle path once forcing eases
    • It resists return, so recovery is not the reverse trip
    • It can never change again in any direction
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Warming moves zones and splits timings W1-mt_tJ7XpAADMF-s1

  1. Toward the poles or up mountainsides · Warming moves the matching conditions poleward and uphill, and species follow when they can.
  2. The set of conditions where it survives and raises young · The tolerance range marks survivable breeding conditions, so its map predicts the move.
  3. 2 · Corals and kelp forests are the two sudden flip cases you met.
  4. The reef flips pale and quiet if heat lasts · Lasting heat drives out the feeding algae, flipping the crowded reef pale and quiet.
  5. Partners shift at different speeds, so timing breaks apart · Unequal shifts pull old schedules apart, so the bird misses the early insects.
  6. Dispersal lags or no livable ground lies within reach · Slow movement or missing ground holds the species back while its zone moves on.
  7. A slow steady warming with sudden ecosystem flips · Slow forcing builds until a tipping point fires, which is why the result looks sudden.
  8. It resists return, so recovery is not the reverse trip · Past the tipping point the system locks in, so easing the cause does not simply undo the flip.
Worksheet · LightMySky