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Temperature, humidity, soil composition, and solar radiation are important factors in determining altitudinal zones, which consequently support different vegetation and animal species. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Altitudinal zonation was first hypothesized by geographer Alexander von Humboldt who noticed that temperature drops with increasing elevation. [ 4 ]
The variation in temperature that occurs from the highs of the day to the cool of nights is called diurnal temperature variation. Temperature ranges can also be based on periods of a month or a year. The size of ground-level atmospheric temperature ranges depends on several factors, such as: Average air temperature; Average humidity
Due to their vertical structure, trees are more susceptible to cold than more ground-hugging forms of plants. [6] Summer warmth generally sets the limit to which tree growth can occur: while tree line conifers are very frost-hardy during most of the year, they become sensitive to just 1 or 2 degrees of frost in mid-summer.
The warmest month has an average temperature of below 22 °C (72 °F). Tierra fría (Cool land) below 3,600 m (11,800 ft). The warmest month has an average temperature of below 18 °C (64 °F). Tierra helada (Cold land) above 3,600 m (11,800 ft). The tree line occurs when the warmest month has an average temperature of below 10 °C (50 °F).
Here, h signifies low-latitude climates (average annual temperature above 18 °C (64.4 °F)) while k signifies middle-latitude climates (average annual temperature less than 18 °C). In addition, n is used to denote a climate characterized by frequent fog and H for high altitudes.
Altitude gradients are a key consideration in understanding migration patterns due to the effects of global warming. As temperatures increase, trees adapted to warmer climates will migrate uphill for access to sunlight, and thus populations of temperate or cold-adapted trees and the habitats suitable for them will shrink.
This is known as an adiabatic process, which has a characteristic pressure-temperature curve. As the pressure gets lower, the temperature decreases. The rate of decrease of temperature with elevation is known as the adiabatic lapse rate, which is approximately 9.8 °C per kilometer (or 5.4 °F per 1000 feet) of altitude. [6]
Comparison of the 1962 US Standard Atmosphere graph of geometric altitude against air density, pressure, the speed of sound and temperature with approximate altitudes of various objects. [ 1 ] The U.S. Standard Atmosphere is a static atmospheric model of how the pressure , temperature , density , and viscosity of the Earth's atmosphere change ...