Assignment No: 01 Dated 27/11/2022

Assignment on

Importance of Seasonal Distribution of Precipitation

Submitted to: Dr Sher Wali

Submitted by: Awais Badshah

Class No: BSBOT-200415

BS Botany, 5th semester

Department of Botany

Islamia College Peshawar

Introduction
Atmosphere contains varying amount of water in the form of vapors, when these vapors breach
a certain percentage and all other meteorological conditions are satisfied then, these vapors
dense and under the influence of the gravity come down in the form of rain, hail, sleet or snow.
Precipitation in an important climatic factor on which both animals and plants depend directly
or indirectly to satisfy their physiological requirements. The amount of precipitation an area
annually receives depends on its relative distance from large water bodies, altitude and most
importantly on the wind. Our atmosphere is characterized by certain regions where the air rises
while other regions where the air moves downward, the upward air contains a great deal of
moisture content while the areas where air comes downward it is warmer and drier and
contains minute amount of water content. The rising air areas are near the equator between
latitudes 40° to 60° and drier and warmer air near sub-tropical areas between latitude 20°-30°.
The revolution of the earth around the sun all round and completes its trip in about 364 days
this revolution and tilt of the earth exposes certain areas of the earth more to the direct
sunlight during specific months of the year, thus seasons appear, e.g. the northern hemisphere
is more exposed during the months between March and September; the weather is hot and
humid here while comparatively colder in the southern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere
is more exposed and warmer during September to March while northern hemisphere is colder
during this part of the year. During these hot and humid or colder seasons how much
precipitation an area receives is very to the animals and plants living there. It determines which
crops should be grown and which animals are suitable to a specific area. It is worth noting that
evaporation from a specific locality only contributes only 10% of the precipitation that comes
down while 90% of it comes from oceans (Holzman 1937, Badyko 1958).

Importance of seasonal distribution of precipitation

Precipitation comes down in different forms such as rain, sleet, snow or hail. The form in which
it comes down is important because plants can absorb water only when it is in liquid form. The
precipitation is important in all forms but the only readily available form is the rain, snow, sleet
and hail are important as well but not readily available to the plants. Seasonal distribution of
Precipitation is important because of the following reasons.

Figure 1: Pathway followed by cyclone storms in U.S.A that originate from the Atlantic Ocean.

Distribution of the forms of Precipitation seasonally

The form of precipitation received during different seasons is important, forms of precipitation
and their importance are discussed one by one.

Rain

The time of the year when the moisture is low in the atmosphere as well as in the soil in
important for plants (Kezer and Robertson 1927). For example let’s compare two grasslands of
North America, Grass lands around the Washington and those around the central North
America are semi-arid by all climatic indicators with no major differences in any component of
the climate. The only difference between them being grasslands around Washington receive
their share of rainfall in the winter while the latter receive their share in the spring and early
summer. When we compare the vegetation in these prairies we rarely come across plants that
are common to both. In the first plants complete their growth and prepare seeds before the
moisture accumulated in the winter by the soil is exhausted and in the latter case the growth
and flowering takes place in the summer, very late compared to the other.

From this case study we can conclude that vegetation greatly varies depending upon the rainfall
(precipitation) both annually and specially seasonally. For a plant to be successful in a certain
area its lifecycle, growth and reproduction cycles should be sync with the climate of that area.

Snow

Snow is prevalent in high altitude areas such as hill stations, mountains and countries far from
the equator, this snow cannot be used by the plants that is the reason why plants in high
altitude areas such as species of pinaceae have xeric adaptations such as needle like leaves and
mycorrhizal association with the fungi, but this snow is important because when the season
changes this snow melts and comes down the mountains slopes as rivers and streams that are
used for different purposes such as irrigation of the fields and other floras that are present near
these water bodies, these rivers may travel thousands of kilometers to reach areas that receive
nearly no precipitation annually or seasonally, these rivers are the only source for water not
only plants but animals as well. This is evident from the River Indus which form literally one of
the most fertile basins in the world known as Indus River Basin.

Importance to the plants

Snow has a direct impact on plants, it may be beneficial or harmful directly to the plants.

Heavy snow can put so much weight that the branches can break.
Plants that are thin, slender and grow in dense patches with crowns that are
asymmetrical tend to bend on sides from their vertical position and ultimately break.
This causes a disturbance in the canopy which results in the asymmetrical growth of
others plants and the cycle continues (Curtis 1936).
North facing slopes tend to have snow for longer periods because these are less
exposed to sunlight while south facing slopes are more exposed and the snow melts
quickly. So difference in the length of snow cover is seen which can be ultimately called
season so the flora is different on both slopes of the same mountain, while in some
cases hills have topography that supports accumulation of more snow so snow is
present for longer durations. Plants that like wet soil, colder temperatures and have
short growing season prefer such hills/mountains/slopes.
Some plants that demand warmer temperatures and longer growing seasons prefer
places where snow cover melts quickly.
Trees near arctic and Alpine timberline prefer moderate amount of snow cover. If the
cover drops under a certain level their seedlings are exposed wind which in injurious to
them or when the cover is too thick and persists for longer durations the seedling don’t
have enough time for growing seasons resulting in seedling unable to establish
themselves.
Evergreen leaves can bear/handle moderate snow when if the snow exceeds a certain
level their growth is stunted and the stems get crocked.
Cryptogams vertical distribution on tree trunks may be related to the average snow
depth.
Figure 2; Parmelia olivacea a lichen growing on tree trunks these grow above the level of snow cover

Hail

Precipitation in the form of hail of too infrequent to be studied in such a way that its effects on
the soil moisture can be studied but when hail storms arrive they contribute a significant
amount of damage to the plant bodies and small bryophytes and thalloid plants. These cause
economic loss as most crops have thin and slender stems that can be easily broken by individual
hails because of their velocity. The sleet has a similar affect as well.

Natural Irrigation of crop fields; Pakistan as a study case

Rainfall in the summers is more important when it comes to its use for irrigation purposes for
crops because the ratio of the evapotranspiration is more in the summers as compared to the
winters. For agriculture dependent countries such as Pakistan the seasonal precipitation is
important. About 60% of the annual rainfall in Pakistan is received in the summer which is why
we have sufficient water to irrigate our fields. The crops that grow between the months of May-
September locally called Kharif crops depend largely on the rain (Bashir 1987). Pakistan receives
a fair amount of precipitation in the form of rain in the winter as well which is important for the
crops that grow between the months of October and March locally known as Rabi crops, winter
precipitation mostly originate from the Arabian Sea and gulf of Persia (Shamshad 1988). The
winter rains usually recharge the soil moisture that is lost due to the scorching heat to which
arid and semi-arid plains of Pakistan are exposed.

Summary

All forms of precipitation are important but rain and snow has a direct impact on the climate
and vegetation of an area. Plants are adapted to specific climates that have a characteristic
amount of precipitation specially the rainfall. The precipitation distribution is not only
important when calculated annually but it is more important when measured in terms of
seasonal distribution. The affectivity of the rainfall also depends on the seasonal distribution,
the precipitation can be very high in a certain season but its