PEBO 311: TROPICAL ECOLOGY

WITH EMPHASIS ON
ENVIRONMENTAL ZONES OF
WEST AFRICA

By

DR. VINCENT VON VORDZOGBE

UNIT 2
Earth’s rotation on its axis & orbit around the Sun
 Unit 2 cont’d
The Sun’s effect during the Earth’s Revolution
 When the sun crosses the
equator and day and night are
everywhere on earth of
approximately equal length.

A time or date (twice each year)

at which the sun reaches its
maximum or minimum
declination, marked by the
longest and shortest days

 NB: Seasons have nothing to do with

how far the Earth is from the Sun.
Rather, the varying amount of
sunlight around the Earth
Unit 2 cont’d
The Earth’s yearly journey around the Sun & the Sun’s
effect on the Earth bring about characteristic weather &
climate conditions
• Sunshine & Temperature (High • Light Intensity
Heat Intensities in Tropics)
• Seasons • Cloud cover
--Summers (Hot)
--Winters (Cool or Cold)
• Latitude and Precipitation changes
• Daylength Variations
--Longer days/Shorter nights • Warming & Cooling of Air masses
--Shorter days/ Longer nights
Seasons
RECAP OF Unit 1& 2
• Part of the globe referred to as the Tropics;
• Factors that influence Tropics;
- Sun’s effect during the earth’s 24 hr rotation on its axis & yearly revolution
(365/366 day)
- 24 hr rotation on Earth axis brings about
a. relatively equal Sunshine hours in the Tropical Region (12hours more or less)
b. differences in Daylength in Northern & Southern Hemisphere (longer
days/shorter nights or shorter days/longer nights)
-the varying amount of sunlight around the Earth’s yearly revolution (365/366 day)
accounts for Seasons
a. North pole tilts towards Sun = Summer in Northen Hemisphere/Winter in
Southern Hemisphere
b. South pole tilts toward Sun = Summer in Southern Hemisphere/ Winter in
Northern Hemisphere
c. The Earth is at its closest to the Sun in January and farthest in July
- Other effects
a. Sunshine or Light Intensities also causing Heating Effects
b. Evaporation of H2O/Transpiration causing Cloud cover & Precipitation
differences along latitudes
what other characteristic
factors influence tropic
regions?
Unit 2 cont’d

Air Masses (Winds) around the Earth & Effects of Winds actions around the
Globe
• What is air? Layer of gases held on by Earth’s gravity that forms atmosphere
• What is wind? Flow of gases on a large scale i.e., bulk movement of air mass based on
their speed, forces causing them, regions where they arise or occur & their effect
• Climate & Weather
Weather constitutes the actual conditions that occur at any time and place. It’s different
from climate.
Climate is the description of the conditions that tend to occur in some general region
during a particular month or season.
Unit 2 cont’d Winds and where they come from

• Expanding air produces

regions of “high pressure.”
These push nearby air away.
Contracting air creates zones
of “low pressure.” They pull
nearby air inward.

• That’s why the wind blows: It

moves from regions of high
pressure to those where
pressure is lower.

• The zone between the high-

and low-pressure areas is
known as a pressure gradient 
Unit 2 cont’d

• The Hadley cell, is a global scale tropical 

atmospheric circulation that describes air rising near
the Equator, flowing poleward at a height of 10 to 15
kilometers above the earth's surface, descending in the
subtropics, and then returning equatorward near the
surface.
• This circulation creates the trade winds, tropical rain-
belts and hurricanes, subtropical deserts and the 
jet streams. Hadley cells are the low-altitude overtuning
circulation that have air sinking at roughly zero to 30
degree latitude. It was named after George Hadley,
Unit 2 cont’d
Unit 2 cont’d