The Colours of the Land

Biogeography I: Why Is The Land Green?

In this course, Professor Richard Field (University of Nottingham) tries to ask the question why the land is green. We begin by: (i) introducing and discussing the predominant regions at different latitudes; and (ii) trying to understand this better applying knowledge of limiting factors; before (iii) learning how several key limiting factors can impact the appearance of the land; and then (iv) learn about different types of productivity; (v) understand the inefficiencies of photosynthesis; and (vi) the inefficiencies of energy transfer across trophic levels in an ecosystem; before (vii) trying to understand why plants are so dominant in the world; and finally (viii) learn about human interactions with ecosystems, encouraging contemplation of individual choices in agriculture and dietary preferences.

The Colours of the Land

In this first lecture, we begin to explore the question of why the land appears green, discussing the predominant colours found at different parts of the globe, including the tropics and boreal zones, the subtropics and polar regions. We begin to understand the factors that influence the colour of land at each of these points, such as temperature, dryness, snow cover and plant cover.