User:Connerstevens16/sandbox

Dense settlements[edit source | edit] Dense Settlements are the second most densely populated regions in the world.[4] Dense settlements are highly heterogeneous with regards to population density and tree cover.[4] There is no consistent pattern of climate amongst areas designated as dense settlements could be determined.[4] Population density never falls below 100 persons/km even in the non-urban parts of the dense settlements anthrome which suggests that these areas consist of both the sprawling edges of major cities in underdeveloped nations, and the long standing small towns throughout western Europe and Asia. [4] The constituent ecoregions of this anthrome support that same idea, four of the top five ecoregions are in Asia, primarily China, and the other is on the western coast of Europe to include Great Britain.[4] Dense settlements can also be suburbs, towns and rural settlements with high but fragmented populations. [3]

Croplands[edit source | edit] Croplands are another major anthrome throughout our world. Croplands consist of four different classes. Residential irrigated croplands, residential rainfed croplands, population rained cropland and remote croplands. Croplands include most of the cultivated lands of the world, and also about a quarter of global tree cover. [4] Residential Irrigated Cropland is the cropland anthrome with the highest population density.[4] Irrigation is a very common practice despite the high median annual precipitation which helps to support half of this anthrome which cultivates at least 36% of its land.[4] Residential Rainfed Croplands are the most extensive of the more densely populated anthromes (population density >10 persons per km2).[4] With a median annual precipitation near 1000mm there is sufficient water to support all aspects of life without hardly any irrigation.[4] Populated Rainfed Cropland is dominated by big agriculture and charictarized by a small human population which is very similar to the populated irrigated cropland anthromes but with far less irrigated land.[4] The majority of the remote cropland anthrome is agriculture with no significant human population.

Rangelands[edit source | edit] This is a very broad anthropogenic biome group that consist of three rangelands. Residential, populated and remote and the three different kinds of rangelands. The Residential Rangelands anthrome has two key features; its population density is never below 10 persons/km and a substantial portion of its area is used for pasture.[4] The pasture in rangelands are the most dominant land cover. Bare earth is significant in this anthrome the median being nearly 1/3 of the land for every one square kilometer area.[4] This anthrome finds a decent portion of its area in the African plains illustrated by the constituent ecoregions. Rangeland anthraces are less altered than croplands, their alteration tends to increase with population.[1] Domesticated grazing livestock are typically adapted to grasslands and savannas, so their ecological alteration of these biomes tends to be less novel, except when stocking rates are very high. [1]

Forests[edit source | edit] The forests throughout our world have been split into two different anthromes, populated forest and remote forest.[4] Forested anthromes are of course dominated by tree cover. Populated forest anthromes have high medium precipitation, minimal human population and lots of tree coverage. The population density is usually less than 3 persons/km². [4] Most populated forests act as carbon sinks because of the human activity. The remote forests anthrome is a little different than the populated forests anthrome because the remote anthrome has a lot of it's tree's clear cut. Some examples of a remote forest is the boreal forests of the far north and tropical rainforests.[4] There are also some remote forests found in south america, a lot of humans use the resources at remote forests as well. Forests must generally be cleared to sustain substantial populations of domestic livestock.[1]

Very few biologists have studied the evolutionary processes at work in indoor environments.[5] The indoor biome is expansive. Estimates of the extent of residential and commercial buildings range between 1.3% and 6% of global ice-free land area. This area is just as extensive as other small biomes such as flooded grass-lands and tropical coniferous forests.[5] The indoor biome is rapidly expanding, while the coniferous forests are shrinking. The indoor biome of Manhattan is nearly three times as large, in terms of its floor space, as is the geographical area of the island itself.[5] Thousands of species live in the indoor biome, many of them preferentially or even obligatorily. The only action that humans take to alter the evolution of the indoor biome is with cleaning practices. The species of the indoor biome can be separated into ‘intended introductions’ and ‘unintended introductions’.[5] Intended introductions are species that humans intentionally bring into indoor environments, these species can include plants, house pets, etc. Unintended introductions are species that are found in the indoor biome such as pathogens. The field of indoor biomes will continue to change as long as our culture will change. The indoor biome intersects with the health and medicine fields. [5]

Implications of an anthropogenic biosphere[edit source | edit]
** Somehow include something from Sayre, N. F. (2012). The Politics of the Anthropogenic. Annual Review of Anthropology, 41, 57-70.

It is no longer possible to explain or predict ecological patterns or processes across the Earth without considering the human role.[6] Human societies began transforming terrestrial ecology more than 50 000 years ago,[6] and evolutionary evidence has been presented demonstrating that the ultimate causes of human transformation of the biosphere are inherently social and cultural, not biological, chemical, or physical.[6]