. Elements of ecology. Ecology. Contrasting Qualities of Air and Water 25 of 79 per cent nitrogen, 21 per cent oxygen, per cent carbon dioxide, and several other gases in much smaller quantities. These gases are not chemically combined, but exist as a simple physical mixture. Water, by contrast, consists primarily of a single compound, H:,0. There is nothing especially unusual about the physical and chemical properties of air and the gases of which it is U. S. Forest Service Fig. Pond formed by beaver dam (left foreground), showing beaver house (right center) and trees fel
. Elements of ecology. Ecology. Contrasting Qualities of Air and Water 25 of 79 per cent nitrogen, 21 per cent oxygen, per cent carbon dioxide, and several other gases in much smaller quantities. These gases are not chemically combined, but exist as a simple physical mixture. Water, by contrast, consists primarily of a single compound, H:,0. There is nothing especially unusual about the physical and chemical properties of air and the gases of which it is U. S. Forest Service Fig. Pond formed by beaver dam (left foreground), showing beaver house (right center) and trees felled and stripped by the beavers. Cochetopa National Forest, Colorado. Water, on the other hand, is a unique substance from the ecological viewpoint. H. B. Bigelow, formerly director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, when lecturing on oceanic biology once stated: "The most important fact about the ocean is that it is full of water!" The unusual qualities of water are discussed in detail by Henderson (1924) in his classic book, Tlie Fitness of the Environment. Suffice it here to mention a few of the attributes of water that have a special ecological importance. In the first place water is the most abundant substance of the earth's surface, covering more than 70 per cent of the area of the globe. Because the oceans are about 2% times more extensive than the land, and because they are habitable throughout their depth, the sea provides more than 300 times the living space. Water has a higher specific heat, latent heat of fusion, and latent. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Clarke, George L. (George Leonard), 1905-. New York, Wiley
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookpublishernewyorkwiley, booksubjectecology
