Page 10 - the NOISE February 2013

Understanding your climate is perhaps the most important thing to under- stand for Permaculture Design. The vast ma- jority of factors that affect your design will come from the local climatic conditions. A Permaculture Design that works well in an arid climate could be an ecological disaster in a tropical climate for example. Climate ef- fects architecture which effects your every- day life; it effects food, cultural habits, on and on. In many ways climate is one of the most important factors in shaping every aspect of a culture. To get an understanding of how important climate is in shaping culture, just look at the difference between say the Inuits of the arctic north and the Hadza of the Tan- zanian deserts.
Climate determines what types of plants and animals can survive in an area which directly affects food sources and availability. Climate determines the factors that must go into building life-saving shelters, and climate will even affect available building materials. For example Inuits do not build with bam- boo like Asian cultures. Why? For one you would freeze to death in a bamboo structure in the arctic-circle, and two bamboo will not grow in the arctic climate. Those differences are of course easy to understand, but under- standing the impact climate has on us can be a very subtle science sometimes because we modern humans do not truly understand our climate.
Unfortunately with the proliferation of the International Style of architecture and it’s cultural impact the Modern world now de- velops culture divorced of it’s climate. We do not build, dress, eat, or behave appropriately for our climate and the ecology is paying the price.
The major factors that contribute to creat- ing a ‘climate’ are latitude, altitude and land mass. Latitude determines how much direct Sunlight will reach the area over the year, which determines the temperature range. The land mass determines wind patterns and humidity. The altitude effects temperature and oxygen concentrations. Areas with simi- lar factors will have similar climates. For ex- ample all mountain tops tend to have similar climates because of their altitude, most des- erts in the world fall within a latitude range that puts them near the equator.
Types of Climates
Every biome has a unique climate, howev- er climatologists have identified some basic climate types:
• Arid - dry, and hot.
• Mediterranean -have mild winters and dry hot summers
• Polar - cold and dry all year round
• Temperate -cold winters and mild sum- mers with varying rainy seasons.
• Tropical - hot and wet all year round. • Tundra - very cold all year.
Biomes
Within a climatic zone there will be dis- tinct biomes. A biome is a large are with a unique ecology. What makes something a distinct biome? Biomes are defined for the most part by their plant and animal types. For examples a savannah is a type of biome dominated by grasses with thin forests or medium sized trees spread throughout, and they usually support grazing animals. An oak savannah is a biome characterized by grass- lands with oak trees spread out among them, the oak trees will support a range of animals different than that found in other types of sa- vannahs. Rain forests would be another type of biome.
Biomes are created by a host of forces, in- cluding climate, soil composition, ground water, migration histories and too many oth- er factors to name here. Biomes are not nec- essarily static, they can change and evolve over time, though it may take decades it not centuries or millennia for a biome to natu- rally evolve into a different type of biome. Of course the interventions of mankind can increase this evolution to an unhealthy rate.
Biomes may have very specific names that describe their ecologies in detail such as temperate deciduous forest, or Sonora desert. Anthropogenic biomes are simply biomes created by humans. For example the wheat fields of canvas could be considered an anthropogenic biome. Suburbs and cit- ies could be considered an anthropogenic biome. What other types of anthropogenic biomes can you think of?
Ecotones & the Edge Effect
An ecotone is a ‘clash’ zone where two (or more) biomes come together and interact.
Ecotones will have species of plants and animals from both biomes within them, plus possibly a mix of unique plants and animals that may be adaptable to both biomes.
Ecotones increase what is called the edge effect, which is an important concept in Per- maculture Design. The edge is the physical line where two biomes, or in smaller scales any two different conditions, meet. The edge effect always produces a greater variety of bio-diversity and ecological activity as the biomes interact and attempt to strike a bal- ance which drives the evolutionary forces of adaptation.
Ecotones are one of the best natural ex- amples of integration rather than segrega- tion. The greater the edge the greater the bio-diversity. While the edge effect is in ef- fect in large scale phenomenon such as bi- omes, it applies at any scale, from an entire ecological region to a small garden. Perma- culture prefers curvy edges as it increases the surface area for bio-diversity. In most, but not all, circumstances in Permaculture Design it is a good idea to increase the edge effect as much as possible.
For example in garden or pond design it is good to increase the edge effect because you increase the surface area for bio-diver- sity, but in designing a home increasing the edge effect of your walls would be bad be- cause your home would bleed more heat.
Micro-climates
Micro-climates are smaller climatic niches in your local area. If you live in a snowy cli- mate have you ever noticed that after the majority of the snow has melted there is a little patch of snow that persists for a month or so? That’s because that snow is in a micro- climate that has a lower temperature. For ex- ample if your house is oriented right, there may be a patch of land that never gets direct sun because the house always shades that area, in addition the house may block winds from hitting that area as well. These factors change the climate conditions in that one small area, hence it is a micro-climate.
There is no minimum or maximum size that officially makes something a ‘micro- climate’. Valleys have micro-climates, moun- tains and hills cast micro-climates, a rock can generate a micro-climate, a ditch can have
a micro-climate. An important thing for all Permaculture Designers to understand is that ALL houses and buildings create micro- climates.
There is nothing inherently good or bad about micro-climates, they just are. How- ever a good Permaculture Designer will be able to think of and design innovative and productive ways to take advantage of all the available micro-climates. A good designer will even be able to design micro-climates for specific purposes. Perhaps there is a type of plant you want to put in your design that would not survive in your local climate. A Permaculture Designer could be savvy enough to design structures and landscap- ing to create a micro-climate that can sup- port that particular, otherwise inappropriate, plant.
Monsoons
Many places in the world have a very noticeable, if not severe, monsoon season. Technically a monsoon is a reversal of the prevailing winds which cause a noticeable change in rain patterns. In the minds of most people monsoons are associated with in- creased and heavy rains. However monsoons bring rain when moist air blows in from the oceans, and reduces rain when the winds blow out from the land. When researching a climate zone it is also important to take note of the monsoons.
Riparian Zones
Riparian zones are a specific type of ecol- ogy formed along side rivers and streams. Because of the presence of the water in the river or stream, riparian habitats are robust ecologies. They usually have a much greater concentration of trees, plants and wildlife than the surrounding ecology. Riparian habitats can exist in any type of climate, they only require the presence of a surface river or stream. With the presence of the water, the trees and plants, and the organic rich soil composition they form intense micro- climates usually quite distinct from their surrounding environments which provides niches for unique plants and animals.
Learning Exercises
Understanding your climate can be a whole science in itself. As a Permaculture Designer there is some basic information on your climate you must know. For design pur- poses you need to research the following in- formation about your local climate: Average high temperature, average low temperature, average high humidity, average low humidi- ty, direction and speed of prevailing summer winds, direction and speed of prevailing win- ter winds, average rain fall by month, identify your biome.
In addition to learning about your climate you can even do backyard experiments in harnessing micro-climates. First observe the micro-climates in your back yard, maybe under a bench or table, the micro-climatic differences between the west side of your house and the east side, under the coiled hose, along the fence line, etc. Try to figure out what the micro-climate differences are and why. Observe how nature reacts dif- ferent, are the plants different in each local, what are the insect or animal populations, is one wetter than average and another dryer than average, and why?
| Wes Ozier has taught permac- ulture design for over 15 years and is the author of a forthcoming book on the topic. wesozier@mail.com
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