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Getting to Know Daisy World

The model is located here:


http://gingerbooth.com/flash/daisyball/DaisyBall.html
NOTE: Uses Flash - sorry : )

Procedure

1. Read through the procedures and data reporting sections of this handout before
beginning the activity.
The directions have been read.
2. Select the black and white daisies option.
Make a table of the Parameters color, albedo, luminosity and min/max temperature,
death rate and insulation, based on the information in the Advanced screen.
Parameters
Color Black, White
Albedo (Black, White, Barren) 0.2 , 0.8 , 0.5
Luminosity Beginning: 0.65
Ending: 1.65
Step By: 0.010
Min/Max Temperatures (in Celsius) 5.00 , 40.00
Death Rate 0.30
Insulation 0.12

3. Why is the albedo for black daisies .25 and the albedo for white daisies .75? What does
this mean?
Recall that and albedo of 0 is a black hole and 1 a perfect reflector of incoming light.
The albedo for black daisies is 0.25 because these flowers absorb most of the light
energy that is comes into contact with (it does reflect some light though, so the albedo
of those flowers is not zero). Meanwhile, white daisies reflect most of the light that
hits them, but not all of it (unlike a perfect mirror), and thus has an albedo of 0.75.
This means that white daises reflect more light (and more energy) out into space than
black daises. This also means that back daisies warm up Daisy World more so than
white ones.
4. Run the model and allow the graphs to generate. Sketch out the results.
The results from the model are shown below.

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Based on these results predict what you expect to happen to Daisyworlds
temperature for the following two scenarios:

a) only white daisies and barren and


b) only black daisies and barren.
Note: For the graphs below, white represents the population of white daises, black is for
black daises, and red is for barren landscape.

Sketch the graphs you would expect in the spaces provided. Put solar luminosity on
the X-axis and Area of daisies on the Y-axis.

A B
Area of Daises
Area of Daises

Solar Luminosity Solar Luminosity

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5. Now, run the scenarios that correspond to a) and b) above.
This has been done.
6. Complete a table of the parameters in the space provided and explain what the
settings mean for the simulation.

Parameter Setting Effect of Setting (sketch)


Daisy Temp (degrees C) minimum
This is the minimum temperature (in
5.00 Celsius it looks like) where daisies
can grow (only black ones though).

Daisy Temp (degrees C) ideal


This is the temperature (in Celsius it
looks like) that most favorable to
daisy growth and allows both
populations to exist.

Daisy Temp (degrees C) 40.00


maximum This is the maximum temperature (in
Celsius it looks like) where daises can
grow (only white ones though).
Solar Influx minimum 0.65
This is the initial brightness of the
star Daisy World revolves around.

Solar Influx maximum 1.65 This is the brightness the star Daisy
World orbits when the simulation
ends.
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Deathrate 0.3
This means that, at any given time
within the daisy population
(assuming habitable conditions) the
death rate of the flowers is 30% per
unit of time. When the reproduction
rate is higher than this value, the
daisy population increases, and when
it decreases when it is lower.

7. Run the simulation and sketch the graphs that result. Compare the graph results
with your predictions.
Though the results are similar to my predictions, my prediction with by was far
more accurate. Meanwhile, there was much less of an increase in white daisies
with than I expected. In hindsight, this makes sense since white daises do not
promote as much heat capture as black daisies and the populations cannot grow as
a result. This demonstrates how white daisies need black daisies to appear first in
order to have a greater population growth.
A B
Area of Daises
Area of Daises

Solar Luminosity Solar Luminosity

Actual Pictures:

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A) B)

8. Predict which of the following


scenarios should provide the longest period of homeostasis (constant temperature
over the largest range of solar luminosities (which is equivalent to the longest
period of time) and explain why you think the simulation will give the results you
have predicted:

Widely spaced albedo for white and black daisies (white daisies with very
high albedo and black daisies with very low albedo) or
Narrowly spaced albedo between the black and white daisies (white
daisies that are a bit gray so their albedo is lowered and black daisies that
are a bit brighter so their albedo is higher) ?

I predict that wider spacing of albedo will create the longest period of
homeostasis. The reason for this is the more extreme albedo differences will be
better equipped to combat each others influence; this means the blacker flowers
will be able to hold more hear and the whiter flowers will reflect more of it.
Meanwhile, a more narrowly spaced albedo would lead to a less lengthy period of
homeostasis overall since the ecosystem would be more and more like having just
gray daises overall.

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9. Check your predictions against these two scenarios. Explain the results.

Option A:

Option B:

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Based on the data shown, it looks like option A provides a lengthier period of homeostasis
for daisy world, though it would be warmer than what is seen in option 2. Thus, my
initial hypothesis was correct.

10. In the first scenario you'll notice that the living area ("total daisies") doesn't
exceed 70%. The death rate is set to 0.3. How might these two parameters explain
the living percentage being no more than 0.7?
Since 30% of the population of the daisy population is dead at one time, this would
mean that at any given moment, thirty percent of the daisy area is made up of
dead daisies. This, with such a death rate, the living percentage cannot be more
than 0.7 or 70% in total.

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11. Play with this parameter. What does the death rate do to the daisies' ability to
control their environment's temperature and to the mix of species?

Increasing or decreasing the value of the death rate aids in determining how many species there
are and the daisies ability to control their environment. Decreasing the death rate increases the
daisies ability to control their environment and increases the number of species. Meanwhile,
increasing the death rate does the exact opposite. Here are some examples below (the left has a
decreased death rate, while the right has an increased one).

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12. How have daisies been able to keep the temperature of the planet constant even
though the solar luminosity and so the amount of heat energy reaching the planet
has been increasing?
This has to do with the fluctuation of daisy populations within the system. Less
luminosity promotes black daisy growth, which means more heat is trapped. More
luminosity allows more white daisies to grow, resulting in more heat being reflected.
This ultimately causes the maintenance of a stable environment due to the fluxuations of
daisy populations as their sun gets brighter.

13. A massive volcanic eruption triggers high-level clouds worldwide, and Earth
experiences cooler temperatures for months or years while the effects damp out.
Why?

This has to do with the cloud cover created by the volcanic ash. Like normal clouds, the
clouds resulting from the eruption would reflect lots of energy from the sun back into
space. This would result in less energy hitting the Earth and cooler temperatures overall.

14. Consider these actual albedo values for planet Earth:

Ground cover Albedo


deep water .05 - .20
desert .20 - .35
short greenery .10 - .20
dry vegetation .20 - .30
summer conifers .10 - .15
deciduous forest .15 - .25
snowy forest .20 - .35
dry snow .60 - .90
clouds ? - .90

a. Would receding ice caps tend to exacerbate or compensate for global


warming? Increased cloud cover? Deforestation? Desertification?

Since the melting icecaps would be replaced by areas with less albedo (such as open
water or deserts), this would exacerbate global warming. Increased cloud cover woud,
however, compensate for global warming, since clouds have a greater albedo, thus
reflecting more energy out into space. Meanwhile, though not to the degree that
increasing the ice caps would have, deforestation and desertification would decrease
areas with lower albedo and increase areas with a higher albedo than forests. Thus,
though it would create ecological havoc, it would increase albedo on Earth overall.
However, it may not compensate enough to combat global climate change.
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b. The range of albedos above is 0.05 to 0.90. With DaisyBall logic, use the
Advanced menu to set your albedo range to match Earth's. You may need
to adjust Luminosity end.

Using 9 different species to simulate the different environments on the chart, I


then used the Daisy World Model to examine the albedo range of Earth. These are
the chars that result, showing a long range of luminosities where homeostasis can
be maintained.

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Thus, here are the graphs in question, demonstrating the ability of Earths systems
to create homeostasis in their environment.

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is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
15. Based on this exercise and the information available at the simulation website,
sketch out a STELLA model version of this system using stocks and flows. Fill in
the converters that you think will be necessary.

Stock (acres) Flow (acres/yr) Converters


White Daisy area White Daisy growth Albedo of Black Daises
Barren area Black Daisy growth Albedo of White Daises
Black Daisy area White Daisy decay Daisy World Solar
Input
Black Daisy decay Planetary Luminosity
Planetary Temperature
Stefan-Boltzmann
constant

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This course developed by The North Carolina School of Science and Math for NCDPI
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

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