Biome Study Guide

1
Biome Study Guide

• Compiled from the excellent
• presentations made in
• periods 1, 2, 3, 5, 7

2
Note about these slides.

• This is a general study guide
• Based on all of the presentations across all five
  periods
• Where there is a difference between the slides
  and your notes, go with your notes or ask someone
  (check online too)
• Where are they located? Check out the links in
  our web site.

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Grasslands

• Occur all over the world, at high and low
  altitude, in temperate, polar, and tropical
  climates
• Grass is the dominant plant life.
• Do not have many trees or large shrubs.
• Include savannas, prairies, and steppes.
• There are two types of grasslands Temperate and
  tropical.
• The soil of the temperate grasslands is a deep,
  dark color.
• Cover 25 of land area on Earth

4
Grasslands

• Grasslands are considered transitional biomes.
  This means that grasslands are usually found
  between deserts and forests. A grassland would
  become a forest if it received more rain less
  rain and it would become a desert.
• Animals include herbivores that graze on the
  grass and burrowing animals
• Examples Bison, antelope, prairie dog,
  elephant, rabbit, mouse, snake, fox, leopard,
  eagle
• Adaptations include coloration that blends into
  grass, front legs for digging burrows, nocturnal
  activity, and gathering in herds
• Plants include buffalo grass, foxtail, clover,
  goldenrod, sunflower

5
Deserts

• Occur all over the world, at high and low
  altitude, in temperate, polar, tropical climates,
  but mostly in bands at 30 north and 30 south
• Receive very little precipitation
• Soils are coarse textured, shallow, rocky,
  gravelly, and contain no subsurface water
• Can contain sand and sand dunes
• Even the wettest desert does not get more than 10
  inches of rain per year.
• Cover 20 of land area on Earth

6
Deserts

• Animals include coyote, black vulture,
  rattlesnake, kangaroo rat, roadrunner
• Plants include cactus, century plant, acacia,
  yucca, tumbleweed, Ponderosa pine
• Adaptations include waxy skin, lack of leaves,
  deep roots, nocturnal activity, burrowing, get
  water from plants
• Four types of desert
• Coastal - cool winters, with long, warm summers
• Hot and dry - warm all year, with very hot
  summers
• Semi-arid - long, dry summers
• Cold (polar) - receive snow in winter
  temperatures do not go above 10C

7
Savanna

• A flat grassland with scattered trees in tropical
  or subtropical regions
• Found between rain forests and deserts
• Warm climate with little rainfall long, dry
  winters with monsoon in summer
• Receive between 10 and 30 inches of rain per
  year temperatures range from 68 to 86

8
Savanna

• Plants include eucalyptus, willow, acacia,
  elephant grass, baobab, euphorbia
• Animals include elephant, lion, tiger, cheetah,
  honeypot ant, black mamba, koala, giraffe,
  rhinoceros, emu, baboon, caracal, aardvark
• Adaptations include migration away during dry
  season, quickly flee grass fires, burrow, store
  moisture in root system, long tap roots, thick
  bark, water storage in tree trunk

9
Rain Forests

• A tropical forest, usually of tall, densely
  growing, broad leafed evergreen trees in an area
  of high annual rainfall
• Temperatures range from 68-93F
• Annual rainfall is over 100 inches
• Most are located near the equator
• Contain more than two-thirds of Earths plant
  species
• Cover 6 of land area
• Produce 40 of the worlds oxygen

10
Rain Forests

• Plants include epiphytes (air ferns), orchids,
  bromeliads, strangler figs, buttress root,
  carnivorous plants
• Animals include piranha, tiger, anaconda, parrot,
  toucan, harpy eagle, sloth, gorilla, orangutan,
  forest elephant, poison-arrow frog
• Adaptations include ability to be in constant
  shade or reach for the sun, wrap roots around
  other plants, eat food eaten by no other animal,
  camouflage
• Deforestation is causing loss of forest, oxygen
  production, potential medications, and plant and
  animal species

11
Temperate Forests

• Found in temperate zones above the tropics and
  below coniferous forests, usually near an ocean
• Dominated by trees
• Receive 28-60 inches of rain per year
• Climate is never extremely hot nor extremely cold
• Has four distinct seasons
• Deciduous means to fall off, which leaves in
  these forests do in the fall

12
Temperate Forests

• Plants include oak, maple, ash, beech, hickory,
  oxlip, bluebell, primrose
• Animals include mouse, squirrel, raccoon, deer,
  snake, bear, bald eagle, woodpecker
• Adaptations include losing leaves, thick bark,
  migration to warmer locations, hibernation,
  camouflage, store food

13
Taiga or Boreal Forests

• Dominated by cold Arctic air. The temperature
  ranges from -65F to 70F
• Found in Northern Hemisphere, below the tundra of
  Canada, Russia, Alaska, and Scandinavia
• Winters are very cold, with snow summers are
  warm, rainy, and humid
• Dominated by coniferous (cone-bearing) trees,
  which contain needles instead of leaves
• Taiga comes from the Russian for marshy pine
  forest
• Annual rainfall of 30-85 cm

14
Taiga or Boreal Forests

• Plants include lots of trees, such as Douglas
  fir, red cedar, Jack pine, white fir, white
  poplar, white spruce
• Animals include caribou, white tail deer, moose,
  red squirrel, black bear, bald eagle, lynx, wolf,
  grizzly bear, snowshoe rabbit, long ear owl,
  otter
• Adaptations include fur coats, dark green
  coloration, fur coloration changes

15
Tundra

• From the Finnish tunturi meaning a treeless plain
• Located in the Northern Hemisphere between
  latitudes 50º and 75º North (also a small portion
  near Antarctica)
• Cover about 20 of land area
• Two seasons Summer and winter windy
• Precipitation of 6-10 inches per year
• Vast and nearly completely treeless land
• Ground is permanently frozen 10 inches to 3 feet
  deep (permafrost)
• Poor soil nutrition limits the variety of plant
  species that can survive in the tundra

16
Tundra

• Alpine tundra occurs on mountains, above the tree
  line
• Only Arctic tree is the Arctic willow, which
  grows to height of four inches
• Plants include Arctic moss, Arctic willow,
  caribou moss, lichen, low shrubs, bearberry,
  pasque flower
• Animals include Arctic fox, bear, wolf, lemming,
  caribou, goose, marmot, elk, Harlequin duck,
  snowy owl, musk ox
• Adaptations include low and slow growth, store
  nutrients, grow in clumps, thick fur, feather, or
  fat, more than one food source, large, spread
  hooves, fur or feather color changes from summer
  to winter

17
Polar

• The large polar ice cap found in the frigid zone
  environments of the Arctic, Greenland and
  Antarctica
• A marine biome that is rich in nutrients from the
  land around it
• Located at the northern and southern ice caps
• Ice is about 6000 feet thick, contains 70 of the
  worlds water supply, and 90 of the worlds ice
• Summer in Antarctica temperature highs of 5C,
  lows of -30C

18
Polar

• Plants include algae, lichen, moss, phytoplankton
• Animals include beluga and killer whales,
  penguin, Arctic fox, Arctic hare, wolf, polar
  bear, walrus
• Adaptations include thick fur, fat, or feathers,
  fur and feather coloration changes, small size
  and low profile

19
Alpine

• Found in mountain regions, below the snow line,
  at altitudes above 10,000 feet
• Not many trees, usually short plants
• About 7-12 inches of precipitation per year
• High temperatures average about 50F in summer
  and rarely go above freezing in the winter
• A lot of exposure to ultraviolet radiation in
  thin atmosphere
• Cover 16 of land area

20
Alpine

• Nutrient-poor soil
• Plants include bear grass, bristlecone pine, moss
  campion, alpine phacelia, wild potatoes
• Animals include alpaca, llama, Andean condor,
  yak, mountain goat, snow leopard, chinchilla
• Adaptations include hibernation, migration, fat
  storage, larger lung capacity, and increased
  number of red blood cells