All about Biomes

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All about Biomes
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Definition

• Biome is term used to refer to a type of
  ecosystem
• Described by types of flora (plants) and (fauna)
  animals
• Usually dependant on Temperature and rainfall
  patterns, which can be effected by latitude,
  altitude and geography.

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Six major biomes (Biomes)

• Temperate forest (deciduous)
• Grasslands (prairie, Steppes, savannah)
• Desert
• Tropical Rainforest
• Taiga (Cone forest, boreal forest)
• Tundra (frozen land - not ice cap)

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Temperate Deciduous Forest

• Rainfall 30 - 80 inches
• Midlatitudes - 30 to 50 degrees north
• Deciduous trees - Birch, maple, etc
• Squirrels, deer, raccoons, possums, songbirds.

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Grassland

• Warm with a rainy winter and dry summer
• Deep topsoil
• Prairies, savannahs, steppes, pampas
• Large grazers Bison, Zebras, Kangaroos,

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Desert

• Hot, very low rainfall
• Affected by latitude and the effect of mountain
  rain shadows

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Tropical Rainforest

• Warm all year, lots of rain
• High Species Diversity
• Multiple layered ecosystem Floor, understory,
  canopy - some species stay in only one
• Low nutrient soil - very thin soil horizon

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Taiga (boreal)Coniferous Forest Biome

• Conifers - Spruce, fir, pine
• Cold winters, some seasonal precip
• Moose, deer, wolves, bear, squirrels, rabbits,
  hawks, owls
• Most lumber comes from here

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Tundra

• Cold and Dry (cold deserts)
• Distinguished by Permafrost the topsoil is
  frozen almost year-round, when it does thaw it is
  only a few inches.
• Small plants grass, moss, worts (no room for
  roots)
• Artic has some big seasonal grazers like caribou

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Aquatic systems (table 2-1)

• Lakes and Ponds (fresh)
• Streams and Rivers (fresh)
• Inland Wetlands (fresh)
• Estuaries (mixed)
• Coastal Ocean (saltwater)
• Open Ocean (saltwater)