Russia

1
Russias regions

• Mapping vegetation zones

Lesson 2 ? Starter
2
Russias regions

• The land surface of Planet Earth can be divided
  up into a number of large regions, named after
  the dominant vegetation type (such as forest) or
  landscape (such as desert)
• These regions are called biomes
• Russia is such a large country that many of the
  major biomes can be found there

3
Global biomes
4
Russias biomes
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• Later in the lesson you will be asked to identify
  the biomes found in Russia
• Dont forget the small brown-coloured area by the
  Caspian Sea

5
Hot desert

• Russia has tiny pockets of true desert
• Look for this on the map close to the Caspian Sea

6
Grassland (steppe)

• Russias grasslands
• Traditionally, the Cossack people travelled on
  horseback

7
Deciduous forest

• This Russian biome is shared with the UK
• Where is the nearest deciduous forest to where
  you live?

8
Coniferous forest

• Much of Russia is covered with this vegetation
• Also called boreal forest or taiga

9
Arctic tundra

• Too cold for trees
• The ground is frozen, this is called permafrost

10
Thawingtundra

• In Spring, the surface active layer thaws
• The ground becomes boggy and difficult to travel
  on, or build on

11
Polar desert

• Hot desert is found in the far south of Russia
• Whereas, polar desert is found in the far north
  of Russia

12
Edge of the ice sheet

• Can you see the houses? They give you an idea of
  the scale of this image
• Quite literally, this is the edge of the world!

13
Ural mountains

• The environment in Russia changes because of
  altitude as well as latitude
• We studied the Ural Mountains last lesson

14
Alpine vegetation

• Mountains have their own biome alpine tundra
• Strong winds result in low-lying vegetation

15
Amazing landscapes

• This is a river in northern Siberia
• Few people have ever visited here

16
Amazing landscapes

• In tundra regions, patterned ground can be seen
• Physical processes produce shapes called
  polygons, many metres wide

17
Cruel landscape

• During the years of the Soviet Union, prisons
  were built in tundra regions, called gulags
• The remains of a gulag can be seen here

18
Climate change
? Melting ice Arctic ice is thinning and
breaks up sooner each year ? Might it be gone
altogether by the end of the century?
19
Climate change
? Melting tundra Scientists are concerned with
methane release ? Retreating tree line Is
the boreal (taiga) forest marching northwards?
20
Picture credits

• Slide 3, 4 wiki commons
• Slide 5 englishrussia.com (open source
  disclaimer)
• Slide 6 Flickr Creative Commons user zabaraorg
• Slide 7 Flickr Creative Commons user Tatters
• Slide 8-19 UNDP / Peter Prokosch