Biomes

• General type of communities with similar climate conditions, growth patterns, and vegetation types.

• Characteristics of biological communities vary with temperature, precipitation, and latitude. • Hot, humid regions generally have greater biological productivity than cold or dry regions.

occurs as vegetation type change rapidly from warm and dry to cold and wet as you go up a mountain.

Kinds of Moist Tropical Forests:

– occur where rainfall is abundant – more than 200 cm (80 in) per year – and temperatures are warm to hot year-round.

– are found high in the mountains where fog and mist keep vegetation wet all the time.

• Drought-tolerant forests that look brown and dormant in the dry season but burst into vivid green during rainy months. • Often called Dry Tropical Forests because they are dry much of the year; however, there must be some periodic rain to support tree growth.

• also known as prairies or steppes; receive between 25 and 75 cm of rain per year.

• extensive grasslands w/ occasional or patches of trees; typically tropical w/ 50-150 cm of rain per year.

• Occur where precipitation is rare and unpredictable, usually with less than 30 cm of rain per year. • Their vegetation is sparse, but it can be surprisingly diverse, and most desert plants and animals are highly adapted to survive long droughts and extreme heat, and many can survive extreme cold.

As in tropical latitudes, it occur where there is enough rain to support abundant grass but not enough for forests.

Most grassland is a complex, diverse mix of grasses and flowering herbaceous plants, generally known as .

• Evergreen shrubs with small, leathery, sclerophyllous (hard, waxy) leaves form dense thickets. • Scrub oaks, drought-resistant pines, or other small trees often cluster in sheltered valleys.

In California, this landscape is called _______, Spanish for “thicket”.

Types of Biomes: (17 answers)

• Broadleaf forests occur throughout the world where rainfall is plentiful. • In mid latitudes, these forests are deciduous and lose their leaves in winter.

• Grow in a wide range of temperature and moisture conditions. • Often they occur where moisture is limited: in cold climates, moisture is unavailable (frozen) in winter; hot climates may have seasonal drought; sandy soils hold little moisture, and they are often occupied by conifers.

• Or Northern Forests • Lie between about 50° and 60° north. • Mountainous areas at lower latitudes

The extreme, ragged edge of the boreal forest, where forest gradually gives way to open tundra, is known by its Russian name, ______.

• A treeless landscape that occurs at high latitudes or on mountaintops, has a growing season of only two or three months, and it may have frost any month of the year. • A variant of grasslands because it has no trees • Very cold desert because water is unavailable (frozen) most of the year.

• An expansive biome that has low productivity because it has a short growing season. During midsummer, 24-hour sunshine supports a burst of plant growth and an explosion of insect life.

• Occurring on a near mountain top, has environmental conditions and vegetation similar to arctic tundra. These areas have a short, intense growing season.

• Vary mainly with depth, temperature, and salinity. • Coral reefs and estuaries are among the world’s most productive and diverse ecosystem

is a key feature of aquatic ecosystems, mainly because light decreases rapidly with depth, and communities below the photic zone must rely on energy sources other than photosynthesis to persist. Temperature also decreases with depth.