1. BIOMES

2. INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
Describe how plants determine the name of a biome.
Explain how temperature and precipitation determine which plants grow in an area.
Explain how latitude and altitude affect which plants grow in an area.
Describe the characteristics of the worlds ten biomes.
Name and describe plant and animal adaptations unique to each biome.
Describe threats to each biome.
Name two threats to the forest biomes.

3. VOCABULARY
1. Biome 2. Climate 3. Latitude 4. Altitude 5. Polar ice 6. Tropical rain forest 7. Taiga 8. Temperate forest 9. Tropical savanna 10. Temperate grassland 11. Chaparral 12. Desert 13. Tundra 14. Mountains 15. Emergent layer 16. Canopy 17. Epiphyte 18. understory 19. Temperate rain forest 20. permafrost 21. Temperate deciduous forest 22. deforestation 23. slash and burn 24. Debt-for-nature swap 25. Ecotourism

4. WHAT DEFINES A BIOME? Biomes are large groupings of ecosystems.
Biomes are characterized by;
1. type of climate
2. type of plants
3. type of animals
4. many individual ecosystems.

5. TWO MAJOR TYPES OF BIOMES
Terrestrial (continental)
Aquatic (fresh and salt water)
In this unit we will study terrestrial biomes.

6. PLANTS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Which plants grow in a biome determine which animals have adapted to use those plants.
Plant adaptations include;
1. size – tundra, desert, rainforest
2. shape – small leaves, large leaves, water storage ability
3. color – green, brown, bright, dull

7. CLIMATE Climate includes; 1. temperature 2. precipitation 3. humidity
4. winds
Temperature and precipitation are the most important.

10. HOW DOES LATITUDE AND ALTITUDE AFFECT A BIOME?
Latitude is the distance north or south of the equator and is measured in degrees.
Altitude is the height of an object above sea level.
Climate varies with latitude and altitude. Climate get colder as latitude and altitude increase and the opposite as they decreas.

11. ALTITUDE VS LATITUDE ALTITUDE – Low to high
Tropical- temperate-taiga-tundra-mountains
LATITUDE – Equator to polar
Tropical- temperate- taiga-tundra-polar

12. TYPES OF BIOMES As classified by latitude.
Arctic or subarctic - tundra
Subarctic or boreal - taiga
Temperate cold – broadleaf and coniferous
Temperate warm or sub-tropical – moist broadleaf and warm coniferous
Tropical – moist broadleaf
Note that desert areas are not included in this classification.

13. BIOMES BY TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL
Polar ice
Tundra
Taiga
Temperate forest
Temperate grassland
Mountains
Chaparral
Desert
Tropical savanna
Tropical rainforest

14. TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS All are located near the equator
All help regulate world climate
All play vital roles in nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon cycles
All are warm, humid, wet, and get sunlight year round.
Rainfall can be 200 – 450 cm per year
All have ideal climate for wide variety of organisms.
2.5 acres of tropical rain forest can contain more than 250 species, whereas in a temperate forest may contain several species.

15. RAIN FOREST CHARACTERISTICS
Nutrient poor soil, rapid decay causes most nutrients to be in plants.
Trees form buttress roots (above ground roots) used for extra support in thin soil.
Forest Layers
a. emergent layer
b. canopy
c. understory

18. UNIQUE SPECIES IN A RAIN FOREST
Epiphytes – orchids
Sloth
Poison dart frogs
Parrots, spoonbills, macaws’
Coatimundi- raccoon
Cappibarra – rodent
anaconda

28. RAINFOREST THREATS Land clearing a. slash and burn farming
b. oil exploration
c. mineral exploration – gold, gems, coal
2. Skins and feathers
3. Pet trade
4. Exotic woods

29. TEMPERATE RAIN FORESTS
Are found in North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Heavy precipitation (200 – 350cm/ yr), high humidity, moderate temperatures (influenced by the closeness of the ocean)
Big coniferous trees – Douglas fir, Western red cedar, Mountain hemlock.
Mosses, lichens, epiphytes, fungi
Animals include large mammals and lots of snails and slugs.
More nutrients in the soil due to cooler temperatures slowing decomposition.

34. THREATS
Logging
Silting of water sources from logging.

35. TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FORESTS
Deciduous – loses leaves each year.
Once covered large parts of North America, Europe, and Asia
Located between 300 and 500 north latitude.
Growing season 4 – 6 months
Weather can be extreme 00 to 350 C.
75 – 125 cm of rain each year
Commonly have deep rich soils
Plants grow in stories, but more light reaches the ground. Tall trees, shrubs, bushes, ferns, herbs, and mosses
All plants adapt to seasonal changes.
Animals – many migrate to avoid winter, others adapt to winter.

39. ADAPTATIONS
Plants adapt to survive the winter – bulbs, seeds, rhizomes.
Animals migrate to warmer climates or put on fat to survive the winter and find areas where food can be found.
Activity reduction to require less food.

40. TAIGA Northern coniferous forest that is just below the arctic circle.
Winters are 6 – 10 months
Average temperature – 200 C
Forest floor is dark with little vegetation
Plants – conifer trees w/ narrow shaped, waxed leaves that do not lose water
Acidic soil

46. THREATS
Oil exploration
Commercial hunting

47. GRASSLANDS Found in areas with less rain fall than forests.
Less rainfall means less diversity
Numbers of individuals of a specific species may be very large
Two types tropical and temperate grasslands.

48. TROPICAL GRASSLANDS Commonly called SAVANNAS.
Most have wet and dry seasons
Most growth and reproduction take place during wet season
Dry season usually includes fires that return nutrients to the soil
Usually found in tropical and subtropical areas near the equatior

49. Savanna plants Large horizontal roots systems
Vertical leaves or lose leaves
Adapted for rapid water absorption and retention during wet season
Adapted for rapid growth after fires.
Many have sharp thorns to ward off herbivores

52. Savannah animals Typically many individuals of one species;
elephants, antelope, giraffes, kangaroos, capybaras, tapirs, (herbivores).
2. Various types of carnivores that feed on the herbivores – usually types that hunt in groups.
3. Many insects and animals that feed on insects.

55. TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS A biome dominated by grasses.
Hot summers and cold winters
50 – 88 cm of rain per year
Most fertile soil of any biome
Most have been replaced with farms
Found in the interior of continents
Normally have mountains surrounding them

57. GRASSLAND GRASSES Rain determines type of grass
a. Short grass prairie – 25 cm of rain
b. Mixed grass prairie – 50 cm of rain
c. Tall grass prairie – 88 cm of rain
2. Wild flowers are abundant in grasslands

60. GRASSLAND ANIMALS
Antelope, bison (animals with large back teeth for chewing tough grasses)
Burrowing animals prairie dogs, badgers, owls

64. THREATS TO GRASSLANDS
Farming
Overgrazing

65. CHAPPARAL A type of temperate woodland biome
Dominated by broad-leafed evergreen shrubs.
Located in the mid-latitudes about 300 north and south of the equator.
Found mostly in coastal areas with a Mediterranean climate
Warm dry summers, mild wet winters.

68. CHAPARRAL PLANTS
Low lying evergreen shrubs and trees that tend to grow in patches.
Chamise, manzanita, scrub oak, olive trees, herbs (sage, bay)
Trees have small leathery leaves that retain water and produce oil – helps in fires that keep out taller trees.

72. ANIMALS OF THE CHAPARRAL
Camouflage,