Terrestrial Biomes

The Biosphere The biosphere contains the combined portions of the Earth in which all life exists, including land, water and air or atmosphere. It extends 8 km above the Earth’s surface and as far as 11 km below the surface of the ocean.

5.1.1 Within the Biosphere are levels of organization

What is a biome? The world’s major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterised by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment Campbell, N.A. 1996. Biology, 4th Edition. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc., Menlo Park, California. NASA Earth Observatory: ‘ A community of plants and animals living together in a certain kind of climate’http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/Biome/index.php National Geographic: ‘A specific geographical area notable for the species living there'http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/biome/?ar_a=1

How many Biomes (you only need to define 6!)? This classification system has 9 http://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/terrestrial-biomes-13236757

How many Biomes? This classification system has 10

This classification system has 53, just for the USA! How many Biomes? This classification system has 53, just for the USA!

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm

How many Biomes? Robert Whittaker (1975) devised a simple system for classifying 9 biomes, according to temperature and rainfall (precipitation):

Biome classification is not an exact science…

Is a biome the same as an ecosystem?

Is a biome the same as an ecosystem? Of course not! Each biome consists of many ecosystems, whose communities have adapted to the small differences in climate and the environment inside the biome

…so what factors ‘define’ a biome? Climatic factors: including… Rainfall Temperature Humidity Latitude Geography – particularly altitude (elevation), proximity to the ocean, global wind currents, ocean currents ‘Climax’ community’ determined by ecological succession

Climographs are often used to describe a biome Climographs are used to describe climactic temperatures and rainfall for a particular region (or biome)

To really understand a biome, you must understand: The climate of the region (particularly annual temperature and rainfall patterns) The location (altitude) and typical geography of the biome The special adaptations of the vegetation found there (The niches and interactions of the animals found there, along with their physical and behavioural adaptations to their environment)

Boundaries between biomes aren’t sharp… There are often ‘transitional areas’ officially called ‘ecotomes’ where one biome’s plants and animals become less common, whereas organisms of the adjacent biome become more common

Within a single biome, there may be significant ecological variation This may be associated with changes in microclimate, due to differences in exposure or elevation above sea level… Welcome to 5 - biome city

Climographs Use Excel to create a climograph, showing the monthly variation in average temperature and precipitation of your biome. If you are struggling to find the appropriate climate data, then google search for a city located within your biome, and then access the temperature and precipitation data from documents or websites provided. You have a number of options for your graphs. Instructions for making a climograph are in place in the Ecology drop-down menu bar. If you are using EXCEL for MAC, you can be walked through using the following link: Graphing a secondary axis using EXCEL for MAC If you are using EXCEL on a PC, you can be walked through your graph using the following link: Secondary Axis using EXCEL for PC users