1. Chapter 15 Biomes

2. Life in Communities
Ecosystems are always changing. Sometimes they change quickly, at other times the changes can be very slow.

3. Climate
Climate is the long term pattern of weather conditions in a region.
Within individual climates there are small microclimates that can vary dramatically.
Three main climate zones:
Polar
Temperate
Tropical

4. Influences on Climate
Sunlight
Air and water movement
Landmasses

5. Quick review…
Limiting factors?
Abiotic factors?
Biotic factors?

6. Why don’t many humans live near the North or South Pole?

7. Tundra The northern most land biome Nearly treeless
Covered with mosses and lichen
Many animals spend the summer here
Has permafrost = permanently frozen soil.
Caribou, polar bears, muskox, mosquitoes

8. Polar bear
Caribou
Lichens and mosses
Lynx

9. Taiga Just south of the tundra Coniferous trees Pines, firs, spruces
Canada is mostly Taiga
Winters cold – summers mild
Bears, wolves, elk, moose and grouse

10. Moose
Gray wolf
Grouse
Taiga

11. Temperate Left: Glendalough, Wicklow, Ireland
Right: San Felasco State Park, Gainesville, FL

12. Temperate Deciduous Forests
Eastern USA
Leaves drop off in the fall
Colorful foliage in fall
Oaks, maples, birches
Raccoons, birds, deer, and squirrels

13. Whitetail Deer (above and below)
Racoon
Whitetail Deer (above and below)
Deciduous Forest

14. Grasslands Found on the interior of most continents
Plains and prairies of USA
Savanna and Veldt of Africa
Pronghorn and prairie dogs in the USA
Zebras, wildebeests, giraffes in Africa

15. Zebra
Wildebeest
Prairie dogs

16. Deserts Very dry and very hot Very little rain
Largest desert is the Sahara in Africa
Very few plants
USA deserts in the Southwest
Cactus and Sagebrush
Lizards, insects, scorpions and snakes

17. Western Sagebrush Lizard
Desert Cactus

18. Tropical Rain Forests Lots of rain Constant temperature (25 C)
Large dense forests with giant canopies
Great diversity of life
Lots of insects and birds
Being destroyed very rapidly

19. Tropical Rain Forests

20. Birds of Paradise Flowers
Toucan
Birds of Paradise Flowers
Butterfly
Jaguar

21. Aquatic Ecosystems

22. Ocean Zones
The ocean is divided into different zones based on distance from the shore, light level or depth.

23. The photic zone has light and the aphotic zone does not.

24. Crown-of-thorns starfish
Marine Biomes
Beluga Whale
Deep Sea Isopod
Coral
Spider Crab
Crown-of-thorns starfish
                                                                                                                  

25. Estuaries Where fresh and salt water meet River mouths Salt marshes
A nursery for many marine animals
Very important to marine habitats
Mangroves found here
Matansas River

26. Juvenile Queen Conch
Eelgrass
View of Estuary

27. Intertidal Zone From low tide to high tide Very harsh place to live
Organisms must tolerate changing temperature, moisture, salinity, and pounding waves.

28. Intertidal Zone
Barnacles
Sea Stars
Fan Worms

29. Neritic Zone From low tide to open sea zone Coral reefs found here
Contains 40 times more life than the rest of the ocean, mostly plankton.
Kelp forests
Small plants
Crabs, lobsters & small fish

30. Kelp Forest
Spiny Lobster
Coral Reef Habitat

31. Open Sea Zone Lots of plankton = ocean drifters
Fish, birds, whales & dolphins
Some areas of the open sea zone have more nutrients than others.
Caused by up wellings or other currents

32. Plankton
Whale Shark
Dolphins

33. Abyssal Zone (Deep Sea)
High Pressure
Cold
Dark
Strange animals
Gulper eels with a mouth bigger than half their bodies

34. The abyssal zone has some life concentrated around sea vents
The abyssal zone has some life concentrated around sea vents. Chemosynthetic organisms are the base of the food change.

35. Gulper Eel
Snaggletooth
Deep Sea Loosejaw

36. Freshwater Biomes Lifeblood of our continents Drinking water
Important to many plants and animals
Fish, amphibians, insects, reptiles, birds, etc.
Pollution is a major problem in this area
Swamps are part of these biomes
Rivers, streams, lakes, aquifer

37. Swamp
Stream
Lake

38. Bullfrog
Dragonfly
Alligator
Trout

39. Ponds & lakes are divided into zones like oceans

40. Pond & Lake Zones
Littoral Zone: The shallow margin. Has rooted plants, and the sunlight penetrates to the bottom.
Limnetic Zone: Open water away from shore containing lots of plankton.
Eupotic Zone: deeper water where light cannot penetrate.
Benthic Zone: The bottom including sediment containing decomposing bacteria.

41. Temperature and gas layers
Epilimnion – upper, wind-mixed layer with free exchange of dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Metalimnion – large temperature change (thermocline)
Hypolimnion – coldest layer in summer, warmest in winter. Isolated from wind-mixing and too dark for photosynthesis.