1. biome
Regions that have distinctive climates and organisms and that contain many separate but similar
ecosystems

2. Tropical rain forests
Warm, wet biome that occurs in a belt around the Earth near the equator and that contains the greatest diversity of organisms on Earth

3. canopy
In a forest, the covering of tall tress whose intertwining branches absorb a great amount of sunlight and shade the area beneath

4. Temperate rain forests
Cool, humid biome where tree branches are draped with mosses, tree trunks are covered with lichens, and the forest floor is covered with ferns

5. Temperate deciduous forest
Forest in an area of extreme seasonal variation in which trees drop their leaves each fall

6. taiga
Biome dominated by conifers and characterized by harsh winters; occurs just below the Arctic Circle; also called northern coniferous forest

7. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Section 4.1: Forests
Biomes:
Each biome contains many individual ecosystems
Named for their plant life
Climate determines what plant life can grow in a certain area -temperature and precipitation

8. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Tropical Rain Forests:
Air is hot and heavy with humidity
Get 100 in of rain a year
Strong sunlight year round, little seasonal variation in temperature
Climate is ideal for growing plants – more than another other biome
1 acre of temperate forest contains about 10 species of trees, the same area of a tropical rain forest may contain over 100 species

9. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Tropical Rain Forests:
Plant Adaptations:
Plants grow in layers
Trees more than 100 ft tall form a dense canopy which absorbs at least 95% of the sunlight
Below the canopy, only trees and shrubs adapted to shade can grow there – herbs with large leaves
Orchids and monkey ladder vines, use the tall tree trunks for support high in the canopy, where there is light for photosynthesis

10. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Tropical Rain Forests:
Animal Adaptations:
Most rain-forest animals are specialists – organisms adapted to exploit a specific resource in a particular way to avoid competition
Ex: several species of birds called antwrens that eat insects, but each species catches insects in a different layer of forest vegetation
Escaping predators
Snaring prey
Camouflage – shaped like leaves or twigs, blend in perfectly with plants, poisons in their skin that are bright colored to warn predators

11. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Tropical Rain Forests:
Threats to Rain Forests:
Used to cover 20% of the Earth’s surface, now about 7%
Logging strips rain forests the size of North and South Carolina combined each year
This leads to plants and animals becoming extinct
Malaysian nomads are often displaced, culture and tradition lost

12. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Temperate Forests:
Temperate Rain forests:
Occur in North and South America, Australia and New Zealand
Pacific Northwest is the only area of temperate rain forest in America
300 ft. tall evergreen trees, ferns; cool, humid climate, rarely freezes
Temperate Deciduous Forests:
Trees drop their leaves in the fall
Seasonal variations can be extreme (95° - below freezing)
Rainfall = 30 – 100”/ year – contributes to rich, deep soils

13. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Temperate deciduous forests
Plant adaptations:
Plants grow in layers
Forest floor gets more sun than in the rain forest so ferns, herbs, and mosses grow
Adapted to survive seasonal changes
Winter: shed leaves (not enough moisture to support them), underground stems become dormant
Spring: grow leaves, seeds germinate

14. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Temperate deciduous forests:
Animal Adaptations:
Exploit the forest plants for food and shelter
Squirrels eat nuts, seeds, and fruits in the tree tops
Bears eat the leaves and berries of plants
Birds nest in the safety of the canopy
Mammals and insects hibernate for the winter, birds fly south

15. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Taiga:
Rough terrain
Forest floor is sparsely vegetated
Also known as the northern coniferous forest
Stretches across the northern hemisphere, just below the arctic circle
Long, extremely cold winters
50 days of growing season
Most precipitation falls as snow

16. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Taiga:
Plant adaptations:
Conifer: a tree whose seeds develop in cones
Leaves’ narrow shape and waxy coating retain water for the tree when the moisture in the ground is frozen
Pointed shape helps shed snow which would otherwise crush it
Dominate tree species: pine, hemlock, fir, and spruce
Conifer needles contain acidic substances that acidify the soil when the needles fall
Most plants can’t grow in acidic soil so forest floor is bare except for blueberries, ferns, and mosses

17. Chapter 4: Kinds of Ecosystems
Taiga:
Animal Adaptations:
Lakes and swamps attract birds, fish, and other wetland organisms
Birds migrate south for the winter
Shrews and voles burrow underground during the winter
Moose and arctic hares (rabbits) eat what vegetation they can find
Hares have adapted to avoid predation by lynx, wolves, and foxes by shedding their brown summer fur and growing white fur to blend into the snow.