1. Chapter 15: The Biosphere and Chapter 16: Human Impact on Ecosystems
Freshman Honors Biology

2. Chapter 15: Biomes in the Biosphere
A biome is a complex system of land communities that cover a large area
For example: Tropical rain forests, desert, tundra
Biomes have unique climate ranges
Climate is the specific weather pattern of an area over a period of time
For example: Climate of Indiana is that we have four seasons; climate of Antarctica is that they have frozen water with very little snow.

3. Climate Zones The world is divided into three climatic zones: Polar
Cold, non-humid temperatures
Geographic range: Canada to the North Pole
Tropical
Hot, humid temperature range
Geographic range: Florida to the Equator
Temperate
Mild climate; seasonal changes
Geographic range: Florida to Canada

5. Climate & Biomes So what influences climate?
Latitude
Location on landmass (on the coast or inland?)
Proximity to land features, like mountain ranges
Biomes have specific climate patterns
Because each species is adapted to live in a specific set of environmental conditions, animals and plants usually die if a climate changes too much
For example, if Indiana were to become like it was in the Ice Age, most plants and animals would die because they couldn’t adapt to the colder weather.

6. Biomes, Continued
Organisms that live in a specific biome have unique adaptations
Gives them a better ability to live successfully in that environment
Examples:
Cactus living in the desert that has a waxy coating to prevent water loss
Mountain goats living on top of mountains have very thick fur coats to prevent internal body temperature drop

7. RA Activity
Each lab group will read and learn about ONE of the the 6 major biomes
Text: Pages (Alligator)
Other resources: Biomes Overview Video (26 min)
Your task:
Summarize the most important distinguishing features that set your assigned Biome apart from the others.
Write your final draft of your group summary on a large Post-It Note
Create a tree map with each of the different Biomes
1: Tropical, 2: Grasslands, 3: Desert, 4: Temperate,
5: Taiga, 6: Tundra,
7: Polar Ice Caps and Mountains (p. 467)

8. Biome Examples Tundra Boreal Forest Temperate Forest
Temperate Woodland/Shrubland
Temperate Grassland
Desert
Tropical Savanna
Tropical Seasonal Forest
Tropical Rain Forest

9. Commensalism

10. Biomes in Detail Deserts (hot & cold) Tropical Rainforest/Jungle
VERY little rain
Plants and animals have adaptations to prevent water loss
Tropical Rainforest/Jungle
Rain amount is very high
Temperatures are stable around 75°F
Grassland (temperate/savannah)
Savannah – think Safari!
Temperate – like Indiana

11. More Biomes Arctic/Tundra Deciduous Forest Mountainous (taiga)
Also have very little rain
Contain permafrost (topsoil is frozen year-round)
Deciduous Forest
Leaves change colors, die, and fall to the ground
Mountainous (taiga)
Animals include moose, eagles, mountain lions and goats
Swamp/Marsh
Very moist soil, often with standing water
Plants include mangroves and lily pads

12. More Biomes Pond/Lake River/Stream Estuary Ocean
Sitting bodies of water
Animals include turtles, fish (carp, trout, bass, etc.), egret birds
River/Stream
Flowing bodies of water
Animals include salmon, eagles, brown bears
Estuary
Where rivers/streams meet the saltwater of the ocean
For example: New Orleans
Ocean
Several depths create many animal adaptations
Read “Open Ocean Ecosystems” on page 80 in the Zebra book with your partner – do a Think Aloud.

13. RA Activity – Marine Ecosystems
Pages (15.4 Alligator book)
1’s read “Intertidal Zone”
2’s read “Open Ocean Ecosystems”
3’s read “Coastal ocean and coral reefs”
We will then rotate and discuss! Take GOOD notes!

14. Chapter 16: Human Impact on Ecosystems

15. 16.1: Human Population Growth
Demography is the study of the size of human populations
Growth rates are controlled by the same factors as animal populations
Birth Rate
Death Rate
Immigration and Emigration
Age Structure

16. Historical Demography
Human population used to be low and relatively stable
Limited by resources and disease
Past 500 years
Exponential growth as limits have been removed

17. Age Structures
Histogram depicting the number of people in each age category within a population (Figure 14, page 104, Zebra book)
Can be used to predict future growth

19. Ecological Footprint

21. What effect does Human Population Growth have on Pollution?
Water
Chemicals, Trash, Temperatures, Noise,
Eutrophication (causes algae overgrowth)
Land
Chemicals, Trash
Air
Chemicals and Noise

22. Acid Precipitation Effects

23. Effects of Pollution: Ozone Depletion; Ozone; Greenhouse Effect
While watching the BrainPop clips, answer the following:
1. What is ozone? Include chemical formula!
2. Why is it important to the atmosphere?

24. Water Quality & Pollution: Biological Magnification
Chemical pollutant becomes more concentrated as it moves up the trophic levels within a food chain or web
Very dangerous for top level predators
Fig , page 495

25. Threats to Biodiversity
Habitat Loss
Deforestation
Overexploitation (overuse)
Habitat Fragmentation
Pollution
Biomagnification, Acid Precipitation
Introduction of Invasive Species
Threats to Biodiversity

26. Overexploitation (overuse)
The excessive use of species that have economic value
Bison hunted for meat, hides, and just for sport
Population went from 50 million to 1000
Passenger pigeons
Now extinct
Ocelot and white rhinoceros
Overexploitation used to be the number one reason for extinction; now it’s habitat destruction

27. Habitat Loss

28. Habitat Fragmentation – page 499

29. Invasive (Introduced) Species
Also called non-native species
Introduced to new habitat
Often grows without check because of lack of natural predators or disease in the area
Pages

30. Losing Biodiversity Species experiences a decline in growth Threatened
Canadian lynx
Prairie dog
Endangered
Bald Eagle
Many Marine Mammals
Extinct
Dodo
Passenger Pigeon

31. Section 3: Conserving Biodiversity
Pages
Class Activity: reading “16.5 Conservation”
1’s Read “Sustainable Development…”
2’s Read “Conservation practices…”
3’s Read “Protecting Earth’s resources…”
Take good notes to share ideas about how we can conserve biodiversity…do you have ideas that are not in the text?