Biomes

Biomes

• A terrestrial ecosystem determined by:–A. climate

–B. vegetation and

–C. organisms adapted to the environment

Wetland

• Ecosystem intermediate between an aquatic and a terrestrial one

• Soil is saturated with water permanently or periodically

Estuary

• is where freshwater stream or river emerge with the ocean

familiar examples of estuaries

• San Francisco Bay

• Puget Sound

• Chesapeake Bay

• Boston Harbor

• Tampa Bay

• Mississippi Delta

Mississippi Delta

Productive

• Estuaries provide habitat for more than 75% of America's commercial fish catch, and for 80-90% of the recreational fish catch

Louisiana Coastal Issues • Louisiana's

combined land loss/subsidence and loss of wetlands has made them much more vulnerable to hurricanes than ever before

Problems

• RADIO MESSAGE: and Handout

• Restoring the Mississippi, Part 1: Reducing Dead Zones in Louisiana's Gulf Coast

Levees Create Problems

• Levees have cut off the normal overflow of sediment from the Mississippi River which would otherwise gradually rebuild the coast.

Rocky Intertidal

• Big Sur, California

Tundra

• Rainfall less than 10 inches (low)

•Alpine Tundra at high elevation.

Tundra: Cold WindTemperature: -40°C to 18°C

• Arctic Tundra is circumpolar (scanty Antarctic).

Tundra(Circumpolar)

Tundra

• Treeless • low (less than 1 m)

vegetation • water frozen

(Permafrost)• Typical plants:

sedges, lichens, mosses, grasses, and dwarf woody plants.

Cotton grass

Tundra

• Typical animals: snowy owls, musk ox, reindeer, polar bears, and migrant birds

Musk ox

Has 4 Seasons

Temperate Deciduous Forest

• Rainfall 60-150cm/30-60 inches

• Medium

• Temperature: -10°C to 25°C

• hot summers, cold winters

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Temperate Deciduous Forest

• Tall trees creating deep shade.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

• Typical plants include maples, oaks, elms, spruce

Temperate Deciduous Forest

• Typical animals include deer and squirrels.

Boreal Forest (Taiga)Coniferous

Taiga

• Cold winters with deep snow, but longer growing season than tundra.

• TEMPERATURE:

-30oC to 20oC

• Periodic fires common.

Taiga

• Rainfall 8-50 cm/12-33 inches

• Medium

Taiga

• PLANTS: dense evergreen needle-leafed forest, white spruce, black spruce, and jack pine.

Taiga

• Typical animals: moose, black bears, wolves, and migrant birds.

Taiga

• Intense solar radiation

• High winds

• Large diurnal temperature fluctuations

Grasslands

• Rainfall:25-75cm/ 10-30 inches Medium

• EXAMPLES:–Savannas or veldt (Africa)–Steppes (Eurasia)–Pampas (S. America)–Prairies (N. America)

Grasslands

• Cold or warm winters with growing seasons with moisture too dry for trees.

GrasslandsTropical Savanna

Temperate Grasslands

Grasslands (Steppe)

• Treeless vegetation less than 1 m high.

Savanna

• Cheetahs are well-adapted predators who prey on grazing animals

Savanna (Africa)

Prairie

• Typical plants include grasses and members of the sunflower family.

• FescuePrairie,Canada •Sunflowers, ND

Veldt Africa• Typical animals: large grazing

ungulates such as horses, buffalo, and rhinoceros.

Pampas

• Treeless plains of Argentina

CHAPARRAL• Typical plants: oaks, manzanita, chamise

low pines, and junipers.

CHAPPARAL(a little bit found in all continents)

“”Wild West".

Hot and dry

CHAPARRAL

• sparse • Low trees• shrubs

DESERT

• sparse drought-resistant vegetation, typically spiny and with tiny leaves and photosynthetic bark.

DESERT

• Rainfall less than 25cm/10 inches

• Low

• Evaporation High

• Temperature: 10oC to 29oC in hot deserts

Polar Desert

• Polar Desert: -2oC to 26oC

• Antarctica

• Pantagonia

• Turkestan

• Gobi

• Namib

Emperor Penguins

Antarctica

Turkestan

Hot Desert

• Typical plants include cacti,

acacias and short-lived annuals.

Prickly pear

Desert

• Typical animals include reptiles and ground-dwelling rodents.

• Great Jerboa

Gila monster

Thorny Devil

TROPICAL RAINFOREST

• Rainfall: 200-450 cm

• Temperature: 20o-30oC

Tropical Rainforest

• FROST-FREE & WET YEAR-ROUND

Tropical Rainforest

• Typical plants: strangler figs and tree ferns.

Tropical RainforestHas the greatest amount of biodiversity

Tropical Rainforest

• Typical animals include snakes, frogs and birds.

Rainforest Animals

OrangutanSlender Loris

Chameleon

Rainforest

SPIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Temperate Rainforest

• Cooler

• Frost

• Lots of Rain

• Washington State

Problem

• Much of the temperate rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula has been logged because the trees have great economic value.

Temperate Rainforest

• Olympic National Park, Washington

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• World wide the most extensive biome is?

• desert

• rain forest

• grassland

• Which biome is also called the boreal or coniferous forests?

a) Deserts

• b) Chaparrals              

• c) Taigas  

• d) Tropical Rain Forests

• If you were to travel or hike through this biome, you would notice an extreme lack of moisture and few trees. You may also be surprised to find great extremes in temperature.

• a)Arctic tundra

• b)desert

• c)savanna

• d)tropical scrub forest

• Multiple layers of vegetation thriving in a warm, humid environment characterize this biome. A curious lack of ground vegetation due to minimal sunlight and nutrients also characterizes this biome.

• a)tropical savanna• b)temperate deciduous forest• c)coniferous forest• d)tropical rain forest

• The eastern portion of the United States is dominated by what biome? A. temperate forestB. desertC. taigaD. prairie

• In which biome of Africa would you find lions, giraffes, and elephants?A. savannaB. chaparralC. desertD. tropical rain forest

In which biome do you live?

• You can thank this biome for the air you breathe and, to a large extent, the weather you enjoy or dread. It is larger than all the other biomes combined.

• a)coral reef biome

• b)marine biome

• c)savanna

• d)estuary

• If you were to take a ski trip to the mountains, you probably would enjoy yourself in this biome, which often receives large amounts of snow in the winter and is known for the timber it produces.

• a)chaparral

• b)none of the above

• c)savanna

• d)boreal forest

• Which two biomes are the most similar with regard to rainfall?A.tundra & taigaB.tundra & desertC.rain forest & savannaD. temperate forest & prairie

• Biodiversity is greatest in which biome?A. taigaB. polarC. rain forestD. savanna

• If you were to visit this biome, you would notice that it resembles a grassland and contains a mixture of small shrubs. Permafrost is a common characteristic of this biome.

• a)boreal forest• b)Arctic tundra• c)desert• d)temperate deciduous forest

• This biome, which boasts large populations and is home to some of the world's largest cities, has probably endured the impact of humans more than any other biome. Trees such as oak, maple and birch are often its dominant plant resident. This biome is found primarily in the eastern United States, central Europe and eastern Asia.

• a)desert• b)temperate grassland• c)temperate deciduous forest• d)taiga