*Tropical rain forest

Biotic Factors: 

Plants, animals, or anything that is living that affects something else in the rainforest: trees vines, flowers, monkeys, bugs, tigers, birds. These things can also be dead but once living.

Abiotic Factors:Temperature, amount of humidity, sun, rocks, dirt, air

Characteristics: Tropical rain forests grow in regions with plenty of moisture and heat. They are also referred as 'evergreen forests'.

Temperature and humidity are high and has a very rich florestic and faunistic composition. Animal lifeAnimals are active all the year. Many animals use camouflage to hide from predators; some can change the color to match their surroundings. Animals that live in the canopy have adaptations for climbing, jumping, and/or flight.

Tropical dry forest

Animal lifeThe animals that live in the dry forest have a common characteristics. For example, the mammals and birds include adaptations to a life in the trees. Other characteristics are the color and sharp patterns of some animals, loud vocalizations and the diet that is compound of fruits.

CharacteristicsTropical dry forests, are located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive several hundred centimeters of rain per year, they deal with long dry seasons which last several months and vary with geographic location.

The tropical dry forest is a type of forest found near the Equator that has distinct rainy and dry seasons. Tropical dry forest can be found in some parts of Africa, South and Central America, Mexico, India, Austraulia, and tropical islands.

Abiotic factors

-The temperature of this biome is very warm and wet. It has an average of temperatura of 20-34 °C.

-The tropical rainforest has a annual rainfall of 250 centimeters .

-His humidity is between 77 and 88%.

Biotic FactorsThis biome has a good biodiversity, because in it live a lot of animals. The fauna is compound by the anteater, the jaguar, the red eye tree frog, ocelot, quetzal, and others.And the flora is compound by many plants, such as the babmo, banana trees, rubber trees, and many fruit trees, as the avocado plants, coffee, lemon, orange, peanut, peppers, and pineapples.

 

Characreristics:

Tropical grasslands are located in the southern hemisphere.

They have two types of seasons: Dry season and rainy

season.

Biotic factors:

 The grass of tropical grasslands can get up to seven feet tall.

 Animals that inhabit such biome includes the elephants, lions

and zebras.

 In Australia, it would be common to find kangaroos.

Abiotic Factors:

Temperature, climate, seasons, dry season and rainy season.

Animal life: The animals that inhabit this area usually live in

herds, some hunting and some for protection from predators.

Tropical Grasslands 

DESERTCharacteristics of DesertsThere are different types of deserts ranging from hot and dry deserts to cold deserts. A desert receives very little precipitation throughout the year. Deserts will often be extremely hot during the day and at night the temperature will fall 40 - 50 degrees or more.  The reason for this is that there is little evaporation in the atmosphere to block sunlight during the day and at night allows heat to escape easily.

Animal life

The animals that live in the desert usually have special adaptations that allow them to survive the extreme temperatures and conditions that are present in a desert.  A good example of an animal with special adaptations is the camel.  A camel can drink very large amounts of water in one day or survive for a relatively long time without drinking any water.

Abiotic Factors: Sand, Sunlight, Water, Air, Temperature Biotic Factors: Scorpions, Coyotes, Snakes, Lizard, Cacti

Characteristics:

They are characterized by grasses as the dominant vegetation, but are devoid of trees and large shrubs. Temperate grasslands are found in the grasslands of the Great Plains of North America, the pampas of South America, the Asian steppes and savannas of southern Australia.

Tempreate Grassland Animal life

Because temperate grassland are such open, exposed environment, predation is a constant threat for smaller animals. Camouflage and burrowing are two common protective adaptations.

Abiotic factors: •Climate: Temperate grasslands have hot summers and cold winters. •Moisture, the moisture in the air•Topography•Water•soil •air•light

Biotic Factors:•Plants: Grasses are the dominant vegetation. Trees and large shrubs are largely absent. Seasonal drought, occasional fires and grazing by large mammals all prevent woody shrubs and trees from becoming established. •Animals: are bison and pronghorn, pocket gophers and prairie dogs, wolves, coyotes, swift foxes, badgers and black-footed ferrets, grouses, meadowlarks, quails, sparrows, hawks and owls.

* Temperate Woodland and shrubland

Characteristics:

Most temperate, deciduous (leaf-shedding) forests are located in the eastern United States, Canada, Europe, China, Japan, and parts of Russia. Deciduous forests are broken up into five zones.

Animal life

Animals in temperate deciduous forests have to adapt to changing seasons. And they tend to be browsers.

Biotic factors:•Plants: Some common ones are ocote white pine, Chinese pine sticks, ocote brown, pine verbena, acahuite, chimonque pine, Chinese pine, pine straight, hortiguillo, pine nuts and red ocote.•Animals: They live deer, bobcat, cougar, armadillo, opossum, gray fox, raccoon, rabbit mountain, flying squirrel, gray squirrel and northern coati.Rattlesnakes, black-tailed rattlesnake, rattle snake Transvolcanic.

Abiotic Factors: •Climate: They thrive in areas with temperatures between 12 and 23 ° C, while in winter the temperature can drop to below freezing.•Land•Sun•Snow•Water •Air •Temperature•Rocks

*Temperate forest

Characteristics:

This is a small biome in terms of area covered.  The main stretch of this habitat is along the northwestern coast of North America from northern California though southern Alaska.  There are also small areas in southern Chile, New Zealand, Australia and a few other places around the world, most of which don't show up on the scale of the map to the right.  In general, such forests form were relatively warm offshore waters affect inland climates.

Animal life:Animals must cope with changing weather. Some hibernate; others migrate to warmer climates. Animals that do hibernate or migrate may be camouflaged to escape predation in the winter when bare trees leave them more exposed.

Abiotic factor

Cold to moderate winters; warm summers; yearround precipitaion; fertile soils

Biotic factorsThe trees that prevail are the chestnut-tree, the haya, the oak, the oak, the maple, the walnut, the elm, and the linden. And the animals that abound are:ardillas, mice, moles, deer, jabalíes, badgers, foxes, lynxes, wolves, weasels, otters, genets, hares, the dun bear

*Northwestern coniferous forest

Characteristics:

Are home to more species than all other biomes combined. Rain forests get a lot of rain. Tall trees form a dense, leafy covering called canopy form 50 to 80 meters above the forest floor.

Animal lifeIn the Coniferous forests, the amphibians and reptiles are scarce. The birds, insects and mammals are common. Not many animals can live in the coniferous forest, because the climate is very cold in winter, which is very long. Some animals hibernate in the winter, and others migrate to warmer climates. Some animals of those stay in the coniferous forest die from starvation, frostbite and hypothermia.

Abiotic factors•The temperature is between 10 °C and 20 °C in summer and between -15 °C and 5 °C in winter.•The climate is cold and wet.•The soil has minerals that the plants needs to his growth.•The water has minerals and nutrients, especially iron salts, magnesium and manganese.

Biotic factorsWe can find tall trees in the coniferous forest, such as the spruce, fir, larch, pine, birch besides mosses and ferns.The fauna has many animals. We can find sap-sucking, porcupine arboreal, birds that eat conifer, bats, grizzly bear, and many others

Boreal ForestCharacteristics:

The Taiga or Boreal Forest exists as a nearly continuous belt of coniferous trees across North America and Eurasia. It extends over areas of glaciers and permafrost patches on both continents. It is a mosaic of successional plant communities and sensitive subclimax vary.

Animal lifeStaying warm is the major challenge for animals. Mosta have extremities and extra insulation in the form of fat or downy feathers.

Biotic factors: 

*Needle-leaf conifers are the dominant plants of the biome, the evergreen "red fir", "fir", "pine", and the "larch", deciduous trees and shrubs broadleaf, "alder" "birch" and "aspen".

*wildlife  The "Lynx" and several family members of the "weasel" ermine, mink, lratas, hares and lemmings squirrels, elk, "the" wapiti ", and red deer, beaver, among the insectivorous birds as the" Warblers wood "," finches "and omnivores such as sparrows and crows.

Abitic factors:•Climate  The climate of the taiga has subarctic and cold climates. •Water•Temperature•Light•pH•nutrient soil

*Tundra

Characteristics

The tundra is a cold, windy, dry region.  The tundra is located in the Northern Hemisphere just south of the polar ice caps in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia, and Russia.  In the Southern Hemisphere, the region that would be the tundra is covered by oceans.  The tundra is one of the larges biomes, making up almost 10 percent of the Earth's surface.  However, fewer organisms live in the tundra than in any other biome.  The lack of biodiversity makes tundra ecosystem very fragile and unstable if disturbed.

Animal lifeAnimals that live in the tundra have special adaptations that allow them to survive theextreme temperatures and conditions that are present in a tundra.

Abiotic Factors

* Strong Winds

* little precipitaion (rainfall)

* short summer days

* very long and cold winters

* poor soil

* permafrost-a layer of permanently frozen subsoil

Biotic Factors

* Plants like Heaths and mosses have to adapt to the very long and cold winters because the sun does not come up in the winter

* Wildlife like arctic tundra animals include snowy owls, reindeer, polar bears, white foxes, lemmings, arctic hares, wolverines, caribou, migrating birds, mosquitoes, and black flies.

Mexico’s Major terrestrial ecosystems

Ecosystem Location

Temperate Forest It is found mainly in Baja California, Chiapas, Sonora, Chihuahua, Oaxaca, etc.

Pastureland They are found mainly in the north and covering large areas in Chihuahua, Coahuila, Sonora, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi and Jalisco.

Arid and semiarid chaparral scrub It is found mainly in Tamaulipas, Sonora, Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas, etc.

Jungle low or Rain Forest It is found mainly in Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Puebla, Guerrero, etc.

Jungle Medium and High or Rain Forest

It is mainly found in Yucatan, Veracruz and Chiapas.

(Dalley, 2007)Libro de Geografía 4° grado

Rivers and streams

*Characteristics

Rivers and streams Rivers come in lots of different shapes and sizes, but they all have some things in common. All rivers and streams start at some high point. The high point can be a mountain, hill or other elevated area. Water from some source like a spring, snow melt or a lake starts at this high point and begins to flow down to lower points. As the water flows down, it may pick up more water from other small streams, springs or or from rain or snow melt. These streams may slowly join together to form a larger stream or river. Small rivers and streams may join together to become larger rivers. Eventually all this water from rivers and streams will run into the ocean or an inland body of water like a lake.

Importance The Rivers and the streams water makes up only about 0.2 percent of all the fresh water on Earth, it plays a very important role. Rivers are like roads. They carry water, organisms and important gases and nutrients to many areas. They also help drain rainwater and provide habitats for many species of plants and animals. As they make their way to the sea, rivers help shape the features of the Earth. Rivers are travel routes for people and provide the power for hydroelectric plants.

Characteristics and Importance:They have distinct zonation and stratification,

the coastal zone is characterized by rooted vegetation along the shore, open water limnetic zone domiadas by plankton and deep zone dominated by heterotrophs.

In temperate regions are thermally stratified lakes with warmer upper (epilimnion) that is isolated from the hypolimnion (lower part and cold), are separated by the thermocline that prevents exchange of materials.

The shallow lakes are more fertile so that fish production is often inversely proportional to the depth.

The lakes are classified as oligotrophic to eutrophic with little food and lots of food.

 Lakes and Ponds

*Freshwater and estuaries

Characteristics:

Water either covers the soil or is present at or near the surface for at least part of the year. Water may flow through freshwater wetladns or stay in place. Wetlands are often nutrient-rich and highly productive.

ImportanceThey purify water by filtering pollutants and help to prevent flooding by absorving large amounts of water and slowly releasing it.

Areas where the ocean is divided

*The Intertidal Zone is where the land meets the sea. It is the area between high tide and low tide. Intertidal communities can be found on sandy beaches, in bays and estuaries, and along rocky shorelines. The rocky shores are the most diverse and highly populated. In this area where rocks are covered and uncovered daily by the ocean, unique and diverse tide pool communities are formed.

*The marine animals living in this zone are unique because of their ability to withstand exposure to air and the force of the pounding waves.

*Coastal ocean

It extends from the low-tide mark to the outer edge of the continental shelf. Water here is brightly lit, and is often supplied with nutrients by freshwater runoff from land. It tend to be highly productive.

*Open Ocean

*The open oceans or pelagic ecosystems are the areas away from the coastal boundaries and above the seabed. It encompasses the entire water column of the seas and the oceans and lies beyond the edge of the continental shelf. It extends from the tropics to the polar regions and from the sea surface to the abyssal depths. It is a highly heterogeneous and dynamic habitat. Physical processes control the biological activities and lead to substantial geographic variability in production.

Zonation

The water column is subdivided into distinct zones by water depth and distance from shore. This is based on water depth and population composition. The distinct zones are:

*The epipelagic zone ranges from the sea surface to a depth of about 200 metres. This is also the limit of the photic zone. Light penetrates into this surface water and is usually enough for the photosynthesis.

*The mesopelagic zone lies underneath the epipelagic zone and extends to about 1,000 metres.

*The bathypelagic zone is the zone between the 1,000 and 4,000 metres.

*The abyssalpelagic zone extends to a water depth of 6,000 metres.

*The hadalpelagic zone is deeper than 6,000 metres and is found in deep-sea trenches.

Marine and Freshwater ecosystems in northeastern

Mexico

*Lakes and Lagoons

The lakes are depressions in the land occupied by water. The lakes are bodies of water adjacent to the ocean, it is often isolated seawater was partially or completely.

Rivers

A river is a natural stream of water flowing continuously. It has a certain flow is rarely constant throughout the year, and empties into the sea, in a lake or another river.

*Swamp

Wetlands fed by permanent waterhole permanently saturated soils with abundant riparian vegetation and semi-submerged. Many times represent the headwaters streams and small rivers, especially in arid and semiarid

*Dam

Dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees (also known as dikes) are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions

*Sea

The sea is the interconnected system of all the Earth's oceanic waters.

*Reef

Reef is a rock, sandbar, or any other element that lies 6 fathoms (about 11 meters) or less below the surface of the water during low tide.

* http://info.rforests.tripod.com/abiotic_factors.htm

* http://inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/terres/coniferous/animals.htm

* http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/rainforest.htm

* http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/rainforest/animals/Rfbiomeanimals.shtml

* http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_abiotic_and_biotic_factors_of_a_tropical_rain_forest

* http://www.tutorvista.com/content/biology/biology-iv/ecosystem/tropical-rain-forests.php

* http://www.defenders.org/grasslands/temperate-grasslands

* http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/grassland.html

* http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastizales_y_matorrales_templados

* http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosque_templado

* http://www2.inecc.gob.mx/publicaciones/libros/533/conceptos.pdf

* http://www.miambiente.com.mx/?p=8900

* Strass, E. (2000). Biology, The web of life (2nd ed.). Canada: Land .

References

* http://kids.nceas.ucsb.edu/biomes/temperateforest.html

* http://www.jmarcano.com/bosques/tipos/boreal.html

* http://www.virtual.unal.edu.co/cursos/sedes/leticia/80123/lecciones/cap3/leccion3.html

* http://fun.yukozimo.com/facts-about-grassland/

* http://www.cienciaybiologia.com/ecologia/ecosistemas-agua-dulce.htm

* http://www.tundraanimals.net/

* http://oildrillingh.tripod.com/id14.html

* http://www.centraliahs.org/personnel/teachers_faculty/science/becker/biome%20web%20page/TUNDRA.htm

* http://omp.gso.uri.edu/ompweb/doee/science/biology/inter1.htm

* R. Miller, K., & S. Levine, J. Biology . Upper Saddle River, New Jersy