Biomes!

1. The Freshwater Biome

Ponds and Lakes•Range in size from square meters to thousands of square kilometers.•Limited species diversity because of isolation.

4 Zones of a Lake

Streams and Rivers

• Bodies of water moving in one direction• Temperature is cooler at the head or source• More species found in middle, more murky water

found at the mouth

Wetlands

•Standing water that supports aquatic plants; marsh, bog, swamp

•Highest species diversity of all freshwater ecosystems

•Can also be a Saltwater Ecosystem

2. MARINE BIOME• Cover ¾ of the world! You’d better know

something about them, even in Utah!

• Supply much of the world’s oxygen

• Take in huge amounts of CO2

• Evaporation of seawater provides rain for continents

Ocean• Largest of all

ecosystems• Most life is found

where photosynthesis can occur.

• Contain zones like ponds and lakes:

• Deep zone-bottom• Intertidal-from

highest to lowest tide lines

• Surface-light penetrates

• Neritic-extends over continental shelf

• Estuaries-where fresh meets salt

Estuary zones

Estuary zones (cont.)

• Where fresh water meets salt (brackish)

• Diverse salt concentration means diverse life (it’s very different wherever you go!)

Coral Reef Zones

• Found in warm shallow waters

• Barriers for continents

• Dominant organism is coral-same family as jellyfish!

• 25% of marine life lives near the reef!!

• Keep land from eroding

• 500 million people live off the reef resources

3. Desert Biome

• Cover 1/5 of the Earth’s land surface

• Where rain is less than 50 cm/year

• Usually smaller animals

• Vegetation is sparse, but only water is needed in soil

Hot and Dry Desert

• Sonoran, Mojave, Sahara• Warm all year, hot in summer• Big temperature extremes from night to day• Small plants, cacti• Many nocturnal

animals

Semi-arid Deserts

• S. Utah, Montana, parts of Australia and Africa

• Low rainfall in winters

• Double the rainfall of the hot deserts

Coastal Desert• Cool to warm areas like in Chile, Peru, CA.

• Cool winters and long, warm summers

Adaptations to the desert

• Plant roots close to the surface

• Plants can take in lots of water with fleshy leaves or parts (cacti, succulents, etc)

• Some plants have ridges/grooves that channel water

• Some toads/animals seal themselves in burrows for months.

• Insects lay dormant eggs

Cold Desert

• Cold winters with lots of snow and rain

• Antarctic, Greenland, even parts of Utah

4. Forest Biome

• 1/3 of the land area of Earth and 2/3 of the plant area of Earth

• Contain about 70% of living carbon

Tropical Forest• Greatest diversity of species in forests and all zones of

all biomes.• Near equator-only 2 seasons (rainy and dry)• Daytime is 12 hours (pretty much always)• Temperature is steady at 20-25 C• Average 200 cm rainfall• Soil is nutrient poor• Canopy is multilayered, little sun gets through• One square km could have up to 100 tree species• birds, bats, small mammals, and insects

Temperate Forest

• N. America, NE Asia, Europe• Well defined seasons with 4-6 months of no

freezing.• Temp varies from -30 to 30 C• Fertile soil• Light can penetrate canopy, allows more

understory diversity• 3-4 types of trees per square km• squirrels, rabbits, skunks, birds, deer, mountain

lion, bobcat, timber wolf, fox, and black bear.

Boreal Forest (Taiga)

• Largest land biome

• Mostly in Siberia

• Short, wet summers and long cold winters

• Growing season is only 130 days.

• Mostly precipitation is snow

• Nutrient poor and thin soil

• Low light penetration through canopy

• Conifers/evergreens, woodpeckers, moose, bears, foxes, deer, shrews, hawks

Alaskan Taiga

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Picea_mariana_taiga.jpg

5. GrasslandsSavannas

• Grassland with scattered individual trees• Cover ½ of Africa• Warm/hot climates, must have dry season for fires,

burns grass, then grows in wet• Thin humus with only a few species of dominant

grass• Giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, kangaroos, mice,

gophers, snakes, worms, termites, lions, elephants, hyenas, squirrels

Temperate grassland

• Grass is the dominant vegetation, hardly any trees or shrubs

• Rainfall is less than in savanna

• Hot summer, cold winter, moderate rainfall

• Seasonal drought and fires are also important

• Deep and rich soil

• Gazelles, zebras, rhinos, horses, wolves, prairie dogs, rabbits, mice, skunks, quails

Steppes and prairies are types of grasslands

• Prairies have longer grasses, steppes are much shorter

Steppe

6. Tundra

• Coldest of all the biomes

• Tunturri , Finnish for treeless plain

• Low biodiversity, simple vegetation, short growth season

• Large population oscillations

Arctic Tundra• Encircles the north pole south to the taiga

(boreal)

• Cold, desert-like conditions

• Growing season is 50-60 days

• Permafrost (permanently frozen subsoil)

• 1700 kinds of plants: shrubs, mosses, liverworts, grasses, flowers, crustose, lichen

• Lemmings, caribou, hares, foxes, polar bears, falcons, salmon

Alpine Tundra

• Located around the world at high altitude where trees cannot grow.

• Growing season is 180 days.

• Night temp. is usually below freezing.

• Plants are similar to arctic tundra.

• Goats, marmots, elk, grouse,