Biomes

The World’s Major Communities

What are biomes?• Biomes are the

different regions of our planet that have different climates, plants and animals.

• A grouping terrestrial ecosystems on a given continent that are similar in vegetation, structure, physiognomy, features of the environment and characteristics of their animal communities.

Terrestrial biomes

• Desert Biome• Tundra Biome• Coniferous Forest

Biome• Rainforest Biome• Grassland Biome• Deciduous Forest

Freshwater Marine Desert Forest Grassland Tundra

1. Desert Ecosystems

Location: Depending on type of desert, you will find them in various locations.

Desert• Climate: very hot

and dry

• Temperature: Hot during the day and cold during the night.

• Soil: Sandy, dry and loose; contains minerals like calcite.

Desert Abiotic factors

<10 in/yr of rain

Little to no topsoil due to high winds.

Minerals not deep in soil.

Too dry for decay

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/taiga.html

While there are many types of deserts, they all share one characteristic: They are the driest places on Earth!

Joshua Tree

Desert Plant Adaptations:

Spines Succulents Thick, waxy cuticle Shallow, broad

roots

Barrel Cactus

Ocotollio

desert vegetation

cactus

peyote

Fishhook cactus

Desert Animal Adaptations: Get water from food Thick outer coat Burrow during day Large ears Smaller animals =

less surface area

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert_animal_page.htm

Javelina

Bob Cat

Armadillo Lizard

jackrabbit

Kangaroo mice

Thorny devil

Rattle snake

Spare foot toads

iguana

coyote

gilamonster

4 major types of desert

Hot and dry desert Semiarid desert

Coastal desertCold desert

Cold desert

• Characterized by cold winters with snowfall and high overall rainfall throughout the winter and occasionally over the summer.

• Have a short, moist and moderately warm summers with fairly long, cold cactus winters. • Usually occur in Antarctic, Greenland and Nearctic realm.

Hot and dry desert

• The seasons are generally warm throughout the year and very hot in the summer. The winters usually bring little rainfall.

• The 4 major North American deserts of this type are the Chihuahuan, Sonoran, Mojave and Great Basin.

Semiarid desert

• Summers are moderately long and dry and like hot deserts

• Winters normally bring low concentration of rainfall• Summer temperatures usually average between 21-27

0C. It normally does not go above 38 0C and evening temperatures are cool at around 10 0C.

• Major deserts of this type include the sage brush of Utah, Montana and Great Basin

Coastal desert

• The cool winter’s coastal deserts are followed by moderately long, warm summers. The average summer temperature ranges from 13-24 0C; winter temperatures are 5 0C or below.

• The maximum annual temperatures are about 35 0C and the minimum is about -4 0C.

• These deserts occur in moderately cool to warm areas such as the Nearctic and Neotrophical realm. A good example of this is Atacam and Chile.

Threats to the DesertResidential development

Off road recreational activities destroy habitat for plants and animals.

Some plants are removed by collectors, endangering the population.

Sonoran Desert

Dry Desert

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm

Health Issues in Desert

http://www.runet.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/tundra/tundra.html

2. Tundra“treeless plain”

Location: Found north of the Arctic Circle

Tundra- coldest biome

• Climate :Cold and limited sunlight• Temperature: Average temperature is 23F or 5 0C.

tundra

• Soil: Ground covered with little snow. Below the surface soil is permanently frozen (permafrost). Decomposition is very slow because of the extreme cold.

Tundra Abiotic Factors <25 in/year Short growing season

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/taiga.html

Tundra Plant AdaptationsGrowing close to the ground

Having shallow roots to absorb the limited water resources.

Trees grow less than 1 m high!

cottongrass

Reindeer lichen

Perennials

Woody shrubs

http://www.runet.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/tundra/tundra.html

Heaths

Examples of Tundra Plants

Many visitors, migration

Few predators

Little Competition

Small ears

Insulation, thick coat

Arctic foxsnowy owl

Grizzly Bear

Tundra Animal Adaptations

Types of tundra

The Arctic Tundra

• Located between the North Pole and Coniferous Forest or Taiga region. It is extremely cold temperatures and land that remains frozen year-round.

• A layer of permanently frozen subsoil called permafrost exists consisting mostly of gravel and finer material.

• The growing season ranges from 50-60 days.

• Location:

North America- Northern Alaska, Canada, Greenland

Northern Europe- Scandinavia

Northern Asia- Siberia

Alpine Tundra• Located on mountains throughout the

world at high altitude where trees cannot grow.

• The growing season is approximately 180 days.

• very windy. • typically covered in snow for most of the

year.

• Location: North America- Alaska, Canada, U.S.A. and Mexico

Northern Europe- Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden

Asia- Southern Asia( Mt. Himalayan ) and Japan (Mt. Fuji)

Africa- Mt. Kilimanjava

South America- Andes Mountains

Threats to the TundraOne of the

most fragile biomes on the planet

The tundra is slow to recover from damage.

Oil drilling is proposed in Alaska and other areas!

Tufted Saxifrage

Polar Bear

3. TaigaNorthern Coniferous Forest

Boreal Forest

Location: Found only in Northern Hemisphere

Northern parts of Alaska, Canada, Asia and Europe.

Taiga/Coniferous Forest“ coming from the cones”

• Climate:

Very long and cold winter lasting to about half a year; precipitation is in the form of snow about 60 cm.

• Temperature:

Below -20 0C in winter and about 15 0C in summer.

Taiga

Soil: • not fertile. It takes very long for needlelike leaves to decompose and

decomposition is very slow in cold weather.• A layer of snow covers the ground during much of the year. Soil beneath

the snow is grayish on top and brown below and lacks minerals needed by plants to grow.

TaigaAbiotic factors

Winters are long and cold Averages 100 in/yr

precipitation—mostly snow Soil poor in nutrients and

very acidic Growing season is very

short

Balsam Fir

Coniferous (needle-bearing) trees are abundant

Roots long to anchor trees Needles long, thin and waxy Low sunlight and poor soil keeps

plants from growing on forest floorhttp://www.inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/terres/coniferous/plants.htm

Fireweed

Taiga Plant adaptations

Moose

Adapt for cold winters Burrow, hibernate, warm

coat, insulation, etc.

http://www.inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/terres/coniferous/animals.htm Great Grey Owl

Animal Adaptations of the Taiga

mosquito bear

hares porcupine squirrel

deer

Threats to the Taiga

Mining operations can irreparably damage this fragile ecosystem

Road construction

Clear cutting accelerates soil erosion, degrades wildlife habitat and leads to the loss of diversity.

4. Rainforest biome

Tropical Rainforest Temperate Rainforest

Tropical Rainforest

• covers about 6-7% of the earth’s land surface.

• It is located close to the equator, in 85 different countries, and the most are in Central and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The Amazon Rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world.

Tropical Rainforest

• Climate:

The seasons do not change and it has been hot and wet for millions of years. The average temperature ranges from 70-85 degrees. It rains about 100-400 inches per year.

Tropical Rainforest Abiotic factors high biodiversity and

biomass both hot and moist; ideal for bacteria and other

microorganisms; they quickly decompose matter on the forest floor allowing nutrients to be recycled.

Tropical rainforest

Soil: • Lacks minerals and

contains little remains of dead plants and animals.

• Decomposition is rapid on warm wet soil.

• <1 cm of topsoil; not very fertile

Bougainvillea

Sunlight is a major limiting factor

Shallow, wide roots since soil is so thin and poor in nutrients

Little sun reaches the floor

Tropical rainforest is the richest source of plants life on earth.

Plants grow in layers (canopy receives most light). It is the perfect place for growing plants.

Tropical Rainforest

Plant adaptations

Bangul Bamboo

Many symbiotic relationships

Live in different levels of canopy

Wagler’s pit viper

Silvery Gibbon

Slender Loris

Tropical Rainforest

Animal Adaptations

Many animals are specialists and require special habitat components to survive

Camouflage is common

Threats to the Tropical Rainforest

Humans strip the rainforests for uses including logging and cattle ranching.

In addition to the plants and animals that are displaced by this destruction, entire civilizations of people are also without a home.

You can help by promoting sustainable use of the rainforests’ products

Temperate Rainforest

• Location:

found near coastal areas along the Pacific coast of Canada at the USA, and in New Zealand, Tasmania, Chile, Ireland, Scotland and Norway.

Temperate rainforest

Climate: • Also wet, but not as rainy as

tropical rainforest.

• Rains about 100 inches per year.

• It is cooler than tropical

rainforests but the temperature is still mild.

• has 2 distinct seasons: one long wet winter and a short drier summer.

Temperate Rainforest

Soil:• Typically much thicker than

the tropical rainforest. • It is structurally more

complex, comprising several layers.

• Generally much deeper and more fertile than those of tropical rainforests.

Temperate Rainforest

Plants:• There are about 10-

20 species of trees on temperate rainforests that are mostly coniferous. Trees in the temperate forest can live for 500-1000 years.

Temperate Forest & Its Animals

Bobcat Cougar Chipmunk

5. Grassland

• characterized as lands dominated by grasses rather than large shrubs.

Prairie and Steppe: Grassland areas

They are called by different names- plains or prairies in North America, pampas in Argentina, steppes in Soviet Union, and veldt in South Africa.

SteppeDry, cold, grasslands

Location: Found in Russia and the Ukraine

Precipitation:50-75 cm/yr.high Winds. It occurs in all continents.

most abundant are plants called Bunch grasses, fine bladed grasses that grow in clumps to preserve water

Tumbleweed

Sweet Vernal

Plant adaptations of the Steppe

Many migrate, hibernate or burrow during extremes in temp and precipitation

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/steppe_animal_page.htm

Adaptations of Steppe AnimalsMongolian Gerbil

Saiga Antelope

Gazelle herd

Threats to the Steppe Overgrazing…nomadic tribes

have started to spend more time in one location,

Infrastructure development (roads, buildings, etc)

Unmanaged hunting and poaching is destroying herds of animals

Corsac fox

Lynx

Milk vetch

Sod-forming grasses that won’t dry out or blow away in wind.

Fleabanehttp://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/prairie_plants_page.htm

Buffalo Grass

Prairie Plant Adaptations

Many adaptations to survive in extremes temperature and precipitation

Prairie dog

Bobcat

Prairie Animal Adaptations

Geoffrey’s cat

GrasslandIt has two main divisions,

1. Savannah Tropical grassland

2. Temperate grassland.

Savannas (Tropical Grasslands) Contain the greatest number of grazing animals on Earth.

Location: Found in the tropics…near equator Amount of precipitation supports tall grasses but only occasional

trees.The word savanna stems from an Amerind term for plains http://www.runet.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/savanna/savanna.html

Tropical SavannaAbiotic Factors

Rainy and dry season 25-150 in/yr precipitation

Fire plays a large role in this ecosystem

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/savannah.html

Whistling Thorn

Umbrella Thorn AcaciaTropical Savanna

Plant Adaptations

Grows in Tufts Resistance to Drought Many plants have thorns and

sharp leaves to protect against predation.

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/savanna_plant_page.htm

Kangaroos Paws

Baobab

Adapt for short rainy season—migrate as necessary

Reproduce during rainy season—ensures more young survive

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/savanna_animal_page.htm

Zebras

Chacma Baboon

Tropical SavannaAnimal Adaptations

Threats to the Tropical Savanna

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/savanna_animal_page.htm

Invasive species

Changes in fire management

Because of their low elevation, some savannas are threatened by minor rises in sea level associated with global climate change

Koala

Elephant

Temperate grasslandThis grassland is characterized as having grasses as the dominant vegetation.Location: The major manifestations are veldts of South Africa, the puszta of Hungary, the pampas of Argentina, the steppes of the former Soviet Union and the prairies of Central America.

Temperate grassland

Climate:

•hot summers and cold winters.

•Rainfall is moderate. The amount of annual rainfall influences the height of the grass land vegetation with taller grasses in other regions.

Soil:

The soil in a temperate grass land is deep and dark with fertile upper layers. It is nutrient –rich from the growth and decay and many branched grass roots. The rotted roots hold the soil together. The soil is fertile because of the remains of plants and animals and dried leaves of plant fell on the ground.

Milk vetch

Grasses

Sweet vernal

Temperate Grassland Animals

6. Temperate Deciduous Forests Location: found in temperate zone

(about 480 North lat) Much of the human population lives in this biome

http://www.runet.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/tbdf/tbdf.html

Characterized by an abundance of deciduous (leaf bearing) trees

Characterized by 4 seasons

Soils: Deep soil layers, rich in nutrients

Precipitation: 30–100 in/yr in all forms (snow, rain, hail, fog, etc.)

Temperate Deciduous Forests

Abiotic Factors

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/taiga.html

More diversity in the deciduous forest vs. the coniferous forest due to increased

sunlight.Trees adapt to varied climate by

becoming dormant in winter

White BirchBirchhttp://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/

deciduous_plant_page.htm

Lady Fern

Geulder Rose

Temperate Deciduous forest Plant adaptations

Deciduous forests grow in layers

More sunlight reaches the ground compared to a rainforest so you will find more ground dwelling plants.

Lose Winter Coat

Adapt to many seasons

Eat from different layers of the forest

Bald Eagle

Fat Dormouse

Least Weasel

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/deciduous_animal_page.htm

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Animal Adaptations

Threats to Temperate Deciduous Forests

http://www.runet.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/tbdf/tbdf.html

Many forests are cleared to provide housing for humans.

Careful use of the resource can provide a renewable system if we don’t take too much habitat away.

ConclusionBiomes as "the world's major communities”, are classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment". The importance of biomes cannot be overestimated. Thus, conservation and preservation of biomes should be a major concern to all. Because we share the world with many other species of plants and animals, we must consider the consequences of our actions. It is important to preserve all types of biomes as each houses many unique forms of life.