Lesson 15: Terrestrial Biomes

1
Lesson 15 Terrestrial Biomes
2

• An ecosystem consists of a biological community
  and its physical environment.
• Terrestrial ecosystems include temperate
  deciduous forest, savanna, grassland, taiga,
  tundra, and desert.
• Marine and freshwater aquatic ecosystems include
  oceans, lakes, rivers, and wetlands.
• All of Earth's ecosystems together constitute the
  biosphere.

3

• A biome is characterized by its climate and the
  types of organisms that live there.

4

• Climate includes the average yearly temperature
  and amount of rainfall an area receives.

5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
Tundra
8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
Tundra

• a cold biome that does not support trees
• the largest biome covering about 1/5 of Earths
  land
• receives little rainfall
• made up of permafrosta layer of permanently
  frozen soil
• includes mosses, lichens and caribou, arctic
  foxes and snowshoe hares

11
Tundra

• The coldest of the six major biomes, and one of
  the driest, is the tundra of the Arctic regions.
• Tundra covers much of the land between the North
  Pole and the taiga, in some places farther south
  than latitude 60 N.

12
Tundra

• It is so cold that a layer of permanently frozen
  soil, called permafrost, lies under the rocky
  topsoil.
• Although the tundra receives little
  precipitation, bogs and ponds often form, because
  little evaporation and drainage take place.

13
Tundra

• The number of species in the tundra is low
  compared to other biomes.
• Life abounds during the warmer months, but only
  species specially adapted to the long frozen
  winters can survive year-round.
• In the winter most of the organisms become
  dormant or migrate to warmer regions.

14
Tundra

• Lichens, mosses, and grasses are the dominant
  ground cover, but some flowering plants are
  abundant during the short, cool summers. There
  are some low and dwarf shrubs but no trees.
• Animals include wolves, foxes, reindeer
  (caribou), voles, squirrels, and hares, as well
  as birds, insects, and fish. Amphibians and
  reptiles are rare.

15
Taiga
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
Taiga (ty-guh)

• a cold biome with long winters with a lot of snow
• Some animals migrate to warmer climates in the
  winter some hibernate
• Includes evergreen trees and moose, bear, wolves,
  and lynx

19
Taiga

• The taiga, or boreal forest, covers a broad
  region of cold, but not permanently frozen, land
  south of the tundra.
• It extends in a belt across North America,
  Europe, and Asia between the latitudes 60 N. and
  50 N.

20
Taiga

• The taiga is warmer than the tundra and also
  receives more precipitation, mostly in summer.
  The winters are long and cold, while the summers
  are short and cool to moderately warm.
• Species diversity is higher than in the tundra
  but lower than in warmer biomes.

21
Taiga

• Evergreen conifersneedle-leaved shrubs and trees
  such as pines, firs, and sprucesdominate the
  landscape. Some areas have hardwoods, such as
  birch and aspen, that are deciduous, meaning that
  they lose and regrow their leaves seasonally.
• Many areas of the taiga have dense stands of a
  few species of tree. As a result of their thick
  growth, little light reaches the lower levels of
  the forest and fewer plants grow there.

22
Taiga

• Boreal fauna include bears, moose, wolves, lynx,
  reindeer, shrews, snowshoe hares, and rodents.
  Migratory birds are plentiful in the summer, when
  insects also are abundant.

23
Taiga
24
Temperate Deciduous Forest
25
(No Transcript)
26
(No Transcript)
27
Temperate deciduous forest

• A biome with trees that lose their leaves in the
  fall
• 4 distinct seasons
• Rainfall is spread out across the entire year
• Trees like maple, oak, elm animals white-tailed
  deer, raccoons, foxes and squirrels

28
Temperate Deciduous Forest

• In some of the milder climates of the Northern
  Hemisphere, temperate deciduous forests grow.
• Humans have cleared much of the area that the
  forests originally covered.
• They are found mainly in the temperate regions of
  eastern North America, western and central
  Europe, and eastern Asia.

29
Temperate Deciduous Forest

• Deciduous forests are distinct from the coastal
  forests of western North America and Chile, where
  milder temperatures and higher precipitation
  support different patterns of growth and
  diversity.
• The winters vary from cold to mild, but the warm
  growing season is several months long, and
  rainfall is generally high.

30
Temperate Deciduous Forest

• The species diversity is also high. Temperate
  forests are dominated by hardwood broad-leaved
  trees, most of which lose their leaves each fall
  and grow new ones each spring.
• Oaks, beeches, hickories, and maples are common.
• Sufficient light reaches the forest floor to
  support the growth of many species of shrubs,
  herbs, and mosses.
• Flowering plants are abundant in the spring.

31
Temperate Deciduous Forest

• Animals include squirrels, rabbits, deer, foxes,
  wolves, bears, and many other mammals many kinds
  of birds, such as owls, pigeons, and migrating
  songbirds and some reptiles and amphibians.

32
Temperate Deciduous Forest
33
Grasslands

• In temperate or tropical regions where
  precipitation is sparse or erratic, grasses are
  the dominant plants.
• Tropical grasslands, or savannas
• Both savannas and grasslands exist as vast plains
  that accommodate grasses plus a limited number of
  other vascular plants.

34
Temperate Grasslands

• Trees and shrubs are rare or absent in temperate
  grasslands, which cover large tracts of central
  North America, central and eastern Asia, eastern
  Europe, southern Africa, and southern South
  America.
• These grasslands have dry, warm to hot summers
  and damp, cold winters.
• Prairies, steppes, and pampas are all types of
  temperate grasslands.
• Animals like coyotes, skunks, badgers, and
  songbirds inhabit North America's prairies.

35
Temperate Grassland

• A biome found at the same latitude as temperate
  deciduous forests
• Covered with grasses, not trees with rich
  fertile soil (Great Plains in the US/prairie)
• Also called pampas, steppe or veldt
• Grazing animals like antelope

36
Temperate Grasslands
37
(No Transcript)
38
(No Transcript)
39
Savanna
40
Savanna

• Tropical grasslands, or savannas, have scattered
  drought-resistant trees.
• Savannas are found in northern Australia,
  southern India, part of Southeast Asia, northern
  South America, and more than half of sub-Saharan
  Africa.
• Savannas are warm year-round, with distinct wet
  and dry seasons.

41
Savanna

• Characteristic animals include small burrowing
  mammals, large grazing mammals, and the mammals
  that prey on them.
• Animals include lions, hyenas, baboons, zebras,
  gazelles, giraffes, warthogs, vultures, and
  ostriches of Africa's Serengeti Plains

42
Tropical savanna(h)

• a grassland biome near the equator
• Warm temperatures
• Wet/dry seasons
• Grasses, shrubs, and small trees
• Animals like zebras, giraffes, wildebeest,
  gazelles, lions, leopards

43
Desert
44
(No Transcript)
45
(No Transcript)
46
Desert
47
Desert

• Many people associate deserts with intense heat,
  but these biomes actually are characterized by
  their extreme dryness.
• Deserts typically receive less than 10 inches (25
  centimeters) of rain annually.
• The vegetation is normally very sparse, and both
  plants and animals are specially adapted to
  withstand low moisture levels.

48
Desert

• Deserts are found on every continent. Hot
  deserts, where it can be extremely hot during the
  day but cool at night, are found near the
  latitudes 30 N. and 30 S.
• The Sahara in northern Africa is the world's
  largest hot desert. Other hot deserts include the
  Kalahari in southern Africa and those in the
  southwestern United States and in the outback of
  Australia.

49
Desert

• Plants and animals are adapted to the harsh
  environment in many ways. Plants such as cacti
  and some euphorbias store moisture in their stems
  and have needlelike leaves that limit water loss.
  
• Some plants complete their entire life cycle
  within just a few weeks after a rain.
• The kidneys of some desert mammals, such as
  rodents, are uniquely adapted to retaining water.
  Many animals are active at night, thereby
  avoiding the daytime heat.

50
Desert

• Temperate, or cold, deserts lie at higher
  latitudes. Sometimes much of Antarctica is
  considered a desert.
• Aside from this, other large cold deserts include
  the Taklimakan in northwestern China, the Gobi in
  Mongolia, the Great Basin in the western United
  States, and the Atacama Desert in Chile.
• Cold deserts have cold winters but may have
  fairly warm summers. Scattered small bush
  vegetation is common.

51
Desert

• Animals in the various deserts include many
  lizards and snakes, plus burrowing rodents such
  as gerbils, mice, and gophers.
• There are also jackrabbits, gazelles, coyotes,
  foxes, owls, vultures, and hawks.

52
Desert
53
Deserts

• A biome that receives less than 25 cm of rain
  each year
• Some deserts have cold winters, some have cold
  nighttime temperatures
• Creosote bush, saguaro cactus, owls, hawks,
  roadrunners, rattlesnakes, lizards

54
Tropical Rainforest
55
(No Transcript)
56
(No Transcript)
57
Tropical Rainforest

• Lush with broad-leaved evergreen trees and
  diverse plant and animal life, tropical
  rainforests are situated in the wet, warm areas
  near the Equator.
• Rainforests occupy parts of northern South
  America, Central America, equatorial Africa,
  India and Southeast Asia, and northeastern
  Australia.

58
Tropical Rainforest

• Tropical rainforests receive the most rainfall of
  any terrestrial biome and have warm temperatures
  year-round.
• The trees often form a dense canopy, or upper
  layer, sometimes resulting in daytime
  semidarkness at ground level. Many animals live
  in the canopy and rarely leave.

59
Tropical Rainforest

• Epiphytes, or air plants, live on tree trunks or
  branches and never touch the ground during their
  life cycle. Among them are numerous species of
  orchids, ferns, and bromeliads. Lianas (woody
  vines) almost completely cover many of the trees.
  
• There are countless plants, including trees such
  as mahogany and teak. Sadly, large tracts of
  rainforest are being lost as land is cleared for
  human activities such as logging and agriculture.

60
Tropical Rainforest

• Species numbers and interactions among species in
  tropical rainforests surpass those of any other
  terrestrial environment. Many species found in
  rainforests are not found anyplace else on Earth.
  
• Among these are mammals such as gorillas,
  orangutans, and most monkeys birds such as
  toucans and many parrots numerous species of
  reptiles and of frogs and other amphibians
  countless species of insects.

61
Tropical Rainforest

• A biome with warm temperatures and large amounts
  of rainfall most are located near the equator
• Ferns, orchids, parrots, snakes, frogs, monkeys,
  lizards

62

• Mountain rangesconditions change depending on
  elevation
• North Poleicy and cold polar bears, seals,
  insects
• South Poleicy and cold (not inhabited)
  penguins, whales, seals

63
(No Transcript)
64
(No Transcript)
65
(No Transcript)
66
World Biomes
67
World Biomes
68
(No Transcript)