Grassland

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E Block

• Grassland
• Tundra
• Coniferous Forest
• Broadleaf
• Juliana F., Maria R., Jacob F. Emma S.

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Grassland

• Focusing on the North American Plains and Prairies

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About Grasslands

• Temperature ranges from around -40F in the
  winter and 70F in the summer
• Annual rainfall is about 20-35in and usually
  happens in late spring or early summer
• Latitude Ranges between 55N and 30S due to the
  diversity of grasslands

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Description

• Grasslands have many names, including
  prairie, plain, veldts, steppes, and pampas. They
  consist of different types of grasses with deep
  root systems. The soil is very rich and held
  together well. Many large animals inhabit the
  grasslands, as well as many small burrowing
  animals. There are few, if any trees.

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Plant Species

• Buffalo Grass A hardy, heat- and cold-
  resistant species well-adapted to the warm
  summers and cold, windy winters on the prairie.
  Once supplied food for huge herds of buffalo
• Wild Oats A weedy plant that prefers moist soil
  and cool temperatures. Found primarily on the
  plains or in open spaces where seeds can be
  carried by wind

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Animal Species

• Bumble Bee Native to Iowa, active in cooler
  temperatures than honey bees, lives in open areas
  and burrows underground, important with
  pollination of early spring flowers
• Prairie Dog Native to North American plains,
  lives in burrows, prefer being able to see far
  distances so they chew down tall weeds (small
  saplings), much like mere cats and squirrels

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Characteristic Factors

• Mountains block the coastal climates, isolating
  the grasslands and creating a unique
  microclimate. Mainly hardy species survive the
  harsh windy grassland climate
• Has two seasons, a moist season and a wet season.
  Most plants grow during the wet and are dormant
  during dry. They have very complex root systems
  that keep them alive even after grazing

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Ecological Disturbance

• Fires are common to the grasslands. They
  remove any invasive species and also kill off any
  tree and shrub saplings that have taken root. The
  grasses survive because of their deep root
  system. Their point of growth is also very close
  to the ground, allowing the top, leafy part of
  the plant to be removed without killing it.
  Therefore, natural selection has chosen these
  low-centered plants to rule the grasslands. Fires
  also remove the buildup of dead grass, allowing
  more native plants to emerge and flower.

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Sources

• http//www.blueplanetbiomes.org/prairie.htm
• http//www.buzzle.com/articles/grassland-biome-ani
  mals-and-plants.html
• http//www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/grass
  lands.php
• http//www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/weeds/fab19
  s00.html

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TUNDRA
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• TEMRPERATURE RANGE
• The short summer lasts only 6 to 10 weeks. It
  never gets any warmer than 45 or 50? F.Winter
  temperatures don't reach above 20? F and average
  -20? to -30?F.

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ANNUAL PRECIPITATION

• Tundra receives as little precipitation as some
  of the world's driest deserts, only about 6 to 10
  inches per year, including melted snow. This is
  almost as little as the world's driest deserts.

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LATITUDE

• The latitude range for the tundra is from
  the arctic circle to 60? to 70? latitude north.

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DESCRIPTION

• The tundra is the coldest of all the biomes.
  Vegetation is very scarce and there? almost to
  none trees. During the long winters it is
  extremely cold and windy. Also, the sun barely
  rises, so its dark almost all day. During the
  short summers the sun never leaves, but not even
  that can warm up the cold temperature and frozen
  landscapes.

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2 PLANT SPECIES

• Caribou Moss( litchen)
• It grows on the ground and on rocks. Lichen can
  make food when the temperature gets very low and
  there is little light. The tissues of lichens
  aren't easily damaged by frost. This makes it a
  great plant for the tundra.Lichen can survive for
  long periods of time without water. They just dry
  out and go dormant when there is little water or
  light. They can begin to grow again even after
  very long periods of dormancy.

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• Pasque Flower
• The Pasque flower, like all tundra plants, grows
  low to the ground to keep out of the
  cold climate. It is also covered in fine silky
  hairs, which help insulate it.

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2 ANIMAL SPECIES

• Arctic fox
• The arctic fox is a scavenger so it usually finds
  things to eat. They sometimes even follow polar
  bears or other predators and eat the remains of
  their preys. They are covered with white hair
  during the winter and grey or blue hair during
  summers which helps them keep warm and hide prom
  predators.

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• Snowy Owl
• The snowy owl , like other arctic animals, has
  white feathers that help them camouflage with the
  landscape. They also have huge eyes and really
  sensitive hearing that helps them see their preys
  from really far away and a pair of long wings
  that allows them to fly close to the ground in
  order to catch them. The snowy owls feed on
  arctic fox, rabbits, lemmings, voles, and various
  seabirds

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• ABIOTIC FACTORS
• Strong Winds The tundra biome is characterized
  by its strong winds, which add to the extremely
  cold temperatures and doesnt allow trees or any
  other tall plants to grow.
• Little precipitation Theres about 6 - 10 inches
  of rainfall every year .During the summer, the
  permafrost thaws just enough to let plants grow
  and reproduce, but because the ground below this
  is frozen, the water cannot sink any lower, and
  so the water forms the lakes and marshes found
  during the summer months.

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Fire in the Tundra

• Burning the Tundra can release incredible amounts
  of carbon dioxide that are stored in its plants
  and soil. This could make the greenhouse effect
  even worse, affecting the climate pattern. It
  would take a long time to recover in vegetation
  because the soin is very dry in nutrients.
  Lichens and moss would grow first, then grasses
  and other small plants, since there can be no
  tall trees in the tundra.

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Coniferous Forest

• The coniferous forest biome is characterized by
  its cone-shaped trees that are adapted to heavy
  snowfall.

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Temperature Range

• Averages 57.2F in the summer
• 14.0F in the winter

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Precipitation

• 14-30 inches of rainfall per year

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Taiga vs. Temperate

• The northern region of the biome is called the
  taiga. The taiga ranges from 50 to 70 degrees
  north.
• The more southerly coniferous forests occur in
  coastal regions with rainfall. The giant redwood
  forests of western North America.

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Plant Species

• Pine trees are very prevalent in coniferous
  forests. The waxy needle-shaped leaves preserve
  water, while the conical shape of the tree is
  sloped so that snow slides off of the branches.
• Giant sequoias are prevalent in temperate forests
  in California. They are the largest trees in the
  world.

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Animal Species

• Lynx are wildcats adapted to the cold climate of
  northern coniferous forests. Their large feet
  serve as snowshoes and allow them to walk on snow
  easily and their thick coats allow them to
  survive in cold weather. They specialize in
  hunting snowshoe hares, and the correlation
  between the snowshoe hare population and the lynx
  population is a textbook example of the
  sinusoidal patterns of population density.

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Animal Species Contd

• The crossbill is a quintessential example of a
  species adapting to its environment. The birds
  crossed bill allows it to pry open pinecones,
  giving the crossbill access to a source of food
  that other birds cannot eat. This evolutionary
  advantage give the crossbills a special niche in
  the coniferous forest biome.

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Abiotic Factors

• Snowfall plays a large factor in many of the
  northern pine forests, where many of the trees
  are shaped so that snow slides off of them and
  many animals have large feet so that they can
  walk on the snow. Additionally, the soil in many
  of these forests is acidic, impeding the growth
  of shrubs and other small plants, limiting the
  undergrowth in these forests.

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Effect of Ecological Disturbances

• Fire is a necessary disturbance in many
  coniferous forest biomes. Without fire to clear
  away plants growing in the shade of sequoias, the
  sequoia cones have no access to sunlight and
  therefore cannot grow. Fire is therefore
  necessary for the growth of many tree species.

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Temperate Broadleaf Biome
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General Information

• The temperature range is from 30 to -30 degrees
  Celsius (86 to -22 farenheit)
• The annual precipitation is 75 to 150 cm a year
  (29.5 to 59 in)
• Temperate Broad-Leaf biomes are found at
  mid-latitude, between the north pole and the
  tropics, generally from 23 to 38 degrees north.

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Description

• We live in a temperate broadleaf biome. This
  biome houses many species of plants and animals,
  including maple and oak trees, white-tailed deer,
  squirrels and chipmunks.
• There are four distinct seasons. These are
  autumn, when leaves change color, winter, when
  they fall off, spring, when they begin to grow
  back, and summer.b

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Plant Species

• American Beech The American Beech has shallow
  roots and produces seeds in the form of nuts. It
  grows well in this biome because its shallow
  roots mean that water and nutrients have to be
  available near the surface of the soil. The rich
  soil in this biome is perfect for it, and the
  animals like chipmunks and squirrels that eat
  nuts bury and forget the beechs seeds, allowing
  it to grow.
• The Shagbark Hickory This tree has deep roots
  and does best in the well-drained soil found in
  the temperate broadleaf biome. It also produces
  seeds in the form of nuts, also relying on
  squirrels and chipmunks to spread them throughout
  the area.

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Animal Species

• The White Tailed Deer The White Tailed Deer is a
  species of deer living in the majority of the
  North America, and they are abundant. They are
  grey in the winter, but become red in the spring
  and summer, coloring that is good camouflage in
  the temperate broadleaf biome. They also eat
  twigs and the buds of some trees, as well as
  green plants and acorns in the summer. These
  foods are abundant in this biome. Their predators
  are humans, coyotes and wolves, and they are
  herbivores. They live mostly in the temperate
  zones, where their climate and food needs are
  best suited.

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Animal Species Cont

• Coyote The coyote can be 15 to 44 lbs, and it is
  grayish tan. Coyotes are omnivores, eating small
  mammals like rabbits, mice, etc. If attacking a
  big animal, the coyotes form a group. Their
  coloring gives them good camouflage in the
  temperate broadleaf biome, and the foods they eat
  are abundant there. They do live in some other
  biomes, but their needs are best suited by the
  temperate grassland and broadleaf biomes.

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Abiotic Factors

• The soil is very fertile, allowing for a lot of
  vegetation.
• The climate, warm summers and cold, snowy
  winters, dictate four distinct seasons in which
  trees leaves change color, fall off and grow
  back cyclically.

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Ecological Disturbances

• If there was a fire in the temperate broadleaf
  zone, the first to grow back would be the birch
  trees and the smaller shrub, which both need a
  lot of sun (like the White Pine). After them,
  other trees would begin to grow as their seeds
  would be brought in by the wind. Next would be
  insects. When food was available, the smaller
  animals, like rabbits, birds and squirrels, would
  return, followed by their predators, like coyotes
  and wolves. Eventually smaller trees would grow
  under the birch, and when they fell, these trees
  would shoot up.

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Bibliography

• http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/Biome
  /biotemperate.php
• http//www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/fores
  ts.phptemperate
• http//www.blueplanetbiomes.org/deciduous_animal_p
  age.htm
• http//www.blueplanetbiomes.org/deciduous_animal_p
  age.htm
• http//www1.broward.edu/arodrigu/Environmental/Be
  rg_Visualizing/biomes_summary.pdf