Deserts Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth's land surface. The extreme maximum temperature for Hot Desert ranges from 43.5 to 49° C. Hot and Dry Deserts usually have very little rainfall and/or concentrated rainfall in short periods between long rainless periods. This averages out to under 15 cm a year. There are more plants and animals living in the Sonoran Desert than most forests.

Plants & Animals of the Desert One Animal that lives inn the desert is the Bighorn Sheep. They are mostly diurnal and will feed on and off throughout the day on a large variety of plants. One of the plant species that lives in the desert is the Crimson Hedgehog Cactus. The stems are cylindrical in shape and are up to 1 foot long and 1 to 2 1/2 inches thick.

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Grasslands Grasslands are characterized as lands dominated by grasses rather than large shrubs or trees. Grasslands are always found in warm or hot climates where the annual rainfall is from about 50.8 to 127 cm per year. Grasslands are located in every continent except Antarctica.

Plants and Animals of the Grasslands One animal of the grassland is the giraffe. Giraffes love to eat twigs of plants and will also eat plant leaves. Giraffes can eat a staggering 140lb of twigs and leaves in just one day! One plant species that lives in the grassland is well of course grass. Fifty percent of the plants in any grassland will be grasses, making them the most common type of plant present.

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Deciduous Forest The average annual temperature in a deciduous forest is 50° F. The average rainfall is 30 to 60 inches a year. The deciduous forest has four distinct seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In the autumn the leaves change color. During the winter months the trees lose their leaves.

Animals & Plants in the Deciduous Forest One animal that lives in the deciduous forest is the White-Tailed Deer. White-Tailed Deer eat mostly grass and acorns. One plant species that lives in the deciduous forest is the Pink Lily.

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Tropical Rainforest Of all the world's forests, it is those in the tropics that face the greatest threat from mankind. Warm and wet describes the tropical rain forest climate. The average annual temperature is above 20° C; there is never a frost. Rainfall varies widely from about 8 to 14 feet of rain per year.

Plants & Animals of the Tropical Rainforest One animal that lives in the tropical rainforest is the Toucan. The Toucan mostly eats fruits and berries. One plant species that lives in the tropical rainforest is banana tree. Its where bananas come from.

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Taiga Taiga is the Russian word for forest and is the largest biome in the world. It stretches over Eurasia and North America. The winter temperature range is -54 to -1° C (- 65 to 30° F). Temperature range in the summer gets as low as -7° C (20° F). The high in summer can be 21° C (70° F). The total precipitation in a year is cm ( in).

Plants & Animals of the Taiga One of the plant species that lives in the taiga is the White Fir. White Firs can grow up to ft., and can live up to 300 yrs. One animal that live in the taiga is the Grey Wolf. The Grey Wolf can survive in any biome as long as food is plentiful.

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Tundra Tundra is the coldest of all the biomes. The average winter temperature is -34° C (- 30° F), but the average summer temperature is 3-12° C (37-54° F). Yearly precipitation, including melting snow, is 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches).

Plants and Animals that live in the Tundra One animal species that lives in the tundra is the Polar Bear. Polar bears are a potentially endangered species. One of the plants that lives in the Tundra is the Dwarf Willow. The Dwarf Willow is the only tree in the tundra it grows to be 4 in. tall.

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