1. Biomes 2/15/12

2. What is a biome?  A type of Ecosystem

3. What are the main classification of biomes?  Aquatic  Marine  Freshwater  Deserts  Forests  Grasslands  Tundra

4. What are Terrestrial Biomes?  Biomes that are dominated by land.  Deserts  Forests  Grasslands  Tundra

5. What characterizes a desert Biome?  rainfall is less than 50 cm/year  Usually specialized vegetation and vertebrate and invertebrate animals.  Often nutrient rich soil due to lack of water and organic matter.  Frequent disturbances: occasional fires or cold weather, and sudden, infrequent, but intense rains that cause flooding and erosion.  few large mammals

6. What types of deserts are there?  1) Hot and dry  2) Semiarid  3) Coastal  4) Cold

7. What characterizes grasslands?  Dominated by grass (instead of shrubs or trees)

8. What types of grassland are there?  Savannas (tropical grasslands)  Temperate grasslands

9. What characterizes a tundra?  Extremely cold climate  Low biotic diversity  Simple vegetation structure  Limitation of drainage  Short season of growth and reproduction  Energy and nutrients in the form of dead organic material  Large population oscillations

10. What types of Tundras are there?  Artic Tundra  Alpine Tundra

11. What characterizes a forest biome?  Dominated by woody plants (trees and shrubs)

12. What types of forest biomes are there?  Tropical  Temperate  Boreal (tiaga) Other classifications  Wet or Dry  Deciduous or Evergreen

13. What is an Aquatic Ecosystem?  An ecosystem dominated by water.

14. What characterizes a Marine Biome?  Mostly Salt water  Cover ¾ of the surface of the earth

15. What types of Marine ecosystems are there?  Oceans  Coral reefs  Estuaries

16. What are freshwater biomes?  Less than 1% salt concentration.

17. What types of freshwater biomes are there?  Ponds and lakes  Raparian (rivers and streams)  Wetlands