1. Biomes
Chapter 6

2. Key Vocabulary
Biome- a large region characterized by a type climate, and types of plants and animals, consists of many individual ecosystems

3. 1. How do plants determine the name of a biome?
Because plants that grow in an area determine the other organisms that can live there
Plants in a particular biome have characteristics specialized structures or adaptations that allow them to grow in that area
Adaptations include size, shape, and color

4. 2.How does temperature and precipitation determine which plants grow in an area?
Climate-includes weather conditions such as temp., precipitation, humidity, and winds
Climate of biome is determined by temp and precipitation and climate determines which plants will grow
Most organisms are adapted to live in range of temperatures
Precipitation also limits organisms found in a particular biome. The more rainfall, the bigger and the more plentiful the plants are.
see figure 3 page 144

5. 3. How does latitude and altitude affect the plants that grow in an area?
latitude- distance north or south of the equator, measure in degrees
altitude is the height of an object above sea level
Since climate varies with latitude and altitude, and plants vary with climate, then latitude and altitude also affect plants that can live in an area
As latitude and altitude increase, the less plants that grow in a area

6. 4. What are characteristics of tropical rain forests?
Forest biomes at the most widespread and most diverse
tropical rain forests located near the equator
they play a vital role in the carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles and help regulate climate
tropical rain forests are always humid, warm, maintaining a constant temp year-round and get a lot of rain per year, cm/year
climate is ideal for a huge diversity of plants and animals, has more species of plants than any other biome

7. 5. What are the main layers of a Tropical rain forest?
plants grow in different layers in the rain forest ( see page148)
emergent layer- top layer, with the tallest trees (60-70m)trunks can be 5m around, in direct sunlight, and contain eagles, bats, and snakes
canopy- primary layer, divided into the upper and lower canopy, lower receives less light that the upper, most animals live in the canopy because of the abundant fruit and flowers
understory-lowest level, gets little sunlight, trees and shrubs(3.5m) adapted to shade live here, herbs nave large flat leaves to absorb sunlight

8. 6. What is one type of plant of plant in temperate deciduous forest and an adaptation it has?
Temperate deciduous forests exist between 30 and 50 degrees North Latitude and occur in North America, trees drop leaves each fall, temperature ranges can be extreme, where temp. varies due to the season, receive cm of rain/year
Plants in deciduous forests grow in layers, where tall trees like oaks and maples grow in the canopy, and small trees and shrubs grow in the understory, and ferns, herbs, and mosses grow on the forest floor
Temperate forest plants are adapted to survive seasonal changes, i.e. trees lose their leaves in the fall, herb seeds, bulbs, and rhizomes, become dormant in the winter, in the spring when sunlight and temp increase everything blossoms and blooms

9. 7. What is one adaptation for an animal surviving in the taiga?
Taiga is a northern coniferous forest in a band across the northern hemisphere below the Arctic Circle, winters are long with average temps below freezing, forest floor is dark with little veg, growing season is short, plant growth is most abundant in the summer due to constant daylight and high precipitation
lakes and swamps provide habitat for aquatic organisms and attract birds in the summer
shrews and rodents burrow underground in the winter as the deep snow serves as insulation
moose and snowshoe hares eat any veg they can find and snowshoe hares shed brown fur for white in the winter to avoid predation

10. 8. What is the difference between tropical and temperate grasslands?
temperate grasslands have hot summers and cold winters, grassland biomes include prairies of North America, little rainfall
tropical grasslands are located in tropical and subtropical areas near the equator and are full of grasses , scattered trees and shrubs
temperate grasslands are farther from the equator and dominated by grasses with extremely fertile soil

11. 9. what are 2 types of desert animals and adaptations they have for survival?
Deserts are the driest places on Earth, receive less than 25 cm of rain per year, have little to no vegetation, and have extreme temperatures
examples include hot deserts like Arizona's Sonoran Desert and the African Sahara or colder deserts like the Gobi Desert in China and the Great Basin of western U.S.
animal adaptations: snakes have a thick, scaly skin to avoid water loss, toads estivate,or bury themselves in the ground during the summer, elf owl nests in cactuses to avoid predation, and desert insects and spiders are covered with body armor that helps to retain water

12. 10. What is one threat to the tundra biome?
Tundra is dominated by grasses, and herbs and lichens, located north of the arctic circle, summers are short, with bogs and and swamps as soil thaws
The Tundra is one of the most fragile biomes on Earth, food chains are simple and therefore easily disrupted
Oil exploration has caused threats to the tundra because land is easily damaged and slow to recover