Biomes: The Low Down on the Biosphere!

What is a Biome Exactly?

A biome is a large geographical area of distinctive plant and animal groups, which are adapted to that particular environment.

The climate and geography of a region determines what type of biome can exist in that region

Biomes of the World

To understand a world biome, you need to know:

• • • • What the climate of the region is like.

Where each biome is found and what its geography is like.

The special adaptations of the vegetation.

The types of animals found in the biome and their physical and behavioral adaptations to their environment.

Grassland

Climate- A grassland is a region where the average annual precipitation is great enough to support grasses, and in some areas a few trees. The precipitation is so erratic that drought and fire prevent large forests from growing. Grasses can survive fires because they grow from the bottom instead of the top.

Plants:

Cone Flower Animals: Buffalo Grass Indian Grass Milk Weed Prairie Dog Bobcat Buffalo deer

Deciduous Forest

Climate- 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.

Plants:

Beech Animals: Oak Birch Blackberries Bear Raccoon squirrel deer

Desert

Climate- Most Hot and Dry Deserts don't have very many plants. The only animals they have that can survive have the ability to burrow under ground. This is because they would not be able to live in the hot sun and heat. They only come out in the night when it is a little cooler.

A cold desert is a desert that has snow in the winter instead of just dropping a few degrees in temperature like they would in a Hot and Dry Desert. It never gets warm enough for plants to grow. Just maybe a few grasses and mosses. The animals in Cold Deserts also have to burrow but in this case to keep warm, not cool. That is why you might find some of the same animals here as you would in the Hot and Dry Deserts.

Plants:

Joshua Tree Animals: Brittle bush Bursage Kangaroo Rat Cactus Wren Coyote

Savanna

Climate- A savanna is a rolling grassland scattered with shrubs and isolated trees, which can be found between a tropical rainforest and desert biome. Not enough rain falls on a savanna to support forests. Savannas are also known as tropical grasslands. They are found in a wide band on either side of the equator on the edges of tropical rainforests.

Plants:

Boabab Animals: Acacia Elephant Grass Bermuda Grass Bulbul Impala Zebra Lion

Rainforest

Climate-The tropical rain forest has an average of 125 to 660 cm. of rain fall yearly.

The temperature in a rain forest rarely gets higher than 34 °C or drops below 20 °C; average humidity is between 77 and 88 Almost all rain forests lie near the equator.

Scientists estimate that more than half of all the world's plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests. Tropical rainforests produce 40% of Earth's oxygen.

Plants:

Bamboo Animals: curare Kapok tree Strangler Fig Gibbons Cobra Fruit Dove Bengal Tiger

Alpine

Climate- The Alpine biome is one of the coldest biomes in the world. It is so cold because of its high altitudes. Summer temperature range between -12 degrees Celsius to 10 degrees Celsius. The average precipitation is 30 cm a year. It is like the Tundra in that it is cold and dry but it is only found in high altitudes.

Plants: Bristle Cone Pine Animals: Bear Grass Alpine Phacelia Alpine Grass Rocky Mountain Columbine Mountain Goat Condor Snow Leopard Chinchilla

Tundra

Climate-Tundras are among Earth's coldest, harshest biomes. Tundra ecosystems are treeless regions found in the Arctic and on the tops of mountains, where the climate is cold and windy and rainfall is scant. Tundra lands are snow covered for much of the year, until summer brings a burst of wildflowers.

Plants: Animal s:

Climate- he winters in the taiga are very cold with only snowfall. The summers are warm, rainy, and humid. A lot of coniferous trees grow in the taiga. The taiga is also known as the boreal forest.

Taiga

Plant : Fir tree Animal : Pine Spruce