Biomes

What are biomes? Large, distinctive areas created and

maintained by climate.

Major regional community of plants and animals with similar life forms and environmental conditions.

Biomes are named after the dominant life form such as grassland or tropical rainforest.

Biomes can be found at certain latitudes.

Look back at the map to find the latitude of each biome.TundraTaiga Temperate Deciduous Forest Scrub forest (Chaparral)GrasslandDesertTropical RainforestTemperate Rainforest

Tropical Rainforests

Deserts

Temperate Forests

Tundra

Biomes are determined largely by climate

Temperature

Precipitation

Insolation (solar radiation)

What generates Earth’s climatic regions?The Earth heats unevenly due to

uneven way sunlight hits our planet.

Climate: Insolation (incoming solar radiation)The Earth’s rotation.

Climate: Precipitation .

Go back to the slide before to see why.. The equator is warm and wet = tropical

Deserts are found around 30o latitude

Temperate forests and grasslands are around 45o latitude

Tundra is found at 60o latitude

What are limiting factors?• Limiting factor - the factor which limits the growth of a population because there is too little or too much of it in the environment.• Biomes and ecosystems are shaped by limiting factors.• Any species has a certain range of tolerance to these factors (tolerance thresholds) which set that species’ range and potential population.

Tropical rain forests: 0-10o latitude

Tropical Rainforests 365 days of sunlight Year round growing seasons Warm temperatures year round Abundant rainfall The most productive biome Poor soil

Tropical soil is low in organic matter and tends to be oxidized.

Deserts: 30 north and south of the equator

Desert biomes

Abundant sunshine Temperature varies Extremely lowPrecipitation

Low productivity Water is the limiting factor

Desert soils are low in organic matter as they have little vegetation

Temperate Forest Biomes

Temperate forests

Cold winters Warm wet summers Growing season only in summer months Leaves fall in autumn Soil high in organic matter Productive farm land

Temperate soil profile

Temperate Grasslands

Cold winters Spring rain Warm summers Dry in late summer Grass becomes dormant in winter and adds

organic matter to the soil. Soil is fertile from build up of organic matter

(good topsoil for agriculture)

Temperate grassland soil profile

Chapparal /Mediterranean Biome

Chaparral (Mediterranean)

Hot, dry summers Mild winters with Moisture

Like Santiago

Taiga, boreal forest, coniferous forest

Taiga

latitudes 55°  to 70° North

Tundra

Cold, dark winters Short growing seasons Permafrost Low productivity

Arctic Tundra

Tundra soil profile

Permafrost

Things to remember:

The climate determines the biomes Biomes are mainly located along lines of

latitude on the planet Productive biomes have longer growing

seasons than less productive biomes Temperate biomes have good conditions for

soil formation

Be able to:

Link biomes to agriculture Link biomes to carbon dioxide intake of

growing plants Link biomes to soil formation