By Jackie Kaplan

1. Biomes By Jackie Kaplan

2. Tropical Rain Forest • Average rainfall of 50 to 260 inches yearly • Often more than 100 inches • Temperatures generally range from 68*F to 93*F • 4 layers of strata • Mostly found near the equator • Mostly trees, but a variety of vine species and shrubs • Insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles, but insects are the most abundant

3. Savanna • Winter- About 4 inches of rainfall Summer- Average rainfall of 15 to 25 inches of rainfall • Warm temperature year round, that rarely drops below 70 even in the winter • Rolling grasslands • Found on either side of the equator at the edge of tropical rainforests • Animal and plant life depends on the location of the savannas • Shrubs and isolated trees • Generally large herds of mammals live on savannas

4. Deserts • Hot deserts- About 15 cm yearly Cold deserts- About 15-26 cm yearly • Temperature of Hot and dry deserts range from 68*F to 77*F • The maximum temperature of Hot deserts ranges from 110*F to 120*F • Cold deserts range from 28*F to 39*F in winter and from 70*F to 79*F in summer • Deserts are usually large areas of land with sand and little plant and animal life due to extreme temperature conditions • Hot and dry deserts are found mostly near the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, and cold deserts are found mostly in artic areas • Vegetation is rare in hot and dry deserts, and in cold deserts about 10% is plants mostly deciduous or contain less spiny leaves • In hot and dry, and cold deserts only animals that are burrowers can survive to escape from extreme temperature conditions • Also in hot and dry deserts there are small nocturnal carnivores, insects, arachnids, birds and reptiles

5. Chaparral • Very hot and dry, meaning little to no rainfall • Drought and fires happen quite often • Winter- Around 50*F Summer- Around 104*F • A variety of terrain such as rocky hills, flat plains, and mountain slopes • The chaparral is found on each continent in little areas • Plants with adaptations of small, hard leaves that hold moisture • Animals that have adapted to the hot weather of the chaparral, mainly grassland and desert species

6. Temperate Grassland • Little rainfall typically between 10 to 20 inches yearly, a lot of droughts and fires occur, but enough rainfall for grasses and some small trees to survive • Temperature depends on location • Rich mix of grasses and forbs and underlain by the world’s most fertile soil • Found in middle latitude, towards the middle of continents • Hundreds of species of plants live in the grasslands • Also many types of animals live in the grasslands depending on which type

7. Temperate Deciduous Forest • Average yearly temp is 50*F • There are 4 distinct seasons • Average rainfall of 30 to 60 inches yearly • Very fertile soil • Locate mostly in the northern hemisphere • A large variety of trees, flowers shrubs, mosses, etc. • Animals are generally either nut and acorn feeders, or omnivores

8. Taiga (Coniferous Forest) • Winter- Temperatures range from -65*F to 30*F Summer- 20*F to 70*F • Annual precipitation is about 12-33 inches yearly • Forest with many trees and mountains • Located in North America and Eurasia, overlying areas that were formerly glaciers • Not a lot of species of plants in the taiga due to extreme conditions, most plants are coniferous trees • Animals of the taiga tend to be predators

9. Tundra • Vast treeless land that covers 20% of earth’s surface • -18*F annually • Earth’s coldest and driest biome • 6-10 inches of precipitation yearly, mostly snow • Located in the northern hemisphere, encircling the north pole and extending south to the coniferous forests of the taiga • Barely any plants, the common plants are shrubs, sedges, lichens, and grasses • There are a lot of animals in the tundra, not many species but they are abundant • They are animals that feed on the lichens and plants of the tundra