Chapter 11.1 – Climate and Biomes

1. (pages 402 – 408 in your text) Chapter 11.1 – Climate and Biomes

2. Precipitation is the amount of water that condenses and falls in the form of rain, snow, sleet, and hail. Precipitation is record in millimeters of liquid water. Temperatures and Precipitation Patterns

3. Differences in temperature have an important effect on precipitation patterns. In areas where the solar energy heats the ground to a high temperature, the ground heats the air. Water from the ground, plants, ponds, or lakes evaporates into the air. When the moist air cools, the water vapour condenses and falls as rain.

4. Scientists have developed a tool called a climatograph to compare the climates of different regions. Climatograph – is a graphical representation of climate data for a specific region and time period. Climatographs

5. includes region’s average monthly temperature (recorded in °C), displayed as a line graph • includes total monthly precipitation (recorded in mm), displayed as a bar graph • averaged information is usually gathered over a period of 30 years (very reliable) • use the right hand scale on the climatograph to determine the average temperature for this region each month • use the left hand scale to determine the average amount of precipitation that falls in the region each month Features of a Climatograph:

7. use the following information to make a climatograph for the Calgary region.

9. Because the biosphere is so large, scientists break it down into more manageable components. Climatographs are an excellent tool to help define smaller components of the biosphere that have similar climates. Scientists can study the plant and animal life in these regions called biomes. Organization of the Biosphere

10. Hierarchy of Organization in the biosphere

11. Biome - a major geographical region with similar environmental conditions and life forms. biome

12. The next level down in the hierarchy of organization represents an ecosystem. Ecosystem –the community of living things that interact with each other and with the non-living, physical environment. ecosystem

13. The bottom of the hierarchy of organization represents a habitat. habitat –the place where an organism lives, or the place where the organism is found. habitat

14. The vegetation in a biome is determined by the climate of that region. A warm arid climate can result in the development of a desert with characteristic desert plants. A warm, moist climate would encourage the growth of a forest and forest dwelling plants. All terrestrial biomes have certain characteristic plants and animals that have adapted for their particular environment. Types of Biomes

15. In this unit we will study 6 distinct biomes that exist across the globe. Classifying Terrestrial Biomes

16. grassland – characterized by the grasses that grow in the region grassland

17. desert – hot and dry climate desert

18. Tundra -very cold, “frozen” regions tundra

19. Taiga -home to coniferous evergreen forests taiga

20. Deciduous forest - contains trees that lose their leaves in the fall and grow new ones in the spring. Deciduous forest

21. Tropical rain forest -found in regions near the equator, temperature is warm and there is a lot of rain. Tropical rain forest