Biomes

1. Biomes

2. 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.

3. Biomes can be found at certain latitudes.

4. Look back at the map to find the latitude of each biome. Tundra Taiga Temperate Deciduous Forest Scrub forest (Chaparral) Grassland Desert Tropical Rainforest Temperate Rainforest

5. Tropical Rainforests Deserts Temperate Forests Tundra

6. Biomes are determined largely by climate Temperature Precipitation Insolation (solar radiation)

7. What generates Earth’s climatic regions? • The Earth heats unevenly due to uneven way sunlight hits our planet.

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

9. Climate: Precipitation • .

11. 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

12. 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.

14. Tropical rain forests: 0-10o latitude

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

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

17. Deserts: 30 north and south of the equator

18. Desert biomes • Abundant sunshine • Temperature varies • Extremely low Precipitation • Low productivity • Water is the limiting factor

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

20. Temperate Forest Biomes

21. 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

22. Temperate soil profile

23. 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)

24. Temperate grassland soil profile

25. Chapparal /Mediterranean Biome

26. Chaparral (Mediterranean) • Hot, dry summers • Mild winters with Moisture Like Santiago

27. Taiga, boreal forest, coniferous forest

28. Taiga

29. latitudes 55°  to 70° North

30. Tundra • Cold, dark winters • Short growing seasons • Permafrost • Low productivity

31. Arctic Tundra

32. Tundra soil profile

33. Permafrost

34. 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

35. Be able to: • Link biomes to agriculture • Link biomes to carbon dioxide intake of growing plants • Link biomes to soil formation