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Study Guide for Biomes & Relationships
Biomes: A place characterized by the organisms that live there and determined by the
abiotic factors of rainfall and temperature.
A biome can be aquatic (water) or terrestrial (land) and contain one or more ecosystems.
Land Biomes
Temperate deciduous forest- soil is fairly rich and plants cover the
forest floor
- most trees are deciduous, lose their leaves in the fall to help
conserve water so they can survive winter.
Coniferous/Taiga forest- conifer trees that produce their seeds in cones and
do not lose their leaves in fall
- trees conserve water in the winter with the help of needlelike leaves and a
waxy coating on their leaves
Tropical rain forest - receives the highest yearly average rainfall
- most biologically diverse (the most different types of plants and animals)
- soil is wet and has poor nutrients
Savanna- large herbivores live and graze on grass here, scattered clumps of
trees
Temperate grassland- have small, seed eating mammals, large herbivores
and no trees
Desert- plants grow far apart to reduce competition for water
- receives the lowest average yearly rainfall
Tundra- no trees, characterized by permafrost-(soil that stays frozen all the
time.
-Permafrost prevents rain from draining which is how small plants survive
Freshwater- characterized by a major abiotic factor→ speed at which water moves
 tributary- each small stream that flows into a larger stream or river.
 estuary- an area where fresh water from streams and rivers spills into the ocean (so the
fresh and salt water mix).
 wetland- an area of land where the water level is near or above the surface of the ground
for most of the year.
o This area can soak up water and is plentiful in nutrients so it has many varied animals
and a large amount of producers (plants).
Marine- based in salty water and contain the largest organisms in the world.
Relationships between Organisms:
Competition- when two or more individuals or populations try to use the same limited
resource such as food, water, shelter, space or sunlight
There are 2 major reasons for competition:
1. carrying capacity- the largest population that an environment can support at
any given time
2. limiting factor- a factor that limits population growth such as food, water,
shelter, space or sunlight
Predation-when one organism preys on another organism
There are two organisms involved:
predator- an animal that hunts other animals
prey- an animal that is hunted
Symbiosis- a close long term relationship between two different organisms
Three types of symbiosis:
1. Mutualism (+/+):both species benefit
 Ants living in the tropical acacia trees
2. Commensalism (+/0): one species benefits and the
other species is unaffected
 Spanish moss grows on the branches of trees.
3. Parasitism (+/-):one species benefits and the
other species is harmed
 Ticks feed on dogs.