Types of Ecosystems
Review
Abiotic + Biotic = Ecosystem
Producers = plants (make their own food)
Consumers = organisms that eat producers
Herbivore = plant eaters
Carnivores = meat eaters
Omnivores = eat meat and plants
Decomposers = Organisms that break down all other
organisms
Types
Tundra
Coniferous Forest (Taiga)
Temperate Forest
Tropical Rain Forest
Grasslands
Deserts
Wetlands
Aquatic
Tundra
*North America, Europe and Siberia
**Alaska & high mountain elevations in the West
*Long, cold winters (ground is frozen)
*Short growing season- 60 days
*Lichens, mosses, grasses, reindeer, musk oxen, caribou
wolves, lemmings, snowy owls etc.
Taiga
Stunted trees (evergreen forest)
North America, Europe and Asia
**NE US, and Alaska
Cold winters (not as cold as the tundra)
120 growing days
Pines, firs, spruce, willows, birches, moose, wolves, bears
deer, elk, rodents etc.
Temperate Forest
Summers are hot and humid, winters are cold
75-150cm of rainfall each year
Oaks, maple, hickory, beech, chestnut, ferns, mosses,
wolves, gray foxes, bobcat, deer, raccoons etc.
Eastern North America and Europe
**Central and Midwestern states
Tropical Rainforest
200-400cm of rainfall each year
25degrees Celsius year round
North America, South America, Asia
**Hawaiian Islands
Flying squirrels, ants, termites, bees, monkeys, vines
Grasslands/Prairies
Asia, North America, South America and Africa
**Midwestern and Western States
25-75 cm of rainfall a year
Grasses, wildflowers, coyotes, badgers, rattlesnakes, lions,
various birds, zebras, giraffes etc.
Deserts
Less than 25cm of rainfall a year
North America (Mexico to Washington), Africa, South
America, Asia and Australia
**SW US
Very hot during the day, extremely cold at night
Cacti, yucca, mesquite, sagebrush, lizards, snakes, spiders,
insects, etc.
Wetlands
Located near water sources
All over the world
Frogs, newts, squirrels, chipmunks, deer, grasses, cattails,
ducks etc.
Aquatic
Temperatures are typically constant through out the year
All water environment
Fresh water or marine (salt water)
75% of the world is an aquatic biome
Fish, birds, whales, sharks, dolphins, cattails, algae,
kelp, coral etc.