Tundra
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Located near the North Pole
coldest and driest of all biomes
long cold winters, short cool summers
Has a layer of permanently frozen soil permafrost
Receives very little rainfall
receives very little sunlight due to the position of
the Sun in the sky
During the very short summer (6-10 weeks), top
layer of the soil thaws just long enough to allow
some plants to grow
Plants are small and grow close to the ground;
plants have shallow root systems – lichens,
mosses, small shrubs
Animals include musk ox, caribou, arctic hares,
polar bear, arctic fox
Taiga (coniferous forest)
 Largest biome in the world
 Has long cold winters and short, mild, wet
summers.
 Made up of coniferous forests – trees that have
cones or needles – pines, spruces and firs –
evergreen trees
 Soil is not very fertile because there are no leaves
to decompose
 has less diversity in plant life
 Animals include jays, moles, deer, moose, elk,
snowshoe hare, grizzly bear, wolves
Temperate Deciduous Forest
 Contains trees that lose their leaves each fall
 Has 4 seasons
 Lots of rain throughout the year – second most
rainfall of all biomes
 Has very fertile soil
 Deciduous trees – trees that lose their leaves
seasonally - such as red maple, dogwood, oak,
sugar maple, beech, elm, hickory
 Animals include black bears, squirrels, cardinals,
turkeys
Grasslands
 found in warm and temperate areas that receive
some rainfall
 have some of the darkest, richest soils in the
world
 most important plants are grasses
 The amount of rain is not enough to grow tall
trees and produce a forest, but it is enough to
not form a desert.
 Usually flat or has gently rolling hills.
 Usually located between forests and deserts.
 Also called prairies, savannahs, plains and
pampas
 North American animals include bison, prairie
dogs, coyotes, deer. African animals - elephants,
rhinoceros, hippopotamus, giraffes, lions
Desert
 Very little rain – 10 inches or less a year
 Very hot during the day; cold at night
 Soil is dry, there is little to no surface water and
evaporation is high
 covers a fifth of the earth’s surface
 There are both hot and cold deserts in the world
– Antarctica is the largest desert in the world
Tropical Rainforests
found close to the equator
rain falls all throughout the year
receives the most rainfall of all biomes
has the most biodiversity –more species of plants
and animals than any other biome
 home to 50% of the world’s plant and animal
species
 soil is low in nutrients – because of millions of
years of rain and weathering, nutrients have
been washed out of the soil
 decomposition rate is very fast – high humidity
and warmth encourage rapid decay of dead
plant and animal material
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