General Ecology
Assignment #2: Due Thursday 9/12/13
I would like you to do some additional reading about the Earth’s
biomes. Please read ‘Putting people in the map: anthropogenic
biomes of the world’ by Ellis and Ramankutty. After you have read
this, please answer the questions below. Each part should only
require a brief paragraph, so keep it concise.
1. Given the different anthropogenic biomes defined by these
authors (Table 1), please list which ones you think are most
important (area-wise) in New England. For each one on your list,
write a sentence or 2 about generally where (geographically) this
human biome is located. If you are not sure, you may draw on
other resources.
2. Consider the anthropogenic biomes defined in Figure 1 and note
the different distribution of these biomes across the major
continents. What are the important drivers of this cross-continent
variation (heterogeneity) in human biome distribution?
3. In class, we emphasized the primary role of climate on biome
distribution with the additional factors of disturbance by fire and
animals being important in some. How does this paper add to, or
change your perspective about Earth’s biomes that currently exist?