Environmental Science
Name __________________________________ Period __________ Date ________________
Chapter 6 Section 1, What is a Biome? – Notes
Objectives
• Describe how plants determine the name of a biome.
• Explain how temperature and precipitation determine which plants grow in an area.
• Explain how latitude and altitude affect which plants grow in an area.
What is a Biome?
• Biomes are _______________________________________ characterized by a specific
type of climate and certain types of _________________________________________
communities.
• Each biome is ______________________________ of many individual ecosystems.
Biomes and Vegetation
• Biomes are described by their ___________________________ because plants that grow
in an area determine the other organisms that can ______________________________.
• Plants in a particular biome have characteristics, ______________________________, or
adaptations that allow the plants to ___________________________ in that biome.
• These adaptations include _______________________________________. For example,
plants in the tundra tend to be short because they cannot obtain _____________________
______________________ to grow larger.
Biomes and Climate
• Climate is the average _____________________________________ in an area over a
long period of time.
• Climate is the ______________________________________ is determining which
plants can grow in a ____________________________, which in turn defines the biome.
• Temperature and precipitation are the _________________________________________
factors that determine a region’s climate.
Temperature and Precipitation
• Most organisms are ______________________ to live within a particular range of
temperatures and will not survive at temperatures _______________________________
or below their range.
• Precipitation also limits the organisms that _____________________________ in a
biome because all organisms need water, and the ______________________________,
the more water it needs.
•
Biomes that do not receive _________________________________ to support large
trees support __________________________________________________ by small
trees, shrubs, and grasses.
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In biomes where rainfall is ___________________________________, the vegetation is
mostly cactuses and desert shrubs. In extreme cases, _____________________________
results in no plants, no matter what the temperature is.
The higher the temperature and precipitation are, the ____________________________
the vegetation is.
Latitude and Altitude
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Latitude is the distance _____________________________________ from the equator,
and is expressed in ______________________________________ .
Altitude is the height of an object above a __________________________________,
such as sea level or the _________________________________________.
Climate varies with latitude and altitude.
For example, climate gets _________________________ as latitude and altitude
_______________________. This is why it gets colder as you move ________________
a mountain.
Temperature and Precipitation
Latitude and Altitude
• As latitude and altitude increase, ____________________________________ change.
• Trees of tropical rainforests usually ________________________ to the equator, while
mosses and lichen of the tundra grow _______________________________________.
• The temperate region includes biomes such as ________________________________
and grasslands, which usually have ____________________________________ and
fertile soil that is ideal for agriculture.
Questions
_____ 1. The distance north or south of the equator, as measured in degrees, is called
a. altitude.
c. longitude.
b. latitude.
d. magnitude.
_____ 2. The main factor that determines what type of plants grow in a biome is
a. temperature.
c. altitude.
b. precipitation.
d .Both (a) and (b)
_____ 3. Biomes with higher temperatures and less precipitation tend to have
a. shorter and less dense vegetation
.b. taller and denser vegetation.
c. taller and less dense vegetation.
d. shorter and denser vegetation
_____ 4. Biomes that are located between 30º north latitude and 30º south latitude might be
a. tropical rain forests.
c. tundra
.b. grasslands.
d. taiga.
_____ 5. Which of the following best describes the relationship among latitude, altitude,
and climate?
a. Climate becomes colder as you get closer to sea level
.b. Climate becomes warmer as you move up a mountain.
c. Climate becomes warmer as you move toward the poles.
d. Climate becomes colder as you move up a mountain