• quite hot and dry
• mild winters (10° C)
• Hot dry summers (40 ° C)
Fires and droughts are
very common
Because of the long period of dryness and heat in the summer,
only plants with hard waxy leaves that can remain replete with
moisture can survive, such as scrub oaks, manzanita shrubs, cork
and olive trees.
This thick waxy
cuticle prevents
water loss
(desiccation) from
evaporation
through the leaves,
and protects them
from consumption
as well.
They are hard, and
less palatable than
soft leaves.
Saltmarsh Bird's Beak
Fuzzy nature of leaf
surface helps plant collect
water.
Very long
roots and
slow growing
nature of pine
helps it survive
on cliff edges
Torrey Pine
Aardwolf
• long sticky tongue
• blunt teeth
• musky scent emission from anal
gland (like skunk)
Puma (cougar; mountain lion)
• eats deer, insects, mice and other
small rodents
• covers kill with leaves to hide
• never scavenges
Bezoar Goat
• wooly coat
• scimitar shaped sharp horns
• cloven hooves
• have a pronounced dry
season which causes the trees
to lose their leaves
•found on the fringes of the
tropical rainforest
•as the climate gets drier,
tropical deciduous forests turn
into savanna, and, eventually,
grasslands.
The trees are shorter and farther apart as their roots
spread out in search of water. Sunlight reaches the
forest floor, which encourages an undergrowth of bushes
to thrive.
The deciduous nature of the trees is an adaptation to the dry
climate, allowing the tree to survive during a “dormant” period
when no growth occurs
Similar animals live here and in the tropical rainforest, with similar
adaptations, except they must also adapt to the changing flora.
Found skirting Tropical Deciduous Forests, in areas that receive
even less rainfall, trees are fewer, shorter, more widely spaced,
and scrub (shrubs and stunted trees) replaces the forest. During
the dry season, fires are not uncommon. The scrub plants have
adaptations to survive a drier climate
• thick bark
• small, fat, evergreen leaves
that store water
•protective thorns
This community represents a
gradual change from the
tropical rain forest to the
savanna as well.
What are the characteristics of chaparral biomes?
Describe two adaptations plants might have in
the chaparral to help cope with the dry climate.
How do Tropical Deciduous Forests differ from
TDF?
Where can Tropical Deciduous Forests be found?
How do Tropical Scrubs differ from Tropical
Deciduous Forests?
Alpine biomes are found in the
mountainous regions all around
the world, and cover nearly
16% of the Earth.
• Climate is determined
by altitude, not latitude
and as you ascend
through the alpine, you
move through many
biome patterns that are
similar to ones you’ve
already visited.
• They are usually at an
altitude of 10,000 feet or
more.
• Because of the extreme
climate of the Alpine biome,
plants and animals have
developed adaptations to
those conditions.
The Alpine biome lies
just below the snow line
of a mountain. In the
North American Rocky
Mountains you begin in a
desert biome. As you
climb you go through a
deciduous forest biome,
temperate grassland
biome, steppe biome,
and taiga biome before
you reach the cold Alpine
biome.
Most alpine biomes have
their own plant and
animal species,
indigenous only to those
areas. It is therefore,
important to define Alpine
biomes separately.
• Only about 200 species of Alpine
plants Low floral biodiversity
• The higher you go in the
atmosphere, the lower the
concentration of CO2
Grow low, and slow
A bristlecone trunk may grow less
than 0.01 of an inch in girth per year.
• Poor soil nutrient composition
Plants adapted to sandy rocky soil
• Dry conditions in Alpine Biome
Plants have almost desert-like
adaptations
Snow Leopard
Rocky Mountain Goat
Chinchilla
White-lipped deer
Pika
Alpaca
• tiny rodents grow long fur, and put on extra stores of fat during the short
alpine summer
• Hoofed species are very surefooted
•Some animals shed their brown fur to replace it with white so that they
blend in with the snow.
•Many animals migrate to lower and warmer elevations during the winter
months.
•Some hibernate and some even have big feet so that they can walk on snow.
A
B
• Which of these two
climographs could be
from an Alpine region in
the Andes?
Globally, which areas conspicuously have no alpine
regions?
What is special about Alpine biomes, that is not true of
any other biomes on Earth?
Because there is low plant biodiversity in Alpine regions,
what else must also be true?
Name two adaptations that animals might have to Alpine
regions, and describe how animals with these might be
given an advantage.
In what other biome might these adaptations also be
common?
Use this map to quiz yourself on regions of the
world biomes map. You will be asked to identify
biomes on a world map on your test!