Are You Smarter Than An 8th Grader?
For separate ecosystems to be classified as the same type of
biome, they must —
A) have deciduous forests
B) be located along the equator
C) have similar organisms and climates
D) be at least one hundred square meters in area
Biomes
Ecologists group Earth's diverse
environments into biomes.
Biome is a large area that
exhibits similar climate,
plants, and animals.
Climate has 2 main components
Temperature
Precipitation
Temperature and Precipitation help determine the
type of vegetation in an ecosystem.
As temperature and precipitation decrease, the
climate of an area becomes drier and vegetation
becomes sparser.
Latitude and altitude affect
climate and vegetation in similar ways.
Ecotone – a transition area between 2 adjacent
ecosystems or communities that overlap.
•contain elements of both bordering communities as
well as organisms which are characteristic and
restricted to the ecotone.
Can any organism (plant or animal)
live in any biome?
Adaptation is a process in which a species becomes
better suited to survive in an environment.
Plant Adaptations
Desert Adaptations
Small leaves or spines on desert plants conserve water.
Thick waxy skin holds in water.
Shallow root system soak up rain water quickly before
it evaporates.
Xerophyte – plants structurally adapted for life and
growth with limited water supply.
Succulent –
plants like
cacti with
fleshy tissues
for storing
moisture
Grassland Adaptations
Deep roots help plants survive prairie fires.
Narrow leaves lose less water than broad leaves.
Flexible stems bend in the wind.
Tundra Adaptations
Small plants grow close to the ground for warmth.
Dark colored flowers absorb heat from the sun.
Fuzzy stems provide protection from wind.
Rainforest Adaptations
The Capirona tree employs a
unique adaptation to parasites.
Each year, its bark sloughs off
carrying with it an assorted
variety of fungi, molds, insects,
and other invasive plants.
Pointed drip tips channel rain to
the soil and help keep the leaf
blades dry.
Aerial plants gather nourishment
from the air using 'air roots'
Temperate Forest Adaptations
Thick bark protects trees and dropping leaves in winter
conserves water and nutrients during cold winters.
Animal Adaptation – any behavioral or
physical
characteristic of an animal that helps
it survive in its environment.
Structural (physical) adaptation -- are body
structures that allow an animal to find and
consume food, defend itself,
and to reproduce.
Body coverings & parts (claws, beaks, feet, armor
plates, skulls, teeth)
Chemical defenses (like venom, ink, sprays)
Body size
-Large size deters predators, makes metabolism more efficient
-Small body size allows concealment, exploitation of small areas
Water conservation
-cutaneous (skin) loss
-excretory (urine/feces) loss
-respiratory (breathing -- fewer breaths per minute means less
water lost per breath and lower metabolism)
kangaroo rats
*have the ability to convert the dry
seeds they eat into water.
*have specialized kidneys which
allow them to dispose of waste
materials with very little output of
water.
Temperature management
-Cold vs Warm blooded
OR
-Homeothermy vs Poikilothermy
-Cold blooded (Ectothermic) animals have low energy
overhead but are inactive in cool and cold conditions
-Warm blooded (Endothermic) animals have high energy
overhead but can be very active even at low temperatures
Body Temperature Regulation:
Endotherm vs. Ectotherm
Protective coloration and protective resemblance
allow an animal to blend into its environment =
camouflage
Their camouflage makes it hard for enemies to single
out individuals.
Mimicry allows one animal to look, sound,
or act like another animal to fool predators
into thinking it is poisonous or dangerous.
The Viceroy
butterfly uses
mimicry to look
like the
Monarch
butterfly.
Behavior adaptations include activities that
help an animal survive –
•allows animal to respond to life needs
Behavior adaptations can be learned or
instinctive.
Migration - - an animal or group of
animals moving from one region to
another and then back again.
Animals migrate for different reasons
(internal and external cues).
better climate
better food
safe place to live
safe place to raise young
go back to the place they were born
Hibernation -- deep sleep in which animal’s
body temp drops, body activities are slowed
to conserve energy.
Biome Locations
Tropical Rainforest
• Typically found near the equator
• Receives < 200 cm of rain
annually
• Temperatures typically on the
warmer side – averages about 75o
F for the year
• As many as 50% of all the world’s
animal species may be found here
• About 1/4 of all the medicines we
use come from rainforest plants
Tropical Rainforest
Layers of a Rainforest
– Emergent Layer – tallest trees
(60-70m tall), grow and
emerge in the direct sunlight.
– Canopy – trees >30m tall, form
dense layer that absorbs 95%
of sunlight
– Understory – trees and shrubs
adapted to grow in shady
areas. < 3.5 m tall
Tropical Rainforest
Threats:
• Exotic pet trading
• Habitat Destruction
-Timber production (mostly for export and fuel)
-Slash-and-burn practices– for agriculture and cattle
ranches
Logging operations and development of
roads pose a big threat to tiger habitat
Deforestation for palm oil production in Malaysian Borneo.
Tropical Savanna
•
•
•
•
•
Grasslands with a few scattered trees
Experience a wet and dry season
Hot temperatures
Annual rainfall is between 50 and 127 cm
More species of grazing mammals than any other biome
Savannas
• Location:
– Africa, western India, Northern Australia & a few parts of
South America
– Found in tropical to subtropical areas near equator
between tropical rainforests & desert biomes.
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/images/savanna_location_map.gif
Desert
• Typically found between 25o and 40o latitude
• Receives > 25 cm of rain each year
• Temperatures can be hot or cold - typically range between 20oC
and 25oC but some extreme deserts can reach temperatures
higher than 38oC and lower than –15oC
Desert
• Hot Desert = Arizona’s Sonoran Desert
• Cold Desert = Gobi Desert in China, Great Basin in
western US.
• Often located near large mountain ranges
• Rain shadow – An area having relatively little
precipitation due to the effect of a barrier, such as a
mountain range, that causes the prevailing winds to
lose their moisture before reaching it.
Rain Shadow
Chaparral
• Found between 32o and
40o latitude on the west
coast of continents
• Fairly dry - Receives
between 35 and 70 cm of
rain, usually in the winter
• Extremely resistant to
drought and weather
events
Grassland
• Because of the dry climate,
trees are found only near
water sources such as
streams
• Usually receives between
50 and 90 cm of rainfall
each year
• warm or cold - Summer
temperatures can reach up
to 38oC and winter
temperatures can fall to
–40oC
• Considered to be the
“bread baskets of the
world”
Temperate Grasslands
• Other names:
Prairies in North America, steppes of Russia and
Ukraine, pampas of South America
Temperate Grasslands
• Threats:
– Farming and overgrazing have changed grasslands
• Grain crops can’t hold the soil in place like native
grasses, so the soil is eroding
• Both farming and overgrazing may cause this biome to
move/change more towards a desert-like biome.
Temperate Deciduous Forest
• Moderate climate - Temperatures
range between –30oC and 30oC
• Most trees will lose their leaves in
the winter
• Moderate Precipitation - Averages
from 75 to 150 cm of precipitation
• Well developed understory
Temperate Deciduous Forest
• Deciduous – trees with
broad leaves that fall during
the winter season.
• Layers of the Forest:
– Canopy: tall trees
(maples, oak, birch)
– Understory : small trees
& shrubs
– Floor: ferns, herbs,
mosses
Temperate Boreal Forest/Taiga
• AKA Taiga
• Typically found between 45o
and 60o North latitude
• Cold climate in winter
(40 – 100 cm snow annually),
with summer warm, rainy, and
humid
• Very few reptiles
• Limited understory - A lot of
coniferous trees
• Snow is primary form of
precipitation (40 – 100 cm
annually)
Tundra
• Means treeless or marshy
plain
• Characterized by permafrost
– permanently frozen soil
starting as high as a few
centimeters below the
surface – which severely
limits plant growth
• Winter temperatures (low)
average –34oC while summer
temperatures usually average
below 10oC
• Low precipitation (15–25 cm
per year) but ground is
usually wet because of low
evaporation
Tundra
• Permafrost = permanently frozen soil (that lies
underneath the topsoil)
Sinking land can
damage buildings
and
infrastructure
such as roads,
airports, and
water and sewer
pipes. It also
affects
ecosystems
U.S. Global Change Research Program (2009).
Tundra
• Threats:
– Fragile biome has a simple
food chain, so it can be easily
disrupted
– Oil/natural gas explorations
– airborne pollutants, such as
DDT and PCB's
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01377/bp_1377049c.jpg
http://opinionhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/oil-rig-exploration-tundra.jpg