6: Biomes Flashcards
What are biomes?
major ecological regions/systems that cover large areas of the world
What are the 7 most important terrestrial (land-based) biomes on the planet?
- deciduous forest (temperate)
- trees that drop their leaves - grassland
- desert
- rainforest
- savanna
- tall grass prairie; where zebras live - tundra
- Alaska, very north - coniferous forest (taiga or boreal)
- forest made of pine, spruce
What determines if a region on Earth is a desert or a rainforest?
the climate: precipitation and temperature
Biomes are distributed according to what?
their latitude and the altitude
What is altitude?
elevation over sea levels
What is latitude?
distance to the equator
What is the difference between biomes close to the equator vs far from the equator?
close to equator: hot, tropical rainforests
far from equator: very cold, tundra
middle: prairie or temperate forest
What is the tundra?
a very cold and very dry area; in Alaska, Siberia, and Greenland
How many hours of sunlight does the Tundra get?
summer: almost 24 hours (24 hours if above Arctic Circle)
winter: very little sunlight
What is permafrost?
in the Tundra, it is soil that is permanently frozen (layer of ground that is permanently frozen)
Where is permafrost found?
Alaska, Canada, Russia, and Scandinavian countries
What is happening to the permafrost?
climate change is making permafrost thaw, break and fall into the ocean
What are the consequences of thawing permafrost?
release of greenhouse gases, crumbling infrastructure (roads, homes, utilities, etc.), risk of disease?
