BIOL 317: Terrestrial Biomes

Question 1

What statement about rain shadows is accurate?

Answer 1

In the western United States, you would expect the rain shadow effect to produce heavier rainfall on the western-facing slopes of mountains than on the eastern-facing slopes.

Question 2

The precipitation in moist temperate regions is caused by the meeting of cool polar air and warm subtropical air.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The Northern and Southern Hemispheres receive approximately equal amounts of solar radiation at what time of the year?

Answer 3

both spring equinox and autumnal equinox.

Question 4

Climatic diagrams can provide all of the following information except for what?

(choices: avg min. temperature above and below 0 celsius, wet and dry season durations, temperature and precipitation variations, wind patterns)

Answer 4

wind patterns

Question 5

Climatogram with average temperatures of 25 degrees celsius and average precipitation of 1050-1200 mm most likely describes what kind of biome?

Answer 5

Tropical rainforest

Question 6

In the region between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, seasonal variations in temperature and day length at low elevation are slight.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

Which of the following are not biomes?

(choices: mediterranean rain forest, tropical dry forest, mountains, boreal grassland, temperate forest, tundra)

Answer 7

answers: mediterranean rain forest, mountains, boreal grassland

Question 8

What are all of the biomes?

Answer 8

Tropical rain forest, tropical dry forest, savanna, deser, chaparral, temperate grassland, temperate deciduous forest, temperate coniferous forest, boreal forest, tundra, alpine, polar ice

Question 9

Proximity to large bodies of water moderates terrestrial temperatures.

Answer 9

True

Question 10

Earth’s climatic variation is due to what?

(Choices: the spherical shape of the earth, uneven heating of the earth’s surface, earth’s axial rotation as it orbits the sun, all of the choices are correct)

Answer 10

all of the choices are correct

Question 11

What is true of the Palmer Drought Severity Index?

Answer 11

• Values near zero reflect average rainfall conditions.
• Negative values reflect drought conditions.
• It can be used to show both temporal and spatial climatic variation.
• It uses temperature and precipitation to calculate moisture conditions relative to long-term averages.

Question 12

As altitude increases, temperatures decrease, likewise, as latitude decreases, temperatures decrease.

Answer 12

False