Biomes Flashcards
Name the 8 main biomes
desert, tundra, tropical rainforest, tropical savannah, tropical dry forest, temperate forest, temperate grassland, boreal forest
Define a biome
a biological subdivison that reflects the ecological and physiognomic character of the vegetation.
What are the 2 main factors across terrestrial biomes
temperature and water
Describe a tundra biome
permanently cold and dry
Describe a boreal forest biome
cold with seasonal variation and moderate/high water content (from low levels of evaporation)
Describe a temperate forest biome
Moderately warm with seasonal variation, quite high water content with good levels of decompostion
Describe a temperate grassland biome
hot summers and cold winters, with seasonal rainfall
Describe a desert biome
Hot during day, cold at night, with low precipitation
Describe a tropical savannah biome
hot all year with seasonal rainfall (wet season has storms, lightening and fires)
Describe a tropical rainforest biome
hot and rainy
Describe a tropical dry forest biome
hot with seasonal rainfall
Describe the rain shadow phenonmenon
Increased vegetation on one side of mountain closest to see when precipitation occurs
What is the Global Actual evopotranspiration (AET)?
the actual amount of water that is evaporated and transpired from a plant community over a given time period, largely dependent on the available water and temperature
Name the 7 aquatic biomes
lakes, rivers, estuaries, intertidal zones, coral reefs, oceanic pelagic and abyssal zones
What is the attenuation of light
how the angle of the light hitting the water surface effects the wavelength of light absorbed. Lower angle = less absorbed.
