Exam 1 - Biomes Flashcards
what is a biome?
landscape/environment that organisms live in
What determines a biome?
biomes are defined by their predominant vegitation
which two factors seem to most influence terrestrial biomes?
temperature & precipitation
what are the 6 biomes?
- subtropical desert
- temperate grassland
- tropical wet forest
- temperate forest
- boreal forest
- arctic tundra
T or F: temperature and precipitation affect biome location
True
T or F: temperatuer and precipitation affect altitidue and latitude
False
T or F: altitude and Latitude affect temperature and precipitation
True
Are Temperature and precipitation the only factors that influence a biome?
No, there is crossover due to animals, sunlight, etc.
What factors could determine whether a region will be a grassland or forest?
- soil (nutrients, pH, minerals)
- sunlight
- wind (evaporation)
- disturbances (fire, tornado, flood, volcano, animals)
what are the characteristics of arctic tundra? example?
-low temperatures
-small period of time where temp is above freezing (short growing season)
- low levels of precip
- Barrow Alaska
what are the characteristics of temperate forest?
-long growing season (big tress)
- majority of year is above freezing
- moderate levels of rain
- ex. chicago
What are the characteristics of tropical wet forest?
- consistent growing season
- consistent high temps above freezing
- wet and dry seasons
what are examples of conditions that can affect temperature and rainfall
- latitude
- altitude
- presence of mountains
- presence of oceans
why are places along the equator hotter than places at higher latitutdes?
sun directly overhead at equinoxes vs above or below the equinox there is an angle coming in
why are seasons more pronounced at higher latitudes?
curvature of the earth
