Lecture 16- Biomes Flashcards
Compare and contrast tropical rainforests vs tropical dry forests location, precipitation, and temperature
All tropical forests occur in the equatorial and subequatorial regions
Tropical rainforests experience relatively constant precipitation all year long with around 200-400cm per year.
Tropical dry forests experience seasonal precipitation with around a 6-7 month dry season (Nov-April?; winters) and around 150-200 cm annually
temperatures in both forests average around 25-29 degrees celcius with little seasonal variation
Describe the plants of both tropical rain and dry forests
Tropical forests are vertically layered, making light on top very intense and making it harder for light to reach the lower leaves/plants. Their plant populations consist of canopy trees, subcanopy tree layering (1-2), shubs and herbs
also present in tropical rain forests are broad leaf evergreen trees and epiphytes (plants that don’t have roots and can grow on other plants; nutrients from environment around it)
tropical dry forests generally have less layering than tropical rain forests many of their trees drop their leaves during dry season (to conserve water)
some tropical dry forests have thorny shrubs and succulent plants
Describe the plants in Deserts
low widely scattered vegetation, lots of succulents (cacti and euphorbs) deep rooted shrubs, herbs can grow during infrequent moist periods, lots of open ground relative to other biomes
plant adaptations (cams and C4 plants for photosynthesis), heat tolerance, water storage,
physical defenses such as spines, chemical defenses, like toxins in shrub leaves
Describe the distribution, precipitation and temperature of dessert biomes
Desserts occur in interior of continents usually by bands near 30 degrees north or south of the equator
precipitation is low and extremely variable, generally desserts recieve less than 30 cm per year
temperature varries seasonally and daily; max air temp exceeds 50 degrees celcius (122F)
*in cold desserts temp can reach below -30C
Describe the temperature, precipitation, and distribution of savanna biomes
equatorial and subequatorial regions
seasonal rainfall in these biomes with an average of 30-50 cm per year ; dry seasons can last up to 8-9 months
savanna temperature is yearly warm (24-29C) with slightly more seasonal variation in the tropical forests
Describe the Chaparral plants
shurbs, small trees, grasses and herbs dominate this biome
high plant diversity
compact location of plants (confined to a set geographical area)
ADAPTATIONS:
fire resistant- shurb seeds that germinate only after the heat of a fire, fire-resistant roots –> resprouting easily after a fire & nutrients gathered too in their food reserves stored in roots
drought-tough evergreen leaves (reduce water loss)
fuzzy leaves to resist water loss hair on the underside of the leaves which allows water vapor to be trapped and retained. The water then evaporates allowing for the leave to cool down
plants are a light green/green silver color to reflect light/absorb less heat
Describe Chaparral distribution, precipitation, and temperature
midlatitude coastal regions (North america, spain, chile, southern france, and south africa)
30-40C north and south of the equator
Highly seasonal precipitation with rainy winters and dry summers; anual precipitation = 30-50 cm
cool fall winter and spring seasons with average temp around 10-20C
summers are warmer with average temperatures around 30C (daytime temp around 40C)
Describe temperate grassland distribution, precipitation, and temperature
40C north and south of equator
highly seasonal precipitation, dry winters and wet summers (30-100 cm rain per year) PERIODIC drought=common
Winters are usually cold with average temps falling below 10C and summers are usually hot with temperatures around 30C
Describe Norther Coniferous Forrests temperature, distribution, and precipitation
largest terrestrial biome on earth
50 to 60C north of equator
30-70 cm of precipitation per year with common periodic drought periods. Some NW temperate rain forests receive up to 300 cm annual precipitation
cold winters and hot summers some areas in siberia can range from -50C in winter to 20C in summer
Temperate Broadleaf forest
midlatitudes in northern hemisphere
precipitation 70-200 cm annually
rain fall all year throughout the seasons (snow in the winter in some spots)
winter temps around 0C summers are hot and humid around 35C
Describe the tundra biome distribution, precipitation, and temperature
high winds low temps, cold winters below -30C
summer temperatures low too around less than 10C
precipitation around 20-60 cm annually in arctic tundra may exceed 100 cm in alpine tundra
describe the upper canopy
dense thick large trees that receive direct sunlight, low water and constant exposure to wind gusts leaves are broadleaved and wavy, hearty and strung to ensure the hard long rain periods. Dark green leaves to absorb all the sunlight leaves lend to have ridges to prevent water pooling
describe the lower canopy
the lower canopy consists of plants that are able to move to reach the light and these plants are densely populated generally on the branches of upper canopy trees.
these plants consist of epiphytes which get water from their surrounding environments like the air and leaves of the larger trees
describe the low tree layer
young plants less densely populated
describe the understory both shrubs and herbs
shrubs and herbs are small because light barely reaches the lower levels of the tropical forrest biomes
often have water resivoirs??
strong scents and colors allowing them to attract pollinators
