Lecture 4: Biomes Flashcards
What does a terrestrial biome consist of?
Large terrestrial regions with similar climate and vegetation. Their temperature and precipitation affect the predominant vegetation and create the food and habitat base for the ecosystem.
What type of information does a climate diagram show?
Displays absolute and relative information about average temperature and precipitation.
The mean monthly temp is displayed on the left axis and the red dots ar associated with this.
The mean monthly precipitation is on the right axis and shown by the blue dots
Months are on the horizontal axis
What are the 6 main biomes?
Tropical rainforest
Temperate grassland
Temperate forest
Boreal forest
Tundra
Tropical rainforest
Desert
What are characteristics of a tropical rainforest?
They are found mostly along the equator
HIGH mean annual temp
HIGH monthly mean temp over the year
HIGH mean annual precipitation
LOW seasonality in temp
Biomass-rich, evergreen (non-deciduous), forest vegetation
What are the characteristics of a desert?
Found at sites of Hadley cells (30 degrees)
HIGH or LOW mean annual temp
VERY LOW mean annual precipitation
Strong-moderate seasonality in temp
sparse, short-stature vegetation, mostly tree-less
What are the characteristics of the temperate grassland?
Farther north and south in the hemis
LOW mean annual temp
LOW mean sum annual precipitation STRONG seasonality in temp
Tree-less vegetation dominated by grasses and shrubs
VERY FERTILE soils
Which biome shows the highest land loss?
Temperate grassland due to conversion to crop land
What are the characteristics of a temperate forest?
Where the feral cell and polar cell meet
Moderate mean annual temp
High mean annual sum of precipitation
Moderate seasonality in temp
Moderate seasonal drought
Forest vegetation (deciduous and broad leaf forests or coniferous forests)
What are the characteristics of the boreal forest?
Only in northern hemi
Very low mean annual temp
Moderate mean sum annual precipitation
Strong seasonality in temp
Conifer forest vegetation
Extensive wetland and peatland vegetation
What are some characteristics of tundra?
North of the boreal forests
VERY low mean annual temp
Moderate mean annual precipitation
Moderate seasonality in temp/precip
Low shrub and grass, tree-less, permafrost
What does a Whittaker diagram show?
Shows the major biomes as a function of mean annual temp and mean annual precip
