People and the Biosphere Flashcards
What are the climate characteristics of the desert?
Very hot all year (above 30 degrees) with cool nights.
Very low precipitation (below 250mm per year).
What is the distinctive vegetation in the desert?
Plants are scarce and have water-storing features, extensive roots and spines instead of leaves.
What are the climate characteristics in the boreal forest?
Mild summers (10 - 20 degrees), very cold winters (well below 0). Low precipitation (less than 500mm) which falls mostly in summer.
What is the distinctive vegetation in the boreal forest?
Coniferous trees such as pine.
What are the climate characteristics in the tropical rainforest?
Hot all year (25 - 30 degrees).
Wet all year (200 - 300mm average precipitation).
What is the distinctive vegetation in the tropical rainforest?
Dense forest with several layers of trees and plants competing for light.
What are the climate characteristics in the tundra?
Below 0 all year and reaching 10 in summer. Low precipitation (often less than 250mm). Short daylight hours in winter.
What is the distinctive vegetation in the tundra?
Very few plants can live here, mainly lichens and mosses. Trees are rare and stunted.
What are the climate characteristics in the tropical grasslands (Savannah)?
Hot all year (25 - 35 degrees).
500mm - 1000mm average precipitation, but there is always a dry season.
What is the distinctive vegetation in the tropical grassland (savannah)?
Tall grasses with some drought-adapted trees and shrubs.
What are the climate characteristics of the temperate grasslands?
Hot in summer (25 degrees), very cold in winter (as low as -40 degrees).
500mm - 900mm precipitation per year, mostly in summer and spring.
What is the distinctive vegetation in the temperate grasslands?
Short grasses with few trees and bushes.
What are the climate characteristics of the temperate forest?
Warm summers (approx 18 degrees), cool winters (approx 5 degrees). 1000mm of precipitation falls a year and falls all year.
What is the distinctive vegetation in the temperate forest?
Deciduous trees such as oak.
What is a biome?
A large scale ecosystem, such as tropical rainforests.
How many biomes are there?
8
What are pressure belts?
The belts that determine precipitation. Air rises and causes more rain in low pressure belts, and air descends and causes hardly any rain in high pressure belts.
What is continentality?
How far something is from the sea.
Where are desert biomes found?
Close to the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, where hot air sinks to the Earth’s surface and sun rays are concentrated.
Where is the tundra biome found?
Within the Arctic Circle in the north, where the sun gives little heat and there is little rainfall.
Where is the temperate biome found?
Above the Tropic of Cancer, where there is high rainfall and seasonal variation in the sun’s rays.
Where is the taiga biome found?
In the high north, with higher latitudes where sun rays are weak.
Where is the tropical biome found?
Either side of the Equator, where the temperature is hot and there is heavy rainfall.
Where is the savannah biome found?
Mostly between the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, with hot, dry air.
