Topic 2 (LEC & LAB) - The Organisms and Its Environment

Question 1

Most _____ are named for major climatic features and for their predominant vegetation

Answer 1

biomes

Question 2

There can be________ and ___________ structuring of the oceans.

Answer 2

vertical, horizontal

Question 3

Habitats on the bottom of the ocean, and other aquatic environments

Answer 3

Benthic

Question 4

[Horizontal zones]

Beyond the continental shelf

Answer 4

Oceanic zone

Question 5

[Vertical zones]

Extends from 1,000 to 4,000m

Answer 5

Bathypelagic zone

Question 6

What type of biome is this?

Geography: confined to Northern
Hemisphere ; extend from Scandinavia,
through European Russia, across Siberia, to central Alaska, and across central Canada

Climate: found where winters are too long and summers are too short ; moderate precipitation 200 to 6oo mm ; low evaporation rate ; drought infrequent

Soil: tends to be of low fertility, thin, and
acidic

Biology: dominated by evergreen conifers
such as spruce, fir, and pines

Answer 6

Boreal forest of Taiga

Question 7

What type of biome is this?

Geography: covers most of the lands north of the Arctic Circle

Climate: cold and dry ; temperature not as extreme as in the boreal forest ;
precipitation 200 mm to 600 mm

Soil: surface soil thaw each summer
underlain by a layer of permafrost that may be many meters thick

Biology: is dominated by a richly textured
patchwork of perennial herbaceous plants, especially grasses, sedges, mosses, and lichens ; one of the last biomes that support numbers of large native mammals

Answer 7

Tundra

Question 8

Based on chemical property, aquatic life zones have __________ and _________.

Answer 8

saltwater, freshwater

Question 9

Based on physical property, aquatic life zones have __________ and _________.

Answer 9

lentic (still water like lake or pond),
lotic (moving like stream or river)

Question 10

[Horizontal zones]

Shallow shoreline under the influence of the rise and fall of the tides

Answer 10

Littoral or intertidal

Question 11

This includes the lower part of the
atmosphere, most of the
hydrosphere, and the uppermost
part of the geosphere, extending from about 9 kilometers above the earth’s surface down to the bottom of the ocean

Answer 11

Biosphere

Question 12

Aquatic life zones can be based primarily on _________ property and ________ property.

Answer 12

chemical, physical

Question 13

[Vertical zones]

Extends from 200 to 1,000m

Answer 13

Mesopelagic zone

Question 14

What type of biome is this?

Geography: largest biome in North America

Climate: 300 to 1,000 mm of precipitation
annually ; droughts may persist for several years

Soil: deep, basic or neutral, and fertile and contain large quantities of organic matter ; brown soils of more arid grasslands contain less organic matter

Biology: dominated by herbaceous
vegetation ; support herds of roving
herbivores

Answer 14

Temperate Grassland

Question 15

[Vertical zones]

Surface layer of the oceans extending to a depth of 200m

Answer 15

Epipelagic zone

Question 16

What type of biome is this?

Geography: southeast Asia, West Africa, and South America, Central America and Mexico, southeastern Brazil, eastern Madagascar, southern India, and northeastern Australia

Climate: warm and wet year-round ;
average temperature range 25°C to 27°C ;
annual rainfall 2,000 to 4,000 mm

Soil: nutrient-poor, acidic, thin, and low in
organic matter

Biology: dominated by trees, often
supported by well-developed buttresses ;
1 ha may contain up to 300 tree species ;
primary production is highest

Answer 16

Tropical Rainforest

Question 17

What type of biome is this?

Geography: south of the Sahara desert
extending from the west to the east coast,
across East African highlands, and reappear in south-central Africa ; south-central Brazil covering Venezuela and Colombia; northern Australia ; Southern Asia

Climate: alternating dry and wet seasons ;
seasonal drought combines with fire and
rains come in summer accompanied by
intense lightning

Soil: soil layers with low permeability to
water

Biology: Scattered trees ; populated by
wandering animals ; primary production
second to tropical rainforest

Answer 17

Tropical Savanna

Question 18

[Horizontal zones]

Extends from the coast to the margin of the continental shelf, where the ocean is about 200m deep

Answer 18

Neritic zone

Question 19

Habitats above the bottom, regardless of depth

Answer 19

Pelagic

Question 20

What type of biome is this?

Geography: occupy about 20% of the land surface of the earth

Climate: vary considerably from one desert to another; water loss due to evaporation and transpiration exceeds precipitation during most of the year ; average temperature exceed 30°C ; average winter temperature −20°C

Soil: generally low in organic matter,
sometimes classified as lithosols, which
means stone or mineral soil ; desert soils
may contain high concentrations of salts

Biology: absent plant cover from many
places ; vegetation often cloaks in a
gray-green mantle ; low animal abundance but diversity can be high

Answer 20

Desert

Question 21

[Vertical zones]

Layer from 4,000 to 6,000m

Answer 21

Abyssal zone