Land Biomes Review

Tropical Rain Forest

Tropical Rain Forest

• Hot and wet year-round• Thin, nutrient-poor soils• Broad-leafed evergreen trees, ferns,

vines, orchids and bromeliads• Sloths, monkeys, toucans, ants,

beetles, piranhas, boa constrictors and anacondas, jaguars, parrots, parakeets

• Canopy and under story present

Tropical Rain Forest

Tropical Rain Forest

Tropical Dry Forest

Tropical Dry Forest• Warm year-round, alternating wet and

dry season and rich soils that are subject to erosion

• Rain is seasonal rather than year-round

• Trees drop leaves to conserve water during dry season (deciduous)

• Tall, deciduous trees, drought-tolerant orchids, bromeliads and aloes

• Tigers, monkeys, elephants, pelicans, snakes and monitor lizards.

Tropical Dry Forest

Tropical Savanna

Tropical Savanna

• Receives more rainfall than deserts, but less than tropical dry forests

• Covered in grasses with isolated trees and small shrubs

• Has compact soils, fairly frequent fires and the action of large animals prevent them from turning into dry forest

Tropical Savanna

• Warm temperatures, seasonal rainfall, compact soil and frequent fires set by lightning

• Tall grasses and drought-tolerant and fire-resistant trees and/or shrubs

• Lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, elephants, giraffes, zebras, baboons, termites

Tropical Savanna

Desert

Desert

• Annual precipitation is less than 25 cm per year!

• Deserts vary greatly, depending on elevation and latitude

• Extreme temperature changes during the course of a day

• Soils rich in minerals but poor in organic material

Desert

Desert

Temperate Grassland

Temperate Grassland

• Once covered vast areas of the midwestern and central U.S; most have been converted to agricultural fields now

• Periodic fires and heavy grazing by large herbivores

• Warm to hot summers, cold winters• Moderate, seasonal precipitation• Fertile soils

Temperate Grassland

• Lush, perennial grasses that are resistant to drought, fire and cold

• Coyotes, badgers, antelope, prairie dogs, snakes, ants, grasshoppers, mule deer, rabbits and prairie chickens and historically included wolves, grizzly bears and bison.

Temperate Grassland

Temperate Woodland and Shrubland

Temperate Woodland and Shrubland

• Hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters• Thin, nutrient-poor soils and periodic fires

• Woody evergreen shrubs with small leather leaves; fragrant, oily herbs that grow during winter and die in summer

• Dense, low plants that contain flammable oils makes fires a constant threat

Temperate Woodland and Shrubland

• Also known as chaparral• Includes coyotes, foxes, bobcats, mountain lions, deer, rabbits, squirrels, hawks, lizards, snakes and butterflies

Temperate Woodland and Shrubland

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Temperate Deciduous Forest

• Contains a mixture of deciduous and coniferous forests

• Cold winters that halt plant growth for several months

• Deciduous trees shed their leaves in fall• Contains a ground layer of mosses and

ferns• Soils are rich in humus, a material

formed from decaying leaves and other organic matter that makes soil fertile.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

•Cold to moderate winters and warm summers

•Year-round precipitation•Fertile soils•Deer, black bears, bobcats,

squirrels, raccoons, skunks, songbirds and turkeys

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Northwestern Coniferous Forest

Northwestern Coniferous Forest• Mild, moist air from the Pacific Ocean

provides abundant rainfall to this biome. • Conifers (giant redwoods, spruce, fir and

hemlock), moss, flowering trees• Also called the “temperate rain forest”• Abundant precipitation during fall, winter

and spring.• Relatively cool and dry summer• Rocky, acidic soils• Bears, elk, deer, beavers, owls, bobcats

and weasels

Northwestern Coniferous Forest

Boreal Forest (taiga)

Boreal forest (taiga)• Dense, evergreen forests of mostly

conifers.• Winters are bitterly cold and long, but

the summers are mild and long enough to allow the ground to thaw.

• Moderate precipitation• High humidity• Acidic, nutrient-poor soils

Boreal forest (taiga)•Coniferous trees such as spruce

and fir, some deciduous trees and small, berry-bearing shrubs

•Lynxes and timber wolves and weasels, small herbivorous mammals, moose and other large herbivores, beavers and migratory birds and songbirds.

Boreal Forest (taiga)

Tundra

Tundra•Has a layer of permanently frozen

subsoil called permafrost.•Short, cool summers•Cycle of thawing and freezing rips and

crushes plant roots, so the plants here are small and stunted

•High winds, low precipitation, short and soggy summers and long, cold and dark winters

•Poorly developed soils

Tundra•Mosses, lichens and short grasses

•Migratory waterfowl, shore birds, musk ox, arctic foxes, caribou, small rodents

•Organisms that live here have to withstand the harsh conditions!

Tundra