Biome a Large Ecosystem Identified by Its Climate and the Plants and Animals Adapted To

Biomes

Biome – A large ecosystem identified by its climate and the plants and animals adapted to living there. There are 6 major types of land biomes.

Climate Zone – A region where the temperature, rainfall, and amount of sunlight are similar throughout the year

Tropical Rain Forest – found near the equator; very wet climate and rains almost every day; have about ½ of all kinds of plants on Earth; 3 layers are upper layer, canopy, and forest floor; animals include reptiles, amphibians, mammals, insects, fish and birds that form the most complicated food webs on Earth.

Deciduous Forest – trees like oaks, maples, and hickories, have broad bright-colored leaves that they shed each year; moderate temperatures and moderate rainfall; not found in Africa or Antarctica; warm during the spring and summer and cold in the winter; has several layers of plants

Grassland – moderate temperatures and light rainfall; found on all continents except Antarctica; grasses have long slender leaves that allow little water loss and roots that grow just under the surface; there are few trees; home of wheat, corn, rice, and other grains as well as animals that eat them.

Desert -very little rainfall; great amount of sunlight; freezing temperatures at night and very hot during the daytime; plants have adapted to conserve water and their roots are close to the surface to quickly absorb water; animals hide during the day and hunt for food at night

Taiga – trees like pines, firs, spruces, and other evergreens with needlelike leaves covered by wax; 2 layers of plants; most water is caught in the canopy and the floor is covered with dead, dry needles; long cold winters; mosquitoes, flies, owls, woodpeckers, and bear can be found in this biome

Tundra – rolling plain along the northern and southern parts of Earth; low temperatures and long winters prevent trees from growing; plants have dense, shallow roots; permafrost is a permanently frozen layer of soil just below the surface; animals that stay year round have thick, white coats; dark during the fall and winter and the sun shines all the time in the summer; animals include birds, caribou, musk ox, arctic fox, and arctic hare

Starting at the poles and going toward the equator, the order of biomes is: tundra, taiga, deciduous forest, grassland, desert, and tropical rainforest. Water Ecosystems

Saltwater Ecosystems – limiting factors include amount of sunlight, nutrients in the water, and the movement of water.

Intertidal zone – up to 30 meters deep; churning waves and tides provide a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients; organisms are adapted to live in rapidly moving water; sunlight reaches entire layer; starfish, clams, and crabs can live in both water and moist sand

Near-shore zone – up to 180 meters deep; nutrients come from rivers that empty into the ocean; water is calm and temperature doesn’t change much; producers can only live as far down as the sunlight reaches; anchovies, cod, and mackerel feed on algae

Open-ocean zone – very deep water but most organisms live near the surface; food chain: sun → phytoplankton → zooplankton → small fish → large carnivores

Freshwater Ecosystems – lakes, ponds, streams, rivers, marshes, and swamps; plants and animals can only live in fresh water; water moves fast in streams and rivers and there are fewer plants and algae; lakes and ponds have slow moving water

Estuaries – made of brackish water (a mixture of fresh water and salt water); occur where at the mouth of a river where the river empties into the ocean; most productive ecosystems on Earth; two types are salt marshes and mangrove swamps; salty water at high tide and fresh water at low tide; organisms can survive in either type of water; water is still and calm, fairly shallow, and sunlight easily reaches the bottom; very high in nutrients; 2/3 of all fish and shellfish depend on estuaries for survival; oysters, mussels, and shrimp can be found here; organisms are safe from large predators that cannot live in brackish water; help prevent coastal flooding and erosion of the shoreline