Biomes Flashcards
Tundra/Alpine
Where: North America, Siberia, High Elevations of South America (Paramo) and Africa (Kilimanjaro and Tibet)
Why:
Adapted to Fire: No
Plant Adaptations: short perennial (lives over a year, regrows), herbaceous plants(no woody stems)
California: Yes, southern Sierra, Mt. Baldy
Use: oil
Conservation Status: good, not highly populated, low endemism, permafrost is disappearing (bad)
Tropical Rain Forest
Where: South America (Amazon), Congo, Southeast Asia, Australia, Madagascar, Coast of Brazil
Why: high rainfall
Adapted to Fire: No
Plant Adaptations: high closed canopy, light is important, trees not old (about 200 years), shallow roots, all nutrients in the litter, epiphytes including orchids and bromeliads, lianas
California: No
Use: agriculture, timber
Conservation Status: ok to bad on large continents because of large area, bad on islands (Indonesia and Madagascar)
Tropical Savanna
Where: Brazil, Venezuela, Africa, Indonesia, Australia
Why: no freeze, low precipitation, rain shadow side of mountain, few trees
Adapted to Fire: Yes, trees have thick bark, plants regrow because annual grasses
Plant Adaptations: annual grasses, scattered trees
Use: agriculture, irrigation, grazing
Conservation Status: ok, bad in Brazil
Desert
Hot Desert
Where: Sahara, Mexico, Australia
Why: low rainfall, hot, high pressure
Adapted to Fire: No
Plant Adaptations: succulents, thorns and spines, stores water, annual wildflowers
California: No
Cold Desert
Where: Iran, California (Mojave), Great Basin, Las Vegas
Adapted to Fire: No
Plant Adaptations: long living trees and shrubs
California: Yes
Use: oil
Conservation Status: good
Mediterranean
Where: Southwest Australia, California, Chili, South Africa
Why: hot summer with no rain, winter is cool and wet
Adapted to Fire: Yes, seeds won’t open unless there’s fire, basal or crown resprouting, ribbon like bark, turpentine in plants for flammability
Plant Adaptations: shrubs (1-3 meters), small leaves, evergreen, light color, adapted to heat, point up, smell is a defense, endemic
California: Yes
Use: urban and rapid colonization, agriculture, wine
Conservation Status: bad
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Where: Eastern America, Western Europe, Asia, Japan, China
Why: winters are very cold
Adapted to Fire: No
Plant Adaptations: flowering plants, hardwoods (laurels, oaks, magnolias) deciduous (loses leaves), tall trees, lateral branches
California: No
Use: hardwoods
Conservation Status: good in US and Europe, cut but grow back, ok in parts of China due to air pollution
Boreal Forest/ Taiga
Where: North America, Europe, Asia
Why: ground not frozen for seven months, too cold for temperate trees
Adapted to Fire: Yes
Plant Adaptations: conifers (cone bearing), needles not leaves, softwood, firs, needles get smaller as you go north because of colder temperatures
Use: wood, timber, paper
Conservation Status: few endemics
Temperate Grassland
Where: Prairies in the US, Veldt in South Africa, Pampas in Argentina, Steppes of Russia
Why: hot summers, cold winters, low rainfall
Adapted to Fire: Yes, removes shrubs that grow back
Plant Adaptations: perennial grasses, short grass in the west, tall grass in the east, most biomass under the soil making the soil very nutritious
California: used to be
Use: agriculture, grazing
Conservation Status: bad and ugly because of the uses, native grasses disappearing
Tropical Dry Forest
Where: Mexico, California, South America, Madagascar, India, Southeast Asia, Australia
Why: tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, rain shadow side of mountain so less rain
Adapted to Fire: No
Plant Adaptations: less rain = shorter canopy, deciduous, few epiphytes
California: Yes
Use: agriculture, grazing, firewood
Conservation Status: ugly
