L2.1: Terrestrial Biomes

Question 1

GEOGRAPHY:
Found at 10 latitude

Answer 1

Tropical Rainforest

Question 2

CLIMATE:
- Warm and wet year-round with little temperature variations
- Average temperature of 25-27C
- Annual rainfall of 2,000 to 4,000 mm

Answer 2

Tropical Rainforest

Question 3

SOIL:
- Nutrients leached by heavy rains
- Rapid decomposition keeps soil organic matter low
- Nutrient-poor, acidic, thin, low in organic matter
- More nutrients are tied up in living tissue than in soil
- Mycorrhizae (symbiotic relationship between trees and fungi)

Answer 3

Tropical Rainforest

Question 4

BIOLOGY:
- Vertical dimension provided by trees
- Trees often supported by buttresses
- Trees serve as trellises and growing sites for epiphytes
- Intricate, complex relationships between species

Answer 4

Tropical Rainforest

Question 5

HUMAN INFLUENCES:
- Staple foods
- 25% of all prescription drugs
- Fast disappearing

Answer 5

Tropical Rainforest

Question 6

GEOGRAPHY;
- 10-25 latitude

Answer 6

Tropical Dry Forest

Question 7

CLIMATE:
- More seasonal than tropical rainforest
- Dry season of 6-7 months
- Abundant rainfall of 5-6 months

Answer 7

Tropical Dry Forest

Question 8

SOIL:
- Of great age
- Less acidic and richer in nutrients
- High erosion rates

Answer 8

Tropical Dry Forest

Question 9

BIOLOGY:
- Plants strongly influenced by physical factors
- Height is correlated with average precipitation
- Animals and wind disperse seeds
- Animals make seasonal migrations

Answer 9

Tropical Dry Forest

Question 10

HUMAN INFLUENCES:
- Heavy human settling
- Agricultural conversion
- Decrease in biodiversity

Answer 10

Tropical Dry Forest

Question 11

GEOGRAPHY:
- North and south of tropical dry forests
- 10-20 latitude

Answer 11

Tropical Savanna

Question 12

CLIMATE
- Alternating dry and wet seasons
- Drought combines with fire
- Rain combines with lightning
- Drier than tropical dry forest

Answer 12

Tropical Savanna

Question 13

SOIL:
- Low permeability to water
- Retains water near surface
- Little to no trees

Answer 13

Tropical Savanna

Question 14

BIOLOGY:
- Greater portion takes place near ground level
- Fire resistant flora
- Wandering animals

Answer 14

Tropical Savanna

Question 15

HUMAN INFLUENCES:
- Humans are a product and vice versa
- Fire plays a role in its ecology
- Where humans observed and learned to use, control, and make fire
- Hunting and gathering
- Pastoralism
- Livestock ranching
- Sahel: A region devastated by human populations, high density of livestock, and drought

Answer 15

Tropical Savanna

Question 16

GEOGRAPHY:
- 20% of landmass of Earth
- 30 latitude

Answer 16

Desert

Question 17

CLIMATE:
- 300 mm annual rainfall
- Evaporation and transpiration exceeds precipitation
- Drought conditions prevail

Answer 17

Desert

Question 18

SOIL:
- Low in organic matter
- Under shrubs have large amounts of organic matter
- Kangaroo rats change the texture and elevate nutrient content by burrowing
- High salt concentration
- Caliche: Calcium carbonate-rich hardpan horizon that forms as soil ages

Answer 18

Desert

Question 19

BIOLOGY:
- Plant cover absent
- Plants have dense plant hair covering
- Small leaves
- Seeds remain dormant until wet periods
- Low animal abundance, high diversity

Answer 19

Desert

Question 20

HUMAN INFLUENCE:
- Concentrated near oases and river valleys
- Salt accumulation lessened irrigation
- Increasing in area

Answer 20

Desert

Question 21

GEOGRAPHY:
- In all continents except Antarctica
- 30-40 latitude

Answer 21

Mediterranean Woodland and Shrubland

Question 22

CLIMATE:
- Cool and moist autumn, winter, and spring
- Hot and dry summer
- Mild frost
- Prone to fires in summer

Answer 22

Mediterranean Woodland and Shrubland

Question 23

SOIL:
- Low to moderate fertility
- Fragile

Answer 23

Mediterranean Woodland and Shrubland

Question 24

BIOLOGY:
- Highly diverse flora and fauna with adaptations to drought
- Trees and shrubs are evergreen with small tough leaves
- Mutual relationship with microbes
- Slow decomposition in summer
- Fire-resistant plants
- Thick, fire-resistant tree barks

Answer 24

Mediterranean Woodland and Shrubland

Question 25

HUMAN INFLUENCE: - Wheat plantations once every 5 or 6 years - Low intensity cultivation and long term stability - Human settlements - Clearing of forests for agriculture

Answer 25

Mediterranean Woodland and Shrubland

Question 26

GEOGRAPHY: - Largest biome in NA - 30-55 latitude

Answer 26

Temperate Grassland

Question 27

CLIMATE: - 300 to 1000 mm annual rainfall - Droughts may last several years - Maximum rainfall in summer - Cold winters, hot summers

Answer 27

Temperate Grassland

Question 28

SOIL: - Derived from wide variety of parent materials - Deep, basic, fertile, high organic matter - Black prairie soils have high amounts of organic matter - Brown soils have less organic matter

Answer 28

Temperate Grassland

Question 29

BIOLOGY: - Herbaceous vegetation - Trees and shrubs limited near streams and rivers - Roving herbivores

Answer 29

Temperate Grassland

Question 30

HUMAN INFLUENCE: - Nomadic hunters became herders, then farmers - Most fertile farmlands on Earth - Prairie soil lost 35 to 40% of organic matter in 35 to 40 years

Answer 30

Temperate Grassland

Question 31

GEOGRAPHY: - 30-55 latitude - Majority between 40-50 latitude

Answer 31

Temperate Forest

Question 32

CLIMATE: - Coniferous or deciduous - Temperatures are not extreme - 50 to 3000 mm annual rainfall - Deciduous forest winters last 3-4 months - Coniferous forest winters are more severe or summers drier

Answer 32

Temperate Forest

Question 33

SOIL: - Fertile - Most fertile soil develop under deciduous forests - Conifers grow on poor acidic soils - Slow nutrient movement

Answer 33

Temperate Forest

Question 34

BIOLOGY: - Vertically stratified - Fungi and bacteria the most important consumers - Vital for recycling nutrients

Answer 34

Temperate Forest

Question 35

HUMAN INFLUENCE: - Human settlements along forest margins - Agriculture - Remaining 1-2% of old-growth forests in western NA

Answer 35

Temperate Forest

Question 36

GEOGRAPHY: - 50-65 latitude

Answer 36

Boreal Forest (Taiga)

Question 37

CLIMATE: - Long winters, short summers - Moderate climates - Moderate precipitation - Low evaporation rates, infrequent droughts

Answer 37

Boreal Forest (Taiga)

Question 38

SOIL: - Low fertility, thin, acidic - Low pH impede decomposition - Nutrients tied up in a thick layer of plant litter - Most trees have shallow root networks - Mycorrhizal fungi - Thin topsoil - Permafrost subsoil

Answer 38

Boreal Forest (Taiga)

Question 39

BIOLOGY: - Evergreen conifers - Larch dominates - Willows along water sources - Migratory mammals - Wolves are major predators - Epiphytes - Trees are wind pollinated and do not produce fleshy fruits

Answer 39

Boreal Forest (Taiga)

Question 40

HUMAN INFLUENCE: - Ancient cave paintings - Migratory humans - Domestication of reindeer - Berries - Light human intrusion - Lumber and pulp

Answer 40

Boreal Forest (Taiga)

Question 41

GEOGRAPHY: - Most of northern lands of Arctic Circle - 66.5 latitude

Answer 41

Tundra

Question 42

CLIMATE: - Cold and dry - Not as extreme as boreal forest - Less severe winters, short summers - 200 to 600 mm rainfall - Soggy summers

Answer 42

Tundra

Question 43

SOIL: - Slow soil building - Slow decomposition - Solifluction: Moves soils downslope - Permafrost

Answer 43

Tundra

Question 44

BIOLOGY: - One of the last biomes with large native mammals

Answer 44

Tundra

Question 45

HUMAN INFLUENCE: - Limited to small populations of hunters and nomadic herders - One of the last pristine areas of Earth - Intense oil extraction - Chernobyl disaster passed radiation to food chain, rendering them unsuitable for consumption

Answer 45

Tundra