Ecological communities:
Biomes: major community types
Global pattern:
| Global Location | tropics (around equator) | around 30° latitude and dry sides of mountains | temperate region (around 35 to 45° latitude); warmer, drier regions or regions with high fire frequency | temperate region (around 35 to 45° latitude); cooler, wetter regions or regions with low fire frequency | around 45-65° latitude | around 65° and farther north (northerm hemisphere) or 65° and south (southern hemisphere) |
| Climate | hot and wet | hot and dry | warm summers, cold winters; moderately wet | warm summers, cold winters; moderately wet | moderate summers, very cold winters; moderately dry | short moderate summers, long very cold winters; dry |
| Biome | Tropical Rainforest | Desert | Grassland | Temperate Deciduous Forest | Taiga | Tundra |
| Main Plant Life |
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| Soil |
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| Human Use/Impact |
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Questions:
1. What two factors are the main determinants of the major forms
of plant species that can potentially occur in a community? Are these
factors biotic or abiotic?
2. You are traveling from Ecuador (which is on the equator) to
Barrow, Alaska (which is very far north.) Describe how the kinds
of plant in the communities you pass through will change.
3. You are in an area with very low annual rainfall. Suppose
that the average temperature is very hot. The biome you are most
likely to be in is the __________________. Now suppose the average
temperature is very cold. The biome you are most likely to be in
is the _____________________
4. Compare the soil found in the three forest biomes you have
studied in this class: the tropical rainforest, the temperate deciduous
forest, and the taiga. What causes the differences in soil? If each
forest is cut down and crops are grown, which soil is most likely to support
agriculture for the longest time? Why?
5. Compare the soil found in the three non-forest biomes you have studied
in this class: the desert, the grassland, and the tundra. What causes
the differences in soil? If each forest is cut down and crops are grown,
which soil is most likely to support agriculture for the longest time?
Why?
6. What main plant growth forms occur in each of the biomes you have
studied in this class? For each biome, describe features of the main
plant growth forms that occur that particularly suite that plant growth
form to the climate of the biome.
7. The biome with the highest biodiversity is: _______________________________
8. How do the three forest biomes (tropical rainforest, temperate deciduous
forest, taiga) that we have studied compare with regard to annual temperature
and precipitation?