DIFFERENT BIOMES
DIFFERENT BIOMES
Wildlife:
Deserts Deserts are biomes → Deserts cover more Vegetation in hot deserts:
that receive very than one-fifth of the
limited amounts of Earth's land area and are → The vegetation that grows in hot
precipitation each located on every desert areas has adapted to be able to
year. To be classed as continent. Most hot cope with the extremes in rainfall and
a desert area, less deserts are found near temperature, which may reach 50°C
than 250mm of rain the Tropics of Cancer and during the day and may fall to below
or other Capricorn, between 0°C at night. The cactus is a good
precipitation must 15-30° north and south of example of a plant that has adapted to
fall annually. Deserts the Equator. its environment.
are not always the
hot and sandy areas → China has the highest
we imagine them to number of deserts (13),
be; there are also followed by Pakistan (11)
cold deserts. and Kazakhstan (10).
Antarctica, the Other countries in Asia
coldest, driest that have deserts include
continent of all, is in Afghanistan, Bahrain,
fact the world’s Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Iraq,
largest desert, Jordan, the United Arab
stretching over Emirates, Syria, and
14,000,000km2. Oman.
Whether deserts are
hot or cold, their Desert Wildlife:
extreme conditions
create challenges in → Many desert animals are nocturnal,
supporting only coming out in the cooler night to
vegetation and hunt and eat, and many spend most of
wildlife. their time underground in burrows
where it is a lot cooler. Due to the lack
of available prey to hunt, most animals
in the desert are herbivores, which
means that they eat desert plants and
seeds. Some animals get all of the
water they need from the
insects, bulbs and seeds they eat and
do not need to drink water even when
it is available; for others, the morning
dew is enough to maintain their water
intake. As well as these adaptations,
there are some specific ways in which
their bodies have adapted too.
Wildlife:
Tundra Tundra are the Arctic → The tundra climate Vegetation Adaptations:
areas of Europe, Asia region geographically
and North America located between 60° and → All plants need sunlight and warmth
(see Figure 5.3). They 75° of latitude, mostly in order to thrive and the tundra
experience very little along the Arctic coast of vegetation is no exception to this,
precipitation, North America and despite the extreme cold and long dark
temperatures remain Eurasia and on the winters of the tundra.
below 0 °C for most coastal margins of
of the year and the Greenland. In such areas, → Vegetation in the tundra has
soil is frozen almost winters are long and cold adapted to tolerate the cold by
all year round. especially in the region remaining close to the ground to
Tundra areas are north of the Arctic Circle. protect itself from frequent high winds
often at first glance and by growing close together in
thought to be barren → Tundra form in two clusters for protection and shelter.
and desolate distinct cold and dry Their low height means that in winter
environments due to regions. Arctic tundra are months the plants are often covered
the fact that they are found on high-latitude under a layer of snow, which serves as
covered in ice and landmasses, above the insulation and further protection. They
snow for much of the Arctic Circle—in Alaska, have adapted to be able to
year. However, while Canada, Russia, photosynthesize in cold temperatures
they are treeless and Greenland, Iceland, and where there is limited sunlight, many
flat, they are home Scandinavia, for of them having small, dark leaves
to a range of example—or on far which conserve moisture by reducing
vegetation and southern regions, like transpiration and absorbing what heat
wildlife which have Antarctica. the sun does bring.
adapted to survive in
the extreme → Cottongrass is an example of a plant
conditions. that is well adapted to the tundra
environment. It has a short growing
season and life cycle, seeds that
scatter in the wind and a dense flower
head to reduce heat loss. Its roots are
also shallow so that they do not need
to penetrate the frozen soil. Other
tundra vegetation includes mosses,
lichens and lowgrowing shrubs and
grasses.
Wildlife:
Wetlands:
Marine Environments
→ Biodiversity of marine
environments is highest in areas that
support coral reefs. These are found in
tropical oceans near the equator and
between the tropics of Capricorn and
Cancer with the largest, and arguably
most famous, being the Great Barrier
Reef located off the Australian coast.