ECO-REGIONS/BIOMES

• Biodiversity
• The many forms of life found on the Earth. “Wildness”
• Genetic Diversity – the variety of genetic make-up wthin a
single species
• Species Diversity – the variety of species in different habitats
on the Earth
• Importance: It gives us food, wood, energy, free recycling,
purification & natural pest control.
 Biomes
 Biomes tend to converge around latitude lines
on the globe.
 The most important factors in a biome are
temperature and precipitation (climate).
 Climate is a region’s average weather conditions
over a long time.
 Latitude and elevation help determine climate.
 Different climates lead to different
communities of organisms, especially
vegetation.
Earth’s Current Climate Zones
 BIOMES: CLIMATE AND LIFE ON LAND
 Biomes are large terrestrial regions characterized by similar climate,
soil, plants, and animals.
 Each biome contains many ecosystems whose communities have
adapted to differences in climate, soil, and other environmental factors.
 Global Air Circulation & Regional Climates
 Uneven heating of the Earth’s Surface
 Air is more heated at the equator and less at the poles
 Seasonal changes in temperature and precipitation
BIOMES:
CLIMATE AND LIFE ON LAND
BIOMES:
CLIMATE AND LIFE ON LAND

 Biome type is determined by precipitation,

temperature, terrain and soil type
 Rainy Season

Seasonal shift in rainy/dry seasons

 Terrestrial Biomes of the World

Biome – a large geographical region having a defining climate to which

plants show a similar physiological adaptation.

 Tundra  Chaparral
 Boreal Forest  Desert
 Temperate Forest  Tropical Forest
 Prairies and Grasslands  Tropical Mountains
Temperature and precipitation regulate
plant growth, thus the regional
distribution of biomes.
 Global Distribution of
Terrestrial Biomes

Global Net Primary

Productivity For
Terrestrial Biomes
Net Primary Production of Terrestrial Biomes

Biome NPP (g C/m2/yr)

Tropical Rain Forest 900
Tropical Dry Forest 675
Temperate Evergreen Forest 585
Temperate Deciduous Forest 540
Boreal Forest 360
Tropical Grasslands 315
Cultivated land (USA) 290
Chaparral 270
Prairie 225
Tundra 225
Desert 32
Extreme Desert 1.5
Desert
 The evaporation is greater than the
precipitation (usually less than 25 cm).
Covers 30% of the earth.
DESERT BIOMES

 Variations in annual
temperature (red) and
precipitation (blue) in
tropical, temperate and
cold deserts.

Figure 5-12
 Desert
 Dry air descends usually at Latitudes 20 –
30 North and 20 – 30 South.
 Too dry to support most life forms
 Cloudless skies permit wide temperature
fluctuations
 50 C during the day, near 0 C at night.
 Desert plants and animals must be
obsessive about water retention
Desert

Rainshadow
 Desert
 Desert animals usually hide from the full strength sun and come out when the temp is
lower.
 Top predators are usually snakes and lizards – need less water than mammals
 Camels have a highly developed nasal structure that prevents water loss and its hair is efficient
at reflecting the sun’s heat.

 Desert plants can not escape the sun.

 Evolution has shaped them to minimize exposure to the sun
 Desert plants are also designed to retain as much water as possible.

 Stem and leaves appear to be thick and fleshy, skin very leathery.
 Needles create microclimate in still air.
 Extensive root network; leaves are recycled
Desert
FOREST BIOMES
 Forests have enough
precipitation to support
stands of trees and are
found in tropical,
temperate, and polar
regions.
 Variations in annual
temperature (red) and
precipitation (blue) in
tropical, temperate, and
polar forests.
Taiga (evergreen coniferous forest)
 Just south of the tundra (northern part of N. America),
it covers 11% of earth’s land. Its winters are long, dry
& cold. Some places have sunlight 6 to 8 hours a day.
The summers are short and mild, with sunlight 19 hours
a day.
MOUNTAIN BIOMES (Taiga)
 High-elevation islands
of biodiversity
 Often have snow-
covered peaks that
reflect solar radiation
and gradually release
water to lower-elevation
streams and ecosystems.
Boreal Forest (tiagia)
 Great fir forest of Canada and northern Eurasia.
 Vegetation type is defined by seasonal expansion and contraction of the
Arctic and continental polar air masses.
 Polar air in the winter, continental air in the summer
 Very cold winters, relatively warm summers so trees can survive

 Many trees look like Christmas trees, not oak trees

 Shape of tree is related to the ability to shed snow
 Leaf morphology is important
 Needles are more durable, can photosynthesize year round
 conserve heat more efficiently
 Boreal forests are low in species diversity, but not as low as tundra
 Conifers have adapted to survive the long, cold winters and
short summers of the taiga.
 Conifers needles contain very little sap, which helps
prevent freezing.
 Most animals migrate to warmer climates once the cold
weather begins.
 Some animals have adapted to life in the taiga by
hibernating when temperatures drop.
 Other animals have adapted to the extreme cold
temperatures by producing a layer of insulating feathers or
fur to protect them from the cold.
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Boreal Forest
Evergreen Coniferous Forests
 Consist mostly of cone-
bearing evergreen trees
that keep their needles
year-round to help the
trees survive long and
cold winters.
Tropical Rainforest
 Near the equator. It has warm temperatures, high
humidity & heavy rainfall.
Tropical Rain Forest
 Tropical rain forests have
heavy rainfall and a rich
diversity of species.
 Found near the equator.
 Have year-round
uniformity warm
temperatures and high
humidity.
Tropical Rain Forest

 Stratification
 Filling such niches enables species to avoid or
minimize competition and coexist Figure 5-21
 Tropical Forest (Rain)
 Huge diversity
 Perhaps 50 - 75% of all organisms on Earth inhabit these forests.
 Temperate forest may have 20 - 30 tree species per hectare (2.47 acres); rain
forests can support more than 350 – 450 tree species per hectare
 To fit that many tress each species may only be represented once or twice
 Most productive terrestrial biome
 High temp, moisture, uninterrupted growing season
 Decomposers / nutrient cycling
Tropical Rain Forest
 Tropical Forest
 Key feature is constant temperature
 Average temperature from one month to the other is usually within ± 2C
 However, daytime temp may be 34 C during the day and 20 C at night.
 Much rain: annual rainfall ranges from 2,000 mm to 15,000 mm (79 – 591 inches; 1.6
inches per day).
 Wet and dry seasons
 Length of dry season determines the areas ecology

 Long Dry Season

 Dry season = 6-8 months
 Many trees drop their leaves during the dry season not to escape cold, but to prevent
overheating
 Short Dry Season
 Dry season < 3 months
 Tropical rain forest: 2,300 – 5,000 mm of rain per year (extreme years some places may get
15,000 mm = 50 feet).
 Temperate Forest
 Can be divide into evergreen and deciduous forest types.
 Generally have a moist cool climate.
 Sometimes referred to as temperate rain forests

 Contain giant redwoods and Douglas fir

 Redwoods can reach 120 m (~360 ft) in height.
 High-quality wood makes these forests a valuable timber resource
 Temperate Forest (Deciduous)
 Hot summers, cool winters (minimum temp rarely < -12C).
 Rain is plentiful (75 – 200 cm / yr), long growing season, fertile soil, moderate
diversity.
 Species include oak, beech and maple.
 Produce a new batch of leaves each year
 Not as expensive as ‘freeze-proofing’ them
 Early spring, a lot of light hits the forest floor and spring ephemerals take advantage of
this.
 Soils make good farmland and supports good lumber
Temperate Deciduous Forest
 It has moderate temperatures, long, warm summers, cold winters
&lots of rain. Trees include oaks, hickory, maple, and beech .
Temperate Deciduous Forest

 Most of the trees survive

winter by dropping their
leaves, which decay and
produce a nutrient-rich soil.
Temperate Rain Forests

 Coastal areas support huge cone-bearing evergreen

trees such as redwoods and Douglas fir in a cool
moist environment.
Tropical Mountains
 Go from tropical forest to shrubs to ice as you move up in
altitude.
 Similar phenomena seen as you move from the equator north
Tropical Mountain
 High
Alpine
Tundra

Elevation
Tropical
Forest

Low
Tropical Forest Temperate Northern Arctic Tundra
Deciduous Forest Coniferous Forest

High Moisture Availability Low

Tropical Mountains
Grassland
 The rainfall is erratic & fires are common. It
has & shrubs that are good for grazing
animals.
GRASSLANDS AND CHAPARRAL
BIOMES
 Variations in
annual temperature
(red) and
precipitation
(blue).
 Savanna
 The tropical & subtropical grassland. It is warm
all year long with alternating wet & dry seasons.
 Chaparral (temperate grassland)
 These are coastal areas. Winters are mild & wet, with
summers being long, hot, & dry.
Chaparral
 Chaparral has a
moderate climate but
its dense thickets of
spiny shrubs are
subject to periodic
fires.
 Chaparral
 Wet and mild winter climate, dry and mild summer
 Found in coastal California, Israel, parts of South America
and Australia
 Mediterranean climate
 The summer drought is what drives this biomes ecology
 Plants either limit the water they lose, or gain as much water as
possible
 Chaparral
 Plants can limit water loss by producing small hard green leaves
 Hardness due to a waxy outer covering used to prevent water loss
 Most of these plants are evergreen, so they can photosynthesize during the wet
part of the year
 By retaining leaves year round – they are able to take advantage of all rainfall
 Plants can gain as much water as possible
 Deep tap roots
 Extensive root system (bare ground between plants)
 Chaparral
 Eradication of top predators when these areas are settled leads
to a proliferation of herbivores.
 Sometimes, native herbivores have been replaced with goats
 Goats are indiscriminate browsers and kill many of the plants they
eat
 Overgrazing has reduced many Mediterranean hillsides to bare rock
with very few patches of vegetation
 Temperate Grasslands
 The cold winters and hot dry summers have deep and
fertile soil that make them ideal for growing crops and
grazing cattle.
 Prairies and Grasslands
 Climatically similar to temperate forests but are dryer.
 Precipitation ranges from a low 40 mm (plants seldom grow taller than
0.5m) to a high of 80 cm (plants can grow more than 2 m – tall grass
prairie).

 Home to numerous herbivores

 Grazing is an important ecological factor in these areas

 Heat and aridity become important evolutionary factors

 Panting, sweating, large ears, evapotranspiration are common
 Prairies and Grasslands
 Native grazers prevented any single plant from out competing the others.
 Introduced domestic grazers (cattle or sheep for example) have different grazing
patterns and the floristic composition has been resorted.
 Soils are very rich – America’s bread basket.
 Fire is an important component of grasslands.
 Some areas may burn every three to five years (lightning)
 Keeps trees from becoming established
 Stopping these fires can alter the community, allowing trees to grow.
 Tundra (polar grasslands)
 Covers 10% of earth’s land. Most of the year, these treeless
plains are bitterly cold with ice & snow. It has a 6 to 8 week
summer with sunlight nearly 24 hours a day.
 Tundra
 Windswept expanses where nothing stands taller than grasses and
sedges.
 Average temperature is -5°C.
 Water is held as ice for most of the year; growing season is from May to
August
 Plant growth is inhibited
 Decomposition and nutrient cycling is very slow; soils are rich in organic
matter
 Each year, only the top meter defrosts, below that the ground remains
frozen year round - Permafrost
 Tundra
 The organic rich soil in the tundra called peat.
 Due to the short growing season, all growth and reproduction must happen in a short
period.
 Young shoots are thus loaded with nutrients
 Makes good grazing
 Food is so abundant at this time that wading birds, ducks, geese and swans
commonly migrate to the tundra; herds of caribou and reindeer arrive and support
biting flies, midges, and mosquitoes.
 Insects spend the winter as eggs, larvae or pupae.
 Birds usually feast on the abundant newly-hatched insects
 Tundra
 Although there are a lot of individual birds, mammals, and
insects, there are not many types of species.
 Few plant species have evolved to withstand the harsh tundra
climate.
 Tundra has a low species diversity (number of species)
 Naturally low diversity does not mean unimportant.
 Tundra is essential to the well-being of animals such as
ducks, geese, seals, polar bears, and caribou
 Recovery from disturbance takes a long time
Tundra
Polar Grasslands
 Polar grasslands are
covered with ice and
snow except during
a brief summer.
 Plant Adaptations
for different Biomes

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 Desert and Drought Adaptations
 Small leaves, needles, or spines on desert plants conserve
water.
 Thick waxy leaf coating holds in water.
 Stomata (openings in leaves) are under the leaf and often
only open at night to conserve water and stop transpiration.
 Roots near the soils surface soak up rain water quickly
before it evaporates.
- Often have dormant phases to survive droughts.

Cactus,
Yucca,
Succulents,
and Pines

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 Grassland Adaptations
 Deep roots help plants survive prairie fires.
 Narrow leaves lose less water than broad
leaves.
 Flexible stems bend in the wind.
Grasses,
Milkweed,
Coneflower, &
Stinging Nettle

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 Tundra Adaptations
 Small plants grow close to the ground for
warmth.
 Dark colored flowers absorb heat from the
sun.
 Fuzzy stems provide protection from wind.

Mosses,
Low growing plants, &
Small berry plants

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 Rainforest Adaptations
 Smooth, slippery bark keeps vines from killing trees.
 Slide shaped leaves lets rain run off so fungus doesn’t grow
on plants.
 Deep growing roots anchor the plant to prevent it from
washing away.
Bamboo,
Mangrove,
Epiphytes such
as Bromeliads
and orchids.

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 Temperate Forest Adaptations
 Thick bark protects trees and dropping leaves
in winter conserves water and nutrients during
cold winters.

Deciduous trees (drop leaves) like birch, beech, oak, and

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maple, ferns, and Northern Arrowwood shrubs 63
 Water Adaptations
 Flexible stems move with water currents.
 Floating seeds spread offspring.
 Air pockets in stems at the base of leaves to
help leaves float.

Water Lily, Lotus,

& Hornwort

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 Parasitic Plants
 Have roots that can draw nutrients from another
living plant.
 Do not require soil.

Mistletoe,
Rafflesia,
Yellow rattle, and
Australian
Christmas tree

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Carnivorous Plants
• Derives some of their food by trapping and
consuming animals (mainly insects)
• Because they eat bugs they can live in areas
with poor soil (esp soil not rich in nitrogen.

Venus Fly Trap, Monkey cup,

Sundew, and Cobra Lily
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 Course work
a. Describe the different forms of land use and how they impact
on the life of plants and animals
b. Discuss how man can contribute in managing
i. animal population in wild life
ii. plant population.

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