What determines terrestrial biomes?
Dominant type of vegetation, temperature, precipitation, latitude, and elevation.
Climographs show predicted biomes based on relationships between climate and vegetation types.
What is a climograph?
A graphical representation that shows the relationship between climate (temperature and precipitation) and vegetation types.
It helps predict the biome for a specific area.
What are the characteristics of rainforests?
Constant temperature, high rainfall, woody species dominance, epiphytes, competition for light, high species diversity.
Located close to the equator.
What is the structure of a rainforest?
High species diversity and five layers with very little light at the bottom.
The bottom layer typically has ferns and mosses.
What defines deciduous tropical forests?
Constant temperatures, seasonal dry periods, and lower species diversity.
Found in India, central Africa, and Southeast Asia.
What are the key features of savannas?
Insufficient rainfall for dense trees, grasslands, shrubs, and short trees.
Found in South America, Australia, and Africa.
What characterizes deserts?
Extreme low precipitation (<20 cm/year), temperatures mostly above freezing, and specialized vegetation for water conservation.
Located above 30 degrees north and below 30 degrees south latitudes.
What are the main features of grasslands?
Temperate zones with seasonal climate, adequate rainfall for diverse species, grasses dominate with other species.
Not typically forested.
What are temperature deciduous forests?
Forests with seasonal or continuous rainfall, warm summers, and freezing winters dominated by deciduous trees.
Mostly found in the northern hemisphere.
What defines temperate mixed and conifer forests?
Similar to deciduous forests, occur with more snowfall and colder winters, often in nutrient-deficient soils.
Found in the northern hemisphere.
What are the characteristics of Mediterranean scrub (heathlands)?
Distinctive shrub communities, hot dry summers, cool moist winters, and fire-adapted species.
Typically found in coastal areas.
What defines taiga or boreal forests?
Short, very cold winters, long summer days, sufficient precipitation, acidic soils, and presence of permafrost.
Located in northern Canada and Russia.
What are the main features of arctic tundra?
Treeless zone above the Arctic Circle, long summer days, little precipitation, mostly evergreen species.
Most precipitation is frozen at the surface.
What is phylogeny?
The evolutionary history of a group of organisms represented in a phylogenetic tree.
What are shared morphological characteristics?
Physical traits that are common among groups, such as leaves in tracheophytes and embryophytes.
What is ploidy?
The number of chromosome sets present in a cell or organism, with 2n for diploid and n for haploid.
What are the outcomes of mitosis and meiosis?
Mitosis results in identical daughter cells; meiosis results in daughter cells with half the genetic material.
Meiosis only occurs in diploid cells.
What are the three types of life cycles in plants?
- Zygotic meiosis
- Gametic meiosis
- Sporic meiosis
What is the dominant life phase in zygotic meiosis?
Haploid phase is dominant, with two fusing haploid gametes forming a diploid zygote.
What is the dominant life phase in gametic meiosis?
Diploid phase is dominant, with gametes fusing to form a diploid zygote.
What occurs in the life cycle involving sporic meiosis?
Cells undergo meiosis to produce spores, which grow into haploid gametophytes that produce gametes through mitosis.
What is oogamy?
A type of reproduction typical of true plants involving a large egg and smaller sperm.
