biomes simple definition
a large area with similar climate and similar flora (plants and vegetation)
biomes more precise definition
a major ecological community which is classified by the predominant vegetation, climate, and characterized by adaptions of organisms to a particular environment
What are Biomes classified by
their abiotic factors: this includes climate, topographic shape, geology, and soil
What are the characteristics that determine the predominant vegetation
It is determined based off of the abiotic factors that determine biomes (climate, topographic shape, geology, and soil)
What are biomes in terms of human lifes
it is a method to organize and generalize a type of land in an area
what are primary producers
these are photosynthetic organisms (they use light energy and convert it into organic carbon)
- these organisms start the food chain
- without these organisms there are no food chains
what are the impacts of temperature (an abiotic factor that affects a biome)
- temperature is an important factor since the rate of chemical reactions are temperature sensitive (most have a 10 degree range both decrease and increase)
- colder temperatures will result in the plants metabolism to decrease and potentially stop
- warmer temperatures will result in the plants to increase therefore leading to proteins within the plant to break down
What is the impact of winter on vegetation
- it will result in lower photosynthesis rates which will result in no energy input into the system
what happens to the vegetation in extreme environments
they have special adaptations which result in larger temperatures that cause proteins denaturation
- they establish a cold tolerance in order to survive in cooler environments
How does water availability affect a biome (an abiotic factor that influences a biome)
- this factor does not have a huge effect on plant growth
-the availability to water limits the amount of biomass that is present (the products of photosynthesis) - because of this factor, this means that the energy flow in a ecosystem is limited
how does sunlight affect a biome (a abiotic factor)
- sunlight impacts the vegetation in the that fact that sunlight it needed for photosynthesis
- this overall impacts the biomes because of plants can’t grow and reproduce then the food chain can not happen (plants are primary producers)
- in most terrestrial environments sunlight is not the most important limiting abiotic factor
- increasing light intensity will not increase plant productivity
- the amount of sunlight needed by a plant is determined by interacting with the water availability and with temperatures
how does wind affect biomes (a abiotic factor that affects biomes)
- the presence of wind will cause the vegetation to dry out and will cause external plant damage from particles being blown at the plants
- based on this factor it will affect the appears of plants in that region and the type of plants that can be grown
how does rock and soil impact a biomes (a abiotic factor that impacts biomes)
- the type of soil, the quality, and depth of the soil will determine what type of plants are able to grow in that region (this is the case because soil provides nutrients and water to the plants)
How does disturbances impact a biomes (a abiotic factor)
- disturbances are considered to be things such as fires, floods, avalanches, drought, or anything that can harm the biological comunities
what are the overall impacts of the 6 abiotic factors on the biomes
- they all play into the plant distribution (where they are located) and determine the plant communities at that local spot
climate definition
a long-term prevailing weather conditions at a locality
climograph definition
- they are a visual way to display various aspects of climate and predominant vegetation
- these graphs show the interactions between temperature and precipitation in determining predominant vegetation (these two aspects are compared against each other = these equal the axis of the climograph)
what is determined from the climographs
these interactions of the environment are useful for determining the different biomes (biomes are determined from climate)
What are the flaws to the climographs
- they are based on mean temperature and preciption (they do not take into consideration the seasonal change)
- there are multiple ways to classify biomes so this is not the only method
What is the summery of the tropical forest biome
- this region tend to have higher average temperatures
- they get more sunlight per unit of surface area
- this overall biome is organized into subgroups which are based on the amounts and patterns of rainfall
what are the characteristics of the tropical rainforest biome
- has a larger amount of species both plants and animals
- plant vegetation includes tree that are found to be distrubuted across the three top layers of in height, many plants found in the shrub layer, and many of plants found on the ground layer
- this biomes has very little sun light that reaches the floor
- vegetation in this biome is has complex structures
- this biome receives a larger amount of energy from the sun and larger amount of precipitation
- this biome gets higher and wetter temperatures
What are the characteristics of the desert biome
- this region has low precipitation
- due to global air circulation patterns
- these regions can not usually support full year plant growth
- the lack of water supply for the plants in this region have made it so there structure can survive off of the minimual amount of water (their structures are typically smaller in size)
What are the charactistics of the temperate grasslands
- some regions are similar to the savannah dessert while others have seasonally cold winters
- this biome is found all over the world in many different climate regions
- this biome experiences common fire and grazing to prevent the invasion of foreign speices
- this region tends to have thick and rich soil that is full of nutrients
what are the charactersitics of the temperate forest
- this region tends to have high moisture
- this region is known to have moderatly cold winters
- this biome contains many tree species that tend to shed its leaves in the winter and autumn
- this biome is also known as the temperate mixed forest
