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Biome Summaries |
|
Biome |
Categories |
Precipitation (cm) |
Other Information |
Temperature
(C) |
Plants |
Animals |
|
Grassland |
Savanna |
51-127 |
rainfall conc. in 6-8 mos.
Followed by drought |
high temps/close to equator |
grasses/trees-acacias |
elephants,
giraffes, dik-dik, bush back
|
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temperate grasslands, prairies |
51-88 |
in spring |
hot summers, cool-cold winters
|
dense tall grass |
herding animals |
| |
steppes |
24-51 |
|
hot summers, cool-cold winters |
short (25 cm) grass |
herding animals |
|
forest |
temperate |
75-150 |
even throughout year |
-30 to 30 |
oak, hickory, beech, hemlock, maple, elm |
squirrels, rabbits, birds, deer, bobcats, foxes |
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tropical |
>200 |
even throughout year |
20-25 |
trees, orchids, bromeliads, vines,palms,
buttressed trunks shallow roots |
birds, bats, sm. Mammals, insects |
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taiga |
40-100 |
mostly snow |
very cold! |
Evergreen conifers, pine, fir, and spruce |
woodpeckers, hawks, moose, bear, weasel, lynx, fox
wolf, hares, shrews |
|
tundra |
arctic |
little rainfall |
severe winds, all light summers and all dark
winters, permafrost
low nutrients |
very cold winters |
grows flat on ground, hairs, flowers parabola
shaped, heliotrophic, pollination wind driven |
glycerol in body tissues for antifreeze, white
fur, fat insulation, hibernation, insects live in H2O in winter |
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alpine |
15-25 |
top rocky mountains, no trees |
very cold winters |
shrubbery, lichen and moss, 1700 kinds plants |
lemmins, voles, caribou, hares, squirrels, foxes,
wolves, polar bears, water fowl, birds, fish |
|
Deserts |
hot & dry -arid |
<50
H2O evap. Before hit ground |
cover 20% land |
20-25
extremes -18 to 50 |
shrubs, sm trees, spines, thorns |
nocturnal, few mammals, mostly reptiles,
amphibians have accelerated life cycles, many animals burrow |
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semiarid |
|
|
21 - 27
extremes 10-38 |
spines, thorns |
jack rabbits, kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket
mice, antelope ground squirrels |
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cold |
short moist summer |
|
winter -2 to 4
summer 21-26 |
plants widely scattered 10% cover |
|
|
aquatic |
freshwater |
lakes |
lakes spring, fall overturn |
lakes 3 main layers-epilimnion, warm, thermocline-rapidly
changing, hypolimnion-cool |
light determines plants-phytoplankton to SAV |
insect larvae, insects, fish |
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streams |
|
headwaters cool-cold,
mouth warmer |
speed water flow determines plants mosses-rooted w
phytoplankton according to current |
insects are: shredders, grazers, fish, crayfish,
snails |
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|
marine |
oceans/seas |
light levels determine primary productivity and
somewhat secondary biomass |
above thermocline varies by latitude and season,
below isotherm, 2-4 C |
phytoplankton and SAV in euphotic zones |
great diversity of fauna - all phyla represented
adaptations for cold, lack of light, and viscosity
of medium |
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