10+Terrestrial+Biomes - Terrestrial Biomes What you should...

What you should know
after this lecture:
Ecosystem vs. biome
Main biomes & their characteristics
Which factors determine those characteristics
- climate (temperature, precipitation)
- latitude
- soil
- disturbances (fire)
Terrestrial Biomes

Biome : - determined by large scale climatic factors
- defined by vegetation characteristics
Tropical rain forest Tropical savanna Tundra
Ecosystem : functional unit of plants, animals & microorganisms
and their environment
Tropical rain forest
Cameroon, Central Africa
Tropical rain forest
Ecuador, South America

Terrestrial Biomes
1. Tropical rainforest
2. Tropical dry forest
3. Tropical savanna
4. Desert
5. Mediterranean woodland & shrubland
6. Temperate grassland
7. Temperate forest
8. Boreal forest
9. Tundra
10. Alpine tundra
classify by: - dominant vegetation
- climate
- soil & fire properties
Potential distribution
(actual distribution
affected by human
activities)

Characterizing climate: climate diagrams
precipitation
months with average min.
temp. above freezing
temperature
Note change
in axis scale

to distinguish biomes,
note: - absolute temp. & precipitation
- relationship between
temp. & precip.
(indicates water availability)
- # months above freezing

Whittaker’s Climate Diagram
Focus on average temperature & annual precipitation
Problem:
discards:
seasonality;
fire;
soil conditions
‑
affect which biome
is present


most within 10
o
latitude

low temp. seasonality

high rainfall; never < 10 cm /month
Tropical Rainforests

lush vegetation, high biodiversity: