Transcript Biomes! - Humble ISD

Biomes!
Biomes:
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Large geographic area that have similar
climates and ecosystems
There are 6 major Biomes!
Tundra:
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Average temperature:
-12°C
Average precipitation: less than 25 cm a year
Location: south of the North Pole
Plant Life: lichens, mosses, grasses, small
shrubs
Animal life: biting insects, migratory birds,
hawks, owls, mice, lemmings, arctic hares,
caribou, reindeer musk oxen
Threats/Problems: overgrazing & construction:
growing season is short so recovery from
damage can take decades.
Taiga:
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Average temperature:
7°C
Average precipitation: 35 - 100cm per year
Location: 50°N to 60°N (Canada, N. Europe, & Asia)
Plant Life: cone-bearing evergreen trees,
mosses, & lichens
Animal life: moose, lynx, shrews, bears, foxes
Difference: warmer, wetter, and soil thaws in
winter
Temperate Deciduous Forest:
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Average temperature:
30°C
Average precipitation: 75 - 150 cm per year
Location: Eastern half of N America, central
Europe
Plant Life: trees that lose their leaves in the fall
Animal life: eagle, bear, coyote, chipmunk,
squirrel, weasel, white-tailed deer
History:: European settlers cleared most of
this forest down for farmland - forest has
since regrown (Secondary Succession)
Tropical Rain Forest:
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Average temperature:
25°C
Average precipitation: 200-600 cm per year
Location: near the equator
Plant Life: Large variety of trees, ferns, exotic
plants (Kapok tree, mangrove trees)
Animal life: monkeys, large cats, lizards,
insects
Why?: soil has very little nutrients; farming
uses nutrients quickly so farmers clear
more forest for new soil… 
Desert:
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Average temperature:
30°C
Average precipitation: less than 25 cm per year
Location: between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic
of Capricorn (32°N and S of the Equator)
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Plant Life:
cactus, yucca, aster
Animal life: tortoise, kangaroo rat, Gila
monster, thorny devil, cactus wren
Human: as we channel water to cities, desert
animals move closer to humans in search
of water
Grasslands:
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Average temperature:
-40°C to 70°C
Average precipitation: 25 - 75 cm per year
Location: N America (prairies), Asia (steppes),
Africa (savanna), S America (pampas)
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Plant Life:
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Animal life:
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Uses:
wide variety of grasses
Coyotes, Eagles, Bobcats, Wolf,
Wild Turkey, Geese, Crickets, Dung Beetle,
wildebeests, zebras, impalas
is great farming land, ranch land