Transcript Organisms and Ecosystems

Ch12 lesson 2
Objective: To know that climates and the types of life that they
support define biomes on Earth. Ecological roles are the same in
different biomes but may be filled by different species.
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Would you expect to find a penguin living in
the jungles of Africa? How about a lion at the
north pole? Earth’s communities of plants
and animals live in a range of climates. Some
organisms can survive only in tropical areas.
Others are adapted to life in regions with ice
and snow. What organisms live in your
region?
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Earth has six
major biomes, or
land zones, that
support a
different type of
ecological
communities.
See an animation
about biomes.
ca6.msscience.co
m
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Tundra:
◦ In the polar tundra,
the ground may stay
frozen all year. Little
water or sunlight is
available in winter.
Tundra vegetation is
limited to small
plants that can
survive the cold, dark
winter.
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Taiga:
◦ South of the Tundra,
most soils in the
taiga thaw in the
summer. Taigas are
heavily forested and
are home for moose,
lynx, shrews, bears,
and foxes.
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Temperate
Deciduous Forest:
◦ Temperate regions
usually have four
distinct seasons each
year, with cold
winters and hot
summers. Between
75 and 150 cm of
rain falls a year, but
one season usually
not much wetter than
another.
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Rain Forests:
◦ Tropical Rain Forests
arte located near the
equator. More
species of plants and
animals are found
here than anywhere
else on Earth.
Temperate Rain
Forests found near
the coasts, have huge
evergreen trees.
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Grasslands:
◦ Grasslands usually have
poor soil and uneven
rainfall throughout the
year. Animals found in
grasslands include coyotes,
eagles, bobcats, crickets,
dung beetles, bison, and
prairie dogs. A chaparral is
a hot, dry grassland found
in coastal regions. Winters
is mild, usually about 10
Summers
are hot-up to 40 degrees
Celsius- and dry that
fires and droughts are
common.
degrees Celsius.

Desert:
◦ Deserts cover about onefifth of Earth’s land
surface and are very dry.
Some deserts are hot with
little rain throughout the
year. Other deserts have
cold winters with some
snow.
◦ Desert plants include
cacti that store water in
their thick leaves. The
animals include rodents,
lizards, snakes, spiders,
and a few birds.
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Habitats: Is the place
an organism lives.
Each species in a
habitat has its own
niche, or role, in the
environment—how it
obtains food and
shelter, cares for its
young, and avoids
danger.