Polar Grasslands(Artic Tundra)
• Bitterly cold• Frigid winds, ice, snow• Low Precipitation• No trees!• Short growing season,
low biodiversity
Permafrost: permanently frozen ground
Producer toprimaryconsumer
Primary to secondaryconsumer
Secondary tohigher-levelconsumer
All consumersand producers to decomposers
Lemming
Arcticfox
Horned lark
Mosquito
Grizzly bear
Long-tailed jaeger
Caribou
Willow ptarmiganWillow ptarmigan
Snowy owlSnowy owl
Dwarf willowDwarf willow
Mountain cranberryMountain cranberry
Moss campionMoss campion
PolarGrasslands(Artic tundra)
Oil production and off-road vehicles in arctic tundra
Overgrazing by livestock
Release of CO2 to atmosphere from grassland burning
Conversion to cropland
Grasslands
Natural Capital Degradation
Temperate Shrubland or Chaparral
• Dense growth of low-growing, evergreen shrubs
• Mild winters• Long, hot, dry summers• Referred to as
“Mediterranean climate” along coastal areas • People like to live in
this biome
Chaparral
• Chaparral has a moderate climate but its dense thickets of spiny shrubs are subject to periodic fires.
Figure 5-18
Temperate coniferous forests Temperate deciduous forests Tropical rain forests
Forest Biomes
FOREST BIOMES• Variations in
annual temperature (red) and precipitation (blue) in tropical, temperate, and polar forests.
Tropical rain forest
(Manaus, Brazil)
Temperate deciduous forest
(Nashville, Tennessee)
Polar evergreen coniferous forest (boreal forest, taiga)(Moscow, Russia)
Tropical Rain Forests
• Warm temperatures• High humidity• Heavy daily rainfall
• Most biologically diverse biome
• Nutrient poor soils
Shrublayer
Canopy
Emergentlayer
UnderstoryUnderstory
GroundlayerGroundlayer
Harpyeagle
Tocotoucan
Woolyopossum
BraziliantapirBlack-crowned
antpitta0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45H
eigh
t (m
eter
s)
stratification
Temperate Rainforest
• Occurs in coastal temperate areas– Coast of North America
from Canada to northern California
• Ample rainfall or moist, dense ocean fogs
• Spruce, Douglas fir, redwoods
Temperate Deciduous
Forest
• Long, warm summers• Cold winters• Abundant
precipitation• Nutrient rich soils
Producer to primaryconsumer
Primaryto secondaryconsumer
Secondary tohigher-levelconsumer
All producers andconsumers todecomposers
Bacteria
Fungi
Wood frog
Racer
Shagbark hickory
White-taileddeer
White-footedmouse
White oak
Graysquirrel
Hairywoodpecker
Broad-wingedhawk
Long-tailedweaselLong-tailedweasel
May beetleMay beetle
MountainwinterberryMountainwinterberry
Metallic wood-boringbeetle and
Metallic wood- boring beetle and larvae
Evergreen Coniferous Forests ‘Boreal’ or ‘Taiga’
• 60° N Latitude• Long, dry and extremely
cold winters• Short, mild summers• Plant diversity is low• Deep layer of
decomposed conifer needles provide rich source of peat bogs
• Boreal = Northern
Producer to primaryconsumer
Primaryto secondaryconsumer
Secondary tohigher-levelconsumer
All producers andconsumers todecomposers
Bacteria Bunchberry
Starflower
Fungi
Snowshoehare
Bebbwillow
Moose
Wolf
Balsam fir
Blue jay Greathornedowl
Greathornedowl
WhitespruceWhitespruce
Pine sawyer Pine sawyer beetle and larvae
MartenMarten
Human impacts on forests• Clearing of tropical forests for agriculture,
livestock grazing, and timber• Clearing of temperate deciduous forests
for timber, agriculture and urban development
• Clearing of evergreen coniferous forests• Conversion of diverse forests to less
diverse tree plantations
Tree Plantation(monoculture)
MOUNTAIN BIOMES• High-elevation
islands of biodiversity
• Often have snow-covered peaks that reflect solar radiation and gradually release water to lower-elevation streams and ecosystems.
Natural Capital Degradation
Mountains
Agriculture
Timber extraction
Mineral extraction
Hydroelectric dams and reservoirsIncreasing tourism
Urban air pollution
Increased ultraviolet radiationfrom ozone depletion
Soil damage from off-roadvehicles
HUMAN IMPACTS ON TERRESTRIAL BIOMES
• Human activities have damaged or disturbed more than half of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems.
• Humans have had a number of specific harmful effects on the world’s deserts, grasslands, forests, and mountains.
Wetlands
• Saturated soil, all or part of the year
• Anaerobic conditions• Swamps, marshes, bogs• Very biodiverse!• Water purification
Fresh Waters
• Ponds, lakes, streams & rivers
• Phytoplankton• Debris from land
Other Aquatic biomes…
• Intertidal = the most awesome biome• Open ocean = low productivity (no nutrients or
phytoplankton)• Benthos = bottom of the ocean, no photosynthesis• Coral reefs = high biodiversity, high productivity
(increase in temp causes bleaching)• Upwellings = off coast, bring nutrients from the depths,
very productive! (El Nino disrupts it)• Thermal vents, black smokers = chemosynthetic,
diverse community, @ divergent plate boundaries
Climatogramshows temperature and precipitation patterns
What causes distribution?
• Evolution– Natural selection
• Geography• Climate• Chance
Biomes and Diversity
• Species diversity within a biome is directly related to– Availability of moisture/water– Temperature– Net Productivity
There are common themes in climate that will help you determine what biome you’re seeing!
Tundra!
Temperate orMid-Latitude
Tropical
Desert
Rainforest
Savannah
Deciduous Forest
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