APES- Terrestrial Biomes Review

Vocabulary
Understand and be able to apply each of these terms.

1. Biome: Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on Earth and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the Earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a large area, creating a typical ecosystem over that area.

2. Climate: The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, terrain, and altitude and nearby bodies of water and their currents. The average and typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation can determine the classification of climate.

3. Rainshadow: A rainshadow is a dry area located on the leeward (backside) of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them.

4. Windward: Windward is the direction upwind from the point of reference. Windward sides of mountains tend to receive higher than average precipitation.

5. Leeward: It is the opposite side of the mountain of the windward side. Leeward sides tend to receive lower than average precipitation.

6. Latitude: Latitude in geography is know as a geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the Earth's surface. Lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run east-west as circles parallel to the equator.

7. Altitude: The altitude is another way of saying the way height is defined based on the context in which it is used. To mean the height above sea level is the common way the term altitude is used.

8. Primary Succession: Primary succession is one of two types of biological and ecological succession of plant life, occurring in an environment in which new substrate devoid of vegetation and usually lacking soil, such as a lava flow or area left from retreated glacier, is deposited. In other words, it is the gradual growth of an ecosystem over a longer period.

9. Secondary Succession: Secondary succession is a process started by an event that reduces an already established ecosystem to a smaller population of species. Examples of this are forest fires, harvesting, and hurricanes. Secondary succession occurs on preexisting soil.

10. Tropical: Tropical is sometimes used in a general sense for a tropical climate to mean warm to hot and moist year-round, often with the sense of lush vegetation.

11. Temperate: In geography, temperature latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar regions. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold.

12. Desert: A desert is an area that features a climate that usually experiences less than 250 mm of precipitation per year and in some years may experience no precipitation at all. In some instances, an area may experience more than 250 mm of precipitation annually, but is considered a desert climate because the region loses more water through evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation.

13. Polar: Polar region receive less intensive solar radiation because the sun's energy arrives at an oblique angle, spreading over a larger area, and also travel's a longer distance through the Earth's atmosphere in which it may be absorbed, scattered or reflected, which is the same thing that causes winters to be colder than the rest of the year in temperate areas.

Critical Thinking
Read, analyze, and give complete answers to these questions.

1. Describe the rainshadow effect and explain how it can alter the climate of the windward and leeward

sides of a mountain range. In a rainshadow effect air is cooled as it rises and heated as it descends, this often produces a wet and dry side because the water-holding capacity of the air is directly related to air temperature.

2. What effect does living near a large ocean or lake have on average air temperatures? Why?- Explain. Areas near large bodies of water tend to have higher than average precipitation, especially in areas on the leeward side of the water. The windward side is more cooler and has higher than average precipitation, while the leeward side is more dry. When there is wind near a large body of water it picks up water then releasing it on what will be the windward side. 3. Complete this summary chart of the land-based ecosystems.

Equatorial, Polar or Mid-Latitude? Precipitation (High, Low, Seasonal) Average Temperature (High, Low, Seasonal) Example Animal and Plant Adaptations Tropical Desert
Mid-Latitude Low High Scorpions & Creosote Bush

Temperate Desert
Mid-Latitude Low High African Elephant & Shrubs

Polar Desert

Polar Seasonal Low Polar Bears & Ice

Tropical Grasslands
Equatorial Low High Leopard & Baobab Tree

Temperate Grasslands
Equatorial Seasonal Seasonal Deer & crops and flowers

Polar Grasslands
Polar Seasonal Seasonal Arctic Hares & Reindeer mosses

Chaparral
Mid-Latitude Low Seasonal Black-tailed Jackrabbit & Blue oak

Tropical Rainforest
Equatorial

High Seasonal Bengal Tiger & Coconut Tree

Deciduous Forest
Mid-Latitude High Seasonal American Eagle & Pecan

Coniferous Forest (Taiga)

Equatorial High Low Kermode Bear & Balsam Fri Tree

Temperate Rainforest
Equatorial High High Brown and Black Bears & Fireweed

Mountains
Equatorial Low Low Bobcat & Sequoia

4. For each category of biomes, give a major human impact and list 2 endangered species:

a. Deserts A major human impact on deserts is off roading, which kills off vegetation. Two endangered species in deserts are kangaroo rats and ocelots. b. Grasslands A major human impact on grasslands is when large areas of grassland are turned into farmlands to grow crops and rear cattle. Another impact is when fires are started by humans and run through grasslands quickly and damage the soil. Two endangered species in grasslands are the asian elephant and the west african giraffe. c. Forests A major human impact on forests is that humans are cutting down trees for houses, ships, furniture, and paper. Two endangered species in forests are the redcockaded woodpecker and the northern spotted owl. d. Mountains A major human impact on mountains is logging. Two endangered species in mountains are the canada lynx and gunnison's prairie dog.