Biome Characteristics Countries Temperature and Species Present
Precipitation Tropical very high annual Tropical rain Temperature: 70 Species: anaconda, Rainforest rainfall forests to 85°F (21 to epiphytes, orchids, high average straddle the 30°C) philodendron, rafflesia, temperatures equator in Precipitation: pitcher plant, venus flytrap, nutrient-poor soil three major 300- 400 cm/year boa constrictor, red high levels of regions: junglefowl, monkey spider, biodiversity Southeast tigers, crocodiles (species richness). Asia West Africa, South America. – Others: Southeast Asia Laos Indonesia Thailand Vietnam Brunei Madagascar Brazil Australia Savanna Grasses and trees - Southern The average Australian savannas include The savanna is a portion of temperature is kangaroos, large flocks of rolling grassland Africa 24°C - 29°C birds, wallabies, koala, with scattered Central Precipitation: 76.2 dingo, ostriches, aardvark, trees and shrubs. Australia – 127 cm/year gazelles, gnu (wildebeests), Rainy and dry Northwest zebra, giraffes, rhinoceros, seasons - Savannas India meerkats, warthogs, jackal, have two distinct Pakistan hyena seasons in regards Venezuela to precipitation. Brazil There is a rainy season in the summer with around 15 to 25 inches of rain and a dry season in the winter when only a couple of inches of rain may fall. Large herds of animals - There are often large herds of grazing animals on the savanna that thrive on the abundance of grass and trees. Warm - The savanna stays pretty warm all year. It cools down some during the dry season, but stays warm and humid during the rainy season. Desert Deserts are Vast areas of The maximum Cactus, spurge, succulents, primarily defined North Africa temperature for euphorbia, velvet ant, by their lack of the Middle desert is 50°C camel, scorpion, snakes, rain. East Precipitation: Less vultures, armadillo They generally get northwestern than 30 cm/year 10 inches or less parts of the rain in a year. Indian Deserts are Subcontinent, characterized in an interior overall lack of Australia water. and smaller They have dry soil, areas of the little to no surface Southwester water, and high n United evaporation. They States, and are so dry that Chile. sometimes rain evaporates before it can hit the ground. Deserts are so dry and their humidity is so low, they have no "blanket" to help insulate the ground. As a result, they may get very hot during the day with the sun beating down, but don't hold the heat overnight. Many deserts can quickly get cold once the sun sets. Some deserts can reach temperatures of well over 100 degrees F during the day and then drop below freezing (32 degrees F) during the night. Chaparral The chaparral around the The temperature Some of these plants are biome is a part of Mediterranean Sea range is between poison oak, scrub oak, each continent and and in North -1°C and 21° C Yucca Wiple and other consists of various America, where they shrubs, trees and cacti. extend from The The animals are all mainly types of terrain California into average rainfall is grassland and desert types including northern Mexico. 25 to 43 cm/year adapted to hot, dry mountains and They are also found weather. A few examples: plains. in central Chile, coyotes, jack rabbits, mule It is often southern Australia, deer, alligator lizards, confused with the and southern Africa horned toads, praying desert biome mantis, honey bee and because they ladybugs. share many similarities such as both being hot and dry. The chaparral biome receives more rainfall per year than the desert biome. The fires that commonly occur during this period are necessary for the germination of many shrub seeds and also serve to clear away dense ground cover, thus maintaining the shrubby growth form of the vegetation by preventing the spread of trees. Chaparral returns to its pre-fire density within about 10 years but may become grassland by too frequent burning.
Temperate Grasslands are These include the Temperature: Herbaceous plants:
Grassland wide expanses of tall grass prairie of -40°C to 38°C buttercup, anemone, land filled with low North America and ranunculus, iris, and other growing plants such pampas of South Precipitation - 30 wildflowers; - animals: as grasses and America (Bolivia, – 100 cm/year bison, pronghorns, wildflowers. Panama, Latin Asia, antelopes, saiga, meerkats, The soil of the etc.), where rainfall burrowing owls temperate is moderate and soils grasslands is deep are rich, and the and dark, with short grass steppes fertile upper of Central Asia layers. (Russia, Mongolia, The amount of rain etc.), typical of more is not enough to semiarid conditions grow tall trees and produce a forest, but it is enough to not form a desert. The temperate grasslands have seasons including a hot summer and a cold winter. Temperate The temperate large cities, such as Temperature: 0°C Vegetation: eucalyptus, Forest forest biome is one Tokyo, Beijing, - 35°C birch tree, redwoods - of the world's Moscow, Warsaw, Animals: squirrels, major habitats. Berlin, Paris, London, Precipitate: 70- chipmunks Temperate forests New York, 200 cm/year are characterized Washington, D.C., as regions with Boston, Toronto, high levels of Chicago, and precipitation, Seattle, are all built humidity, and a on lands that once variety of supported a deciduous trees. temperate forest. Deciduous trees are trees that lose But recently: Most their leaves in temperate, winter. deciduous (leaf- Decreasing shedding) forests temperatures and are located in the shortened daylight eastern United hours in fall mean States, Canada, decreased Europe, China, photosynthesis for Japan, and parts of plants. Thus, these Russia. trees shed their leaves in fall and bud new leaves in spring when warmer temperatures and longer hours of daylight return. Temperate forest can be found between 30° and 55° latitude. However, the majority of this biome lies between 40° and 50°. - Primary production in temperate forests is less than tropical forests, but can be very high Taiga The taiga has The largest Temperature: - The dominant plant in the several taiga forest 50°C - 20°C taiga is the coniferous characteristics covers much evergreen tree. These that distinguish it of Precipitation: 30- trees include spruce, pine, from the other northern 70 cm/year cedar, and fir trees. They forest biomes: Russia and grow close together Evergreen trees - Siberia. forming a canopy over the This forest is Other major land, like an umbrella. This covered with taiga forests canopy soaks up the sun and evergreen, or include only lets a little bit of coniferous, trees. North sunlight through to the These are trees America ground. that don't drop (Canada and their leaves, or Alaska) The conifers of the taiga needles, in the Scandinavia produce their seeds in winter. They keep (Finland, cones. They also have their leaves so Norway, and needles for leaves. Needles they can soak up as Sweden). are good at holding in water much sunlight for and surviving the harsh cold as long as possible. winds each winter. The The dark green trees also grow in a cone color of their shape. This helps the snow leaves also helps to slide off their branches. them to soak up more sun and gain Under the canopy of the more energy trees, few other plants through grow. In some moist areas photosynthesis. plants such as ferns, Cold weather - The sedges, mosses, and berries taiga has the will grow. coldest weather of the forest biomes. The animals of the taiga Winters can get as must be able to survive the cold as -60 degrees cold winters. Some animals, F. Winter can last like birds, migrate to the for six months with south for the winter. the temperature Insects lay eggs that can averaging below survive the winter and then freezing. Summers die. Other animals, like are warmer, but squirrels, store up food for very short. the winter while others The precipitation is hibernate by going into a only slightly more long, deep sleep. than the desert or the tundra. Predators of this biome Average include the lynx, wolverines, precipitation is Cooper's hawk, and wolves. between 12 and 30 Other animals include inches per year. It moose, the snowshoe hare, falls as rain in the deer, elk, bears, chipmunks, summer and snow in bats, and woodpeckers. the winter. Thin layer of soil - Because the leaves don't fall from the trees, like in the temperate forest, the layer of good soil is thin. Also, the cold weather causes a slow rate of decay taking it longer for nutrients to get back into the soil. Short growing season - With a long winter and short summer, plants don't have a lot of time to grow in the taiga. The growing season only lasts for around three months. This compares to at least six months in the temperate forest and a year round growing season in the rainforest. Tundra The tundra biome Alaska Temperature: Perennial herbaceous is a cold and Canada -30°C - 10°C plants, especially grasses, treeless plain Russia sedges, mosses, and lichens. where harsh Greenland The lichens, associations of conditions make it Iceland Precipitation: 20- fungi and algae, are eagerly hard for plants and Scandinavia 60 cm/year up to eaten by reindeer and animals alike to sub-Antarctic 100 cm/year caribou. The woody survive. Around islands. vegetation of the tundra 20% of the Earth's consists of dwarf willows land surface is and birches along with a covered with variety of low-growing tundra. shrubs. - Reindeers, arctic It's cold - The fox, collared lemming, dull tundra is the sheep/ mountain goat, grey coldest of the wolves, muskox, polar biomes. The bears, arctic owls average temperature in the tundra is around -18 degrees F. It gets much colder in the winter and warmer during its short summer. It's dry - The tundra gets about as much precipitation as the average desert, around 10 inches per year. Most of this is snow. Permafrost - Below the top soil, the ground is permanently frozen year round. It's barren - The tundra has few nutrients to support plant and animal life. It has a short growing season and a slow rate of decay.