UNIT 3

Biomes

Complete the chart. Browse each biome and fill the chart below.

TYPE OF PLANTS AND TEMPATURE/

BIOMES DESRIPTION
ANIMALS CLIMATE

 short, long-lived
 a treeless biome plants, generally
 is a biome of short growing less than 5-10
vegetation growing cm above the surface.
occurs in environments
in climatically with a long, cold winter and
TUNDRA stressed  shrubs growing as tall a short, cool growing
environments of the as 1-2 m, while wetter season
Arctic and habitats support
Antarctic and on productive meadows
mountaintops. of sedge, cotton grass,
and grass
 occupies about 17
percent of Earth’s
land surface area in
 dominated by
a circumpolar belt coniferous trees,
especially species of
of the far Northern  cold winter, short
Hemisphere. fir, larch, pine, and
but warm growing
TAIGA spruce. Some
 The boreal angiosperm trees may
season, and moist
coniferous forest soil
also be prominent,
(taiga) is extensive particularly aspen,
in northern regions birch, and poplar
of Canada, Alaska,
and Eurasia.
The animals living
here have long legs for
escaping predators and
usually are seen in
 Savanna, also
herds. A combination
spelled savannah, of fire and grazing  Tropical grassland
vegetation type animals are important and savannah occur
that grows under for maintaining the in regions with as
SAVANNA hot, seasonally dry much as 120 cm of
savannah.
climatic annual rainfall, but
conditions and is
 dominated by grasses a pronounced dry
characterized by an and herbaceous season
open tree canopy angiosperms, with
scattered shrubs and
tree-sized plants that
provide an open
canopy
 a forest found  dominated by a  relatively moist,
TEMPERATE FOREST between the mixture of hardwood temperate climates
tropical and tree species with a short,
 boreal regions, moderately cold
located in the winter and warm
temperate zone summer.
 trees between 100 and
200 feet tall.
 mix of small trees,
 found in Asia, vines, and palms as
Africa, South well as shrubs and
America, Central ferns
America, and on  herbs, mosses, and
many of the Pacific fungi grow.  The combination of
islands. They are  animals of the tropical heat and moisture
TROPICAL FOREST often found along rainforest are the makes this biome
the equator. Almost anteater, jaguar, the perfect
half of the world's brocket deer, lemur, environment
tropical rainforests orangutan, marmoset,
are in the South macaw, parrot, sloth,
American country and toucan. Among the
Brazil. many plant species are
bamboo, banana trees,
rubber trees, and
cassava
 Elephants, bison,  cold winters and
 Grasslands cheetahs, gazelles, warm summers
are areas where lions, and tigers are with some rain
the vegetation is some of the large
dominated by animals living on  grasses die back to
grasses grasslands. Rabbits, their roots annually
GRASSLANDS and the soil and the
 A few trees may be gophers, prairie dogs,
and many bird, lizard, sod protect the
found in this biome
and snake species are roots and the new
along the streams,
some of the small buds from the cold
but not many due to
animals that live there of winter or dry
the lack of rainfall.
as well. conditions
 The desert biome
covers about one-
 A few animals—  The four main
fifth of Earth's
mainly reptiles, like types of desert
surface. This
snakes and lizards, and include hot and dry
biome has a layer
DESERTS amphibians, like frogs deserts, semi-arid
of soil that can
and toads— are well deserts, coastal
either be sandy,
adapted to the hot deserts, and cold
gravelly, or stony,
desert deserts
depending on the
type of desert
DRY FORESTS  Coastal Dry Forests  Animal life  Dry forests in
are a unique includes Merriam's which most trees
ecosystem with kangaroo, a small lose their leaves in
high levels of nocturnal rat that stays the dry season
endemism in burrows during the receive 32-71 in of
(containing many heat of the day. rain a year, with 5
species found Lizards make up 40 consecutive months
nowhere else). percent of the averaging less than
These forests are vertebrates living in 4 inches each.
characterized by a the forest. Other Monthly
pronounced dry animals include temperatures
 average above
season during part shrews, bats, coyotes, 64.4° F all year
of the year, which foxes, ringtails, long.
provokes a variety raccoons, badgers,  Most have closed
of adaptations in bobcats and mountain canopies that are
plants and animals. lions. deciduous during
the dry season.