Biomes

J. Quigley- 2015

Biomes

• A biome is a large group of ecosystems that share the same type of climax community.

• Biomes on land have the same climate, temperature and rainfall

• Biomes in the ocean have the same amount of light and depth

Marine Biomes

• Different parts of the ocean differ in physical factors and in the organisms that live there

• The oceans contain the largest amount of biomass of any biome on earth

Marine Biomes• One of the ways ecologists study marine biomes is to

separate them into zones of depth:– Shallow and sunlit– Deep and unlit

Marine Biomes• The portion of the marine biome that is shallow enough for

sunlight to penetrate is called the photic zone. • Shallow marine environments exist along the coastlines of all

landmasses on earth• These costal ecosystems include: rocky shores, shallow seas,

sandy beaches and coral reefs• Plants can make energy using photosynthesis in their photic

zone, because there is sunlight.

Marine Biomes• Tides… twice a day the

gravitational pull of the sun and moon cause the rise and fall of the ocean tides

• The portion of the shoreline that lies between the high and low tide lines is called the intertidal zone

• The size of this zone depends on upon the slope of the land and the height of the tide

Marine Biomes

• Intertidal ecosystems have high levels of sunlight, nutrients and oxygen but productivity may be limited by waves crashing against the shore

• Intertidal zones differ in rockiness and wave action

• Common animals in the intertidal zone are snails, sea stars, mussels, barnacles, clams, worms and crabs

Marine Biomes• Deeper water that never

receives sunlight makes up the aphotic zone. The aphotic zone includes the deepest, least explored areas of the ocean

• Organisms in the aphotic zone must survive without plants because plants cannot grow without sunlight.

Marine Biomes• Deep organisms either get energy from “ocean snow” dead

debris floating downward or from deep sea hydrothermal vents where hot gasses from the center of the earth release heat and chemicals. Some organisms create energy from the chemicals, this process is called chemosynthesis

Marine Biomes

• Tide Pools are pools of water left when the water recedes at low tide.

• A tide pool can land lock the organisms that live in the intertidal zone until the next high tide.

Marine Biomes• Tide pools vary greatly in

nutrient and oxygen levels from the nearby ocean. Since the tide pool is small, organisms living in there use up the oxygen more quickly than in the big ocean. They often start with a slightly higher oxygen content than the big ocean because of the frothy oxygen catching waves.

In the Light

• As you move away from the intertidal zone and into the deeper water, the ocean bottom is less and less affected by the waves and tides. Many organisms live in this shallow water region that surrounds most continents and islands.

• Nutrients washed from the land by rainfall contribute to the abundant life and high productivity of this region of the photic zone

• Coral reefs have some of the greatest diversity on the planet

In the light• The photic zone of the marine biome also includes the vast expanse

of open ocean that covers most of the earth’s surface.• Most organisms in the open ocean are plankton: small organisms

that live in the waters of the photic zone. Some are photosynthetic called phytoplankton and some eat organic material and are called zooplankton.

• Plankton is the bottom of the food chain for all other organisms that live in the open ocean

In the Dark• Imagine darkness blacker

than night and pressure so intense it exerts hundreds of pounds of weight on every square inch of your body’s surface…

• 90% of the ocean is like this. More than a kilometer deep, extreme pressure and no light.

In the Dark

• Even though animals living in deep are way beneath the photic zone where plankton live, they still depend on the plankton for food by eating organisms that feed on the plankton.

Freshwater Biomes• Freshwater biomes

include: rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and creeks

• Freshwater is produced by precipitation. Precipitation is rain and snow which comes down on the surface of the earth and eventually makes rivers, streams and lakes

Freshwater Biomes• Shallow freshwater is a

great home for tadpoles, aquatic insects and crayfishes

• A deep lakes get much colder as the water gets deeper. Also light decreases as the lake deepens.

• Rivers and streams are full of fish like salmon and trout

Ice• The Ice Biome is refers to

the large polar cap found in the freezing environments in the Arctic, Greenland and Antarctic (basically the north and south pole)

• Ice Biome includes both marine organisms living in the water and animals that live in the ice

Ice

• It is below freezing year round

• There are no plants on land because it is ICE

• There are plankton in the water (some plankton are photosynthetic

• Some algae is able to grow on the snow

Ice• Few animals live in the polar

ice biome because they have to be adapted to extremely cold conditions to live here.– Beluga Whale– Killer Whale– Penguins (south pole)– Harbor Seals– Polar Bear (north pole)– Arctic Wolf (north pole)– Walrus

TUNDRA• Closest to the north pole is the Tundra. • Tundra is treeless with long summer days

and short periods of winter sunlight • Temperatures in the tundra never rise

above freezing for long, only the topmost layer of soil thaws during the summer resulting permafrost

• Permafrost has stayed frozen for thousands of years! Some species of extinct organisms, like the mammoth, have been found in permafrost hundreds and thousands of years after their extinction!

Tundra• Soil is very thin, so only

shallow rooted plants grow here. Mostly grasses and very small plants

• Because of the cold, decay and recycling of nutrients is very slow, so the soil is nutrient poor

• Mosquitos and other biting insects are very common here

Tundra• Tundra is home to a variety

of small animals such as:– Lemmings– Weasels– Arctic foxes– Snowshoe hares– Snowy owls– Hawks

• And a few larger animals– Musk Oxen– Caribou– Reindeer

Taiga

• Just south of the tundra lies the taiga

• The Taiga is sometimes called the “Northern Coniferous Forest”

• It contains a lot of coniferous trees

• Conifers have needles instead of leaves and stay green year round

Taiga• Conifers of the Taiga are:– Larch– Fir

– Hemlock – Spruce

Taiga

• Taiga is somewhat warmer and wetter than the Tundra

• The ground is waterlogged and sometimes swampy

• Weather is still harsh, with long severe winters and short, mild summers

Taiga• Because there are so many

trees, the Taiga provides more food and shelter than the Tundra and has more species of animals. Such as:– Lynx– Bears– Minks– Squirrels– Grey wolves– Moose– Red Fox

Desert

• The desert is an arid (dry) region with sparse to almost no plant life

• Deserts usually get less than 25 cm of precipitation a year

• The Atacama Desert in Chile, the world’s driest place has an annual rainfall of 0!!!

Desert• Vegetation in deserts

varies greatly depending on water

• Areas that receive more rain have more plants than areas with less water

• Some desert plants are:– Cactus– Creosote Bushes– Mesquite

Desert

• Most desert mammals are small herbivores that remain under cover during the heat of the day

• Desert is home to MANY reptiles

• It is also home to predators

Desert

• Common desert animals:– Snakes– Tortoise– Lizards– Kangaroo Rat– Insects– Coyotes– Hawks– Roadrunners– Bats

Grasslands

• Grasslands are large communities covered with grasses and small plants

• They occur in climates that experience a dry season where there isn’t enough rain to maintain a forest

Grasslands• Grasslands are called

different things in different countries, but are basically the same as far as rainfall (25-75 cm a year) and climate

• Animals vary greatly from continent to continent.

• Other names for grasslands are: prairies, savannas, pampas, and steppes

Grasslands

• Grasslands contain fewer than 10-15 trees per 10 acres!

• This biome is the largest terrestrial biome and has about 100 different species per acre!

• Soil is fairly healthy and is great for growing grasses and small plants

Grasslands

• Plants:– Oats– Rye– Wheat– Wildflowers– Sunflowers– Many species of grass

Grasslands

• Because of the amount of plants to feed on, grasslands are full of large herbivores:– Bison/buffalo– Deer– Elk– Elephant– Giraffe– Hippopotamus

Grasslands• It is also home to many

small mammals like mice, rats, ferrets and other rodents

• It has a lot of predators also:– Lion– Wolf– Fox

• Grasslands are also home to many species of birds, insects and reptiles

Temperate Forest• When precipitation ranges

from about 70cm to 150cm per year and has more moderate weather a temperate forest forms

• A temperate forests are dominated by broad leaved hard wood trees that lose their leaves each year (deciduous trees)

Temperate Forest

• Common animals are: squirrels, mice, rabbits, deer and bears. Many birds such as blue jays and owls live in the forest all year while others such as geese fly south for the winter.

Tropical Rain Forest• More species live in the rain

forest than any other place on earth

• One small national park in Costa Rica has more species of butterfly than all of North America!!

• Protecting rain forests has become an important mission in recent years because of the plant and animal diversity.

Tropical Rain Forest• Tropical Rain Forests have

warm temperatures, wet weather and lush plant growth

• These forests are near the equator and have an average temperature of 22⁰C (77 ⁰F)

• They also get between 200cm and 600cm of rain each year

Tropical Rain Forests• Why do tropical rain forests contain so many species?

Here are some hypotheses proposed by ecologists:– Due to their location near the equator, tropical rain forests

were not covered with ice during the ice age. Thus, the communities of species had more time to evolve

– Unlike the temperate forests, where deciduous trees drop their leaves in autumn, the warm weather near the equator gives tropical rainforests year round growing conditions which creates a greater food supply and increases the number of organisms there

– Tropical rain forests provide a multitude of possible habitas for diverse organisms

Topical Rain Forest

• Diversity is so prevalent because there are so many different places for animals to live

Rainforest– Canopy: 25-45m above

the ground monkeys, sloths, birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles live in the tree tops

Rain Forest– Understory: Air is still,

humid and dark. Insects thrive here, along with snakes, tree frogs, mosses, birds, and bats

Rain Forest– Ground: Moist

forest floor. Leaves and other organic material decay quickly. Animals include: cats like the jaguar and tiger, rodents, ants, termites, earthworms, bacteria and fungi

Mountain Biomes

• Mountain zones change with elevation.

• Lower mountain areas have lots of trees, plants and animals

• The tops of mountains have continuous snow and only small animals

Mountain Biome

• Common animals of the mountains include:– Mountain hare– Mountain Goats– Bighorn Sheep– Mountain Lions– Rattle Snake– Alpine Marmots– Squirrels, mice, bats– Lots of snakes, toads, birds

and insects

Mountain Biomes• The bottom of mountains have large deciduous and

coniferous trees• Further up the trees get shorter and smaller until near

the top there are no trees, and eventually no plants or grasses either