Term
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Definition
| A biome is a major grouping of plant and animal communities, defined by a dominant vegetation type |
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Term
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Definition
| A climate is the long term prevailing weather conditions found in an area |
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Term
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Definition
| Weather consists of the specific short term atmospheric conditions of temperature, moisture, sunlight and wind |
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Term
| Why is temperature critical in the sustainability of life? |
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Definition
Temperature is critical because the enzymes that make life possible work optimally only in a narrow range of temperatures.
Temperature also affects the availability of moisture |
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Term
| Why is moisture significant for living organisms? |
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Definition
| Moisture is significant because it is required for life and living organisms are constantly losing water. To stay alive they must reduce water loss and replace lost water |
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Term
| Why is wind an important to living organisms? |
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Definition
| Wind is important to living organisms because it exacerbates the effects of temperature and moisture. And because it has a direct physical impact on organisms such as birds, flying bugs and plants. |
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Term
| Of the four components of climate, which are the most important to plants? |
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Definition
| The most important components of climate to plants are temperature and moisture. |
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Term
| Why are the components of a biome's climate important to the type of species found? |
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Definition
| It is important because each biome contains species that are adapted to the particular temperature and moisture regime. |
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Term
| Under what conditions are plant growth and photosynthesis maximized? and at their lowest? |
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Definition
Maximized: under warm, wet conditions
Minimized: cold, cry conditions |
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Term
| What is NPP and what does it stand for? |
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Definition
| NPP stand for net primary productivity. It is a measure of the total carbon that is fixed per year, minus the amount of fixed carbon oxidized during cellular respiration. |
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Term
| What is the use of fixed carbon used in cellular respiration? |
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Definition
| it provides energy, but does not contribute to growth (i.e. biomass) |
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Term
| How is NPP often estimated? |
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Definition
| NPP is often estimated by measuring aboveground biomass |
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Term
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Definition
| NPP is important because it represents the organic matter that is available as food for other organisms. |
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Term
| Name 3 examples of communities within a temperate forest biome |
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Definition
- eastern hemlock community
- red oak community
- sugar maple community |
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Term
| What is another name for tropical rain forests? |
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Definition
| tropical wet forests. ew moist. |
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Term
| Describe the vegetation in a tropical wet forest |
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Definition
- plants in this biome have broad leaves
- old leaves re shed throughout the year, there is no complete seasonal loss of leaves
- extremely high productivity and aboveground biomass
- extremely high diversity of plants sized and forms
- extremely large trees form canopy
- beneath canopy there are many: vines, epiphytes, small trees, shrubs and herbs |
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Term
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Definition
| a plant that grows entirely on other plants |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: it is not unusual to find over 200 tree species in a single study plot that is 10m by 100m in a tropical wet forest |
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Definition
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Term
| Describe the average temperature and variation in temperature in tropical wet forets. What does this allow? |
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Definition
| Average temperature is very high and there is little variation in temperature throughout the year. This allows for optimal growing conditions all year round. |
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Term
| What is minimal amount of monthly precipitation in tropical wet forests? |
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Definition
| in the driest month of the year, tropical wet forests still receive over 5 cm of rainfall |
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Term
| What is the driest month of the year in tropical wet forests? |
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Definition
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: Temperatures in Belem, Brazil never drop below 30 degrees and never exceed 35 degrees |
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Definition
| FALSE:Temperatures in Belem, Brazil never drop below 25 degrees and never exceed 30 degrees |
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Term
| Why is the high diversity in plant growth types in tropical wet forests important? |
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Definition
| because they present a wide variety of habitat types for animals |
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Term
| What are the two distinctive locations that subtropical deserts are found? |
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Definition
| At 30 degrees latitude, both north and south of the equator |
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Term
| Name 4 famous subtropical deserts |
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Definition
- gobi
- sahara
- sonoran
- australian outback |
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Term
| Describe the temperatures in subtropical deserts |
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Definition
| the average temperature is high and the variation is moderate. |
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Term
| Describe the precipitation in subtropical deserts |
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Definition
| the annual total is very low and the variation is low |
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Term
| What is the average annual precipitation of Yuma, Arizona (Hint: it is a subtropical desert) |
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Definition
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Term
| Describe the vegetation in a subtropical desert |
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Definition
- little productivity
- plants are widely spaced apart (possibly due to competition for water) |
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Term
| What are the two ways desert species adapt to extreme temperatures and aridity? Give an example for each way. |
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Definition
1) growing at a low rate year round. ex: cacti
2) breaking dormancy and growing rapidly in response to any rainfall. ex: desert shrub, ocotillo |
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Term
| Where are temperate grassland communities found? |
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Definition
- central north america
- the heartland of eurasia |
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Term
| What are the grasslands referred to as in Eurasia and North America? |
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Definition
Eurasia: steppes
North America: prairies |
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Term
| What does temperate mean? |
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Definition
| It means that an area has pronounced fluctuations in temperature (typically hot summers and cold winters), but not the temperature extremes found in the tropics or arctic. |
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Term
| What does temperature variation dictate? |
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Definition
| temperature variation dictates a well defined growing season |
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Term
| When is plant growth possible in temperate regions? |
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Definition
| Plant growth is possible in spring, summer and fall when moisture and warmth are adequate |
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Term
| Describe the precipitation in temperate grasslands |
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Definition
| There is a low annual total and the variation is moderate. |
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Term
| What is the dominant life form in the temperate grasslands? and why? |
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Definition
Grasses are the dominant life form because:
1) conditions are too dry to enable tree growth
2) encroaching trees are burned out by fires |
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Term
| Why are the temperate grasslands so ideal for growing wheat, corn and other cultivated grasses? |
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Definition
| They are ideal because cultivated grasses can withstand the arid climate and soil is highly fertile. |
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Term
| What are the 2 factors contributing to the high fertility of the soil in the temperate grasslands? |
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Definition
1) the subsurface is packed with roots and rhizomes which add organic matter as they decay
2) grasslands retain nutrients in the soil because the rainfall is low enough to keep key ions form dissolving and leaching out of the soil |
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Term
| Where are temperate forests the most common in? |
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Definition
- Eastern North America
- Western Europe
- East Asia
- Chile
- New Zealand |
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Term
| Describe the temperature (in terms of variation and annual average) in temperate forests. |
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Definition
| The average temperature is moderate, the variation is moderate. |
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Term
| Describe the precipitation in temperate forests. |
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Definition
| annual total is moderate and there is little variation |
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Term
| What type of species dominate temperate forests? |
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Definition
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Term
| In comparison to other biomes how productive are temperate forests? |
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Definition
| Most temperate forests have productivity levels that are lower than tropical forests, yet higher than deserts and grasslands. |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: The diversity of species in temperate forests is relatively high |
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Definition
| FALSE: The diversity of species in temperate forests is moderate |
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Term
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Definition
| A taiga is another name for a boreal forest |
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Term
| Where are boreal forests found? |
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Definition
| Boreal forests are stretch across most of Canada, Alaska, Russia, and Northern Europe |
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Term
| Describe the temperature in a boreal forest. |
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Definition
| Low average annual temperature, VERY HIGH variation. it is characterized by very cold winters and short, cool summers. |
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Term
| Why do trees grow in boreal forests despite the low precipitation? |
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Definition
| annual precipitation is low , but the low temperatures mean that very little water evaporates so there is enough moisture to support tree growth |
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Term
| What species dominate boreal forests? |
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Definition
| Boreal forests are dominated by highly cold tolerant conifers, including: pines, spruce, fir and larch trees. All of which are evergreen, except larches. |
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Term
| What are the two hypotheses that attempt to explain the abundance of evergreens in boreal forests even though they do not photosynthesize in winter. |
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Definition
1) evergreens can begin photosynthesizing early in spring, even before the snow melts, when the sunshine is intense enough to warm their needles
2) Boreal soils tend to be acidic and contain very little available nitrogen. Because leaves are nitrogen rich, species that grow a new set every year might be at a disadvantage |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: Due to the low productivity in boreal forests the aboveground biomass is very low |
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Definition
| FALSE: Aboveground biomass is high because many slow growing species are long lived and gradually accumulate a large biomass |
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Term
| Describe the precipitation in a boreal forest. |
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Definition
| There is a low annula total and low variation |
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Term
| Where is the arctic tundra biome found? |
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Definition
| It lies poleward from the subarctic |
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Term
| What causes the tropics to wet and the deserts to be dry? |
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Definition
| Hadley Cells force dry air poleward |
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Term
| How long are typical growing seasons in the arctic tundra? |
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Definition
| six to eight weeks at most |
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Term
| Describe the precipitation in the arctic tundra |
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Definition
| The annual average is VERY LOW and there is low variation |
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Term
| What is the leading hypothesis to explain why the arctic tundra is treeless? |
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Definition
| The growing season is too short and cool to support the production of non photosynthetic tissue, the trunk in trees. |
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Term
| What type of plant life is common in the arctic tundra? |
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Definition
| shrubs such as willows, birch and blueberries are common. Though they are all very short. |
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Term
| Describe the productivity, aboveground biomass and species diversity of the arctic tundra |
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Definition
| Low productivity, low aboveground biomass and low diversity of species. |
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Term
| What are the two effects of permafrost? |
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Definition
1) inhibits the release of nutrients from decaying organic matter
2) inhibits the uptake of nutrients into live roots |
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Term
| What type of animal is surprisingly abundant in the arctic tundra? |
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Definition
| insects, particularly biting flies |
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