This document describes the major terrestrial biomes found around the world, including tropical rainforests, temperate deciduous forests, taiga, grasslands, savannas, tundra, and deserts. For each biome, it discusses location, abiotic factors, characteristic plant and animal adaptations, threats, and examples of species found within that biome. The biomes are grouped according to dominant vegetation, precipitation levels, and temperature ranges that create distinct environmental conditions for the plants and animals living in each one.

1. Terrestrial Biomes

2. Biomes are the major regional
groupings of plants and animals discernible
at a global scale.
To understand the nature of biomes one
needs to learn
 The types of animals (especially vertebrates)
characteristic of the biome
 Their typical morphological, physiological,
and/or behavioral adaptations to the
environment

3.  Global distribution pattern
1. Where each biome is found and
how each varies geographically
2. A given biome may be composed of
different taxa on different
continents
 The dominant, characteristic, and
unique growth forms
of the
1. vertical stratification
2. leaf shape, size, and habit
3. special adaptations
vegetation

6.  occupy approximately one-third
of Earth’s land area
 account for over two-thirds of
the leaf area of land plants
 contain about 70% of carbon
present in living things
 are major casualties of
deforestation, pollution, and
industrial usage
 forest biomes are classified
according to numerous
characteristics, with seasonality
being the most widely used

7. Location: Found near
equator…little variation in
temperatures. No distinct
seasonal changes.
Earth's most complex
land biome

8. TROPICAL RAIN
FOREST
Abiotic factors
high biodiversity and
biomass
both hot and moist;
ideal for bacteria and other
microorganisms; they
quickly decompose matter
on the forest floor allowing
nutrients to be recycled.
<1 cm of topsoil
About 100 in/yr of rainfall

9. TROPICAL RAIN
FOREST
Plant Adaptations
Sunlight is a major
limiting factor
Plants grow in layers
(canopy receives most
light)
Shallow, wide roots
since soil is so thin and
poor in nutrients
Little sun reaches the
floor

10. TROPICAL RAIN
FOREST
Animal
Adaptations
 Many animals are
specialists and require
special habitat
components to survive.
 Camouflage is common
 Many symbiotic
relationships
 Live in different
levels of canopy
Slender Loris
Silvery Gibbon
Wagler’s Pit Viper

11.  Humans strip the rainforests for
uses including logging and cattle
ranching.
 Clearing for agriculture, timber
and urban development
 Conversion of diverse forest to
tree plantations.
 Damage from off-roads vehicles.
 Pollution of forest streams
 Timber and mineral extraction
Transparent
Butterfly
Toucan
Red-eyed frog
Tanager
White Faced
Monkey
Tropical King
Snake

12. A. Prevention
 Protect the most diverse and endangered
areas.
 Educate settlers about sustainable
agriculture and forestry.
 Subsidize only sustainable forest use
 Certify sustainable grown timber
 Reduce Poverty
 Slow population growth
B. Restoration
 Encourage regrowth through
secondary succession
 Rehabilitate degraded areas
 Concentrate farming and ranching
in already cleared areas

13. Location:
 found in temperate
zone (about 480 North
latitude)
 Much of the human
population lives in this
biome
TEMPERATE
DECIDUOUS FOREST
Abiotic factors
 Well-defined seasons with a
distinct winter characterize this
forest biome
 Moderate climate and a growing
season of 140-200 days during 4-6
frost-free months distinguish
temperate forests
 Temperature varies from -30° C to
30° C.

14. Plant Adaptations
 Canopy
 Moderately dense
 Allows light to penetrate
 Resulting in well-developed and
richly diversified understory
vegetation and stratification of
animals
 Flora is characterized by 3-4 tree
species per square kilometer
 Trees are distinguished by broad
leaves that are lost annually
Willow
Oak
Beech
Mapple

15. Animal Adaptations
Animals living within this
biome must adjust to cold winters
and hot summers by hibernating,
migrating, or keeping active all
winter.
Least Weasel
Raccoon White-tailed Deer

16. Many forests are
cleared to provide
housing for humans.
Careful use of the
resource can provide a
renewable system if we
don’t take too much
habitat away.
Larch Needles
Oak
Hemlock
Maple

17. Location: Found only in
Northern Hemisphere

18. Abiotic Factors
 Winters are long and
cold
 Averages 100 in/yr
precipitation—
mostly snow
 Soil poor in
nutrients and very
acidic
 Growing season is
very short

19. Plant Adaptations
 Coniferous (needle-
bearing) trees are
abundant
 Roots long to anchor
trees
 Needles long, thin and
waxy
 Low sunlight and poor
soil keeps plants from
growing on forest floor
Fire Weed
Balsam Fir
Dauglas Fir
Black Spruce

20. 

Mining
operations can
irreparably
damage this
fragile
ecosystem.
Pollution left
behind can also
put animals and
plants at risk.
Moose
Great Grey Owl
Hemlock
Lynx

21. Characterized as lands
dominated by grasses rather
than large shrubs or trees.
Largest land animals are
present due to huge vegetation.
Grasslands are big open spaces.
There are not many bushes in
the grassland. Trees are found
only by rivers and streams.
Wheat Grass Coneflower Kangaroo Paws Tumble Weed

22. Always found in warm or hot
climates where the annual rainfall is
from about 50.8 to 127 cm (20-50
inches) per year
Characterized by a continuous
cover of perennial grasses, often 3 to 6
feet tall at maturity
Many plants have thorns
and sharp leaves to protect
against predation.
Reproduce during rainy
season—ensures more young survive
Whistling Thorn
Chacma Baboon

23. Invasive species
Changes in fire
management
 Because of their low
elevation, some
savannas are threatened
by minor rises in sea
level associated with
global climate change
Elephant
Koala Bear

24.  Summer temperatures can
be well over 38° C (100
degrees Fahrenheit.
 Winter temperatures can
be as low as -40° C (-40
degrees Fahrenheit).
 Deep and dark,
with fertile upper
layers
 Seasonal drought,
occasional fires,
and grazing by
large mammals all
prevent woody
shrubs and trees
from invading and
becoming
established
Asters
Clovers
Sunflowera

25. Overgrazing…nomadic tribes
have started to spend more time
in one location,


Infrastructure development
(roads, buildings, etc)
Unmanaged hunting and
poaching is destroying herds of
animals
Lynx
Corsac Fox
Praire Dogs
bobcat Wild Goat
King Protea

26.  Coldest of all the biomes
 Comes from the Finnish
word tunturia, meaning
treeless plain
 Frost-molded landscapes
 Extremely low
temperatures
 Little precipitation
 Poor nutrients
 Average winter temperature
is -34° C (-30° F)
 Average summer
temperature is 3-12° C (37-54°
F) which enables this biome
to sustain life.
 yearly precipitation,
including melting snow, is 15
to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches)

27.  Large, compact bodies
 A thick insulating cover of feathers
or fur
 Pelage and plumage that turns white
in winter, brown in summer
 Ability to accumulate thick deposits
of fat during the short growing
season
 Insulation and as a store of energy
for use during the winter, when
animal species remain active
 Cyclical fluctuations in population
size.
Arctic Fox
Polar Bear
Snowy Owl
Caribou
Yellow Tundra
Flower

28. Deserts cover about one fifth of the Earth’s surface
and occur where rainfall is less than 50 cm/year.
Most deserts occur at low latitudes
amount of
specialized
Most deserts have a considerable
specialized vegetation, as well as
vertebrate and invertebrate animals.

29. Abiotic Factors
 Less than 10 in./year of rain
 Little to no topsoil due to
high winds.
 Minerals not deep in soil.
 Too dry for decay
 While there are many types
of deserts, they all share one
characteristic: They are the
driest places on Earth!

30. Plant/Animal
Adaptations
 Spines
 Succulents
 Thick, waxy
cuticle
 Shallow, broad
roots
 Get water
from food
 Thick outer
coat
 Burrow
during day
 Large ears
 Smaller
animals
means less
surface area
BarrelCactus
Ocotillo
Sonoran Desert
Bobcate
Javelina
Armadillo Lizard

31.  Residential development
 Off road recreational
activities destroy habitat
for plants and animals.
Some plants are
removed by collectors,
endangering the
population.

Prickly Pear Cactus
Thorny Devil
Saguaro Cactus
Cactus Wren

32. http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/index.html
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http://archive.globe.gov/sda-
bin/wt/ghp/tg+L(en)+P(seasons/Miniinvestigation)
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/ecoregions/gl
obal200/pages/home.htm