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Biomes of the World
What’s a Biome?
 A biome is the community of plants and animals of a
region.
 The pattern of biomes across the globe is determined
by:
Climate (the weather over many years)
2. Vegetation (what plants grow there)
3. Animals
1.
 Biomes are important because they emphasize how
plants, animals, people, soil, and the climate all
interact and affect life.
Biome Map
7 Major Biomes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Tundra
Temperate Forests
Rainforest
Grasslands
Deserts
Taiga
Aquatic
Facts about Biomes
 Biomes change
 Human activities can change biomes drastically
 Pollution
 Cities
 Using them as resources to make money (timber,
fishing, hunting, mining, farming…)
Tundra
 How cold is cold? The tundra biome is at the top of the world -- around
the North Pole! Below a thin layer of tundra soil is its permafrost, a
permanently frozen layer of ground. During the brief summers, the top
section of the soil may thaw just long enough to allow plants and
microorganisms to grow and reproduce.
Annual precipitation is very low, usually less than 10 inches (25
centimeters). Water is unavailable during most of the year.
Temperate Forest
 The Temperate Deciduous
Forest biome has four
seasons of winter, spring,
summer, and fall.
 The word "deciduous"
means exactly what the
leaves on these trees do:
change color in autumn,
fall off in the winter, and
grow back again in the
spring. This adaptation
helps trees in the forest
survive winter.
Rainforests
 Half of the world's plant
and animal species live
in the tropical rainforests
of the world.
 Thirty acres of trees are
cut in the tropical
rainforests every minute.
 Each second a portion of
rainforest the size of a
football field is
destroyed or damaged.
Rainforests
 Both tropical and
temperate rainforests are
very lush and wet.
Rainfall falls regularly
throughout the year. The
tropical rainforest
receives 80-400 inches of
rainfall per year. It rains a
lot in the temperate
rainforest, too -- about
100 inches per year.
 Tropical rainforests are
warm and moist; while
temperate rainforests are
cool.
Grasslands
 Grasslands are big open
spaces. There are not many
bushes in the grassland.
Trees are found only by
rivers and streams.
 Grasslands receive about 10
to 30 inches of rain per year.
If they received more rain,
the grasslands would
become a forest. If they
received less, they would
become a desert.
Grasslands are often
located between deserts
and forests.
Deserts
 Deserts are usually very,
very dry. Even the
wettest deserts get less
than ten inches of
precipitation a year.
 Since deserts have so few
trees and other
vegetation to retain heat,
they cool down rapidly
when the sun sets, and
heat up quickly after the
sun rises.
Taiga
The Taiga biome
stretches across a
large portion of
Canada, Europe and
Asia. It is the largest
biome in the world.
Winters are cold.
Summers are warm
Taiga
 The taiga is primarily a
coniferous forest (evergreen
trees with needles) like the
temperate rainforest, but the
taiga is located between 50
degrees latitude north and
the Arctic circle. Many
coniferous trees (evergreens
with needles) grow in the
taiga. The taiga has fewer
animal species than the
tropical or temperate
deciduous forests.
Taiga
 Because of the tilt of the
earth on its axis, in the
taiga you'll find long nights
in the winter and long days
in the summer.
 The taiga is very, very cold
in the winter.
 But when the warm
summer comes, the ice and
snow melt.
 The sun shines for days in
the summer, because the
taiga is near the top of the
world.
Where is taiga located?
Aquatic
 Water covers about
three quarters of our
planet.
 Aquatic biomes are
host to a wide variety
of life-forms, and
minerals
 Divided into 2 types
 Marine (salt water)
 Fresh Water
Fresh Water