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Biomes
Name ________________________________________ per _______
Fill in the blanks with the correct word chosen from the list above each section
biosphere
climate
climax
Different climatic conditions are produced by the geography and uneven heating of the Earth.
Plant and animal forms that are characteristic of a particular geographic area with a common
______________constitute biomes. Each biome is characterized by specific
________________communities. All the biomes together form the_____________.
Terrestrial Biomes
plants
abiotic
The various biotic and _____________factors at play on Earth result in six major terrestrial
biomes. Terrestrial biomes are categorized according to the types of ____________they support.
The fundamental characteristics of each type are described in the list below.
TROPICAL RAIN FOREST
diversity
canopies
rainfall
low
Rain forests have the highest _____________of all biomes (100–180 inches per year), which
results in the greatest animal and plant________________. Trees form _________________ that
block sunlight from reaching the ground. Most animal species live in the canopy, while the forest
floor is inhabited predominantly by insects and saprophytes and consists of soil _______ in
nutrients. Decomposed products on the forest floor are washed away or quickly reabsorbed by
plants. Tropical rain forests can be found in Central America, the Amazon basin in South America,
Central Africa, and Southeast Asia.
SAVANNA
tropical
droughts
trees
herbivores temperate
This biome is characterized by grassland with sparse_________, with extended dry periods
or_____________. ______________ savannas generally border rain forests and receive a yearly
total of 40 to 60 inches of rainfall. They support large______________, such as antelope, zebra,
elephants, and giraffe. Most tropical savannas exist in Africa. _________________savannas,
such as the Pampas in Argentina and the prairies east of the Rocky Mountains in the United
States, receive only about 10 to 30 inches of rain a year. Grasses and shrubs dominate the
landscape and support insects, birds, smaller burrowing animals, and larger, hoofed animals such
as bison.
DESERT
temperature
cactus
driest
dormant
night
Deserts are the __________ biome, receiving less than 10 inches of rain per year. They exhibit
radical ___________________ changes between day and night. Animals of the desert such as
lizards, snakes, birds, and insects are typically small and have adapted to the dry, hot climate by
being active at _____________. Plants, such as _____________, have evolved waxy cuticles,
fewer stomata, spiky leaves, and seeds capable of remaining _____________ until sufficient
resources are available. Deserts exist in Asia, Africa, and North America.
TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS FOREST
deciduous
evenly
seasons
fertile
oak
Rainfall in temperate deciduous forests is ___________ distributed throughout the year. The
biome has distinct summer and winter ______________. It has long growing seasons during the
summer. In winter, the ________________ plants drop their leaves and enter a period of
dormancy. Beech and maple dominate in colder variations of this biome, while ______ and
hickory are more prevalent where temperatures are warmer. Animals in deciduous forests are
both herbivorous and carnivorous, such as deer, fox, owl, and squirrel. The forest floor is
__________ and contains fungi and worms. Temperate deciduous forests exist mainly on the east
coast of North America and in central Europe.
TAIGA
spruce
Coniferous
leaves
Canada
The taiga is a forest biome but is colder and receives less rainfall than deciduous forests.
______________ (cone-bearing) trees, especially _____________, dominate the taiga. The trees
also have needle-shaped _______________ that help conserve water. Taiga forests sustain
birds, small mammals such as squirrels, large herbivorous mammals such as moose and elk, and
large carnivorous mammals such as wolves and grizzly bears. Taiga exist mainly in Russian and
northern ______________.
TUNDRA
soil
ice
lichens
migrate
This biome is located in the far north and is covered by __________sheets for the majority of the
year. The ________, down to a few feet, remains permanently frozen, though in the summer, the
topsoil can melt and support a short growing season. Very few plants grow in the northernmost
parts of the tundra, but _____________, mosses, and grasses occupy some more southern
areas. Animals must be well suited for extreme cold or must ____________. The tundra supports
large herbivores such as reindeer and caribou, large predators such as bear, and some birds.
Aquatic Biomes
70
marine
photosynthesis
freshwater
Aquatic biomes account for ____ percent of the Earth’s surface and contain the majority of plant
and animal life. Aquatic biomes also account for a vast portion of the _________________, and
therefore oxygen production, that occurs on Earth. There are two types of aquatic biomes, based
on the type of water found in each: _______________ and ____________________.
MARINE
aphotic
light
oceans
intertidal
heat
tides
cold
photic
Marine biomes refer to the _____________ that all connect to form a single, great body of water.
Since water has an immense capacity to absorb ______ with little temperature increase,
conditions remain uniform over these large aquatic bodies. Marine biomes are divided into three
zones: intertidal/littoral, neritic, and pelagic.
The _______________ zone, also called the littoral zone, is the region where land and water
meet. It experiences periodic dryness with changing _________ and is inhabited by algae,
sponges, various mollusks, starfish, and crabs.
The neritic zone extends to 600 feet beneath the water’s surface and sits on the continental shelf,
hundreds of miles from shores. Algae, crustaceans, and numerous fish inhabit this region.
The pelagic zone consists of a ______________zone (reaching 600 feet below sea level) and
below that an ____________ zone. ___________ penetrates the photic zone, which is why it
contains photosynthetic plankton. The photic zone also is home to heterotrophs such as bony fish,
sharks, and whales that prey on these producers as well as on each other. No light penetrates the
aphotic zone, which is a kind of watery circus of the bizarre, where extremely ________ water,
darkness, and high pressure have spurred strange evolutionary paths. The region is home to
some chemosynthetic autotrophs. Other denizens of the deep are scavengers that feed on dead
organic matter falling from the higher realms and predators who feed on each other.
FRESHWATER
rivers
higher
temperature
light
stable
Freshwater biomes include __________, lakes, and marshes. Life here is affected by
__________________, salt concentration, ________________ penetration, depth, and availability
of dissolved CO2 and O2. Freshwater biomes are much smaller than marine biomes, so conditions
are less ___________. Organisms that live in these regions must be able to handle the greater
extremes. The very nature of freshwater also demands special characteristics of the organisms
that live within it. In freshwater environments, the salt concentration within the cell of an organism
is ________________ than the salt concentration in the water. A concentration exists between
the interior of cells and the exterior environment: water from the environment is constantly
diffusing into the organism. Organisms in freshwater need homeostatic systems to maintain
proper water balance.