Download Instructions: Match the plant and animals to the correct biome

Instructions: Match the plant
and animals to the correct
biome. Read about the plant
and animals adaptations to
find out where you think it
should go.
Tundra
Arctic tundra is located in the northern hemisphere, encircling the north pole and extending south
to the coniferous forests of the taiga. The arctic is known for its cold, desert-like conditions. The
growing season ranges from 50 to 60 days. The average winter temperature is -34° C (-30° F),
but the average summer temperature is 3-12° C (37-54° F) which enables this biome to sustain
life. Rainfall may vary in different regions of the arctic. Yearly precipitation, including melting
snow, is 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 inches). Soil is formed slowly. A layer of permanently frozen subsoil
called permafrost exists, consisting mostly of gravel and finer material. When water saturates the
upper surface, bogs and ponds may form, providing moisture for plants. There are no deep root
systems in the vegetation of the arctic tundra, however, there are still a wide variety of plants that
are able to resist the cold climate. There are about 1,700 kinds of plants in the arctic and
subarctic, and these include:
Animals are adapted to handle long, cold winters and to breed and raise young quickly in the
summer. Animals such as mammals and birds also have additional insulation from fat. Many
animals hibernate during the winter because food is not abundant. Another alternative is to
migrate south in the winter, like birds do. Reptiles and amphibians are few or absent because of
the extremely cold temperatures. Because of constant immigration and emigration, the population
continually oscillates.
Desert
Hot and Dry Deserts vegetation is very rare. Plants are almost all ground-hugging
shrubs and short woody trees. All of the leaves are replete (packed with
nutrients). For all of these plants to survive they have to have adaptations. Some
of the adaptations in this case are the ability to store water for long periods of
time and the ability to stand the hot weather. A Hot and Dry Desert is, as you can
tell from the name, hot and dry. Most Hot and Dry Deserts don't have very many
plants. They do have some low down plants though. The only animals they have
that can survive have the ability to burrow under ground. This is because they
would not be able to live in the hot sun and heat. They only come out in the night
when it is a little cooler.
Rain Forest
Rainforests are very dense, warm, wet forests. They are havens for millions of plants and
animals.
Rainforests are extremely important in the ecology of the Earth. The plants of the
rainforest generate much of the Earth's oxygen. These plants are also very important to
people in other ways; many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness.
it is almost always raining in a rainforest. Rainforests get over 80 inches (2 m) of rain
each year. This is about 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) of rain each week.
The rain is more evenly distributed throughout the year in a tropical rainforest (even
though there is a little seasonality). In a temperate rainforest, there are wet and dry
seasons. During the "dry" season, coastal fog supplies abundant moisture to the forest.
Deciduous Forest
Deciduous forests can be found in the eastern half of North America, and the middle of Europe.
There are many deciduous forests in Asia. Some of the major areas that they are in are southwest
Russia, Japan, and eastern China. South America has two big areas of deciduous forests in
southern Chile and Middle East coast of Paraguay. There are deciduous forests located in New
Zealand, and southeastern Australia also.
The average annual temperature in a deciduous forest is 50° F. The average rainfall is 30 to 60
inches a year.
The deciduous forest has four distinct seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In the
autumn the leaves change color. During the winter months the trees lose their leaves.
The animals adapt to the climate by hibernating in the winter and living off the land in the other
three seasons. The animals have adapted to the land by trying the plants in the forest to see if they
are good to eat for a good supply of food. Also the trees provide shelter for them. Animal use the
trees for food and a water sources. Most of the animals are camouflaged to look like the ground.
The plants have adapted to the forests by leaning toward the sun. Soaking up the nutrients in the
ground is also a way of adaptation.
Prairie
In the middle of North America is a huge area of land which was once covered with grasses and
colorful wild flowers. The French called the rolling plains of grass "prairie", from the word for a
meadow grazed by cattle. The prairies are a type of grassland dominated by herbaceous plants
and grasses. Very few trees grow on the prairies and are usually widely scattered.
Precipitation in the prairies can reach from about 12.6 inches in the shortgrass prairie to 21.7
inches in the tallgrass prairies.
The prairies were maintained in their natural state by climate, grazing and fire. Rainfall varies
from year to year in the prairies. There is usually a long dry period during the summer months.
Every 30 years or so there is a long drought period which lasts for several years. The most famous
drought was in the 1930s, when the prairies were called the "Dust Bowl".
The climate of the prairies is influenced by its mid-continental location, and the sheltering effect
of the Rocky Mountains. Being located far from the moderating effects of oceans causes a wide
range of temperatures, with hot summers and cold winters. Strong winds blow across the endless
plains during both summer and winter.
Prairie plants have adapted to fires by growing underground storage structures, and having their
growth points slightly below ground surface. The soil under a prairie is a dense mat of tangled
roots, rhizomes, bulbs, and rootstock. The plants die back every winter, but are kept alive from
year to year by the underground root system. Roots of prairie plants can by longer than the plant
is tall. The roots of big bluestem may be 7 feet long, and switchgrass roots can be 11 feet long.
Two-thirds of most prairie plant are below the ground. Some roots die each year and decompose,
adding lots of organic matter to the soil. That's why the soil of prairies is so fertile.
Big Bluestem Grass
This grass is also called Turkey feet because the
shape of the seed heads look like turkey feet. It is
also called beard grass. The name big bluestem
grass comes from the fact that this grass can grow
to very big, 3 to 10 feet as a matter of fact. It blooms
from June through September.
Big bluestem is known as a bunch grass because it
grows in little hill shapes
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is the national bird of the United
States of America. It is considered a sea eagle that
has a white head. It is large and strong and weighs
eight to twelve pounds. Their wingspan can be two
meters (seven feet) and they can be larger than a
meter from head to tail. The Bald Eagle has a
curved beak which is large and very strong. It's toes
have talons which are very strong claws. They have
excellent vision which helps them to hunt.
Milk Weed
It attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Monarch butterflies particularly like it , just like
butterfly weed, which is in the same family.
Milkweed is the flower of choice for Monarchs in
North America.
Coyote
Not a lot of animals have a better hearing system
than coyotes. Their ears move back and forth,
pinpointing any noise they hear. This special ability
makes it easy for them to find food. Coyotes are
smart animals and when they sense trouble, they
don't investigate, they run. Coyotes have a good
population. They are the hunters, not the hunted,
though some humans think it is fun killing coyotes
for sport. You will probably agree with me that
taking pride in killing an animal for the fun of it is
very dumb. But the coyotes are proud animals and
will not be defeated.
Artic Moss
The Calliergon giganteum grows in a
harsh cold environment in the
Northern Hemisphere within the
arctic circle. There are strong winds,
up to 100 miles per hour.
They do not have flowers. They can
either reproduce by growing shoots
or by sending out spores, which
need to be wet to survive.
Arctic Fox
The Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) makes its home
in small burrows in frost-free ground, often in
low mounds, or in rock piles. Because the
Arctic fox is a scavenger it can usually find food
to eat. Sometimes the fox will follow Polar
bears or other predators and feed off the
remains they leave behind.
Snowy Owl
Polar Bear
The snowy owl is considered to be one of the largest
and most attractive of the owls. It is called the
snowy owl because of its white feathers. The male
and female owls have different markings. Male
owls are mostly pure white with small spots and
wing barring. The female has heavy gray-brown
lines across her body and wings and speckled
plumage. They both have large, yellow eyes, set in
front of the face.
Pecan Tree
They have a black nose and eyes. They have two
layers of fur which is so warm that adult bears
can easily overheat when they run. The polar
bear's fur is really clear, not white. Some light
reflects off the fur and makes it look white.
Dormouse
The pecan tree can grow to enormous heights,
sometimes to heights of 180 feet, and has an
upright growing pattern. The bark is pale gray or
whitish brown, scaly, and deeply furrowed. The
bark on the pecan tree is rough and scaly, and is
pale grey or brown. The heartwood is solid brown
and black.
The leaves grow in groups of 11-17. Each leaf is
slightly pointed at the tip. The width of the
leaves are approximately 3 inches. Each full
grown leaf is about 5 inches top to bottom. This
tree is a perennial. The Pecan tree has a
shallow root system. The flowers are tiny and
hang down in tassels
Polar bears can be found all through the polar
regions of the Northern hemisphere. They are the
largest carnivore on land.
.
There are 21 different species of dormice. The fat
dormouse is the largest dormouse in Europe. They
can be found in Africa, Europe, Asia, and Japan.
These rodents look like short, fat squirrels with
bushy tails. The European and Asian dormice are
the largest in the dormice family.
The dormouse finds shelter in hollow trees, rock
crevices or even woodpecker holes.
White-tailed Deer
The fur of the white-tailed deer is a grayish color in
the winter then more red comes out during the
summer. It has a band of white fur behind its nose,
in circles around the eyes, and inside the ears.
More white fur goes down the throat, on the upper
insides of the legs and under the tail.
Only the males have antlers, which they shed in
January to March, and grow out again in April or
May. The white-tailed deer can be 3 to 3 1/2 feet at
the shoulders. Males can weigh up to 400 pounds,
and females from 70 to 200 pounds.
Eastern Chipmunk
The Eastern chipmunk is a very cute little animal.
It is a ground-dwelling squirrel about 5-6 inches
long and weighing about 3 ounces. It is a brownishred color. Its head has two white stripes above and
below the eye. Its ears are short and rounded and
stick straight up on its head. Five black stripes with
white lines go down their backs. Its belly and sides
are white and its tail is black above and rusty
underneath. When it runs it sticks its tail straight
up. It makes a sharp chattering or chucking noise
when upset.
Chipmunks live in forests and edges of forests and
are also found around suburban and rural areas.
Barrel Cactus
The cactus usually reaches from around five to
eleven feet tall, and at that height it is one of the
largest cacti in the North American deserts. This
cactus is really a man-sized (or bigger) cylinder
with numerous parallel ridges that run down the
sides. These ridges are topped with dangerously
sharp 3-4 inch spines. The barrel cactus is also a
flowering plant. It has rings of yellow-green or red
blossoms at its top.
Thorny Devil
The strangest of lizards is the Thorny Devil. This is
the only species in its genus. The lizard's body has
conical spines all over, including spines above each
eye and a hump behind its head which is spiny. The
tail is also spiny. Its spines make it easy to identify.
The color changes on the Thorny Devil's body from
yellow to reddish brown to black, depending on
which type of soil it is crossing.
They change colors to be camouflaged and make it
easier for them to hide.
Palo Verde
The yellow palo verde is a very strange looking shrub or
small tree. It has adapted in unique ways to survive the
killing heat. Palo verde, or "green wood" in Spanish, has
a thin, almost waxy looking green bark studded with
large of thorns. The smooth greenish trunk and branches
have for a large part taken over the photosynthesis. The
green bark contains chlorophyll, which gives it the ability
to carry on photosynthesis when the tree has shed its
leave during dry, hot periods. This way the tree doesn't
have to shut down completely and can still store up
energy in its roots. The tree has a very deep root system
to access any underground water supply. Palo verdes are
"branch deciduous", meaning that they may shed some of
their branches during severe droughts, becoming a
smaller tree.
Gila Monster
The Banded Gila Monster is very shy but can strike
back very quickly, with painful results. It is a
subspecies of the Gila Monster (Heloderma
suspectum), and is one of two poisonous types of
lizard in the world.
They are pink, orange and red. Four or five black
bands with spots in them run around the body. The
tail is also banded. Their heads are spotted with
black around their eyes and mouth.
Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea's habitat could not be greener. It has
lush vegetation with thick forests.
The plant can reach over thirty feet. It can either be
vines, trees, or shrubs with sharp thorns. The
leaves of the bougainvillea are shaped like little
hearts with drip tips at the ends. They are dark rich
green and look almost like ivy leaves. On the
underside of the leaves there are little hairs. The
flowers of the bougainvillea can be several different
colors, from pink, to red, to orange, to white and
yellow. They are small tubes with three papery
bracts around them.
Tamarin
Golden Lion Tamarin have very strong legs which
allow them to be very good climbers. They use their
amazingly strong legs to climb into their nests up in
trees, where a family of Golden Lion Tamarins
would normally sleep huddled together in a tree
hole or thick nest of vines. In order to have
protection against predators Golden Lion Tamarins
share their homes with other Tamarin families.
Another characteristic which adapts Golden Lion
Tamarin to its environment is its long, sharp claws,
that help them pick out bugs from dead logs, small
tree holes, and wherever else bugs live.
Tiger
The Bengal tiger is a carnivore. It eats boars, wild
oxen, monkeys, and other animals. The Bengal
tiger can catch big animals, but prefers killing
either young or old animals because they don't run
as fast. The Bengal tiger is a nocturnal and greatly
feared predator. It eats wild oxen and other
animals, which eat plants, which are part of the
food web. So it helps balance the web.
5 Pit Viper
Wagler's pit viper is a medium sized viper which
can grow up to 4 feet in length. It is called a pit
viper because they have pits just behind the nostrils
which contain special organs that can sense heat
and locate warm-blooded animals. This is an
important adaptation since Wagler's pit viper is
nocturnal and hunts at night.
It is an arboreal species, which means it lives in
trees. The adult male is green, with a black border
and many greenish-yellow crossbars on its back.
The young viper changes its color as it grows. The
young are all green with spots of white and red. The
spots are sometimes arranged in pale crossbars.