Download Biomes and Aquatic Ecosystems

Biomes and Aquatic
Ecosystems
Biomes
• Species that live in the same Biomes
– look and act similar
– have similar niches, Examples:
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Large omnivores like bears
Large predators
Medium-sized predators
Hoofed herbivores
Seed eaters
Small herbivores
Small rodents that eat plants
Small insect eaters
Biome Types
• Forest
– Deciduous trees – loose their leaves all at
once
– Coniferous tress - evergreen
• Grassland
• Desert
• Tundra
What is a Biome?
• Similar climate
– Temperature and precipitation
– Latitude and Altitude
• Similar vegetation (plants)
• Plants determine what animals live there
What is climate?
• Weather – day to day condition of the
Earth’s atmosphere at a particular time
and place
• Climate – average, year-after-year
conditions of temperature and precipitation
in a particular region
Tropical Rain Forest
• Mineral-poor soil
• High rainfall evenly distributed throughout
the year
• High species richness, high productivity
Rainforest
over half of the world's plant and animal
species live here. All fit into only seven
percent of the world's land.
Found in: Central Africa, Southeast Asia,
Philippines, New Guinea, Central and
South America.
Tropical Rain Forest
Rainforest
• Layers:
• Top – Emergent layer – tallest trees above
rest of forest
• Next – canopy – top of normal trees
• Lower canopy – epiphytes – plants that
grow on tree trunks – not soil - because
light is so far from ground.
• Understory – lowest level, much darker
Rainforest Layers
Boreal Forest (Taiga)
• Short growing season
• Acidic, mineral-poor soil
• Coniferous trees adapted to cold winters
Taiga
• The word taiga means, "marshy pine
forest" in Russian.
• one of the most fragile biomes.
• Found in Northern Hemisphere.
• Growing season very short
• Nearly constant daylight in summer
• Many lakes and swamps
Boreal Forest
Temperate Rain Forest
• High precipitation
• Large conifers dominate
Temperate Rain Forest
Temperate Deciduous Forest
• Precipitation relatively high
• Soils rich in organic matter
• Broad-leaf trees that lose their leaves
seasonally dominate
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Boreal Forest (Taiga)
• Short growing season
• Acidic, mineral-poor soil
• Coniferous trees adapted to cold winters
Temperate Grassland
• Deep, mineral-rich soil
• Moderate but uncertain precipitation
Temperate Grassland
Tropical Grassland (Savanna)
• Tropical areas with low or seasonal rainfall
• Widely scattered trees interspersed with
grassy areas
Savanna
• Found near equator between tropical rain
forest and desert biomes
• Grass, scattered trees, shrubs, many with
thorns
• Many grazing animals
• Have a wet and dry season
• Plants and animals most active during wet
season.
Savanna
Chaparral
• Climate of wet, mild winters and dry
summers
• Thickets of small-leaf evergreen shrubs
and trees
Chaparral
smallest biome.
grows between forest and grassland, or
between desert and grassland biomes.
Many plants and trees have leathery
leaves, gnarled bark, and intimidating
thorns.
Often called “scrub”
Chaparral
Desert
• Both
– temperate (cold deserts)
– subtropical or tropical regions (warm deserts)
• Low levels of precipitation
• Organisms with specialized waterconserving adaptations
Desert
Desert
• Deserts take up 8.6 million square miles
on Earth
• Get less than 25 cm of rain each year
• Has little or no vegetation
• Driest places on earth
• Often located on the dry side of mountain
ranges
Tundra
• Northernmost biome
• Frozen layer of subsoil (permafrost)
• Low-growing vegetation adapted to
extreme cold and a short growing season
Tundra
• Arctic tundra can be found in Antarctica
and the North Pole, North of the Arctic
Circle.
• Grass, lichen and herbs
• Many insects during warm season
Arctic Tundra
Freshwater Ecosystems
• What is a watershed?
• Flowing water ecosystems
– Rivers, streams
• Standing water ecosystems
– Lakes, ponds
• Littoral zone – area closest to the shore
• Limnetic zone – open water that is well lit
• Profundal zone – deepest area with little light and
oxygen
– Eutrophication – increase in the amount of
nutrients in an aquatic ecosystem
Lake Zones
Freshwater Ecosystems
(Continued)
• Standing water
– Wetlands – covered by water at least part of the year
• Marsh – no trees
• Swamp – has trees
• Bog – acidic water
– Important functions:
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trap and filter pollutants,
reduce flooding,
buffer the shoreline,
spawning grounds for animals,
habitat,
recreational.
Estuaries
• Wetlands formed when rivers meet the
sea
– Brackish water – mix of salt and fresh water
– Basis of food web not photosynthesis, but
detritus (tiny pieces of organic matter)
– ‘Nursery’ for fish, birds, invertebrates
• Threats
– Pollution
– Solid waste landfills
Types of Estuaries
• Salt marsh
– Temperate, as in NJ
– Salt tolerant sea grass
• Mangrove swamps
– Tropical, as in Everglades in Florida
– Salt tolerant trees
Estuary
Marine Ecosystems
• Coastal Ocean – from low tide to
continental shelf
• Open ocean
• Coral reefs
Coastal Ocean
• Intertidal zone
– High tide and Low tide twice a day caused by
the moon’s gravity
– Regular and extreme changes in temperature
and wetness
– Zonation – horizontal banding of organisms
that live in intertidal zone
Intertidal Zone Organisms
Open Ocean
• Zones
– Photic – light penetrates no more than 200
meters
• Phytoplankton – algae that use light to make their
own food (photosynthesis)
• Zooplankton and animals that eat them
– Aphotic – no light
• Decomposers and filter feeders
• Benthic – organisms that live on the bottom
Open Ocean
Open Ocean Animals
Coral Reef
• Limestone ridges built by tiny coral
animals related to jellyfish
• Need warm salt water
• Fragile ecosystems
– Can’t survive water too warm, too cold or too
polluted
– Coral bleaching – when corals die they turn
white
Coral Reef
Arctic and Antarctic Ecosystems
• Marine ecosystems
• Arctic Ocean
– Rich in nutrients
– Large populations of plankton, fish, birds, whales,
seals, polar bears
• Antarctic
– Continent
– Like the Arctic, plankton are the basis of the food web
(fish, whales, birds including penguins)