8 Biomes

Hot Desert

Animal adaptations: Reptiles are common and have thick skin and scales that prevent water loss. Animals such as desert spadefoot toads and scorpions bury themselves in the ground and sleep during times of heat and drought. Animals are active mainly at night when temperatures are lower.

Temperate Grassland

Animal Adaptation: Large mammals include antelope, wild horses, kangaroos, and predators such as wolves and coyotes. Animals such as mice, rabbits, gophers, and snakes are common to both grassland types. These animals burrow to escape fire, predators, and extreme weather.

Tropical Grassland

Animal Adaptation: Many large grazing mammals are present in large numbers because there is plentiful grass. Animals such as antelope are found in both biomes and have flat teeth that grind plant materials. In this biome, herds of antelope, giraffes, and zebras are found with predators such as lions, cheetahs, and leopards.

Tundra

Animal adaptations: Arctic foxes and hares have compact bodies and shorter legs and ears, which reduce heat loss. Many animals grow more slowly and reproduce less frequently than animals in temperate biomes, therefore requiring less energy. The Greenland sulfur butterfly has a long life cycle, taking up to 14 years to become an adult. Caribou migrate to food sources in winter. In winter, the white feathers of the snowy owl prevent its prey from seeing it against the snow. Many birds migrate here in summer to eat insects that reproduce in great numbers in the marshy conditions.

Cold Desert

Animal adaptations: Fan-throated lizards, small mammals, such as foxes, coyotes, jackrabbits, and pocket mice burrow to escape the cold.

Boreal Forest

Animal adaptations: Insect-eating birds such as warblers migrate south in the fall. Seed eaters such as the finch stay year-round. Small mammals such as chipmunks and shrews burrow in winter to stay warm. Mammals such as moose have thick insulating coats and tend to be large. Large bodies enable moose to retain their body heat. The fur of snowshoe hares changes from summer brown to winter white, which camouflages them from predators. Insects multiply rapidly and in large quantities in the summer. Reptiles and amphibians are rare since they are not adapted to survive low temperatures.

Temperate Rainforest

Animal adaptations: Most animals live on or near the forest floor, where they are protected from the wind and rain. Many birds and small mammals, such as chipmunks, eat seeds that fall on the forest floor. Many insects live in the tree bark and decomposing plant matter. Birds with long beaks and amphibians with sticky tongues eat these insects.

Permanent Ice

Animal adaptations: The Arctic has polar bears, walruses, seals, arctic foxes, and some insects. Antarctica has mostly penguins and marine mammals, such as leopard seals. Penguins have fat layers and tightly packed feathers that retain heat. Polar bears, seals, and walruses have thick coats and fat layers for warmth. Walruses have no external ear, which reduces heat loss, and they lie close together in herds of over a thousand animals, thus retaining heat.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Animal adaptations: The many layers in the biome provide many habitats for squirrels, rabbits, skunks, cougars, deer, wolves, bears, and amphibians. Squirrels, chipmunks, and blue jays store nuts and seeds in tree hollows. Some mammals hibernate. Many birds migrate to warmer areas in winter.

Tropical Rainforest

Animal adaptations: This biome has the greatest diversity of animals on Earth but has few large mammals. Most animals are adapted to live in trees since there is little vegetation on the forest floor. Many are specialists, adapted to a particular food or habitat, which reduces competition. Nut eaters like parrots and toucans have big, strong beaks that cut nuts from the trees and crack open the tough shells. Some rainforest animals secrete poisons that protect them from predators. The slow movement of the South American three-toed sloth, an adaptation to its lowcalorie diet of leaves, also makes it less noticeable to predators such as jaguars.

Tropical Grassland

Physical Feature: Land is mainly flat, soil is less rich because nutrients is removed from rain, precipitation usually occurs in late spring or early summer and is followed by an extended dry period. Grass fires are common but occur less frequently

Temperate Grassland

Physical Feature: Land is mainly flat, soil is rich and fertile, precipitation usually occurs in late spring or early summer and is followed by an extended dry period. Grass fires are common

Cold Desert

Physical Features: Most precipitation falls as snow, but there is rain in the spring. The soil is often salty and little water erosion occurs

Temperate Rainforest

Physical features: Biome occur in narrow strips along coastlines that are backed by mountains, where the ocean winds drop large amounts of moisture on the windward side of the mountains.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Physical features: Seasonal changes between summer and winter are very large. Temperature changes during a day can also be large. This biome has four distinct seasons and a long, warm growing season. The soil is enriched by fallen leaves that break down and provide nutrients.

Tundra

Physical features: The biome always has a layer of permanently frozen soil called permafrost. Its flat terrain (the physical features of its land area) results in poor drainage. In summer, a thin layer of topsoil thaws, creating many pools and marshes. The biome is cold and dark much of the year but has 24 hours of daylight each day during its brief summer.

Tropical Rainforest

Physical features: The soil is poor as nutrients are quickly recycled and not retained. The soil is also poor because heavy rain washes minerals away. The forest floor is very dark, which limits plant growth

Hot Desert

Physical features: There is either very little rainfall or there is a lot of rain in a very short period. The soils are often salty because minerals do not get washed away.

Permanent Ice

Physical features: This biome has very strong winds and little soil. Little fresh water is available because of freezing conditions. Antarctica is very cold almost all year-round.

Temperate Grassland

Plant Adaptation: Trees are scarce, because of limited rainfall. Grasses such as blue grama and buffalo grass are well adapted for drought as their roots are deep and form dense mats that collect water when it is available. Because of their well-developed root systems, plants can regrow after a fire. Flexible stalks enable these grasses to bend without breaking in the wind. Many wind- and insect-pollinated wildflowers, such as asters, goldenrod, and clover, grow between the grasses. Some trees, such as acacia, have thorns that deter animals from eating them. Some grasses have sharp edges or are too bitter for grazing.

Cold Desert

Plant adaptation: There are few plant species and most are less than 1 m tall. Many plants, such as sagebrush, are deciduous and have spiny leaves. Sagebrush roots can extend 30 m and absorb water when available.

Permanent Ice

Plant adaptations: Lichens (organisms that consist of fungi and algae) can tolerate drought and cold and are dark-coloured, thus absorbing more sunlight. Many species of moss survive in the Arctic, but few species of moss grow in Antarctica. There are only two flowering plants in Antarctica, but there are more than 100 species of flowering plants in the Arctic because of its brief growing season.

Tundra

Plant adaptations: No trees grow here since the growing season is too short. Roots cannot penetrate permafrost. Many plants grow close to the ground, where they absorb the warmth that has been trapped by the dark soil and are sheltered from the fierce winds. Short grasses, lichens, and mosses survive here. Some flowering plants, such as the arctic crocus, have fuzzy coverings on their stems, leaves, and buds that provide protection from the wind. Shrubs flower quickly during the long, sunlit summer days. The Labrador tea bush keeps its old leaves rather than dropping them, which conserves nutrients and helps protect the plant from cold, wind, and drying out.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

Plant adaptations: Plants grow in four to five layers, with tall maple, oak, and birch trees in the canopy layer. Light penetrates the layers, resulting in an understorey that has great biodiversity. Shorter trees occupy the second layer, with shrubs in the third layer, berries in the fourth layer, and ferns, herbs, and mosses on the forest floor. Deciduous trees shed their large, broad leaves in winter, which prevents water loss and reduces breakage of limbs with heavy snow. Thick bark limits moisture loss from the trees

Hot Desert

Plant adaptations: There are few plant species. Spiny cacti that have thick, fleshy stems that conserve water are common. Their roots extend metres away from the plant to absorb water. Other plants have small, thick, waxy leaves that also store water. Many plants have spines or produce chemicals that protect them from being eaten.

Tropical Rainforest

Plant adaptations: This biome has the largest number of different plant species. Plants grow in many layers. Tall trees form a dense canopy that absorbs most of the sunlight. Only shrubs adapted to shade thrive in the understorey. Vines climb tree trunks into the canopy where there is more light. Many plants, such as orchids, reach sunlight by growing on tall trees. Leaves have narrow tips that allow rain to run off quickly, which reduces weight on the branches.

Boreal Forest

Plant adaptations: Trees are mainly coniferous (cone-bearing), such as black spruce and white spruce, with small, pointed, waxy needles that resist water loss and allow snow to slide off easily. In a balsam fir-white spruce forest, little light reaches the forest floor, so there are few understorey plants

Temperate Rainforest

Plant adaptations: Trees can grow very tall because of high precipitation and include large evergreens such as the Sitka spruce (up to 48 m tall) and the Douglas fir (up to 60 m tall). Mosses are draped on trees, and lichens cling on tree trunks, where they receive more light than on the forest floor. Ferns, mosses, and fungi that survive in the shade blanket the forest floor

Boreal Forest

There is a short summer growing season of an average of 50 days. The terrain is often rough. Many marshes, shallow lakes, and wetlands hold vast amounts of water. The soil is also very wet.