BIOL 4120: Principles of Ecology

Lecture 5: Biome Concept in Ecology

Dafeng Hui
Room: Harned Hall 320
Phone: 963-5777
Email: [email protected]
 Topics
5.1 Climate is the major determinant of plant growth form
and distribution
5.2 Climate determine the boundaries of terrestrial biomes
5.3 Walter climate diagrams distinguish the major climate
biomes
5.4 Temperate climate zones have average annual
temperature between 5 and 20oC
5. 5 Boreal and polar climate zones have average
temperatures below 5oC
5. 6 Climate zones with tropical latitudes have average
temperatures exceeding 20oC
5.7 Biome concept must be modified for freshwater
aquatic systems
5.8 Marine aquatic systems are classified principally by
water depth
 Biomes are classified
according to the predominat
plant types and climate
Concept of Biomes:

F.E. Clements and V.E. Shelford, 1939

Combining broad-scale distribution of both plants and
associated animals into a single classification

Biomes: classified according to the predominant plant

types

Campbell 1996: the world's major communities,

classified according to the predominant vegetation
and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that
particular environment.
 Three general plant forms: trees,
shrubs, and
Biomes grasses.
reflect adaptations of
dominant plant life forms
Why are there consistent patterns in the distribution and abundance of three
dominant plant life forms that relate to climate and physical environment?
 Biomes reflect adaptations of
dominant plant life forms
These three forms represent different patterns of carbon allocation and morphology

Grasses: less C to production of supporting tissue (stem) than do wood plants (shrubs and trees), more to photosynthetic tissues (leaves)
Woody plants: shrubs allocate lower percentage to stem than trees.
Trees: more to stem, advantage of height and access to light, cost more for maintenance and respiration.

As environmental conditions become adverse for photosynthesis (dry, low nutrient, cold T), trees will decline in both stature and density until they are no longer
able to persist as a component of the plant community.
Within broad classes of forest and woodland ecosystem (trees are dominant
or co-dominant), leaf form is another plant characteristic.

Based on longevity of leaf

Forests
Deciduous (live for only one year or growing season)
Winter-deciduous (temperate regions, low winter T)
Drought-deciduous (subtropical and tropical, leaf shed on dry periods)

Evergreen (live beyond a year)

Broadleaf-evergreen (tropic rainforest, no distinct growing season, year-
round photosynthesis)
Needle-leaf evergreen (growing season is short or nutrient availability
constrains photosynthesis and plant growth)

Economic model to explain adaptation of leaf form: cost to produce leaf

and gain from photosynthesis.
Concept of Biomes:

Major terrestrial biome types (eight , nine, and

varies):
Tropical forest, temperate forest, conifer forest
(taiga and boreal forest), tropical savanna,
temperate grasslands, chaparral (shrublands),
tundra, and desert.
 5.1 Climate is the major
determinant of plant growth form
and distribution
Since organisms are adapted to the physical environments of their
biomes, ranges of species are limited by these physical conditions

In terrestrial environments, temperature and moisture are the most

important variables, particularly for plants.
Related species may differ in their ecological tolerances,
and distribute Differently
5.2 Climate defines the boundaries of terrestrial biomes
(Walter)
Robert Whittaker,
Cornell Uni.

Biomes and
climate

Boundaries
between biomes
are broad and
often indistinct

Other factors:
topography, soils,
and exposure to
disturbances such
as fire
Nashville, TN

Mean temperature: 14.9 oC, annual precipitation: 122.3 cm

Source: US Climate Data

Temperate seasonal forest

Robert Whittaker,
Cornell Uni.

Biomes and
climate

Boundaries
between biomes
are broad and
often indistinct

Other factors:
topography, soils,
and exposure to
disturbances such
as fire
 BIOL 4120: Principles of Ecology
Lecture 5: Biome Concept in Ecology
Dafeng Hui
Room: Harned Hall 320
Phone: 963-5777
Email: [email protected]
 Recap
Climate and soil
Soil profile, soil weathering process, soil order

Biomes
Climate is the major determinant of plant growth form and
distribution

Climate determine the boundaries of terrestrial biomes

5.3 Walter climate diagrams
distinguish the major
terrestrial biomes

Precipitation and temperature

interactively determine
biomes

To permit ecologically
meaningful comparisons of
climates between localities,
Walter developed a climate
diagram to illustrate seasonal
periods of water deficit and
abundance.
Each climate zone has
a typical seasonal
patterns of T and P.
 5.4 Temperate climate zones have average
annual temperature between 5 and 20oC

Temperate seasonal forest biome (Climate zone VI)

Temperate rain forest biome (Climate zone V)

Temperate grassland/desert biome (Climate zone VII)

Woodland/shrubland biome (climate zone IV)

Subtropical desert biome (climate zone III)

 Temperate seasonal forest
Forest ecosystems dominate the wetter regions of the temperate zone
Deciduous forest covered large area of Europe and China, but mostly converted to croplands, only
exist in eastern China
North America, deciduous forests consist of a number of associations (next slide)
Southern Hemisphere, temperate evergreen forest become predominant
Asiatic broadleaf forest found in eastern China, Japan, Korea is similar to the North American
deciduous forest
Large scale distribution
of temperate forest in
eastern US
 Grassland ecosystems
Rainfall is very important: 250 to 800 mm
Other factors: fire, and human activity (convert grassland to desert by overgrazing)
Area: dropped from 42% to <12% of original size
Location: mid-latitudes in mid-continental regions
Typical: prairies of North America, steppes of central Eurasia
 Grassland in
North America
a.Tallgrass prairie
in Iowa,
Tallgrass prairie
b.mixed-grass
Big bluestem, prairie;
>1m
c.shortgrass
Mixed-grass steppe
prairie
Needlegrass-
garma grass
Shortgrass prairie
Blue garma and
buffalo grass
Aboveground primary productivity is related to MAP (52 grassland)
Grasslands are most productive when MAP>800 mm and MAT > 15oC
 5.4 Temperate climate zones have average
annual temperature between 5 and 20oC

Temperate seasonal forest biome (Climate zone VI)

Temperate rain forest biome (Climate zone V)

Temperate grassland/desert biome (Climate zone VII)

Woodland/shrubland biome (climate zone IV)

Subtropical desert biome (climate zone III)

sclerophyllous: hard-leaved
vegetation
 Desert
Area: 25 to 35%
Location: latitudes between 15 and 30o
Cause: Global air mass circulation
T: High in summer, could be cold in winter
PPT: low, <150 mm
Typical examples: majority in Northern Hemisphere, Sahara in Africa, Gobi in Asia, western North
America
Deserts are not the same everywhere
Cold desert: Great Basin of North America, the Gobi, Takla Makan, and
Turkestan deserts of Asia
Species: sagebrush, shadscale, chenopods, etc
Hot desert: Mojave, the Sonoran, and Chihuahuan
Vegetation: none to some combination of chenopods, dwarf-shrubs,
and succulents
Hot desert: a. Chihuahuan
Desert, b. Great Victorian
Desert in Australia, c. Dunes
in Saudi Arabian desert.
Plants and animals in Desert
Survive of desert plants:

Adapted to scarcity of water, low primary productivity

Flowering only when moisture is present

Fast grow, flower, produce seeds and die

Deep-rooted (mesquite, taproots reach water table)

CAM pathway, special leaf structure

Survive of animals

Support a diversity of animal life (bettles, ants, locusts, lizards, snakes, birds and mammals)

Grazing herbivores: generalists, consume a wide range of species.

Desert carnivores, such as fox and coyotes, have mixed diet include leaves and fruits.
 5. 5 Boreal and polar climate zones have
average temperatures below 5oC

Boreal forest biome (Climate zone VIII)

Tundra biome (Climate zone IX)

 Black spruce in North America
taiga (boreal forest)

Some coniferous forest. A. Norway spruce, b.

Rocky Mountaine subalpine forest, c. montane
coniferous forest in Rocky Mountains
 Tundra is treeless plain
Arctic tundra is a frozen plain, clothed in sedges, heaths, and willows, dotted
with lakes, and crossed by streams

Arctic Tundra
Cold Temperature and low precipitation

Two types:
Polar desert: dry soil, less than 5% plant cover
Wet tundra: up to 100% plant coverage, wet to moist soil

Unique conditions:
permafrost: isolate and protect soil OM
vegetation: simple form, slow growth, allocate more to roots.
Arctic
tundra
Canada
Rocky
Mountains
alpine
tundra
 5. 6 Climate zones with tropical latitudes have
average temperatures exceeding 20oC

Tropical rain forest biomes (Climate zone I)

Tropical seasonal forest/savanna biome

(Climate zone II)
 Tropic rain forest
Location: Equatorial zone between latitudes 10 oN and 10 oS
T: warm all year, monthly mean T>20 oC
PPT: Rainfall occurs daily, min. monthly>60mm
Typical example: Amazon basin of South America
 Recap
Climate zone with temperate climate zones have average
temperatures between 5 and 20 oC

Boreal and polar climate zones have average temperatures

below 5oC

Climate zones with tropical latitudes have average

temperatures exceeding 20oC
Tropic rain forests in
Amazon (a), Malaysia (b),
and Northeast Australia (c)

High net primary

productivity (NPP)
High diversity of plant and
animal life
7% land surface, >50%
plant and animal species

10-km2 contain 1500

species of flowing plants
and 750 tree species.
Richest area in Malaysia,
7900 species
90% of all primate species live
in the tropical rain forest

orangutan (an arboreal ape)

Gibbons, langurs, macaques
(Malaysian)

Gorillas, and chimpanzees

(Africa)

Lemurs

Beetles, butterflies
Vertical stratification of a tropic rain forest
 Tropical Savannas
Location: Equatorial zone between latitudes 30oN and 30oS, Dry tropic
and subtropical.
T: warm all year, annual mean T>18oC
PPT: distinct seasonality in rainfall, large interannual variation
Typical example: South America
 Savanna: means the treeless areas of South America

Grassland with scattered trees.

Characteristics:
Tropical Savannas
Occur on land surfaces of little relief, often on old plateaus, dissected by
rivers, soil poor in nutrients, especially P
Dominant species are fire-adapted, subjected to recurrent fires.
Grass cover with or without wood vegetation is always present
Woody component is short-lived (less than a few decades).

Two-layer vertical structure (ground level grass + shrubs or trees)

Support a large and varies assemblage of herbivores, invertebrate and
vertebrate, grazing and browsing.
Interaction between annual PPT and soil texture in defining biomes
Access by plants to soil moisture is more limited on the heavy
textured soils (clay) than sandy oil.
5.7 Biome concept must be modified for
aquatic systems
Terrestrial biomes: classified by growth form of dominant
vegetation reflects climate conditions.
Aquatic biomes: in many aquatic systems, there is no
“vegetation” form, only algae
Classified primarily by physical characteristics such as
salinity, water movement, and depth
Freshwater aquatic:
• Flowing water: Streams and rivers
• Standing water: lakes and ponds
• Wetlands
• Estuaries
 Flowing water: streams and rivers
Lotic systems: flowing fresh
waters, such as streams
and rivers

Streams form wherever P

exceeds ET, and excess
water drains from the land.

Riffles: water runs rapidly

over a rocky substratum
Pools: deeper stretches of
more slowly moving water

Riparian zone: terrestrial

veg influenced by seasonal
flooding
Allochthonous: organic
material that enters the
aquatic system from the
outside
Lack richness and diversity Autochthonous: home grow
its organic material.
Fluvial systems, as rivers
are sometimes called
 Standing water: lakes and ponds
Layers of lake:

Littoral zone

Liminetic or
pelagic zone

Benthic zone

Lentic system: nonflowing water systems, such as lakes and ponds

 Wetlands

Wetlands: terrestrial and aquatic communities come together

Lands consisting soil saturated with water and supports vegetation that
specifically adapted.

Include swamps, marshes, bogs (fresh water), salt marshes and

mangrove (associated with marine environments)

Plants can tolerate low O2

Important habits for a wide variety of animals, waterfowl, fish,

invertebrates

Protect coastal areas from ravages of hurricanes

Wetland sediments immobilize potentially toxic or polluting substances

dissolved in water and are thus natural water purifying plants.
Estuaries
Estuaries are
found at the
mouths of river

Mix of fresh and

salt water

Extremely
productivity
systems
 Human inputs into freshwater
biomes
Acid rain and eutrophication

1. Acid rain: combustion of fossil fuels, sulfur

dioxide, nitrogen oxides
pH<4 in steams and rivers

2. Eutrophication: addition of limiting nutrients,

such as N, P to aquatic ecosystems.
runoff: sewage, industrial wastes,
fertilizers, animal wastes from agricultural lands.
Oxygen depletion
5.8 Marine aquatic systems are
classified principally by water depth
Variation in marine environments:
temperature, salinity, depth (which influence light and
pressure), currents, substrata and at the edges of ocean and
tides.
Depth:
Littoral zone (intertide zone): extends between highest and
lowest tidal water levels.
Neritic zone: extends to depth of 200m, high productivity.
Oceanic zone: below neritic, sparse nutrient, low
production.
Benthic zone
Seafloor below
oceanic zone.

Photic zone:
With sufficient
light for
photosynthesis

Aphotic zone: no
light for
photosynthesis
Open ocean === desert

But in:

Coral reefs: shallow water

of warm ocean, T>20oC
year around

very productive and high

diverse

Like tropical rain forest in

terrestrial biome

Problem: global warming,

coral bleaching
Thank you!
Winter-deciduous

Drought-deciduous
Broadleaf evergreen in
tropic rain forest in
Australia

Needle-leaf evergreen in
Sierra Nevada, US
 BIOL 4120: Principles of Ecology
Lecture 5: Biome Concept in Ecology
Dafeng Hui
Room: Harned Hall 320
Phone: 963-5777
Email: [email protected]
 Recap
Biomes, concept

Climate is the major determinant of plant growth form and

distribution

Climate determine the boundaries of terrestrial biomes

Walter climate diagrams distinguish the major climate

biomes

Temperate climate zones have average annual temperature

between 5 and 20oC