BIOMES

Putting the Aspects of

Physical Geo Together!
 BIOMES
VOCABULARY
OBJECTIVES Biome
1. Students will KNOW the Temperate
relationship between Mid-latitude
climates and biomes, and Rainforest
examples of biomes in
canopy
different climate zones such
as: rainforest, desert and
Savannah
tundra, etc. Desert
Grassland
2. Students will Chaparral
UNDERSTAND that biome Forest
types are dictated by Taiga
climates.
Tundra
3. Students will BE ABLE TO
Ice-Cap
recognize and explain the permafrost
various biomes by
description.
 BIOME
A BIOME is a community of plants and
animals with characteristics evolved to
suit a certain type of environment.

A Rainforest
biome
 BIOME
A BIOME is a community of plants and
animals with characteristics evolved to
suit a certain type of environment.

A sub-
arctic
biome

A
desert
CLIMATE REGIONS
vs
BIOMES

There are 3 basic

climate zones:
1.Polar
2.Temperate
3.Tropics
CLIMATE PATTERNS
 We will organize the
biomes by basic climate
regions
There are 3 Basic Climate Regions:
1.TROPICAL - low latitude, near the Equator, warm
climates.
a.Rainforest & Savannah

2.TEMPERATE - mid-latitudes with most variety.

a.Deserts, Chaparral, Temperate Grasslands, &
Temperate Forest.

3.POLAR - high latitude, least direct sunlight

a.Taiga & Tundra.
 THE TROPICS:
RAINFOREST & SAVANNAH
 TROPICAL
RAINFOREST
● LOCATION:
○ low latitudes like the
Amazon, Equatorial Africa
● TEMPS/PRECIPITATION:
○ Average temp is 80ºF and
up, with 80” plus of rain a
year...so it is very humid
and wet!
● PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS:
○ Lush vegetation, canopy of
trees, and abundant wildlife
such as venomous snakes,
sloth, jaguar, gorilla, tree
frogs, toucans, canary, etc.
TROPICAL RAINFOREST
 TROPICAL
SAVANNAH
● LOCATION:
○ Tropical grasslands in
Africa, Serengeti Plain,
India’s Ganges Plain
● TEMPS/PRECIPITATION:
○ High temperatures all year,
with a rainy season, and dry
season.
○ DRY winter, WET summer
● PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS:
○ Grassland with scattered
trees, zebra, giraffe,
wildebeest, lion, meerkat,
etc.
TROPICAL SAVANNAH
THE TEMPERATE ZONE:
DESERT, TEMPERATE
GRASSLANDS, CHAPARRAL,
TEMPERATE FOREST
 TEMPERATE
DESERT
● LOCATION:
○ Sahara Desert in Northern
Africa, Gobi Desert in China,
Southwest USA & North
Mexico, Australia.
● TEMPS/PRECIPITATION:
○ Less than 10” rain yearly,
wide temp change day to
night, deserts can be cold
or hot.
● PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS:
○ Scattered cactus & shrub
plants watered by oasis
(underground spring).
Rattlesnakes, camels,
Sahara Desert, North Africa Ladakh, Kashmir/India

Borrego Desert, Baja Desert,

TEMPERATE DESERT
 TEMPERATE
GRASSLAND
● LOCATION:
○ The Steppes of Russia,
Central Asia, the Great
Plains of N. America,
Pampas of Argentina
● TEMPS/PRECIPITATION:
○ 10-20” rain yearly, semi-
arid (dry), HOT summers,
COLD winters.
● PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS:
○ Not very many trees, lost of
tall grass, buffalo,
pronghorn, antelope, prairie
dogs, coyotes, wolves
Mongolia, Central Asia
On the American Great Plains
TEMPERATE GRASSLAND
 CHAPARRAL
(MEDITERRANEAN)
● LOCATION:
○ Mid-latitudes around the
Mediterranean Sea (Italy,
Greece, S. France, N. coast
of Africa) or in South
California.
● TEMPS/PRECIPITATION:
○ 20” rain annually, between
30ºF amd 100ºF
temperatures.
○ Mild, rainy Winter, & long,
hot, dry, sunny Summers.
● PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS:
○ Woody brushes, short trees,
grapes, and citrus like oranges
and limes. Animals like goats,
Italy
 CHAPARRAL
(MEDITERRANEAN)
 TEMPERATE
FOREST
● LOCATION:
○ Eastern US, most of China,
East Europe & Eastern
Russia.
● TEMPS/PRECIPITATION:
○ Hot/humid Summers &
cold/snowy Winters.
○ Year-round rain, but all 4
seasons are obvious
● PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS:
○ Mixed forests with long-leaf
pines, and lots of trees.
○ Animals like black bears,
grizzly bears, deer,
raccoon, skunk, opossum,
squirrel, chipmunk, mink,
Mixed forest in Tennessee
 East Texas farm in the
humid subtropical south
Canary Islands
Four distinct seasons in continental temperate
forests
TEMPERATE FOREST
THE POLAR ZONE:
TAIGA, TUNDRA, ICE-CAP
 TAIGA
● LOCATION:
○ Sub-arctic Canada and
Northern Russia
● TEMPS/PRECIPITATION:
○ Very cold winters & short,
cool summers
○ -65 to 64ºF throughout the
year, with 15-33” of
precipitation (mostly
snow!!)
● PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS:
○ Permafrost - permanently
frozen subsoil
○ Needled evergreens, forests
of fir trees, timber wolves,
snowshoe hares, moose,
elk.
 Canada
Actual proof
of me freezing
at Niagara
Falls this
February of
2020.
TAIGA
 TUNDRA
● LOCATION:
○ High latitudes, Northern
Russia, Northern Alaska!
● TEMPS/PRECIPITATION:
○ Freezing, dark winters
lasting 6 months, weak
summer with little warmth
○ Annual temps -30 to 20ºF &
6-10” of precipitation
annually.
● PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS:
○ Permafrost - permanently
frozen subsoil
○ No trees, it’s too cold!
Instead, bushed, moss,
lichen. Animals like Caribou,
bear, arctic fox, reindeer.
Barrow, Alaska - Northern-most city of
the US
Houses on stilts to
prevent melting of
the permafrost
TUNDRA
 ICE-CAP
● LOCATION:
○ Antarctica, Greenland
● TEMPS/PRECIPITATION:
○ Snow & Ice = 2mi thick
○ -20ºF, very little
precipitation because no
moisture in the air. Can
snow in summer.
● PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS:
○ Lichens are only vegetation
○ Polar bears, penguins,
seals, whales, fish, krill,
some birds migrate during
“warmer” months to feed
on insects that survived the
cold.
ICE-CAP
 FUN FACT
It IS possible for one to
go from one biome to
another very quickly
through elevation.

For example, in Southern

California, you can go from
Mediterranean Chaparral up
through mountain fir forests,
straight up to “Alpine Tundra” by
climbing the Sierra Nevada
Mountains.
 HIGHLANDS
Higher elevation = cooler temperatures, and smaller,
fewer vegetation.
As elevation INCREASES, temperature DECREASES