What are biomes, and how do environmental factors affect their distribution and makeup?
Why You Should Care
Biomes are the highest level of the ecological hierarchy, besides the biosphere itself. Ecologists who study biomes are usually concerned with determining what environmental factors create them and predicting how climate change may alter them. Understanding the major biomes, where they are, and what factors create them will help you understand how the planet works as a whole.
Choose the correct term for each of the following definitions:
Term | Definition |
---|---|
j8W/kkymtBer5O9f0AKZTTA2LCD1Rusm0AizTC5wHXZMSTdI5lzvMScRZWI7Dk1Rw7l0Tg== | The sum of all organic material—plant and animal matter—that make up an ecosystem. |
3vBIJhAZXbeHTGLldTHJEzJ6MHlTT2/kUqD/ZVgKlQX3kZyOn75TrSZhD/IpCEjcojUe7A== | The one-way passage of energy through an ecosystem. |
/DgQiaR1DWo/wAGXy947qDuBm0F+S5xyeQ89f+2ifM02lfFDnstAB5cbcLcuvidnyAweCA== | Movement of life's essential chemicals or nutrients through an ecosystem (also known as biogeochemical cycles). |
9LfsIUv7PeE7/+tACMzTCSK16RNa8Iz2zsMyKEKpkPUaPYRpKiTPBjyKpyokBRebDxdY2g== | One of many distinctive types of ecosystems determined by climate and identified by the predominant vegetation and organisms that have adapted to live there. |
Energy enters the biosphere as solar energy and leaves as reflected solar energy and heat. Matter does not enter or leave the biosphere, however. We therefore say that energy e7e6UpuiTI7v8MvVTjsbhenrV62MbHSBC/b1mra3YfkBOSe2 the biosphere and matter fpsW/hlt82AhfUT90s8KU6EynZNpLM7XYYU7YRusKO44k5A5 it.
Thought Question: If energy enters the biosphere as solar energy, how does it move through communities of organisms? (Select all that apply.)
As light reflected from organisms YZqRursQbQ4R6IcA
As biomass created by plants UxXCdiuIDfYB7iao
As organisms that are eaten by other organisms UxXCdiuIDfYB7iao
Examine the map from Infographic 7.4 and select the correct answer for each of the following statements:
This biome is mostly found in bands along the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer.JsoNASt+TnX9kYizFfs8S0bsLr9OgKyJp6Ytbjx2fTQqptQA7/ZFPfqvtXDG/y0Y/42Vkg==
This is one of the largest terrestrial biomes and is found exclusively in the Northern Hemisphere. EPs8HhrMme/DXszDaklMyPFIvPTSzPTgjwdKH35y/NdQYYoy0BHMhkU7uLjvXh6NEiwwCscFxwNo4MRd
This biome is found along the coasts of North America and across most of Europeand eastern Asia. 3y3QZ/qSOej7ysEtXTDndkU3BMi7Xu+rXXNBy5ktRnY9g4cGzFRJxxolrxJhC+KxtwjqgkBM0Q1WrJDd/6Qwfw==
Most Grasslands are found (select two):
Along coasts s87TBEH0BM9yDZCI
In the interiors of continents 9PufMCe/gaVcshPB
Near deserts 9PufMCe/gaVcshPB
In the tropics s87TBEH0BM9yDZCI
Examine the graph from Infographic 7.4 and select the correct answer for each of the following statements:
The difference between Mediterranean scrub and tropical scrub is that OWUrNWhjUw9iEO636S/wwkVSRzbnX7e9+hbMSgZUSs3bL7AwJJ76LLEuYr355WXOTFhrSlv3ag+5sTdPc4E9N76quVjJ5Tb+OZVj/cPCwCo4+nF+6jwR9EGOCFyN/jyXfGnoXpY9EkMhNjFgnrUXxmT6Q3ICngIb.
The biggest difference between temperate forest and temperate grassland is that 6kHBTD72M8mbnNENoPiYIoySKcjkyxFMxMvRkpKcj7h/8rHgre94daXtN2TECDkT98rkZ/SEt61Ka+5laSAWD+G3H13yFDiOaNZG2bReX5K/pZU52i+AlNy1xzjRtn/v85HbDpE1gGq5pIjZ+r1qDfVbH5JModbu3thquA==.
The coldest and driest biome is vZe8oivJh3HjudGssMYJISkcnYKnN1bQBsvG+9uhA2d/skjo9/xhShXaO223qN5Q.
The warmest and wettest biome is jIM2Vl1X/Zml/1s6aPwXrdz2LFZJXSTYhDxQBBi5dnuQK2UZSCOhuy/nadkfFb3SfKpJ/3JFITildPNdhXl0wDAnR5M1R7NZn+79ulL90BQ=.