1. What does the term terraforming mean? How does the term relate to human influence on Earth?

2. What is a biome? What physical factors determine biome type?

3. What is vegetation structure? Plant growth form? Give examples of both.

4. Give examples of botanical terms used in this chapter.

5. Briefly describe the Köppen climate classification system. What are the six major climate types used in this system?

6. Describe the spatial relationship between biomes and climate.

7. For each biome in this chapter, describe where it occurs, the major physical characteristics in terms of biodiversity, its structure, climate, fire’s prevalence, and important limiting factors.

8. For each biome, discuss the main human impacts.

9. Why is it that the Amazon tropical rainforest has poor soils, yet those of Indonesia are rich?

10. What percentage of Earth’s species is estimated to live in the tropical rainforest biome? How many species are estimated to go extinct each year?

11. How do poor soils, farming, and deforestation relate to one another in the tropical rainforest?

12. Why is tropical seasonal forest particularly vulnerable to human activities?

13. What other regional names does the tropical savanna go by?

14. What are the three factors that largely shape the tropical savanna biome?

15. What is a grazing sequence, and how does it allow many large animals to use the same areas in the same season?

16. What other local names does the temperate grassland go by?

17. What three prairie types are found in the North America?

18. Describe the ecological role of the prairie dog. Specify its relationships with bison and pronghorn.

19. What other local names does the Mediterranean biome go by?

20. How does the Mediterranean biome’s biodiversity compare with that of other temperate biomes?

21. What is unusual about the climate of the Mediterranean biome?

22. Why does fire often occur in the Mediterranean biome?

23. Define deciduous.

24. What is the most prominent human impact in the temperate deciduous forest biome?

25. What name does the boreal forest go by in Eurasia?

26. Describe the climate and vegetation of the boreal forest.

27. Why is it that forests occur on the windward slopes of mountains but are much less common on the leeward slopes?

28. What is the difference between northern tundra and alpine tundra?

29. What is an alpine tree line? What is a northern tree line?

30. What is tropical alpine scrubland and where is it found? How does it pertain to convergent evolution?

31. Compare the biomass of the desert with the biomass of a tropical rainforest.

32. What is the main limiting factor in deserts?

33. Give examples of the main types of human land uses that have modified natural biomes.

34. What is currently the main driver of species extinctions?

35. Why should we save a spider monkey species in a remote tropical seasonal forest in Mexico? Of what practical use is the spider monkey to people?