Ch12 lesson 2Objective: To know that climates and the types of life that they

support define biomes on Earth. Ecological roles are the same in different biomes but may be filled by different species.

Would you expect to find a penguin living in the jungles of Africa? How about a lion at the north pole? Earth’s communities of plants and animals live in a range of climates. Some organisms can survive only in tropical areas. Others are adapted to life in regions with ice and snow. What organisms live in your region?

Earth has six major biomes, or land zones, that support a different type of ecological communities.

See an animation about biomes.

ca6.msscience.com

Tundra: ◦ In the polar tundra,

the ground may stay frozen all year. Little water or sunlight is available in winter. Tundra vegetation is limited to small plants that can survive the cold, dark winter.

Taiga: ◦ South of the Tundra,

most soils in the taiga thaw in the summer. Taigas are heavily forested and are home for moose, lynx, shrews, bears, and foxes.

Temperate Deciduous Forest:◦ Temperate regions

usually have four distinct seasons each year, with cold winters and hot summers. Between 75 and 150 cm of rain falls a year, but one season usually not much wetter than another.

Rain Forests: ◦ Tropical Rain Forests

arte located near the equator. More species of plants and animals are found here than anywhere else on Earth. Temperate Rain Forests found near the coasts, have huge evergreen trees.

Grasslands: ◦ Grasslands usually have

poor soil and uneven rainfall throughout the year. Animals found in grasslands include coyotes, eagles, bobcats, crickets, dung beetles, bison, and prairie dogs. A chaparral is a hot, dry grassland found in coastal regions. Winters is mild, usually about 10 degrees Celsius. Summers are hot-up to 40 degrees Celsius- and dry that fires and droughts are common.

Desert: ◦ Deserts cover about one-

fifth of Earth’s land surface and are very dry. Some deserts are hot with little rain throughout the year. Other deserts have cold winters with some snow.

◦ Desert plants include cacti that store water in their thick leaves. The animals include rodents, lizards, snakes, spiders, and a few birds.

Habitats: Is the place an organism lives.

Each species in a habitat has its own niche, or role, in the environment—how it obtains food and shelter, cares for its young, and avoids danger.