3. Biomes

a. Walter-Lieth climate diagrams

i. How to read precipitation and temperature ii. Matching climate diagrams to biomes or climates

iii. How to determine northern or southern hemisphere iv. How to determine dry conditions versus wet conditions

Water balance

i. Water balance equation, solving math problems

ii. Matching precipitation and PET values to seasons or climates

iii. Reasoning through scenarios of increased/decreased precipitation and/or PET

Biome definition

large scale plant communities, based on temperature and precipitation (biotic/abiotic)

Net primary productivity (NPP) definition

net amount of energy per unit time that producers capture by photosynthesis and chemosynthesis minus amount of use in celular respiration

NPP= GPP (Gross Primary Productivity) — R (respiration)  

1. What structures terrestrial biomes

characterized by plant communities because plants are less mobile than animals so they have to adapt to climate conditions to persist

• Temperature an precipitation determine biome distribution 

Average annual precipitation versus average annual temperature plot of biomes

Types of terrestrial biomes

a. Tropical rainforest

b. Tundra

c. Desert

d. Tropical seasonal forests and savannas

e. Temperate grasslands and shrublands

f. Temperate deciduous forests

g. Temperate evergreen forests

h. Boreal forests

i. Mediterranean 

a. Tropical rainforest

• high precipitation and temperature with no seasonality

• even temperature

• high levels of net productivity

• near equator

b. Tundra

• very dry

• low precipitation 

• some seasonality

• very low temperature (9 months below 0 degrees C)

• low amounts of plant

• low net productivity  

c. Desert

• extremely low precipitation

• high temperatures

• dry summers and winters

• drought driven climates 

d. Tropical seasonal forests and savannas

• wet summer and dry winters

• varying precipitation 

• consistent weather

e. Temperate grasslands and shrublands

• wet summer

• dry winters

• high seasonality

f. Temperate deciduous forests

• mid altitude forests

• medium precipitation with no seasonality

• medium temperatures with seasonality 

g. Temperate evergreen forests

• no droughts

• trees keep their leaves

h. Boreal forests

• low precipitation with some seasonality 

• generally low temperature (6 months below 0 degrees C)

i. Mediterranean 

• high seasonality in temperature and precipitation

• wet winters and dry summers

What structures aquatic biomes

• water movement

• salinity

• light

Types of aquatic biomes

a. Rivers and streams

b. Lakes, ponds, reservoirs

c. Influence of climate change on aquatic biomes

d. Ocean

a. Rivers and streams

• water runs downhill

• streams converge into bigger/longer streams/rivers

• structured by distance to shore (nutrients) speed of water flow

b. Lakes, ponds, reservoirs

d. Ocean

i. Estuary

ii. Continental shelf

iii. Open ocean

i. Estuary

• meeting of rivers and oceans

ii. Continental shelf

• diverse and productive

• includes coral reefs

• most productive biomes with net productivity

iii. Open ocean

• pelagic: photic zone where photosynthesis occurs

• Aphotic zone: no photosynthesis

• Abyssal zone really cold and dark; cover greatest surface