Biomes quiz
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72 Terms
What is an ecosystem?
A specific biological community and its physical environment interacting through exchanges of matter and energy.
What is a biotic factor?
The living part of an ecosystem.
What is an abiotic factor?
The nonliving part of an ecosystem.
What is a biome?
A broad, regional type of ecosystem characterized by distinctive climate, soil, and adapted biological communities.
What are the two main categories of biomes?
Terrestrial and aquatic.
What are the two most important factors determining terrestrial biome distribution?
Temperature and precipitation.
How do temperature and precipitation change geographically?
They change with elevation and latitude.
What are the three major types of deserts?
Tropical, temperate, and cold deserts.
What are the general characteristics of deserts?
Low, unevenly distributed precipitation, little vegetation, and extreme temperature variations.
How have desert plants and animals adapted?
They have adaptations for low water availability and extreme heat.
What characterizes a tropical desert?
Extreme heat, less than 250 mm (10 inches) of annual rainfall, and sparse drought-resistant vegetation.
What are the soil and terrain like in tropical deserts?
Sandy or rocky terrain and poor soil.
Which desert is an example of a tropical desert?
The Sahara Desert.
What characterizes a temperate desert?
Low precipitation, freezing winters, warm-to-hot summers, and large seasonal and daily temperature swings.
Why can temperate deserts receive little moisture?
Mountain ranges can block moisture from coastal areas.
Which desert is an example of a temperate desert in the slides?
The Sonoran Desert.
What characterizes a cold desert?
Very low precipitation, often snow or fog, long freezing winters, and short cool-to-warm summers.
What conditions are associated with cold deserts?
High elevation, harsh winds, and poor soil.
Which desert is an example of a cold desert?
The Gobi Desert.
Where do grasslands commonly occur?
In continental interiors that are too moist for deserts but too dry for forests.
What are the three major types of grasslands?
Tropical, temperate, and cold grasslands.
What is a savanna?
A tropical grassland with coarse grasses and scattered trees.
What is the climate and location of savannas?
Warm, open ecosystems near the equator.
Where are savannas found?
Africa, Australia, South America, and parts of India.
What characterizes temperate grasslands?
Open, flat areas dominated by grasses, few trees, hot summers, cold winters, and moderate rainfall.
What type of soil do temperate grasslands have?
Fertile soil.
What is a tall-grass prairie an example of?
A temperate grassland.
What characterizes cold grasslands in the slides?
Bitterly cold winters, hot summers, dominant grasses, and very few trees.
What is permafrost?
A layer of soil beneath the surface that stays permanently frozen all year.
How does permafrost affect plant roots?
It prevents deep roots from growing.
What are the three major types of forests?
Tropical rainforests, temperate forests, and cold boreal or taiga forests.
What defines a forest biome?
Land dominated by trees.
What characterizes tropical rainforests?
Hot, humid conditions, high rainfall, and location near the equator.
What is the biodiversity of tropical rainforests like?
They contain a huge amount of biodiversity.
What type of soil do tropical rainforests have?
Poor soil.
What characterizes temperate deciduous forests?
Moderate rainfall, four seasons, deciduous trees, and fertile soil.
How much rainfall do temperate deciduous forests receive?
About 30–60 inches.
What are deciduous trees?
Trees that lose their leaves in the fall.
What animals are listed for temperate deciduous forests?
Deer, foxes, squirrels, and birds. (The slides also list “hearts.”)
What characterizes boreal or taiga forests?
Long winters, short summers, harsh cold climates, and poor acidic soil.
What types of trees dominate boreal or taiga forests?
Evergreen, coniferous trees.
What is an aquatic biome?
A large biome characterized by the presence of water.
What factors define aquatic biomes?
Salinity and depth.
What percentage of Earth's surface is covered by water, according to the slides?
75%.
What are the two main types of aquatic biomes?
Freshwater and marine.
What is salinity?
The amount of salt in water.
What is the photic zone?
The zone to a maximum depth of about 200 meters where light penetrates and photosynthesis can occur.
What is the aphotic zone?
The zone below about 200 meters where photosynthesis does not occur and chemosynthesis occurs instead.
What is the salt content of freshwater biomes?
Less than 1% salt content, according to the slides.
What are examples of freshwater biomes?
Lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and wetlands.
How do freshwater biomes vary?
They vary in size and depth.
What is a thermocline?
A sharp temperature boundary in a deep lake.
What must organisms living in rivers adapt to?
Moving water.
What animals live in rivers?
Fish, amphibians, and insects.
What plants can thrive along slower river sections and banks?
Algae, mosses, and rooted aquatic plants such as cattails.
What is a wetland?
A shallow ecosystem where part of the land is submerged.
What are the three types of wetlands listed in the slides?
Swamps, marshes, and bogs.
What characterizes a swamp?
A water-covered wetland dominated by woody trees and shrubs.
What characterizes a marsh?
A shallow-water wetland dominated by non-woody, herbaceous plants such as grasses and reeds.
What characterizes a bog?
An area of saturated ground with layers of undecayed vegetation called peat.
What is brackish water?
A mixture of saltwater and freshwater.
What characterizes marine biomes?
They cover almost three-quarters of Earth's surface and support diverse communities that depend on photosynthetic organisms, usually algae and phytoplankton.
What marine biome examples are listed in the slides?
Coral reefs, mangroves, estuaries, salt marshes, tide pools, and barrier islands.
Where are coral reefs found?
In warm, shallow, clear water.
What percentage of marine species do coral reefs support, according to the slides?
25%.
What are mangrove trees adapted to?
Growing in saltwater.
How do mangroves benefit coastal ecosystems?
They stabilize shorelines and act as nurseries for many species.
What is an estuary?
A bay where rivers empty into the ocean.
What are estuaries like?
They contain calm, warm, nutrient-rich water.
What is a tide pool?
A depression in a rocky shoreline flooded at high tide that retains water at low tide.
What is a salt marsh?
A shallow wetland occasionally flooded with seawater.
What is a barrier island?
A low, narrow, sandy island that forms parallel to a coastline.