APES- Terrestrial Biomes Review
Vocabulary
Understand and be able to apply each of these terms.
Biome:Similar geographic and climate division such as plants, animals, and soil organisms,also called ecosystem. Some parts of the Earth have more or less abiotic and biotic factorsspread over a large area creating a typical ecosystem in the area.
Climate:Latitude, terrain, and altitude and nearby water bodies. Mostly commonlycategorized by temperature and precipitation
Rainshadow:Dry area on the backside of a mountain. The mountain blocks the passagecreating a “shadow” of dryness behind them
Windward:Side being hit by wind
Leeward:Side not being hit by wind
Latitude:Geographic coordinate that specifies north-south position of a point Latitude line runeast-west parallel to the equator
Altitude:Height above or below sea level
Primary Succession:Biological or Ecological succession of plant life. Gradual growth of anecosystem over a longer than normalperiod
.
Secondary Succession:Growth process started by an event (such as a hurricane) thatreduces an established ecosystem to a smaller population. Usually faster than primarysuccession
.
Tropical: A climate that is warm to hot. Usually moist year round with lush vegetation
.
Temperate:Variations between the tropics and poles are generally relatively moderate rather than hot or cold. In certain areas variations between summer and winter can be extremecausing a continental climate since they are so far away from the sea.
Desert:Usually less than 250mm or 10in per year of precipitation, sometimes none. Somearea experience more than 250mm of precipitation but still considered desert because arealoses more water through evapotranspiration than precipitation
Polar:Less intensive solar radiation. Sun’s energy arrives at oblique angle spreading over alarger area and travels a longer distance in atmosphere in which the light may be absorbed,scattered or reflected. This is the same reason winters are colder than the rest of the year
Critical Thinking
Read, analyze, and give complete answers to these questions.
1.Describe the rainshadow effect and explain how it can alter the climate of the windward and leeward
sides of a mountain range.
The rainshadow effect is a mountain blocking the passage of rain producing weather. This causes air on the leeward side of the mountain to be dry as all of the moisture rises to the peak of the mountain and condenses. The windward side is relatively wet however.
2.What effect does living near a large ocean or lake have on average air temperatures?
Why?- Explain.
Living near an ocean or lake allows temperature in the area to remain constant year round. This is because the water within the lake or ocean helps to absorb heat during the summer months, andtends to release heat during the winter months.
For each category of biomes, give a major human impact andl ist 2 endangered species:
a.
Deserts – Irrigation; Desert Tortoise;
Grasslands: -Agriculture Elephants, LionForests – Deforestation; Jaguars, Sloths
c.
Mountains – Mining; Canada Lynx, Black footed ferret