Name: ____Chau Vu_______ Period: _______1_________ Date: ___10/14/13_________

APES- Terrestrial Biomes Review

Vocabulary
Understand and be able to apply each of these terms.

1. Biome: Large distinct terrestrial region having similar climate, soil, plants and animals

2. Climate: affected by its latitude, terrain, and altitude, water bodies and their currents. Climates can be classied according to the average and the typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation.

3. Rainshadow: a dry area on the leeward (back side) of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them.

4. Windward: Windward is the direction upwind from the point of reference.

5. Leeward: Leeward is the direction downwind from the point of reference.

6. Latitude: a geographic coordinates that species the north-south position of a point on the Earth's surface. Lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run eastwest as circles parallel to the equator.

7. Altitude: dened based on the context in which it is used (aviation, geometry, geographical survey,

sport, and more). The term altitude is commonly used to mean the height above sea level of a location

8. Primary Succession: one of two types of biological and ecological succession of plant life, occurring in an environment in which new substrate devoid of vegetation and usually lacking soil, such as a lava ow or area left from retreated glacier, is deposited. In other words, it is the gradual growth of an ecosystem over a longer period. 9. Secondary Succession: a process started by an event (e.g. forest re, harvesting, hurricane) that reduces an already established ecosystem to a smaller population of species. Secondary succession occurs on preexisting soil. - Soil is already present, so there is no need for pioneer species; - Seeds, roots and underground vegetative organs of plants may still survive in the soil.

10. Tropical: Soil is already present, so there is no need for pioneer species; Seeds, roots and underground vegetative organs of plants may still survive in the soil.

11. Temperate: temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the Polar Regions.

12. Desert: An area that features this climate usually experiences less than 250 mm (10 inches) per year of precipitation and in some years may experience no precipitation at all.

13. Polar: Polar region receive less intensive solar radiation because the sun's energy arrives at an oblique angle, spreading over a larger area, and also travels a longer distance through the Earth's atmosphere in which it may be absorbed, scattered or reected, which is the same thing that causes winters to be colder than the rest of the year in temperate areas.

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. -> A rain shadow is an area of dry land that lies on the leeward (or downwind) side of a mountain. Winds carry air masses up and over the mountain range and as the air is driven upward over the mountain, falling temperatures cause the air to lose much of its moisture as precipitation. Upon reaching the leeward side of the mountain, the dry air descends and picks up any available moisture from the landscape below. The resulting profile of precipitation across the mountain is such that rainfall and moist air prevails on the windward side of a mountain range while arid, moisture-poor air prevails on the leeward side of the mountain range.

2. What effect does living near a large ocean or lake have on average air temperatures? Why?- Explain.
-> Water has a high specific heat capacity, which means it absorbs a lot of energy in order to increase in temperature (thus releases a lot of energy when it decreases in temperature). This means water can absorb a great deal of the energy on hot days, keeping the surrounding air cooler, and release a lot of energy to the air on cool days, keeping the air warmer.

3. Complete this summary chart of the land-based ecosystems.

Equatorial, Polar, or Mid-Latitude?

Precipitation (High, Low, Seasonal)

Average Temperature (High, Low, Seasonal)

Coyote High Low Equatorial

Example Animal and Plant Adaptations

Tropical Desert

Mid-Latitude Seasonal Low African Elephant

Temperate Desert
Polar Bear Low Low Polar Polar Desert Owls Mid-Latitude High Seasonal

Tropical Grasslands
Bison Seasonal

Low Mid-Latitude

Temperate Grasslands
Artic Hares High Low Poles

Polar Grasslands
Cacti High Low Mid-Latitude

Chaparral
Mosquitoes High High Equilateral

Tropical Rainforest
Primrose Seasonal High Mid-Latitude

Deciduous Forest
Cedar

High Seasonal Mid-Latitude

Coniferous Forest (Taiga)

Mid-Latitude Elk Seasonal High

Temperate Rainforest
Wolf Low Seasonal Mid-Latitude

Mountains 4. For each category of biomes, give a major human impact and list 2 endangered species: a. Deserts Off-road vehicles; the ocelot, the kangaroo rat

Grasslands Agriculture, farming; Elephant, GiraffeForests Deforestation; owl, woodpecker c. Mountains Mining; leopard, wild yak

Climatograph
Use the data provided to construct a climatograph. Remember: Temperature should be displayed as a line graph and precipitation as a bar graph. Month January February March April May June July August September October November December Precipitation (cm) 10 3 2 5 13 9 2 2 2 8 18 7 Temperature (C) 35 37 39 40 42 44 45 44 42 40 37 35