Chapter 5

1. Chapter 5 By: Genevie Lopez

2. Vocabulary • Biomes- Terrestrial, regions inhabited by certain types of life • Desert –Biome in which evaporation exceeds precipitation • Forest- Biome with enough annual precipitation to support the growth of the species. • Grasslands- Biome found in regions where moderate average precipitation • Greenhouse Effect- Natural effect that releases heat in the atmosphere. • Greenhouse Gasses- gas in the Earths lower atmosphere that causes greenhouse effect. • Monsoons- Periods of heavy rains experienced on continents lying north or south of the warm ocean. • Permafrost- potentially frozen layer of the soil that forms when the water there freezes • Weather- Short-term changes in the temp, pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloud cover, wind direction and speed.

3. What factors influence the earth’s climate? -Latitude and elevation have effects on climate. -Solar radiation reaching the area -Air circulation over the earth's fattest part -Seasonal changes in the temperature and precipitation -Rotation of the earth on its axis -Prevailing winds

4. How does climate determine where the earth’s major biomes are found? - Different climates support different communities of organisms. -Over the past 4.7 billion years the earths climates has changed drastically causing change the locations and nature of the earth’s biomes.

5. What are the major types of desert biomes? • Tropical deserts- They have few plants it is hot and dry most of the year. Temperate deserts- Have high daytime temperatures in the summer and low in the winter. • Cold deserts-Winters are cold summers are warm or hot and precipitation is low.

6. What are the major types of grassland biomes? • Prairies- Mostly in the interiors of continents in areas too moist for deserts and too dry for forests. • Tropical Grasslands:Savannas- are tropical grasslands with scatter trees and usually year-round warm temperatures. • Temperate Grasslands: Fertile Soils- majorly used for growing cropping and grazing cattle with cold winter and hot dry summers. • Polar Grasslands: Arctic Tundra- lie south of the arctic polar ice cap. They are covered with ice and snow except during its brief summers. • Temperate scrublands : Chaparral- Has a moderate climate but its dense thickets of spiny shrubs are suspect to periodic fires.

7. What are the major types of forest and mountain biomes? • Tropical rain forest- have heavy rainfall and rich diversity of species occupying a variety of specialized in distinct areas. • Temperate deciduous forests- Most of the trees in these forests survive winter by dropping their leaves, which decay and produce a nutrient rich soil. • Evergreen coniferous forests- consists mostly of cone-bearing evergreen trees that keep their needles year round to help the trees survive long winters. • Temperate rain forests- in coastal areas and has ample rainfall and moisture .

8. How have human activities affected the world’s desert, grassland, forest and mountain biomes? • Human activities have damaged or disturbed to some extent more than half of the world’s terrestrial ecosystems. • Ecologists Estimate that we use, waste or destroy about 10-55% of the net primary productivity of the earth’s terrestrial ecosystems.