Earth’s Biomes

• Types of ecosystems that are

distinguished by the average
annual temperatures and the
amount of annual precipitation
that they received
Earth’s Biomes
• Found in equatorial regions
• These biomes boast the greatest
amount of rainfall along with a warm
climate year-round.
• Most bio diverse regions
• The Philippines is home to one of the
most species-rich tropical rainforests
in the world.
• Found in the mid-latitude regions
• It is the most common types of forests
in the North America, Western Europe,
Eastern Asia, and New Zealand.
• They are characterized by their four
seasons and deciduous trees that shed
their leaves before winter comes.
• Boreal forest
• Boreal (meaning "of the north") forests
lie in the northern 50-60° latitude, found
in Russia, Canada,Northern Europe, and
Alaska.
• Unlike the deciduous trees of the
temperate forests, the trees here never
shed their leaves and are green year-
round. These trees are cone-bearing and
very resistant to cold because of this
biome's long and cold winters.
• This is the coldest of all the biomes.
• The tundra lies in the northernmost
latitudes, in the Arctic regions of the
Northern Hemisphere.
• They are also found in the higher
altitudes above the tree line on
mountains.
• Savannas receive much less precipitation
than forests. Thus, trees don't grow as
much as in forest biomes.
• Low-lying shrubs and herbs dominate the
landscape in grasslands, allowing
predators to run after their prey at very
high speeds.
• Fires are also frequent especially in the
summer which further inhibits the growth
of trees. Grasslands are found in Africa,
South America, and Northern Australia.
• Deserts are located on the downwind
side of mountain ranges.
• These biomes receive very little rainfall
because the water content of the
winds is emptied unto the mountains,
leaving the air dry when it falls down to
the deserts.
• They are usually found 15° and 30°
north and south of the equator along
the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
• There are several types of freshwater
biomes - flowing water such as rivers
and streams, standing water like lakes
and ponds, and wetlands.
• Humans draw water from freshwater
biomes for various purposes: drinking,
irrigation, sanitation, and industry.
• They are also closely intertwined with
terrestrial biomes because of their
proximity with one another.
• The most common types of freshwater plants
include tapegrass, water stargrass, willow trees,
and river birch.
• Animals that are found in or around the river
include fishes, crabs, snakes, beavers, crocodiles,
snails, insects and otters.
• These biomes are always located in areas that are
high in nutrition allowing for a rich biodiversity.
• Insects abound in biomes with stagnant water.
• As the rivers flow, the width increases and so
does the species diversity. Various freshwater
fishes and plants grow in rivers and streams.
• Wetlands are important because they prevent
flooding by absorbing water when it gets too high.
They also help to purify water.
• The marine biome is the largest biome of them
all.
• Because oceans are found in all the latitudes
throughout the world, the kinds of organisms
that live in them varies greatly.
• Water in marine biomes have a much higher
salt concentration than in freshwater biomes
• This comes from the accumulation of decayed
biological matter and minerals from the rivers.
• The characteristics of the marine biome
depend on its zones, classified according to
how much light reaches that part of the
ocean.
• The closest oceanic region to the land is the
intertidal zone, the zone between the high tide
and low tide.
• Organisms here are adapted to being dry because
of the nature of the shifting tides. Some animals,
like the crustaceans, have thick shells to protect
them from the pounding waves.
• The neritic zone is found between the intertidal
zone to about 200 m below the surface. Light can
easily penetrate this part of the ocean so marine
producers abound in this area.
• The water here is oxygen-rich, serving as a
suitable habitat for many different kinds of
organisms.
• In the oceanic zone, nutrients become more scarce because
of the lack of sunlight that phytoplanktons need to make food.
• Some of the organisms that thrive in this zone are the sea
cucumbers and other animals that feed on the decaying matter
that falls from the upper zones.
• The abyssal zone is found in the deepest parts of the ocean, at
depths of 4000 m or greater.
• Hydrothermal vents that pump out chemicals from underneath
Earth's surface. Producers in this area use chemosyntheis in
the absence of light to make their own food.
• The ocean floor or the benthic zone is made of sand, silt, and
the bodies of dead organisms. It is home to sponges, sea
anemones, sea stars, and marine worms, among others. All the
unused nutrients from the upper portions of the ocean fall to
this zone, making this a nutrient-rich zone.
• The Red List Index has decreased from
0.82 in 1990 to 0.75 in 2020.
• The index is the standard for species risk
of extinction with a value of 1 denoting
there is no risk of extinction for all
species and 0 meaning all species are
extinct.
• A net loss of almost 100 million hectares
in forest area was observed in the two-
decade span between 2000 and 2020,
amounting to a 0.7% decrease in total
forest area from 31.9% to 31.2%.