Please use the information below to help me answer questions about biome:

	                                                 Biomes

	Climatic zones are spatial areas of similar climate and weather patterns. Climatic zones are classified by temperature and precipitation data. The study of climatology investigates the geographic controls that produce diverse climate conditions. 

	Biomes are defined as large recognizable groupings of plants and animals. Biomes are also commonly referred to as ecosystems. The distribution of biomes is closely related to certain climates. A biome is named on the basis of its dominant vegetation. 

Tropical Rainforest Biome- Located along the equator in South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. This biome is warm and humid throughout the year and the trees never experience seasonal leaf fall because the concepts of seasons is unknown in this environment of continuous warmth and moisture. Water surpluses create rivers of enormous discharge such as the Amazon and Congo. 

	The vegetation is a bewildering diversity of plant species displaying a layered structure with a canopy so thick that very little sunlight filters through to the ground. As a result, the ground is relatively clear of vegetation except where trees have fallen or have been cut down creating light gaps where dense jungle growth springs up. The wildlife in the rainforest is largely tree dwellers (arboreal). These animals are creepers, crawlers, climbers, and fliers. This includes monkeys, insects, exotic birds, and reptiles.

	The soils of the tropical rainforest tend to be poor for farming. They are relatively infertile because they have been leached of nutrients by heavy rains. As plant litter accumulates on the forest floor, it is acted upon very rapidly by decomposers and there is a much greater concentration of nutrients in the vegetation than the soil. 

	The tropical rainforests of the world are rapidly shrinking in size due to land use changes. Trees are cut down for their lumber and to clear the land for agriculture and pastures. As much as 40% of the rainforest has been destroyed in South America and Asia. As much as half the rainforest has been destroyed in Africa.

Tropical Deciduous Forest - This biome has a wet season and a dry season that lasts a month or more. The wet season is caused by has abundant rainfall brought on by the Intertropical Convergent Zone. The dry season is caused by the shifting of the Intertropical Convergent Zone out of the area and the descending air of the Subtropical High. 

	The trees drop their leaves during the dry season. There is more undergrowth on the forest floor. There is also not a layered canopy. There fewer arboreal animals and less species diversity overall.  In this biome there starts to be more ground dwelling animals.  

Tropical Scrub- Has the same type of climate that the Tropical Savanna biome has. Tropical Scrub is a woodland not a grassland. It is dominated by short, scraggly trees with thorns. Tropical Scrub is a transition zone between the tropical forests and grasslands.     

Tropical Savanna- Located immediately to the north and south of the tropical rainforests. The key characteristic of this area is a pronounced wet and dry season due again to the movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Temperatures vary more than anywhere else in the tropics. Savanna vegetation consists of a mixture of widely dispersed trees with extensive grasslands, often referred to as parkland. The accumulation of dry grass provides abundant fuel and most parts of the savannas are adapted to annual, natural wildfires. 

Savanna animals vary from continent to continent. The African savannas are the premier “big  game” lands of the world with unmatched richness of large hoofed animals and carnivores. This includes elephants, wildebeests, zebras, lions, and cheetahs. Poaching and habitat losses are quickly reducing the number of wildlife.

Desert- This biome typically receives less than 10 inches of rainfall per year. Sometimes they will receive no rain in a year or receive it all in one great downpour. Deserts also tend to have a very large daily temperature range. A location in the Sahara Desert once recorded a 25 degrees low temperature and a high temperature of 125 degrees in a 24- hour period! This is due to the lack of cloud cover and low amount of water vapor in the air.  

Desert vegetation is xerophytic, or drought resistant. It does not provide a continuous cover; there are patches of bare ground around each plant, whose spreading roots claim any water that exists below the surface. Other adaptations to lack of moisture include, long deep tap roots, thin needles, waxy coating of leaves, spongy interiors for water storage or even dormancy. Very few areas of the desert are completely devoid of vegetation and few are covered with sand dunes. Desert animals are limited by the extreme conditions. 

Mediterranean- A pronounced hot, dry summer/wet, rainy winter regime is typical of Mediterranean climate. Total annual rainfall is approximately 15-20 inches. The typical vegetation is a dense growth of woody shrubs, trees, and grasses known as chaparral in North America and having other names in other areas. In Southern California, a sister plant community called Coastal Sage Scrub is found in lower elevations. The stunted, shrubby growth has a leathery or waxy coating and other adaptations to limit moisture loss. This climate is extremely well suited to the cultivation of a variety of fruits and vegetables and herding livestock. 

Midlatitude Grassland-Is a transition zone between arid and humid areas. The annual precipitation is insufficient to support forest growth. The term prairie is applied to wetter areas where grasses grow taller. The decaying grass makes excellent humus, contributing to the dark color and fertility of grassland soils.

 The natural grasslands were replaced with domesticated grains. Areas with hot summers have more corn, soybeans, hog, and cattle production. Areas with cool summers concentrate on poultry, flax, sunflowers, sugar beets, wheat, and potatoes.  This area has been heavily modified by humans and is the world’s breadbasket. 

Midlatitude Deciduous Forest- Trees vary considerably from region to region and you can find stands of pines as well as broad leaved trees such as oaks, hickory, maple, beech, and others. Areas on the east coast of continents have long growing seasons and plentiful rainfall. These are important agricultural areas and the forests have been heavily exploited by people. Remnants of deer, elk, bear, moose, and wolf populations are found in the northern regions. 

	Areas of Marine West Coast climate have magnificent evergreen forests. The mild winters and summers produce lush forests. These forests have huge ferns and thick undergrowth. The tallest trees in the world are found in this biome. These trees can exceed 1,500 years in age and be 330 feet tall. There is no green without gray and these areas are dominated by coastal fog. 

Boreal Forest- Located in the high latitudes of North America and Eurasia. Boreal Forest is covered with stands of evergreen trees. These far northern forest-clad regions in Siberia are often referred to as Taiga. Poor drainage is typical in summer, due to partially frozen subsoil called permafrost. Normal surface drainage has also been deranged due to previous glaciations. The soils are thinner and less fertile than other biomes. Only a small percentage of the world’s population lives in this climate region and agricultural potential is poor, but it posses important extraction industries (mining, tapping, lumbering). 

Tundra- Located in high latitudes largely north of the Arctic Circle in Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia, and Russia. The land surface is underlain with permafrost. These areas are under continuous snow for 8-10 months of the year. Tundra areas are essentially cold deserts because they receive so little precipitation. These areas get less than 4 inches of precipitation a year. 

Plants that occur briefly when the snow melts and are often low-growing, ground hugging mosses and lichens.  Tundra has a short summer season, but is home in the summer to legions of mosquitoes and black gnats. Alpine tundra is located at high elevations in middle latitudes. Tundra vegetation is very fragile and it takes years to restore itself once it is destroyed. This was a major concern of environmentalists at the time of the construction of the Alaska pipeline. Global climate change is bringing changes to the tundra and its plants, animals, and permafrost. The Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the globe. Melting permafrost is releasing large amounts of methane.