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Biomes Taiga and Coral Reef. Tyga. J ustkidding.. Taiga. Taiga/ Coniferous forest/ Boreal Forests. Rainfall. Mean annual precipitation is 15 to 20 inches, but low evaporation rates make this a humid climate.
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Rainfall • Mean annual precipitation is 15 to 20 inches, but low evaporation rates make this a humid climate. • Precipitation is moderately high throughout the year with snow occurring during the winter months. • The total yearly precipitation in the taiga biome is 10 - 30 inches (25 - 75 cm).
Temperature Long, severe winters (up to six months with mean temperatures below freezing) and short summers (50 to 100 frost-free days)The taiga climate is for the most part dominated by cold arctic air. Exceptionally cold winds bring bitterly cold air from the Arctic Circle: the temperatures fall even more on clear nights when there is no cloud cover. Because of earth's tilt, the taiga is turned away from the sun in the winter. Less of the sun's radiation reaches the ground to warm it up. The winters in the taiga are very cold with only snowfall. The summers are warm, rainy, and humid.
Temperature (continued) • ITS REALLY REALLLLLLY COLD. (in the winter)
Physical Features Continuous belt of coniferous trees across North America and Eurasia. Lying in place of what was once glaciers and areas filled with patches of permafrost on both continents, the forest is a mosaic of succession and sub climax plant communities sensitive to varying environmental conditions. In other words, there are big coniferous trees along cold patches permafrost- soil that is below freezing point.
Vegetation • Compared to other biomes, the taiga has less diversity in plant life.The most common type of tree found in the taiga is the conifer, or cone-bearing tree. Conifers, also known as evergreens, include pines, spruces and firs, hence the name coniferous forest. • Needleleaf, coniferous (gymnosperm) trees are the dominant plants of the taiga biome. A very few species in four main genera are found: the evergreen spruce (Picea), fir (Abies), and pine (Pinus), and the deciduous larch or tamarack (Lari) • Coniferous trees keep their leaves and then shed only the oldest leaves. The leaves that are dropped are well down the stem from the newly developing leaves. • Coniferous trees are cone-bearing, narrow-leafed evergreen trees that are well adapted to a variety of climatic conditions. • Coniferous trees are the most common type of gymnosperm, which are plants that produce seeds on the surface of cones.
Trees that exist in the Coniferous forest/ taiga Cedar Needleleaf pine Larches Fir Spruce
Hemlock Redwood trees
Vegetation (continued) • There may also occasionally be deciduous species present, such as oak, birch, willow, or alder, in a particularly wet or disturbed area. Deciduous means they lose their leaves seasonally, such as pine needles. • The soil in the taiga is thin, acidic and not very nutrient rich; It is also rocky. • Broadleaf deciduous trees and shrubs are members of early succession stages of both primary and secondary succession. Birch, alder, aspen are trees that were most common. • The conical or spire-shaped needle leaf trees common to the taiga are adapted to the cold and the physiological drought of winter and to the short-growing season: • The taiga is prone to wildfires. Many trees have adapted to this by growing thick bark, which can protect a tree from a mild fire.
Locations • In Merriam’s Life Zones, the Hudsonian and the Canadian zones correspond with the Boreal Forest • Taiga, also known as coniferous or boreal forest, is the largest terrestrial biome on earth. It extends in a broad band across North America, Europe, and Asia to the southern border of the arctic tundra. It is also found at cool, high elevations in the more temperate latitudes, for example, in much of the mountainous western region of North America. • Taiga is the Russian word for forest and is the largest biome in the world. It stretches over Eurasia and North America. The taiga is located near the top of the world, just below the tundra biome.
Animals • The cold climate of the taiga makes it a difficult place for many animals to live. Many have thick coats of fur to insulate against the cold, and some hibernate. Others migrate to warmer areas in the chilly winters. • Animal populations are mainly seed-eating squirrels and jays; small mammals like ermine and moles; and larger browsing animals such as deer, moose, elk, and snowshoe hare. • The typical predators for this area are grizzly bears, wolves, lynxes and wolverines. These are pretty ferocious, so their prey must adapt to flourish. Some animals hide from predators by changing color to blend into the different summer and winter habitats. For example, the ermine is dark brown in the summer, but in the winter it turns white. What excellent camouflage!
Animals (continued) • The bogs and ponds in the taiga provide a great summertime breeding place for many different insects. Migratory birds often come to the taiga to nest and feed on all these insects
Temperature • Corals can not stand temperatures that drop much below an average temperature of 18°C. Warm water flows along the eastern shores of major land masses. The best temperature for coral reefs is between 25 and 31 C The optimum temperature for most coral reefs is 26–27 °C (79–81 °F)
Physical features • The dominant organisms are known as framework builders, because they provide the matrix for the growing reef. Corals and coralline algae make the calcium carbonate and framework- building sponges produce silica. Most of these organisms live in colonies. • The slow process of precipitation moves the living surface layer of the reef upward and seaward. • The reef is topographically complex. Because of the complexity, thousands of species of fish and invertebrates live in the reefs, making them by far the richest marine habitats.
Physical features (continued) • It is not unusual for a reef to have several hundred species of snails, sixty species of corals, and several hundred species of fish. • The physical characteristics of coral reefs make it the habitat of fish, sponges, eels, jellyfish, sea stars, anemones, crustaceans, snails, turtles and mollusks.
Location locationlocattttioon • Coral reefs normally live in tropical regions. habitat limited to waters between 23°N and 23°S latitude. Coral reefs are located in tropical oceans near the equator. The largest coral reef is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. • The second largest coral reef can be found off the coast of Belize, in Central America. • Other reefs are found in Hawaii, the Red Sea, and other areas in tropical oceans.
Hawaiian coral reef Great Barrier Reef in Australia
plants • Coral reef autotrophs are represented by 3 groups: Marine Plants, Marine Algae, and Cyanobacteria. • There are two different types of marine plants found in coral reef ecosystems: mangroves, and seagrasses. • Mangroves are a unique group of large shrub-like plants that grow in thick "forests" that line many tropical and sub-tropical shores. One of the rare terrestrial plants able to survive while completely immersed in sea water, they have adapted to saline conditions where other plant life cannot survive by means of salt-filtering roots and salt-excreting leaves.
Animals • Live coral are small animals embedded in calcium carbonate shells. It is a mistake to think of coral as plants or rocks. Coral is made by millions of tiny carnivorous (meat eating) animals called polyps. Polyps live in groups called colonies. • Of the several types of vertebrate animals commonly found on coral reefs, fishes are the only group normally present in great abundance and diversity, although it’s difficult to measure the population effishently.
Animals (continued) • Sea snakes, sea turtles, dugongs and manatees are present but less prevelant. Dugongs and manatees - related to elephants – consume huge quantities of seagrasses, and were presumably the most prolific herbivores in coral reef lagoons prior to recent levels of human interference with these ecosystems. • The biodiversity of coral reefs is dominated by invertebrates. Many of these invertebrates live in close association with corals, relying on corals for food and habitat.
Quiz time Yay. 1) which biome needs an average temperature of 26–27 °C (79–81 °F)? Coral reef!
2) What are the two other names for the coniferous forest? Taiga and Boreal Forest.
3) What are the two main types of terrestrial plants found in coral reefs? Mangroves and Sea grasses
4) Would you find a taiga in Flo Rida? Why or why not? Nopeee, because Florida is too warm.
5) Is coral abiotic or biotic? BIOTIC!
Needle leaf, pine, cedar, fir, larch, spruce, hemlock, redwood. 6) List 3 types of trees that exist within the coniferous forest.
7) What is the name of the individual organism that makes up coral? Polyp
8) WHAT ARE THE DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF CONIFEROUS TREE • They keep their leaves and then shed only the oldest leaves. The leaves that are dropped are well down the stem from the newly developing leaves. • Dahomies are cone-bearing, narrow-leafed evergreen trees that are well adapted to a variety of climatic conditions. • They be the most common type of gymnosperm, which are plants that produce seeds on the surface of cones.
9) Is the taiga climate humid or dry? Although you may think it’s dry because of its geographic location, you are WRONG. Taigas are humid due to low evaporation rates, yo.
10) Is the optimum temperature of a coral reef greater than or less than 65° F? Greater than
The end!! • Hope y’all enjoyed our slideshow presentation :D
