Located Near the North Pole

Tundra

·  Located near the North Pole

·  coldest and driest of all biomes

·  long cold winters, short cool summers

·  Has a layer of permanently frozen soil - permafrost

·  Receives very little rainfall

·  receives very little sunlight due to the position of the Sun in the sky

·  During the very short summer (6-10 weeks), top layer of the soil thaws just long enough to allow some plants to grow

·  Plants are small and grow close to the ground; plants have shallow root systems – lichens, mosses, small shrubs

·  Animals include musk ox, caribou, arctic hares, polar bear, arctic fox

Taiga (coniferous forest)

·  Largest biome in the world

·  Has long cold winters and short, mild, wet summers.

·  Made up of coniferous forests – trees that have cones or needles – pines, spruces and firs – evergreen trees

·  Soil is not very fertile because there are no leaves to decompose

·  has less diversity in plant life

·  Animals include jays, moles, deer, moose, elk, snowshoe hare, grizzly bear, wolves

Temperate Deciduous Forest

·  Contains trees that lose their leaves each fall

·  Has 4 seasons

·  Lots of rain throughout the year – second most rainfall of all biomes

·  Has very fertile soil

·  Deciduous trees – trees that lose their leaves seasonally - such as red maple, dogwood, oak, sugar maple, beech, elm, hickory

·  Animals include black bears, squirrels, cardinals, turkeys

Grasslands

·  found in warm and temperate areas that receive some rainfall

·  have some of the darkest, richest soils in the world

·  most important plants are grasses

·  The amount of rain is not enough to grow tall trees and produce a forest, but it is enough to not form a desert.

·  Usually flat or has gently rolling hills.

·  Usually located between forests and deserts.

·  Also called prairies, savannahs, plains and pampas

·  North American animals include bison, prairie dogs, coyotes, deer. African animals - elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, giraffes, lions

Desert

·  Very little rain – 10 inches or less a year

·  Very hot during the day; cold at night

·  Soil is dry, there is little to no surface water and evaporation is high

·  covers a fifth of the earth’s surface

·  There are both hot and cold deserts in the world – Antarctica is the largest desert in the world

Tropical Rainforests

·  found close to the equator

·  rain falls all throughout the year

·  receives the most rainfall of all biomes

·  has the most biodiversity –more species of plants and animals than any other biome

·  home to 50% of the world’s plant and animal species

·  soil is low in nutrients – because of millions of years of rain and weathering, nutrients have been washed out of the soil

·  decomposition rate is very fast – high humidity and warmth encourage rapid decay of dead plant and animal material