BEGINNING

From the dark depths of the oceans to the sunny heights of the mountains, myriad
life abounds on planet Earth. Spiders weave their webs in a Redwood forest, birds
nest in a desert cactus, and fish dodge their way around a sea of kelp. As you watch
this program, think about the natural environment in which you live and the types of
plants and animals that live there. Try to identify your area by the community of
plants and animals that surround you. This community of life is what scientists call a
biome.
As early travelers explored our planet Earth and cataloged its life, they discovered
many species of plants and animals but only a few basic types of geographical
areas. Those geographical areas, filled with a major community of plants and
animals, are known as biomes, or major life zones. Terrestrial biomes, those that are
found on land, are most often classified by their dominant plant life. The biomes
found in water, known as aquatic biomes, are usually named by their physical
features. Each biome is characterized by a particular type of climate, vegetation,
and animal life, and extends over a large region of the Earths surface. Lets first
explore the major land biomes.
Tropical Rain Forest
Around the equator lies the biome known for its abundance and variety of life: the
tropical rain forest. The name Tropical Rain Forest aptly describes its place in the
world: the tropics. It receives very high levels of rainfall and its dominant life forms
are trees. The annual rainfall actually varies from 100 to 160 inches, or 250 to 400
centimeters and the temperatures average from 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, or 27
to 32 degrees Celsius. Here, there are no freezing temperatures and no seasons.
The trees are tall with slender trunks that branch only near the top, called the
canopy. The average tree height exceeds 100 feet or 30 meters. These forests
contain thousands of different tree species whose broad evergreen leaves block out
much of the sunlight to the forest floor. The soil here is often thin and deficient of
nutrients. This is due to the surrounding mites ability to efficiently absorb the
forests decomposed organic matter. Since most of the plant food is high up in the
forest canopy, most of the large diversity of animal life lives there as well. From
above, come the chatter of monkeys and the calls of many species of colorful birds
and frogs. Here, reptiles, mammals, and a huge variety of insects abound and
participate in the fierce competition for nutrients within the warm, misty green of
the tropical rainforests.
Desert
As we follow the climatic pattern 15 to 30 degrees latitude north or south of the
Equator, we discover several regions that receive less than 10 inches, or 25
centimeters, of precipitation a year. These dry areas, which are found on every
continent, are called desert biomes. The name desert comes from the Latin word
desertus which means abandoned, forsaken, left, or lying waste. The landscape
often supports little life of any kind and the terrain is dominated by rocks, sand, and
overall poor soil. Plant life varies considerably. Because of the great variety of

desert conditions, areas that receive more than an inch, or two centimeters a year
of rainfall have highly specialized plants. Some of these plants are annuals: plants
that complete most of the life cycle in less than a year. These plants grow, bloom,
and set seed in a few days, when water is available. Most desert plants are
perennials: plants that live for more than a year. They are small, woody shrubs, or
succulents, like this American cactus. These plants have large, shallow root systems
that are able to quickly soak up water from the infrequent desert rainstorms. Many
animals have also adapted to these dry regions. Birds, snakes, tortoises, and many
small rodents survive well with a little water. Larger mammals also live in the
desert, such as the desert bighorn sheep, which depend on water holes for their
survival. Numerous desert animals are active during the night. While during the day,
many of the desert animals burrow underground- all wisely avoiding the fiery heat
of the hot, dry biome called the desert.
Temperate Deciduous Forest
As we continue north and south away from the equator, at about 60 degrees
latitude, we are able to observe cool, moist air that rises and then soon returns to
Earth as rain or snow. Here, the climate exhibits cold winters, warm summers, and
abundant rainfall that is distributed throughout the year. The biome that
experiences this climate is the temperate deciduous forest biome. It gets its name
because typically, the temperatures are moderate, or temperate and the dominant
life forms are trees which lose their leaves, known as deciduous trees. Typically,
deciduous trees, such as beech, oak, maple, and hickory, grow during the spring
and summer, lose their leaves during autumn, and lie dormant during the winter.
Since during the winter, most water is locked in the cold, frozen ground, the trees
must lose their leaves to prevent water loss through the process of transpiration.
Bacteria, earthworms, and fungi aid in the breaking down, or decomposition, of the
abundant leaf litter and together contribute to the soils rich nutrients. The forests
leafy limbs provide shelter, nuts, and seeds, to a variety of bird species. Mammals,
such as deer, fox, squirrels, and raccoons, also live here in the nutrient-rich, North
American, temperate deciduous forest.
Grassland
The temperate grassland area, where precipitation is too sparse to support tree
growth, but does not fall below 10 inches, or 25 centimeters per year, is called the
grassland biome. This area is also known as Prairie in North America, Steppe in
Russia and Asia, Pampas in South America, and Veldt in South Africa. It is believed
the grasslands may have covered nearly half of the world at one time. Due to the
slow decomposition rate of the grasses over thousands of years, grassland biomes
are considered to have the most fertile and deepest topsoil in the world. Today,
most of the grasslands are used for agriculture and produced much of the worlds
domesticated grasses, such as wheat. This is why these grasslands are referred to
as the breadbaskets of the world. The original grasslands of North America were
once grazed by large herds of bison. Today, the parts of the prairies of the central
United States are grazed by cattle, horses, and sheep. Living on the
underdeveloped grasslands are animals such as the pronghorn antelope, coyotes,

ground squirrels, and rattlesnakes. There are also a few of the warm regions of the
world where the grassland biome receives 40 to 60 inches, or 100 to 150
centimeters of rain. This life zone is often referred to as the savanna biome. The
scattered trees of the African savanna are acacias, baobab trees, euphorbias, and
palms. The giraffe, with its long neck, has evolved to feed on these tall trees and
thereby does not compete with the grazing animals such as the antelope,
wildebeest, and zebras. The predators, such as lions, cheetahs, and hyenas, help
maintain the balance of life during the short wet and long dry seasons of the
savanna, the grassland biome.
Chaparral
Chaparral is part of the temperate shrubland biome, best represented by short,
woody plants with simple evergreen thick leaves. The name chaparral refers to the
evergreen oak called the Spanish chaparro. The thick, hard, waxy leaves of these
shrubs are drought resistant and adapt well to the dry climate. Here, the winters are
cool and rainy and the summers are hot, with little or no rain. During the winter,
precipitation is great enough that it leaches the soil of much of its nutrients. Similar
plant communities are found in North America, Chile, the Mediterranean coast,
southern Australia, and the southern tip of Africa. The chaparral ecosystem is found
well-developed near the coastal areas of the state of California in the United States.
The leaves of these plants, such as this sage and manzanita, are often found to be
aromatic with flammable compounds. Fires here are frequent. For some plant
species, fires stimulate seed germination. After the fires, the dominant shrubs
regrow from surviving plant tissue found near the ground. Throughout the year,
lizards, chipmunks, and great horned owls are found within this volatile, temperate
shrubland biome known as the chaparral.
Temperate Rain Forest
Also in the state of California, along the cool, moist northern regions of its Pacific
Coast, are the world famous giant redwoods. These majestic trees are part of the
temperate rain forest biome. This climate here receives between 150 and 200
inches, or 380 and 500 centimeters of rain annually and the temperatures rarely
drop below freezing. With so much rainfall along with moderate temperatures, this
forest biome is appropriately named. The temperate rain forest biome is located on
the northwest pacific coast of North America and the southwestern tip of South
America. This forest resembles tropical rainforests in that it contains very tall trees.
Yet, unlike the tropical rain forest, the temperate rain forests are cooler and have
fewer species of trees. Most of the species of trees are conifers, which means cone
bearing trees such as redwood, spruce, fir, pine, and hemlock. Conifers thrive here
better than broadleaf trees because the forest is located at higher latitudes along
foggy coastlines where sunlight energy is often scarce. The needle branches do let
in some sunlight for the forest floor, which supports plants such as mosses, ferns,
and various forms of lichen. Supplying the acidic soil with some nutrients are the
fungi, which often contribute to the decomposition process of the moist decaying
vegetation. Animals such as deer, salmon, and arachnids, are also inhabitants here
in the cool damp biome of the temperate rainforest.

Taiga
Moving more north in latitude and climbing higher among the mountains is the
community called the Taiga, or northern coniferous forest. The word taiga is a
Siberian word meaning primeval forest. The dominant trees of the forest biome are
conifers such as spruce, pine, fir, larch, and balsam. The climate is generally long,
cold winters, allowing only a short growing season in the summer. The winters are
colder and the precipitation is much less than the temperate rainforest. With much
of the precipitation falling as snow, the conifers have successfully adapted to the
winters freezing temperatures. All evergreens have the ability to maintain the flow
of water and nutrients within their trunks and branches throughout the year. This
significant characteristic allows the trees to keep their needle-like leaves and
continue the process of photosynthesis. Because of their small surface area and
waxy coating, these needle-like leaves are specialized to prevent water loss through
transpiration. This is valuable to the trees winter survival since the water outside
the trees is unavailable due to the waters frozen state as ice or snow. Overall, these
trees have adapted well to soil that is often very cold or very dry. Some of the
animals found in these forests are caribou, deer, and elk along with their predators:
mountain lions and Timberwolves. Black bears, chipmunks, and beavers also reside
in the cold evergreen world of the Taiga biome.
Tundra
During the warmer summer months, the caribou and bighorn sheep migrate north
to the treeless biome known as the Tundra. The name Tundra is of Lapp, or Russian
origin. It means treeless plains of northern regions. The summer landscape south of
the Arctic Circle is characterized by low, dwarfed grasses and sedges arranged in a
mosaic multi shaped pattern. For a few weeks during the summer, the days light
lasts for nearly 24 hours. But for most of the year, the dark nights are long and the
climate is extremely cold and dry. The landscape is often blanketed in white for
most of the winter. The annual precipitation rarely exceeds 10 inches, or 25
centimeters. In many parts of the tundra, the constant low temperatures freeze the
deeper layers of the ground permanently. The low temperatures also slow down the
decomposition of organic matter, allowing only a thin layer of soil. Because of the
short growing season and the shallow layer of thawed ground, there are no trees.
When the snow melts, the water collects on the surface, forming many lakes, since
the water is unable to be absorbed by the deeper layers of frozen soil. A large
number of migratory birds also visit the marshy areas in the summer. The Arctic
hare, fox, and owl, as well as lemmings remain active throughout the year. Tundra
biomes are also found at lower latitudes in mountaintops above the Timberline.
During the summer, the plant and animal communities of the Alpine tundra
experience sunshine, prevalent winds, and highly variable precipitation. For the rest
of the year, the precipitation is mainly snow, a common occurrence here in the cold,
dry regions known as the tundra biome.
MIDDLE
The Earth is covered with more than twice as much water as land. Only three
percent of this water is fresh, meaning it contains a relatively small amount of

dissolved minerals. Most of the fresh water is locked up in polar ice caps and
glaciers or is stored down in the ground. Less than one hundredth of one percent of
the Earths water exists in rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes: the freshwater biomes.
Fresh water
Standing bodies of water such as ponds and lakes can be classified according to
their nutrient content. Usually, the steadily moving mountain streams and rivers
carry little sediment or nutrients and feed many lakes and ponds with cool, clear,
oxygen-rich water. As a result, fish, such as trout, often do well in these clear,
oxygen-rich environments along with some algae growth. On the other hand, there
are lakes and ponds that are fed with water containing large quantities of sediments
and high concentrations of nutrients. These environments are less clear and
encourage dense blooms of algae. As the algae die off, bacteria and other
decomposers break down the dying algae while at the same time reducing some of
the waters valuable dissolved oxygen. These murky environments are often
populated with fish such as catfish and bass which survive well in oxygen-depleted
bodies of water and theyre all part of the dynamic fresh water biome.
Marine
Ocean waters cover seventy-one percent of the Earths surface. The depths of the
ocean range from intertidal zone, the coastal land that is daily covered and
uncovered by seawater to the deepest ocean depth of about 33,000 feet, or 10,000
meters. There are five major types of ocean biomes: coastal waters, near shore
zone, coral reefs, open ocean, and vent communities. The coastal waters are usually
shallow enough to allow sunlight to reach a variety of forms of algae. Coastal rivers
also supply many nutrients to the abundant and diverse life in this intertidal zone.
Because of the rising and falling of the tides, the plant and animal life such as
scallops, crabs, barnacles, and sea anemones must survive the exposures to both
air and water. The near shore zone lies beyond the intertidal zone and is more
stable, since there is no direct exposure to air. Organisms in this zone are strictly
aquatic. Kelp plants protect and nourish the abundant life in these shallow waters.
Coral reefs are often found in warm tropical waters. The reefs are formed from the
skeletons of the various species of coral. Sponges, sea anemones, and hundreds of
species of fish add a variety of color to this diverse community of plants and
animals. The open ocean is populated by different species of microscopic plant
organisms such as phytoplankton which are consumed by the microscopic animals
called zooplankton which are consumed by various species of fish and sea
mammals such as whales. Vent communities lie in the great depths of the abyssal
zone, where there is no light. For the most part, this zone is cold and barren.
Without sunlight to provide an energy source, it was thought that very few life forms
could survive. However, there are openings in the earth that look like small
volcanoes called vents that provide heat and nutrients to strange clusters of tube
worms, white crabs, and clams. Creatures of the wonderful world of the marine
biome.