Locations IB ESS

Key features  Temperate deciduous forests lie in What’s there - structure

 Mild climate the mid-latitude areas of the Earth,
 A temperate deciduous forest is a biome that has between the Arctic poles and the
many deciduous trees which drop their leaves in tropics.
the fall.  40-60o North & South of the
 These forests are also known as broad-leaf forests equator
because the trees have wide, flat leaves.
Climate & limiting factors
 P > E.
 Rainfall is 500-1500 mm
per year. Colder in
winter
 Winters freezing in some
(E. China & NE USA),
 Milder in W. Europe due
to Gulf Stream.
 Temp range: -30oC to +
30oC. Cool summers.
Net productivity
2nd highest NPP after tropical
rainforests but much lower
because of leaf fall in winter
so less photosynthesis &
transpiration & frozen soils
when water is limiting
temperatures & insolation
lower in winter too as further
from the sun.
Temperate forests
What’s there – structure (2)
 Well-developed food chains with many autotrophs,
herbivores (rabbits, deer & mice) & carnivores (foxes0
 Deciduous trees give way to coniferous towards polar
latitudes & where there is an increase in either altitude
or steepness of slope.
 P > E sufficiently to cause leaching
 Fewer species than tropical rainforests;
 E.g. in Britain, oaks can reach 30-40m, become
dominant species of climax vegetation.
 Elm, beech, sycamore. Ash & chestnut not so big
 Relatively few species & many woodlands are
dominated by one species e.g. beech.
 In USA – can be 30+ species per km2.
 Trees have growing season6-8 months – growing only
about 50cm per year.
 Woodlands show stratification – low shrub layer
beneath canopy between 5m (holly, hazel, hawthorn)
& 20 m (ash and birch)
 If forest floor not too dense with shrubs, often has
thick undergrowth of brambles, grass, bracken &
ferns
 Many flowering plants e.g. bluebells flower early
before taller trees have developed full foliage
 Epiphytes e.g. misletoe, mosses, lichens & algae grow
on branches.
 Forest floor has thick leaf litter readily broken down.
 Rapid recycling of nutrients but some lost by leaching
 Leaching of humus & nutrients & the mixing by biota
produce a brown soil.

Unit 2.4(c) – Temperate forests & Arctic tundra

Net productivity
What’s there (structure)  Very low.
Where (distribution)  No trees but thick mat of low-growing plants – grasses, mosses, small  Slow
Just south of the Arctic ice cap & shrubs.
decomposition so
Key features small amounts in the S.  Adapted to withstand drying out with leathery leaves or underground
many peat bogs
 Cold, low precipitation, long, dark winters. hemisphere (alpine tundra is storage organs.
where most
 10% of Earth’s surface found as isolated patches on high  Growing season may only be 8 weeks in summer.
carbon is stored
 Youngest of all biomes as it was formed mountains from the poles to the  Animals also adapted with thick fur & small ears to reduce heat loss.
after the retreat of the continental - 10,000 tropics).  Mostly small mammals e.g. lemmings, hares, voles.
years ago.  Predators – Arctic fox, lynx, snowy owl.
 Permafrost present & no soil  Most hibernate & make burrows. Examples
 Simple ecosystem with few species. US Pacific
 Often bare areas of ground. Low biodiversity – 900 species of plants Northwest
Issues compared with 40,000 or more in Amazon rainforest.
 Fragile ecosystems take a very long time to recover from disruption. It may
 Soil poor, low inorganic matter & minerals
take decades to recover even from walking across it. Mining & oil extraction
in Siberia & Canada destroy tundra.
 Global warming may eliminate Arctic regions including tundra, forever Arctic tundra Climate and limiting factors
because Arctic winter will be shortened, melting snow & ice cover & parts of  Cold, high winds, low precipitation; Permafrost reaches the surface in winter but in summer top
the permafrost, leading to flooding of some coastal areas. layers of soil defrost & plants grow.
 Plants will die, animal migration patterns will change & the tundra biome will  Low temperatures = low respiration, photosynthesis & decomposition.
be gone.  Slow growth & recycling of nutrients.
 The effect is uncertain but we do know the tundra, being the most fragile  Water temperature, insolation & nutrients can be limiting.
biome, will be the first to reflect any change in the Earth.  Winter – N. hemisphere tilts away from the sun after Spring equinox. N. hemisphere in constant sun
 Very large amounts of methane are locked up in tundra ice clathrates.  Sun doesn’t set for 3 months because arctic regions are tilted towards the sun – ice begins to melt.
 If these are released into the atmosphere then huge greenhouse gas  Spring & summer – animals active & plants grow rapidly.
emissions (clathrates contain 3000 times more methane than in the  Sometimes temperatures reach 30oC.Much of this energy is absorbed as the latent heat of melting
atmosphere currently). Methane is 20 x more potent as a greenhouse gas. ice to water.
 In Antarcica (small amount of tundra) seasons are reversed.