APES Video Notes 1.2 - Terrestrial Biomes
Summary
TLDRThis video covers the topic of terrestrial biomes, focusing on the global distribution and environmental conditions that define them. It explains how temperature and precipitation shape biomes and the adaptations of plants and animals to these climates. Major biomes like rainforests, deserts, and tundras are discussed in detail, including their unique climate conditions, nutrient availability, and the effects of climate change on biome locations. The video also highlights key ecological concepts and encourages viewers to think critically about the interactions between biomes and organisms.
Takeaways
- 🌍 The objective is to describe the global distribution and environmental conditions of land-based biomes.
- 🌳 Biomes are areas defined by their average yearly temperature and precipitation (climate).
- 🏞️ Major biomes include rainforests with high rainfall and warm temperatures, and deserts with low precipitation.
- 🐫 Organisms in biomes are uniquely adapted to their specific climate conditions, such as camels and cacti in deserts.
- 🌡️ The defining characteristics of biomes are temperature and precipitation, which determine their global distribution.
- 🗺️ Biomes are found in predictable patterns on Earth's surface, with colder, drier biomes near the poles and warmer, wetter biomes near the equator.
- 🌱 Nutrient availability in soil is crucial for plant growth and varies across biomes, affecting the types and abundance of plant species.
- ❄️ The tundra has low nutrient levels due to permanently frozen soil, limiting plant and animal species.
- 🌧️ Despite high plant growth, tropical rainforest soils are nutrient-poor due to rapid nutrient absorption by plants.
- 🌲 Boreal forests have nutrient-poor soils because low temperatures slow down decomposition processes.
- 🍁 Temperate forests have nutrient-rich soils due to broad leaves and moderate temperatures that promote decomposition.
- 📈 Climate change can shift the location of biomes, such as boreal forests moving further north as temperatures warm.
Q & A
What is the main objective of this lesson on terrestrial biomes?
-The main objective is to describe the global distribution and environmental conditions of terrestrial biomes and explain how the plants and animals in each biome are adapted to that specific climate.
How is climate defined in relation to biomes?
-Climate is defined as a combination of average yearly temperature and precipitation, which are the primary factors that determine the characteristics of a biome.
What are two key characteristics that define a biome?
-The two key characteristics that define a biome are temperature and precipitation.
What distinguishes tropical rainforests from deserts?
-Tropical rainforests have high rainfall and warm temperatures throughout the year, while deserts are characterized by very low precipitation and may also have high temperatures.
How are organisms in a biome adapted to their environment?
-Organisms in a biome are uniquely adapted to survive the climate conditions. For example, camels store energy in their humps and have thick waxy coats to minimize water loss, while plants like shrubs have deep roots to regrow after wildfires.
Why do biomes follow predictable patterns based on latitude?
-Biomes follow predictable patterns based on latitude due to the variation in temperature and precipitation. Colder and drier biomes like the tundra are found near 60° latitude, while warmer and wetter tropical biomes are concentrated around the equator.
Why is nutrient availability important in biomes?
-Nutrient availability is important because plants need soil nutrients to grow. The availability of nutrients in the soil determines which plants and how many species can survive in different biomes.
Why does the tundra have low nutrient availability?
-The tundra has low nutrient availability because the soil is permanently frozen, limiting the decomposition of organic matter, which recycles nutrients. This also leads to low water availability, further reducing plant survival.
What misconception might people have about the nutrient levels in tropical rainforests?
-People might assume tropical rainforests have nutrient-rich soil due to the abundance of plant life, but in reality, the soil is nutrient-poor because the nutrients are quickly absorbed by the numerous plants competing for them.
How can climate change affect the distribution of biomes?
-As the climate warms, biomes such as the boreal forest may shift further north as previously frozen soils thaw and allow tree growth in new areas. Meanwhile, the southern range of these biomes may shrink as temperatures become too warm for the trees to survive.
Outlines
🌍 Introduction to Terrestrial Biomes
In this introductory segment, Mr. Smith explains the goal of the video, which is to describe the global distribution of terrestrial biomes, their environmental conditions, and how plants and animals adapt to these conditions. Key biomes like rainforests and deserts are highlighted, along with their defining characteristics, such as precipitation and temperature. Mr. Smith stresses the importance of understanding climate's role in shaping biomes and provides examples of how organisms adapt to their environment, such as camels and cacti in deserts.
🌡️ Key Characteristics: Temperature and Precipitation
This paragraph delves into the defining features of biomes, specifically temperature and precipitation. Biomes are organized based on their climate, with detailed examples such as tropical seasonal forests, savannas, and temperate biomes. Mr. Smith explains how these factors predict where biomes are found on Earth, using examples like tundras and boreal forests at higher latitudes, and tropical biomes near the equator. He emphasizes that understanding these climate patterns is more important than memorizing specific organisms for each biome.
🌱 Soil Nutrients and Plant Survival
This segment focuses on how nutrient availability in the soil plays a vital role in determining plant survival within a biome. The tundra is used as an example, where frozen soil prevents nutrient recycling, limiting plant species. In contrast, tropical rainforests, despite having many plants, suffer from nutrient-poor soil due to intense competition. Other biomes like boreal and temperate forests are also discussed, illustrating how different temperatures and conditions affect nutrient decomposition and plant growth.
📉 The Impact of Climate Change on Biomes
Here, Mr. Smith discusses how biomes shift due to climate change. He provides an example of the boreal forest, which is predicted to move further north as soils in those regions thaw. The warming climate may also reduce the southern range of the boreal forest. Images comparing Arctic landscapes from 1962 and 2004 show evidence of this change. Finally, Mr. Smith encourages viewers to consider how these biome shifts will influence the plant and animal species within them.
📝 Final Reflection and Concept Practice
In the conclusion, Mr. Smith wraps up the lesson by encouraging students to reflect on one characteristic of a biome and explain how it influences the community of organisms in that biome. He thanks viewers and reminds them to subscribe for more educational videos on AP Environmental Science, also referencing the practice of 'thinking like a mountain' to approach environmental science with a holistic mindset.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Biome
💡Climate
💡Tropical Rainforest
💡Desert
💡Adaptation
💡Nutrient Availability
💡Tundra
💡Boreal Forest
💡Latitude
💡Global Warming
Highlights
Objective: Describe the global distribution and environmental conditions of land-based biomes.
Biomes are defined by a combination of average yearly temperature and precipitation (climate).
Rainforest: High rainfall and warm temperatures year-round; Desert: Low precipitation with potentially high temperatures.
Organisms in biomes must be uniquely adapted to survive the climate of that biome.
Camels and cacti are adapted to the desert: Camels store fat in humps for energy; cacti have waxy coatings to prevent water loss.
Biomes are characterized primarily by temperature and precipitation, which define their ranges and predict where they are found on Earth.
Biomes have predictable patterns: Tundra and Boreal forests are colder and drier near 60 degrees latitude, temperate biomes between 30-60 degrees, and tropical biomes around the equator.
Nutrient availability is a key characteristic of biomes, affecting plant and animal survival.
Tundra soils are frozen year-round, limiting nutrient recycling and water availability, resulting in fewer plants and animals.
Tropical rainforests, despite abundant plant life, have nutrient-poor soil due to fast absorption by competing plants.
Boreal forests have nutrient-poor soils because decomposers are less active in colder temperatures.
Temperate forests have nutrient-rich soils due to broadleaf trees dropping leaves, allowing faster decomposition.
Climate change can cause biomes to shift their locations; warming temperatures may push biomes like the boreal forest further north.
Example of biome shift: Aspen trees in boreal forests are moving northward due to thawing permafrost and warming temperatures.
Evidence of biome shifting is visible in photos comparing Arctic landscapes from 1962 and 2004, showing forest growth in previously too cold areas.
Transcripts
hey everybody its mr. smith's welcome to
video notes for topic one point two
which is terrestrial or land based
biomes our objective for the day is to
be able to describe the global
distribution and the environmental
conditions of land-based or terrestrial
biomes we'll talk about how the plants
and animals that live in a biome are
adapted to that unique climate will go
over major must-know biomes for apes
we'll talk about how the worldwide
distribution of biomes is subject to
change if our climate changes and
finally the environmental science skill
that we'll practice at the end of
today's video we'll be explaining an
environmental concept or process so
biomes are areas that share a
combination of average yearly
temperature and precipitation also known
as climate this is really important to
point out climate is just a combination
of average temperature and precipitation
trends over a year so we can look at
some examples of well known biomes we
have the rain forest of course this is
going to be a biome that over the course
of the year is going to have really
really high rainfall as well as really
really warm temperatures whereas the
desert is going to be a biome that's
characterized by very very low
precipitation now it may also have high
temperatures but that low precipitation
is the big distinguisher between the
tropical rainforest and the desert
really important to point out that the
community of organisms that live in
biomes are uniquely adapted to the
climate of those biomes so this is our
sort of thinking like a mountain
opportunity because instead of thinking
of the biome and trying to memorize what
organisms can survive there just
remember that any organism in a biome
must be uniquely adapted to survive
those climate conditions so we've got
some examples here we have camels and
cacti camels have hump which store
energy in the form of fat four times
when they are unable to find energy for
a long period of time I have thick waxy
cuticles or coats that basically prevent
water loss through evaporation so those
are both adaptations that allow those
organisms to survive the harsh dry
conditions of the desert we have shrubs
and wild flowers they're gonna have long
deep roots that store a lot of energy so
that when there's wildfires that
devastate the landscape of the
that they live in they're gonna be able
to quickly regrow because they've stored
so much energy deep in the ground in
their roots so again the organisms of a
biome are uniquely adapted to survive
the conditions meaning the climate of
that biome
now we'll talk about characteristics of
biomes the two most important
characteristics of a biome are its
temperature and precipitation in fact
they are the defining characteristics so
if we look at a graph here we'll see
that we have different ranges of both
temperature and precipitation foot so
for instance if we look at the tropical
seasonal forests also notice the savanna
will notice that they range in annual
precipitation from maybe 60 or 75
centimetres of annual precipitation all
the way up to maybe 280 and then if we
look at the temperature will notice that
those tropical seasonal forests are
gonna range from oh maybe 18 degrees or
so all the way up to about 29 degrees
Celsius so just keep in mind that all of
these biomes are defined by the range of
precipitation and temperature found in
them what we'll notice is that these
temperature and precipitation ranges
will also predict wäôre on earth we can
find the biomes so we can look at the
biomes mapped across Earth's surface and
we'll see that there's very predictable
patterns if we look at biomes such as
the tundra and the boreal forest if you
remember from our graph they're very low
in precipitation and they're also colder
biomes so we're gonna see them farther
away from the equator concentrated
around 60 degrees latitude now if we
look at the temperate biomes these are
gonna be things like temperate
grasslands temperate seasonal forests
we're gonna see them concentrated on the
middle latitudes between 30 and 60 this
is because these are latitudes that
receive a moderate amount of rainfall
and them have a moderate temperature
year-round so they're gonna be
reasonably warm but they're gonna get
somewhat cool in the winter and then
finally we have the tropical biomes so
this would be the tropical rainforest
and the tropical seasonal force or the
savanna and we'll notice that they're
concentrated around the equator and
that's going to be characterized by
really warm temperatures because it gets
the most direct sunlight and really high
precipitation so again instead of trying
to memorize all of these different
biomes we need
to think about how these patterns of
temperature and precipitation are
influenced by the distance that we are
from the equator and that's going to
tell us where we're gonna find different
biomes will see our colder drier biomes
up near 60 degrees and north so the
further away we get from the equator
will see our temperate biomes in those
middle latitudes around 30 to 60 degrees
and then we'll see our tropical are
really warm and are really brainy biomes
near the equator another very important
characteristic of biomes is their
nutrient availability now this is
because plants need soil nutrients in
order to grow so the availability of the
nutrients in the soil is ultimately
going to determine which plants and how
many species of plants can survive in
different biomes so we have a great
example here we can think about the
tundra now you could have memorized that
the tundra has a lot of snow and ice and
so it doesn't have as many plant species
but we want to try to actually
understand the reasoning behind that
so because the soil in the Tundra is
permanently frozen year-round
that limits the decomposition of organic
matter which recycles nutrients so
because those soils are so frozen for so
much of the year we don't recycle our
nutrients and so there are low nutrient
levels in the soil that's gonna also
lead to low water availability due to it
being frozen and then finally that's
gonna result in very few plants able to
survive these conditions so we can see
here that the active layer the layer of
the soil that thoughts out each year and
is available for plant growth is very
small compared to the permafrost again
that results in very few species of
plants being able to survive here and
therefore fewer animal species as well
now we can look at a few more examples
the tropical rainforest
even though it has a ton of plant growth
and you might think it has a really
nutrient-rich soil is actually going to
be quite nutrient poor and it's because
there are so many plants that are
competing for the nutrients that they
get quickly absorbed in the soil as soon
as they're made available then we have
the boreal forest boreal forest remember
our cold they're gonna be dominated by
coniferous trees like pine trees Aspen
spruce and they're going to also have
nutrient poor soils but for a different
reason it's because the temperature is
so low for much of
year that the decomposers like
earthworms and fungi are not going to be
able to break down dead organic matter
fast enough to cycle those nutrients
quickly then finally we have the
temperate forests those are the force
that you're used to seeing in West
Michigan and it costs much of the u.s.
they have very high nutrient levels in
the soil and that's because they have
broad leaves like Oaks and maples that
drop their leaves each fall that leads
to a lot of organic matter on the forest
floor and they're moderate temperatures
are gonna allow for a faster rate of
decomposition which makes those
nutrients available in the soil so this
is a great example of how another biome
characteristic nutrient availability
ultimately determines which plants and
which animals can survive in that biome
and finally we talked about how biomes
can shift in their locations that is
because climate is not stable on earth
climate is subject to human activities
that are changing it rapidly right now
and so as the climate continues to warm
that will shift biomes such as the
boreal forest further north as those
soils that used to be frozen for much of
the year are thawing out and able to
have the large tree species of a boreal
forest now grow in those conditions
they're also going to lose some of their
southern range as it becomes too warm
for the trees that dominate that boreal
forest biomes such as Aspen in screws so
we have here the current range from 1971
to 2000 of the Aspen which again is a
very characteristic tree species found
in the boreal forest versus the
predicted change in that biome from 2007
t1 to 2100 we noticed that the predicted
range is far further north again that's
due to these soils that were previously
frozen thawing out an enabling tree
growth further north and a lot of those
southern regions that we see in the
northern US and in southern Canada
becoming too warm for these tree species
we can see an actual picture of this
progress happening these are photos of
the same exact Arctic plot of land in
1962 and then again in 2004 and we can
see that the forest is slowly creeping
northward as global warming makes those
previously too cold soils warmer
for the boreal forest tree species to
survive in our practice up our queue for
topic 1.2 today will involve the skill
of concept explanation so I want you to
identify one characteristic of a biome
and then explain how that characteristic
determines the community of organisms
that are found in that biome alright
everybody thanks for tuning in today
don't forget to like this video if it
was helpful subscribe for future apes
video updates and check out other notes
over here to the side and as always
think like a mountain right like a
scholar
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