AP Environmental Science / Unit 1: The Living World: Ecosystems
1.2 Terrestrial Biomes
Notes
Biomes are defined mainly by temperature and precipitation, which determine plant life.
- Tropical rainforest: hot, very wet, high biodiversity, poor soil.
- Desert: very dry. Tundra: cold, permafrost. Taiga (boreal forest): cold, conifers.
- Temperate grassland and temperate deciduous forest: seasonal.
Practice
Which biome has permafrost?
Frozen subsoil.
Tropical rainforest soils are nutrient-poor because:
Nutrients are in the biomass.
The two main factors that determine a biome are:
They set what plants can grow.
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