Earth's Major Biomes: Climate, Flora, and Fauna

Tropical Rainforests

These places receive a large amount of rain. In the rainforest, many plants can easily have their needs met. These places have more species than all other biomes. In any environment, some organisms survive well, while others do not. Organisms have structures that help them survive in their ecosystem.

Deciduous Forests

A deciduous forest may grow in cooler places that do not receive a huge amount of rain. These forests have trees such as oaks, elms, and maples. Deciduous trees lose their leaves in the colder autumn and winter months. Losing leaves helps trees save food and water during the winter.

Grassland Biomes

Grasslands once covered a huge area of the Midwest America. Now, most of these grasslands have been turned into farms. Grasslands are biomes covered with many types of grasses and have few trees. Trees do not grow well in this biome due to the small amount of rain it receives. Populations of animals often decrease when their habitat changes. These changes can be in the climate, the number of enemies, or the availability of water.

Taiga Biomes

Taiga biomes cover much of Canada and Russia. In these places, most trees are conifers that have needles, like pines. Needles have many qualities to help trees survive the cold conditions. Needles are specialized leaves that make food for the tree.

Tundra Biomes

The tundra is a very cold biome with little rain. Tundras are generally found in the most northern areas of the world. Limiting factors include the amount of food, water, space, or shelter. The number of organisms that can live in a place is called the carrying capacity. If a population grows larger than the carrying capacity, the organisms will not be able to meet their needs. They will need to move to another place, or they will not survive well. This situation is called overcrowding. In the tundra, a major limiting factor is the short period of warm weather. The small plants that grow in the tundra provide less food and shelter for animals.

Desert Biomes

Deserts can be hot or cold. Some deserts can be covered by a very flat layer of salt. They receive less than 25 centimeters of rain each year. The largest deserts are found in Northern Africa and Southwest Asia.