QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
GRADED A+
⩥ Savannas.
Answer: grassland with scattered individual trees. Cover almost half the
surface of Africa and large areas of Australia, South America, and India.
Warm or hot climates where the annual rainfall is 20-50 inches per year.
The rainfall is concentrated in six or eight months of the year, followed
by a long period of drought when fires can occur.
⩥ Temperate Grasslands.
Answer: dominated by grasses, trees and large shrubs are absent.
Temperatures vary more from summer to winter, and the amount of
rainfall is less than in savannas. Temperate grasslands have hot summers
and cold winters. Occur in South Africa, Hungary, Argentina, the steppes
of the former Soviet Union, and the plains and prairies of central North
America.
⩥ Deserts.
Answer: covers about one fifth of the Earth's surface and occur where
rainfall is less than 50 cm/year. Most deserts occur at low latitudes (30
degrees North and South of the equator), have a considerable amount of
specialized vegetation, as well as specialized animals. Soils have
abundant nutrients, need only water to become productive, and have
, little or no organic matter. Common disturbances include occasional
fires or cold weather, and sudden, infrequent, but intense rains that cause
flooding.
⩥ Tundra.
Answer: treeless plains that are the coldest of all the biomes. Occur in
the arctic and Antarctica. Dominated by lichens, mosses, sedges, and
dwarfed shrubs Characterized by extremely cold climate, permanently
frozen ground (permafrost) low biotic diversity, simple vegetation
structure, limitation of drainage, short season of growth and
reproduction.
⩥ Wetlands.
Answer: areas of standing water that support aquatic plants including
marshes, swamps, and bogs. Reduce flooding. Species diversity is very
high.
⩥ Fresh Water.
Answer: defined as having a low salt concentration (less than 1%).
Plants and animals are adjusted to the low salt content and would not be
able to survive in areas of high salt concentration (i.e., ocean). There are
different types of freshwater regions: ponds and lakes, streams and
rivers, and estuaries.
⩥ Oceans.