Terrestrial Biomes: Temperate Regions - Online Tutor, Practice Problems & Exam Prep

Chaparrals, or shrublands, thrive in Mediterranean climates characterized by hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. These ecosystems, often found near the Mediterranean Sea, experience frequent wildfires, leading to plant and animal adaptations for survival. Temperate grasslands, known as prairies or steppes, are dominated by grasses and face extreme temperature variations with moderate rainfall, inhibiting tree growth. In contrast, temperate broadleaf forests, or deciduous forests, feature broadleaf trees that lose leaves in winter, supporting significant biodiversity and productivity due to consistent rainfall throughout the year.

Chaparrals

This video, we're going to talk about chaparrales, which are also sometimes referred to as shrublands because they are dominated by shrubs and small trees, and they tend to occur in mid-latitude coastal regions. Now chaparral are said to have Mediterranean-type climates because notice that many of these chaparral tend to fall right along the Mediterranean Sea. And so a Mediterranean-type climate includes having hot dry summers and mild wet winters. And so notice in this climate graph of Athens, Greece that it has hot but dry summers with these low precipitation bars and mild but wet winters with these higher precipitation bars. Now, similarly to savannahs, chaparrales have wildfires that serve as a common disturbance.

And so many of the plant and animal life forms have evolved adaptations to tolerate the wildfires and the conditions in chaparrales. So that concludes this video, and I'll see you in our next one.

Temperate Grasslands (Prairie/Steppe)

In this video, we're going to talk about temperate grasslands, which, as their name implies, are found in temperate regions of the globe right around 35 degrees latitude. Sometimes they're referred to as prairies in North America and steppes in Europe and Asia. As their name also implies, they're going to be dominated by vast expanses of grasses, and they have high annual temperature variation with really cold winters and really hot summers, as you can see in this climate graph down below. Also, they have only moderate amounts of rainfall throughout the year, not enough rainfall to support significant tree growth. So, significant tree growth is actually inhibited by the relatively dry conditions from only moderate amounts of rainfall, but also inhibited from periodic wildfires as well.

So this here concludes this video, and I'll see you all in our next one.

Temperate Broadleaf/Deciduous Forests

This video, we're going to talk about temperate broadleaf forests, which are also called deciduous forests. And as their name implies, they're found in temperate regions of the globe right around 35 degrees latitude, and their leaves are very broad. And they're dominated by deciduous trees, which are trees that lose their leaves in wintertime as the temperature drops, but then regain their leaves once the temperature goes back up in the spring and summer. Now, in comparison to tropical rainforests, these forests only have a moderate amount of productivity and biodiversity as once again the temperature does not support year-round photosynthesis as they lose their photosynthetic leaves in the wintertime. And so these forests have the four classic traditional seasons, which are cold winters, hot summers, and transitional spring and fall seasons.

And that's exactly what we can see in this climate graph down below. And their rainfall is pretty ample, sufficient, and consistent throughout the year, which supports significant tree growth. So that concludes this video, and I'll see you in our next one.

Terrestrial Biomes: Temperate Regions Example 1

So here we have an example problem that wants us to appropriately label each biome on the following climagraph, which you can see down below right here. And the biomes that we need to label are chaparrals, temperate broadleaf or deciduous forests, and temperate grasslands or prairies or steppes. Now, of course, recall from our previous lesson videos that temperate broadleaf or deciduous forests receive a sufficient and ample amount of rainfall consistently throughout the year, which helps to support the tree growth found in these forests. And so of these three, we expect this one to have the most rainfall. And so notice that on the x axis, we have the annual mean precipitation in units of millimeters, And so the region that has the highest annual mean precipitation is this one here in blue.

So we can go ahead and label this one as temperate broadleaf deciduous forest, which is option b, go ahead and label that region there. Now recall from previous lesson videos that temperate grasslands or prairies or steppes are going to receive a moderate amount of rainfall throughout the year, and it's not going to be enough rainfall to support significant tree growth. And so for that reason, we would expect it to fall in a moderate region here in the rainfall. So this green region here, we would expect to be temperate grassland. So we can go ahead and label this one as region c to correspond with the temperate grasslands or prairies or steppes.

And then, of course, this leaves this last region here in red as the chaparrals, which we can label as a, which recall that chaparrals are characterized by having Mediterranean-type climates with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. And so because it has drier summers, we might expect it to have relatively low precipitation, and it does here fall into this red region. So this here concludes this example problem, I'll see you on our next video.

Temperate broadleaf forests & temperate grasslands tend to have similar annual _____________.

However, temperate broadleaf forests can support denser vegetation as they experience more ______________.

• A. Temperature; precipitation.
• B. Precipitation; disturbances.
• C. Temperature; disturbances.
• D. Precipitation; biodiversity.

Coastal regions of California have warm summers, mild winters, and a Mediterranean climate. They experience very little precipitation in summer, leading to frequent wildfires and supporting drought-resistant shrubs. Which biome takes up most of coastal California?

• A. Temperate broadleaf forest.
• B. Temperate grassland.
• C. Savanna.
• D. Chaparral.

Which of the following is the reason that temperate broadleaf forests have less biodiversity than tropical rainforests?

• A. Temperate broadleaf forests lack vertical layering, resulting in fewer diverse habitats.
• B. In tropical rainforests, constant warm temperatures & abundant rainfall allow year-round photosynthesis.
• C. Temperate broadleaf forests are geographically isolated from other biomes.
• D. All of these are correct.