What is a Biome?

Have you ever wondered: what are all these different types of environments called? If you're like me, you probably have. They're called biomes. Now, a biome is a special type of geographical area that is characterized by it's plants and animals. Biomes are described by their complex interactions that their animals make with their surroundings. These surroundings are specifically the climate, rocks, soil, water, and latitude.
[EX] A desert; everyone knows what it is. Sandy, hot, cold, reptiles, cactuses, etc. These are the general characteristics of it.

We got our information from:

http://www.enotes.com/science-fact-finder/environment/what-biome

We got our picture from:

http://weathersavvy.com/desert2_OPT.jpg

Can you see if you can find a biome in your area?

Our Biome!

Temperate Deciduous Forests!



It is unique because it has four seasons unlike some other biomes. Spring, summer, winter, and fall. There are lots of different organisms (plants, animals, bacteria) such as the dhole (my personal favorite), cardinals, and white-tailed deer, that are climax species in TDFs. Other biomes, however, only have summer or only Winter, but ours is unique. The animals adapted to the different climates and the biodiversity is large.

Temperate deciduous forests also have 30 to 60 in of precipitation a year and precipitation falls year round. Generally, temperate deciduous forests have fertile soil, thus contributing to good hardwood trees, allowing humans to build here, concluding in a large population. A unique thing about our biome is that it has 4 seasons, unlike some others.

The leaves of temperate deciduous forests change colors. During autumn, trees can't get enough sunlight or water, so they go dormant and the leaves start to fall off. These leaves fall off because their chlorophyll starts to go away, and then this is the part where you see the orange colors. These orange colors (or any other color) is to prevent oxidation. Don't worry though! Even though they're falling off, they'll grow back in the spring anyways.

We got our information from:

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep8c.htm

We got our videos from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z2KxLzEEKE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59idSglHNCA&feature=related


Are there any other biomes that have a similar biome like us?

Real World Example of Temperate Deciduous Forest

Do you understand what a temperate deciduous forest is, yet you still fail to see what an example of it is? Well, Yellowstone National Park is an example of a temperate deciduous forest (TDF). It has the four seasons previously mentioned, a wide range of biodiversity and has similar animals and the same animals as a real TDF. Furthermore, the plants and animals in this biome adapt to the changing seasons, once again proving that it is a temperate deciduous forest.

We got our information from:

Our brains and
http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/temp/index.htm

We got our picture from:

http://keralaarticles.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/yellowstone-national-park-bison.JPG

Can you find out what else makes Yellowstone National Park a TDF?

What should you find here?

If you were to walk through a Temperate Deciduous Forest, well, it depends on the season. In Spring, flowers and trees should be sprouting, animals should start coming out and so should bugs. The leaves should start turning green and colordul. Birds chirping while rabbits hopping. Pollinators flying flower to flower doing their business. It should rain often. The water should start flowing with marine life coming back in rivers and snow and ice melting. If you have allergies in the spring, you should have an allergic reaction. In Summer, it should be active and lively with animals playin, panting, and running, bugs and birds flying and crawling, predators hunting and hiding, trees' green leaves flowing in the breeze, flowers pretty and sprouted, hot weather, trees providing shade and fish swimming again. In Autumn, the keaves of trees should start to fall down and turn red, orange, or yellow. Animals shouldn't be so active due to the chilling weather. leaves should be bitten while cacoons and chrysalis hang. The sky should be clouded with little sun and birds should be migrating. In the WInter, it should be snowy and icy. Some animals looking for food while others hibernate. Food should be scarce and no sun should be out.

We got our information from:

http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/temp/index.htm

http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/temp/index.htm

We got our picture from:

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_174/1186866319Ut2fUE.jpg

It is really cold in the winter, and when you look out, you should see color clearly, for mostly everything is covered white in snow. Is this biome kind of like your own home?

Plants in Temperate Deciduous Forests pt. 1

Who likes maple syrup? Did you know that the sugar maple tree provides the sap to be able to make maple syurp? The sugar maple tree provides shade, habitat, and food for organisms. This tree does what trees do, stand and get sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO2). They really just grow. Their role in the biome is to provide a home for some organisms, produce sap so I can have maple syrup for my pancakes, and provide shade with thier leaves. In the Fall, their leaves are the most colorful. The leaves turn red and orange. Every trees go to survive, but they grow bark which can be peeled, but as the tree matures, the bark grows narower, so the tree's inside wood is protected from diseases, bugs, and animals.

We got our information from:

http://inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/terres/d_forest/plants.htm

We got our picture from:

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/rc_hefw/images/Acer%20saccharum3738.jpg

What process does it take to make maple syrup from sugar maple trees?

Plants in Temperate Deciduous Forests pt. 2

Oak trees are common among many areas. Oak trees are producers and so they just stay where they are, since they can't move and use chlorophyll and carbon dioxide to produce its food. It provides shade, habitat, and food for animals. In the biome, oak trees provide shade, shelter, and food. Their leaves and braches spread out to protect the animals from too much heat, their trunk and wood provides shelter for squirrels, ants, bugs and birds' nests. The food oak trees provide are acorns. Squirrels eat them and also bury them to make more oak trees. They've adapted to TDFs by growing big to get sunlight and by having symbiotic reletionships with ants and other organisms. The ants protect it from predators by biting them and the tree provides a shelter for the ants.

We got our information from:

http://inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/terres/d_forest/td_forest.htm

http://inchinapinch.com/hab_pgs/terres/d_forest/plants.htm

We got our video from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OJAE5xSf2M

How do you think other trees have adapted to their area?

Animals in Temperate Deciduous Forests pt. 1

Did you ever hear birds singing at night? Well, I know you Europeans, excluding the ones far north, Central Asians, and North and Central Africans do at night. Well, the bird you were hearing was probably the Nightingale. It sings mostly at night and live mostly in Temperate Deciduous Forests. For this biome, it consumes fruits, berries, spiders, worms, insects and insect larvae. It consumes the bugs so that they don't overpopulate and eats their share of berries and fruits so that other organism who also feed on the Nightingale's diet don't overpopulate. The Nightingale has adapted to Temperate Deciduous Forests by thier nests' structure and area. The Nitingales make their nests hidden in thicket close to ground. They don't just put their nest anywhere, they want to keep it safe from prey, so they hide it. Also, they make their nests from twigs and leaves lined with grass. The TDF's material is specifically chosen by the Nitingale to survive the weather conditions. Since the TDFs have 4 seasons, the NItingale adapted to the weather by choosing the leaves and twigs.

Websites we used:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/printouts/Nightingale.shtml

We got our pictures from:

http://www.minster-in-thanet.org.uk/yvonne/nightingale.jpg

Do you think that you'd make your house differently if you lived in a different climate?

Animals in Temperate Deciduous Forests pt. 2

Are you patriotic? Well, if you didn't know, America's symbol, the Bald Eagle, habitats in Temperate Deciduous Forests (TDF). Well, here's a fun fact for you, it's not really bald. It got it's name from an old English word which means white. Bald used to mean white. The Bald Eagle is a consumer and predator. It really just eats and cares for its eaglets with huge nests. They really eat fish, but also eat small mammals such as snakes and rats. Having razor sharp talons, they grab their prey and kill them, to eat them. They live mostly near lakes and rivers since they eat mostly fish. In the biome, their role is to do what they do, which is eating fish and mammals, making huge nests for their young, defending their young and sometimes, being too late to save their young. That is how to biome will keep its balance in organisms and habitat. They are the top of the food chian, meaning they are the predators and not one organism is over them. They keep the community running by dying of natural causes and getting decomposed by decomposers and eaten by scavengers. They've adapted to the TDFs and its changing of climate and temperature by having ways to heat and cool themselves and still protecting their young with huge nests. They don't sweat, but release heat by perching in shade, spreading their wings out and panting. In the cold, well, they don't really get cold. Their feet are cold resistent. Their beak is mostly non'living material and their feathers are lined down to protect the skin. Their young are protected with huge nests which protect them mostly from other predators and climate. The Bald Eagle makes big nests to keep their eaglets alive. HOw do you think the Bald Eagles first were, before they adapted to the Temperate Deciduous Forests?

Websites we used for our information:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/printouts/Eaglecoloring.shtml

http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle8.html

We got our picture from:

http://www.ackerlunds.com/httpdocs/edited%20bald%20eagle%20page_files/Bald_eagle.jpg

Temperate Deciduous Forest Locations

Temperate Deciduous Forests have 4 seasons, which is why they're called temperate. The biome needs the 4 seasons to keep the cycle of its ecosystem running smoothly. If one season just disappears, the ecosystem will lose it's state of equilibrium. One species will overpopulate and since they're animals like us, they'll need to eat. They'll consume the organisms lower in the food web resulting in the victimized organisms to become endangered, if not extinct, in the area. If this keeps occuring, the predators will not have food, therefore a chain reaction will happen higher and higher in the food chain, ultimately causing the food web to collapse.

Now to get back on track. Temperate deciduous forests are located in the eastern half of North America, middle Europe, Russia, China, and Japan. If you refer to the map above, you will notice the location of the forests; they're partly in the tropical climate zone but mostly in the temperate zone. It is mostly in the temperate climate zone because it is a temperate forest, so it need the different climates to be a temperate climate zone. It is how the ecosystem is kept flowing. How do you think the climates affect the organisms and area?

We got our information from:
www.mbgnet.net/sets/temp/locatns.htm
library.thinkquest.org/11353/tempforest.htm
www.blueplanetbiomes.org/deciduous_forest.htm

We got our pictures from:
http://www.roebuckclasses.com/maps/physicmap/biome/biomes1.jpg