Climate Zones and Biomes
There are 8 defined biomes
Permanent ice
Tundra
Boreal Forest
Temperate deciduous forest
Temperate rainforest
Grassland
Desert
Tropical rainforest
What is a biome?
http://www.cdli.ca/courses/sci2200/unit01_org03_ilo01/b_activity.html
a major biotic community characterized by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Canada only has 7 of these biomes. Which biome do you think does not exist in Canada and why?
Tropical rainforest because the climate is not wet and hot enough to support its characteristic vegetation
Which biome is found in Kingston?
temperate deciduous forest
Another way to categorize regions in the biosphere is with ecozones. Canada has 15 different terrestrial (___________) ecozones and 5 aquatic (__________) ecozones. Kingston is part of the Mixedwood Plains ecozone.
http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/ecozones/ecozones.htm
Biomes and ecozones are similar in that they consider temperature, precipitation, types of plants and animals and their biodiversity. An ecozone also considers its geographical characteristics (sedimentary vs. Canadian shield)
Ecoregions and ecodistricts are a way to further reduce various regions in classification. There are over 200 different ecoregions in Canada. An example of an ecoregion would be the Lake Temiscaming Lowland
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Unit Summary
Our climate can be examined through 5 external factors
1. Earth and Sun
2. Atmosphere
3. Hydrosphere
4. Moving Continents
5. Human Activity (anthropogenic)
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Attachments
ecozones.webloc