Tropical Rainforest

The tropical rain forest is a forest of tall trees in a region of year-round warmth. An average of
50 to 260 inches (125 to 660 cm.) of rain falls yearly.Rain forests belong to the tropical wet
climate group. The temperature in a rain forest rarely gets higher than 93 F (34 C) or drops
below 68 F (20 C); average humidity is between 77 and 88%; rainfall is often more than 100
inches a year. There is usually a brief season of less rain. In monsoonal areas, tMany species of
animal life can be found in the rain forest. Common characteristics found among mammals and
birds (and reptiles and amphibians, too) include adaptations to a life in the trees, such as
the prehensile tails of New World monkeys. Other characteristics are bright colors and sharp
patterns, loud vocalizations, and diets heavy on fruits.Insects make up the largest single group
of animals that live in tropical forests. They include brightly colored butterflies, mosquitoes,
camouflaged stick insects, and huge colonies of ants.here is a real dry season. Almost all rain
forests lie near the equator.
Desert

A Hot and Dry Desert is, as you can tell from the name, hot and dry. Most Hot and Dry Deserts
don't have very many plants. They do have some low down plants though. Hot and Dry Deserts
temperature ranges from 20 to 25 C. The extreme maximum temperature for Hot Desert

ranges from 43.5 to 49 C. Cold Deserts temperature in winter ranges from -2 to 4 C and in the
summer 21 to 26 C a year. Hot and Dry Deserts animals include small nocturnal (only active at
night) carnivores. There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles, and birds. Some examples of
these animals are Borrowers, Mourning Wheatears, and Horned Vipers. Cold Deserts have
animals like Antelope, Ground Squirrels, Jack Rabbits, and Kangaroo Rats.
Grassland

Grassland biomes are large, rolling terrains of grasses, flowers and herbs. Latitude, soil and
local climates for the most part determine what kinds of plants grow in a particular grassland.
Grassland biomes can be found in the middle latitudes, in the interiors of continents. In the
winter, grassland temperatures can be as low as -40 F, and in the summer it can be as high 70
F. There are two real seasons: a growing season and a dormant season.

Middle Latitude Deciduous Forest (MLDF)

Deciduous forests can be found in the eastern half of North America, and the middle of Europe.
There are many deciduous forests in Asia. In deciduous forests there are five different zones.
The first zone is the Tree Stratum zone. The Tree Stratum zone contains such trees as oak,
beech, maple, chestnut hickory, elm, basswood, linden, walnut, and sweet gum trees. This zone
has height ranges between 60 feet and 100 feet. The average annual temperature in a

deciduous forest is 50 F. The average rainfall is 30 to 60 inches a year. Most of the animals are
camouflaged to look like the ground.
Taiga

The taiga is the biome of the needleleaf forest. Living in the taiga is cold and lonely. The winter
temperature range is -54 to -1 C (-65 to 30 F). The winters, as you can see, are really cold,
with lots of snow.Temperature range in the summer gets as low as -7 C (20 F). The high in
summer can be 21 C (70 F). Animals of the taiga tend to be predators like the lynx and
members of the weasel family like wolverines, bobcat, minks and ermine. They hunt herbivores
like snowshoe rabbits, red squirrels and voles. Red deer, elk, and moose can be found in
regions of the taiga where more deciduous trees grow.Many insect eating birds come to the
taiga to breed. They leave when the breeding season is over. Seed eaters like finches and
sparrows, and omnivorous birds like crows stay all year long. The taiga is located near the top
of the world, just below the tundra biome.
Arctic Tundra

Located at latitudes 55 to 70 North, the tundra is a vast and treeless land which covers about
20% of the Earth's surface, circumnavigating the North pole. It is usually very cold, and the land
is pretty stark. Almost all tundras are located in the Northern Hemisphere. The average annual
temperature is -18 F (-28 C). Nights can last for weeks when the sun barely rises during some
months in the winter, and the temperature can drop to -94 F (-70 C). Animals that live here are
consist of slightly modified shrews, hares, rodents, wolves, foxes, bears and deer.

Granda Arnold James E.