ECOLOGY AND MAJOR BIOMES OF THE WORLD

Ecology as we learnt earlier has to do with organisms and their environment. How they interact and obtain satisfaction from it. There are a lot of time zones, geographical zones and climatic zones all around the world. But in this article we shall be discussing the basic biomes of the world which are as follows
1. TROPICAL RAIN FOREST
2. SAVANNA
3. DESERT
4. SHRUB
5. AFRO-ALPHINE
6. SWAMP

THE TROPICAL RAIN FOREST

The tropical rain forest is located around the equator. That is within 50 north and south poles of the Equator. The forest is found in the Amazon basin of South America, Zaire basin of Central Africa, the coast of West Africa and interior Malaysia.

characteristics OF TROPICAL RAIN FOREST

i. Tropical rain forest has high temperature of between 25-370C with small annual range of 2-30C
ii. Rainfall is throughout the year with two peaks
iii. It has an annual rainfall of over 200mm
iv. Tropical rain forest has an abundant sunshine
v. Relative humidity within the tropical rain forest is very high
vi. The tropical rain forest trees have broad evergreen leaves
vii. There are various layers of trees in the tropical rain forest
viii. The trees are of great varieties
ix. There is abundance of tall hard woods like the African walnut and Obeche
x. Creepers, climbers, epiphytes and parasitic plants are commonly found in the tropical rain forest
xi. The forest has little undergrowth
1

SAVANNA OR GRASSLAND

Savanna covers very extensive areas of the world which in estimation is about 20% of the world’s total land mass
Grassland are distinguished from the forest by the relatively few trees

present and the abundance of grasses. The grassland Is a transitional biome between the forest and the desert
Grassland or savanna is grouped into tropical grassland and temperate grassland

TROPICAL GRASSLAND

The tropical grassland is located at 5 and 200 North and South of the Equator
Areas where this grassland are found includes Central America, North West part of South America, interior Brazil, West Africa, part of East Africa, South East Asia and Northern Australia

EIGHT (8) CHARACTERISTICS OF TROPICAL GRASSLAND

1. The temperature of the tropical grassland are at extreme at 300C
2. It has an annual rainfall of about 600mm to 1500mm
3. The tropical grassland has an annual temperature of about 11 degree centigrade (110C)
4. The tropical grassland has tall grasses that are fibrous when old
5. There is the presence of scattered trees

6. The trees found in the tropical grassland are deciduous. Meaning they shed leaves during dry season
7. Popular trees in the community include but not limited to acacia, baobab and shea-butter
8. The grasses are calle4d savanna in Africa and Australia, campos in Brazil

TEMPERATE GRASSLAND

The temperate grassland is found in the interior continent of Asia, North America, South America, South Africa and Australia

TEN (10) CHARACTERISTICS OF TEMPERATE GRASSLAND

1. The vegetation of the temperate grassland is associated with the temperate continental climate
2. It has hot summer with temperature of over 20 degrees
3. It has cold winter of below 0 degree
4. Temperate grassland has average rainfall of about 508mm.
5. The rainfall is usually convectional and light
6. There is abundance of grasses.
7. The grasses tends to have uniform high
8. Trees are scarce in the temperate grassland
9. The grasses found in temperate grassland are succulent
10. The grasses have different names in different places where they are found
Examples are
a. The Steppe of Central Europe and Russia
b. The Pampas of Argentina
c. The Veld of South Africa
d. The Downs of Australia

THE DESERT

The deserts are areas generally associated with aridity or dryness. There are two types of deserts. Hot and cold desert. The desert is usually very hot with little or no rainfall for most of the year.

HOT DESERTS

The hot deserts of the world are located on the Western coast of continents within Latitude 150C and 300C north and south of the Equator
Hot deserts of the world includes the Sahara desert in North Africa, Arabian desert in Arabia, Iranian desert in Iran, Namib and Kalahari desert in South Africa, Great Australian desert in Australia and the Atacama desert in South America

EIGHT (8) CHARACTERISTICS OF HOT DESERT

1. Hot deserts have high temperature 300C to 600C
2. Aridity or rainlessness is a common characteristics of the hot deserts
3. Evaporation is high while the relative humidity is very low
4. The deserts are associated with cold current
5. Vegetation is sparse or scanty
6. Common vegetation include grasses, shrubs and herbs
7. Annual rainfall is about 200mm to 250mm
8. Most plants found here xerophytes or drought resistant plants which includes but not limited to thorny bushes, bulbous cacti, wiring grasses, date palm and acacia.

COLD DESERTS

Cold deserts are located or found in the interior of the continents around 45 – 60 north and south of the Equator. Cold deserts are found in the interiors of Eurasia, North America and Patagonia

SIX (6) CHARACTERISTICS OF COLD DESERTS

1. Cold deserts has hot summers and cold winters with temperature of about 7 degree
2. Winters are very cold while the summers are hot with about 37 degree
3. Cold deserts have short and scanty grasses
4. It has drought resistant grasses
5. Rainfall is about 25cm low and unpredictable at peak times
6. Annual temperature is about 400C

SHRUB VEGETATION

The shrub vegetation is found in semi-arid regions of the world, border land of tropical deserts and the interior of continents. Is found in West Africa close to the Sahara desert, North-Eastern Brazil and Australia.

SIX (6) CHARACTERISTICS OF SHRUBS

1. Shrubs has a very high temperature
2. The rainfall here is very low
3. Summers are hot and dry while winters are mild and rainy
4. IT has drought resistant shrubs
5. Shrubs has patches of grasses which are absent in some cases
6. Herbs and low thorny bushes are common

AFRO-ALPNINE

Afro-Alphine is a kind of vegetation that is associated with mountains or highlands. The Afro-Alphine vegetation is mostly related to Africa and is found in highlands such as the Cameroun Mountain, Kenya highland, Kilimanjaro mountain of East Africa

SIX (6) CHARACTERISTICS OF AFRO-ALPHINE

1. Temperature and pressure of the Afro-Alphine decrease with Altitude
2. Heavy rainfall is experienced on the windward side of the mountain
3. The windward side of the mountain may have a luxuriant forest type of vegetation
4. The leeward side of the mountain may have grassland vegetation
5. Vegetation decreases with the height of the mountain
6. The peak of the mountain may experience ice-cap or permanent snow

SWAMP

The swamp forest are usually found in the tropics. Along the coastal regions and river mouths in West Africa, East Africa and South Africa.
Swamp are generally found along the coastal regions of the world

SEVEN (7) CHARACTERISTICS SWAMP

1. SWAMP HAS A HIGH temperature of about 270C throughout the year
2. It has relative rainfall of about 2500mm with no distinct season
3. The dominant plants are the white mangroves, red mangroves and raffia palm
4. The trees have stilt roots which grow down ward and branch into mud surface
5. Relative humidity in swamp is very high
6. The white mangroves has roots which enables it to carry out gaseous exchange
7. Animals commonly found here includes mud skipper, crabs and tilapia fishes

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