Environmental Science For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 7

Biogeography: How Earth’s Climate Shapes Global Ecosystem Patterns

IN THIS CHAPTER

Distinguishing between latitude and altitude

Understanding important climate influences

Identifying terrestrial and aquatic biomes

From the arctic tundra where grizzly bears and reindeer inhabit a treeless landscape to the dense, forested jungles where monkeys swing through the treetops, life on Earth comes in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and combinations. But even with so much variety, life on Earth fits into several recognizable patterns around the globe. Climate conditions — the ranges of temperature and moisture throughout the year — determine these patterns, and like the plants and animals on Earth, these conditions vary as you move around the Earth’s surface.

In this chapter, I explain a few of the factors that create the different climate conditions on Earth, and I describe how climate shapes the communities of living things — called ecosystems — in different parts of the world. I also outline the major ecosystem categories, or biomes, that scientists recognize on Earth.

Positioning Ecosystems: Latitude and Altitude

Organisms in an ecosystem are closely tied to the temperature ...