Biomes and What Draws Their Boundaries · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.
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Climate and biome boundaries

Science · Ecology & Conservation · ages 19-20
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which traits can help desert plants cope with drought?

    • Keeping broad leaves exposed
    • Producing extra leaf area during prolonged drought
    • Storing water or shedding leaves

  2. Which pair directly describes a site's warmth and water input for biome prediction?

    • Sunshine and wind speed
    • Temperature and precipitation
    • Latitude and coastal exposure

  3. Trees could grow at a site, but open grassland persists. Which process could help explain this?

    • Repeated fire or grazing limits tree seedlings
    • Reduced grazing lets seedlings establish
    • Longer gaps between fires let young trees establish

  4. Climate suggests forest at a site, but measurements show that waterlogged soil limits tree establishment. What follows?

    • Local soil can modify the climate-based prediction
    • Annual rainfall is too low for tree growth
    • The vegetation indicates a drier regional climate

  5. Temperature increases rightward and precipitation increases upward. Where would cold, dry conditions lie on this climate plot?

    • Near the lower right
    • Near the lower left
    • Near the upper left

  6. A region becomes warmer while its annual rainfall increases. How should its likely vegetation be reassessed?

    • Expect a desert from the temperature rise
    • Treat extra rainfall as cancelling the temperature change
    • Use both changes to reassess the likely vegetation

  7. A proposed plantation would replace natural desert vegetation. Which assessment is needed before calling it a climate benefit?

    • Water demand, habitat effects and carbon storage
    • Tree height, trunk diameter and timber yield
    • Planted area, seedling count and projected timber income

  8. Similar drought-related traits in distantly related plants prove that they share a recent ancestor.

    Circle one:   True   False

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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Climate and biome boundaries W1-mt_LpO2gwRYHd-s1

  1. Storing water or shedding leaves · Some desert plants store water; others shed leaves or reduce water loss.
  2. Temperature and precipitation · Temperature and precipitation are major climate controls, though seasonal and local factors also matter.
  3. Repeated fire or grazing limits tree seedlings · Repeated fire or grazing can limit tree establishment and maintain open vegetation.
  4. Local soil can modify the climate-based prediction · The measured soil limitation explains why actual vegetation may differ from a climate-only prediction.
  5. Near the lower left · Cold conditions lie leftward and dry conditions lie downward, giving the lower left.
  6. Use both changes to reassess the likely vegetation · Temperature and rainfall affect suitability together. More rain does not automatically cancel warming, and warming alone does not predict desert.
  7. Water demand, habitat effects and carbon storage · A plantation's benefits and costs depend on water supply, effects on existing habitat and likely carbon storage.
  8. False · Similar pressures can produce convergent traits in distantly related plants.
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