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

Reading the green map

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

  1. How do desert plants outlast long dry spells?

    • By growing taller than rivals
    • By flowering at night only
    • By storing water or dropping leaves

  2. Which two climate facts best predict a biome?

    • Wind and tides
    • Temperature and rainfall
    • Soil colour and noise

  3. Rain could raise forest, yet grassland stands. What can hold it open?

    • Fire and grazing
    • Extra rainfall
    • Tall trees

  4. Why do ecologists track moss campion survival, growth, and reproduction across latitudes?

    • To test whether it still holds its range as climate warms
    • To count total world flowers
    • To plant more campion

  5. A new station reports steady heat plus heavy year round rain. Which biome fits?

    • Desert
    • Tropical rainforest
    • Tundra

  6. Warming drags rainfall zones poleward. What must resident species do?

    • Grow larger leaves at once
    • Stop reproducing
    • Move with the zones, adapt, or disappear

  7. A plan plants thirsty timber across a desert to fix climate. What is the error?

    • Deserts store carbon and steer water their own way, so guarding beats misplanting
    • Trees cannot grow anywhere
    • Deserts lack sunlight

  8. Unrelated plants in one biome converge because 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.

Reading the green map W1-mt_LpO2gwRYHd-s1

  1. By storing water or dropping leaves · Desert dwellers store water or shed leaves, whatever their ancestry.
  2. Temperature and rainfall · Temperature plus rainfall place most biomes on the map.
  3. Fire and grazing · Fire and grazing can overrule a tree friendly climate.
  4. To test whether it still holds its range as climate warms · Vital rates show whether the tundra plant still holds inside its livable range.
  5. Tropical rainforest · Warm plus wet grows evergreen rainforest.
  6. Move with the zones, adapt, or disappear · Shifted zones force species to move, adapt, or disappear.
  7. Deserts store carbon and steer water their own way, so guarding beats misplanting · Each biome handles carbon and water its own way, so misplanting backfires.
  8. False · They converge because the same pressures select the same growth forms.
Worksheet · LightMySky