Places to Live Around the World
The land on Earth is divided into six major kinds of large ecosystems that are: Desert, Tundra, Grassland, Deciduous forest, Taiga, Tropical Rain Forest, this is called biomes. Each biome has its own kind of climate, soil, plants, and animals. Each biome can be found in differents parts of the world. For example, a desert biome is found in North America, another is found in Africa, still another is found in South America, others are found in Asia and Australia.
Desert:
Location: Midlatitudes
Climate: very hot days, cool nights.
Soil: Poor in animal and plant decay products but often rich in minerals.
Plants: none to cacti, yuccas, bunch grasses, shrubs, and few trees.
Animals: Rodents, snakes, lizards, tortoises, insects, and some birds.
Tundra:
Location: high northern latitudes.
Climate: very cold, harsh, and long winters; short and cool summers.
Soil: nutrient poor, permafrost layer a few inches down.
Plants: grasses, wildflowers, mosses, small shrubs.
Animals: musk oxen, migrating caribou, artic foxes, weasels, snowshoe hares, owls, hawks, various rodents.
Grassland:
Location: midlatitudes.
Climate: cool in winter, hot in summer.
Soil: rich topsoil.
Plants: mostly grasses and small shrubs, some trees near sources of water.
Animals: prairie dogs, foxes, small mammals, snakes, insects, various birds. African grasslands include elephants, lions, zebras, giraffes.
Deciduous forest:
Location: midlaltitudes.
Climate: relatively mild summers and cold winters.
Soil: rich topsoil over clay.
Plants: hardwoods, beeches, hickories, maples.
Animals: wolves, deer, bears, and a wide variety of small mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and insects.
Taiga:
Location: mid to high latitudes.
Climate: very cold winters, cool summers.
Soil: acidic, mineral poor, decayed pine and spruce needles on surface.
Plants: mostly pruce, fir, and other evergreens.
Animals: rodents, snowshoe hares, lynx, sables, ermine, caribou, bears, wolves, birds in summer.
Tropical rain forest:
Location: near the equator.
Climate: hot all year around.
Soil: nutrient poor.
Plants: greatest diversity of any biome
Animals: more species of insects, reptiles, and amphibians than any place else; monkeys, other mammals, including in some places elephants, all sorts of colorful birds.
