Monday, January 27, 2014

Biomes!

This week we begin a new unit on Biomes. Biomes are areas on the earth characterized by specific types of plants and climates. We live in a temperate deciduous forest which means that the plants need to find ways to survive in all four seasons. How have the trees in this area adapted to survive these cold winter days?

BlogWork

Watch the following video and write down three to five sentences describing the Karoo Biome.



14 comments:

Anonymous said...

40% of the of the 5,000 plus plant species in Karoo aren’t found anywhere else on earth. There is a great variety of succulent plants that are in danger of extinction due to climate change. If the plants do go extinct they will never come back. If the plants die out the soil will erode and the area would become a wasteland of sand.

Anonymous said...

The succulent Karoo Biome is the most threatened Biome in the world or one of them. It has plants that occur no where else in the world. It is located in South Africa. The Biome is about to be hit hard with a climate change in that part of South Africa. It’s getting hotter and dryer,too. The Quiver trees are drying up and crumbling. If this happens and it doesn't stop that place will become a large wasteland.

Anonymous said...

The Karoo biome is the most threatened biome in the world. If the succulents die the ground will erode and become a baron wasteland where no plants will grow again and many of those plants will become extinct. The Karoo biome could be a foreshadow for more populated places including farms and gardens.

Anonymous said...

The Karoo Biome is a fantastic place. It is very dry and this is why they have rare succulent plants. Succulent means that the store water in their leaves. These plants are found nowhere but the Karoo Biome. Now the wether is getting hotter and dryer. If this keeps up the plants will die and the biome will become a sand wasteland.

Anonymous said...

In the Karoo biome in South Africa it is very dry, so things are dying. There Quiver trees are not getting enough water. 40% out of the five thousand plant species there occur no where else on earth.

Anonymous said...

The Karoo Biome Contains about 5000 plant species about 40% of which are to be found nowhere else on this planet. As the Earth warms the Karoo Biome is getting dryer and dryer, and the plants that are usually used to hot weather can't compete with this temperature which is an extreme to them. The plants are drying out and are starting to wither and soon they might die out all together. If this happens the roots holding the ground together will fade and the area will erode, swamping the Biome with sand and it will be like every other desert biome.

Anonymous said...

The karoo biome is a place. It is dry and sandy,but has a little water for plants.But because is getting so hot the water is evaporating. And the plants wont have any water to store. And then they will die. And santa will cry. But thats not the point. The biom will turn all sandy.

Anonymous said...

*note that I did not have sound*
From what I understood,
1. The Biome is very dry and hot.
2. The plants look like they store large amounts of water.
3. Farming is possible.
4. There was a flood
5. There is danger from climate change.

Anonymous said...

The succulent Karoo biome found in
South Africa is a biome populated mostly by succulents, or plants that have adapted to live in near water-less climates. 40% of the over 5000 species are found nowhere else in the world. Now, however, a dramatic climate change is happening which threatens the biome's fragile balance. The endangered plants will never come back if they die, and the biome will erode into a barren desert. This climate change may be a precursor to other phenomena in other parts of Africa.

Anonymous said...

Karoo Biome is one of the most threatened plant habitats. 40% percent of the plant life found there was never found anywhere else on earth. Karoo Biome features most of the the richest succulent flora on the planet. However, it’s in grave danger of extinction. In South Africa. where the Karoo Biome is, that part will face the worst environmental impact it has ever experienced in recent years. The area is getting hotter and dryer. The Quiver Trees, found only in the Karoo Biome, are dying of this climate change. If the plants were to die out, the soil would go too and become a wasteland. If this happens, we will never see the plants that once grew here again. That’s mainly what extinction means. Once it dies, it never returns. Professor Bruce Hewitson is working with the Climate System Analysis Group to better predict how the rising temperature would affect plants and society. As temperatures rise, Professor Hewitson believes that it will lead to crop disease and human disease.

Anonymous said...

This really opens my eyes to climate change and how it really affects things. It is really kind of scary. Having a whole entire biome get wiped out is perhaps the most disastrous ecological thing that can happen. Especially in a place like the Karoo biome. It looks like an amazing place, and it is, for few other biomes have this kind of diversity and uniqueness. If it were to get wiped out, countless species would go extinct and the biome would collapse. The worst part about it is how the lack of plants will cause erosion and the entire biome will become a desert, no, worse than a desert a wasteland, for nothing would live there. An empty zone, a waste of space, unusable for any purpose. Organisms can adapt, but at the rate that temperatures are changing, there is no way they can adapt fast enough. The succulents are used to hot, arid places, put only to a certain level. And if this happened all over the world, it would be an apocalypse. A majority of plant and animal species going extinct, very few places left to get food. I’ve said that the human population needs a little thinning, but on that level is perhaps too much. We would devolve, not physically perhaps, back into ancient times. Or maybe I’m being a little extreme, but the video said that this kind of wipeout could happen anywhere and everywhere. Something needs to be done about climate change, to preserve countless species, and our own civilization.

Anonymous said...

The Karoo biome is home to over 5000 different plant species. 40% of the plants there are succulents. The Karoo biome is being threatened by climate change. The succulents are dying out. This is what might happen in the future of humans.

Anonymous said...

The karoo biome is one of the most endangered biomes in the world. this biome is in south africa. it will soon be a wasteland, because of the climate change it is beginning to get endangered, and the plants are dying.

Anonymous said...

The dessert is in a part of south africa. 40% of the 5,000 thousand plant species are not found any where else in the world.The dessert is suppose to be getting on of the biggest climate changes ever. Its getting hotter and dryer there so everything is dying. After a while i this keeps going on everything will turn into sand and the plants that go away will never come back.