Wikibooks: Basic Geography/Ecosystems

• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Basic_Geography/Ecosystems

What is an ecosystem? Well before we try and answer this question we need to answer what a climate is to help us. So what is a climate? Weather is unpredictable even in the Sahara a hot dry place it can snow the characteristic of a cold wet place and in the U.K it can be hot and sunny! But a climate is more long term it is the Average weather over a long period of time. For example the Amazon is usually warm and wet so it has a warm and wet climate. But extremes (unusual weather for the area) are also important for example if you wanted to build a house you would want to know what the Worst weather in a 100 years is so you can install the right defences. Ecosystems are areas that have similar characteristics on a large scale. =World climatic zones= The Earth is divided into a number of World Climatic Zones Ecosystems. There are a number of ecosystems that we are going to look at and describe some features. =Desert= Deserts have a hot dry climate with under 250mm of rainfall of every year. With almost no humidity or cloud cover the Deserts suffer temperature extremes hot days and cold nights. They are usually found in the Middle latitudes away from the moisture of the tropics and the cold of the Arctic but the Arctic is a desert itself . It is known as a cold desert dry enough to be a desert but without hot daytime temperatures. Creatures living in the desert are very adaptable as they must be able to cope with extremes of temperature and the dry conditions. The Cactus is a desert plant without real leaves so it saves reason and prickles for the same reason and for protection against desperately hungry animals. =Rainforest= Rainforests are usually more South from Deserts but temperatures are not as hot in the day thanks to moisture cloud cover and tree cover. Temperatures are usually more balanced unlike the extremes of a Desert. There are lots of vegetation and wildlife as there is never a lack of water and temperatures are balanced. But a cactus wouldn t be able to live in a rainforest as it is designed to get ...