What Are Biomes? | Biome Facts for Kids | Aquatic, Desert, Rainforest, Tundra, Grassland

Hey everyone, in today's video we're going to be learning about biomes. What are biomes you ask? Well actually they're pretty cool and most likely you've even been living near or in one and maybe never even knew about it. So are you ready to learn about biomes? Alright cool let's go. But first if you haven't subscribed make sure you hit that subscribe button and also if you like these kind of videos why don't you smash that thumbs up button too. Alright let's go. So did you know that the earth is actually divided into natural areas called biomes? A biome is a large region of earth that has a certain climate and certain types of living things like animals and plants. Major biomes include tundra, forests, grasslands and deserts. Each has its own unique ecosystem which includes its climate, the geography, and the plants and animals that live there. And although earth has many different types of unique biomes, they really fall into two main categories. Terrestrial biomes or land, and aquatic biomes which are both freshwater and marine. The plants and animals of each one of these biomes have traits that help them to survive in that particular biome, and they also depend on each other for their survival. There are some smaller areas called ecosystems, and each biome has many different ecosystems. Biomes have moved and changed many different times throughout the history of our earth. So you might be asking right now, how many biomes are there? And there's really no correct answer to this question. The reason for this is because there are zones in between biomes where some blend into each other. So some ecologists believe that these zones are also separate biomes. For example, some people say there are only five major types of biomes, aquatic, desert, forest, grassland and tundra. But there are others that split biomes even further. Forests can be separated into categories like rainforest, temperate forest, chaparral and taiga. Then you have grasslands, and they are divided into savannah and temperate grasslands. Next there's aquatic biomes, which is split into freshwater and marine, or ocean water or salt water. However, if you want the seven generally accepted biomes, they would be water, which could be freshwater or ocean water, rainforest, tundra, desert, taiga, which is a coniferous forest, deciduous forests, and grasslands. So let's talk more about the first category, terrestrial biomes, which like we learned before, are on land. We'll start with the different types of forests. Trees are the main plants in a forest biome. All forests have lots of trees, but there are different types of forests. They are rainforests, the temperate forest, and the taiga. One of the main differences is where they are located compared to where the equator and the north and south poles are. Rainforests are located in the tropics near the equator, taiga forests are located farther north, and temperate rainforests are located in between. The temperate forest biome is found in cool to warm climates. So let's begin with the tropical rainforest. As you might have guessed from the name, rainforests are forests that get lots of rain. Tropical rainforests are located in the tropics near the equator. Most rainforests get at least 75 inches of rain, with many getting well over 100 inches of rain every year. Tropical rainforests are the most diverse biome on the planet, and they have an abundance and variety of plant and animal life. Monkeys, parrots, and anaconda snakes are some of the many rainforest animals. Rainforests are found in hot climates around the equator and feature lots of rain and lots of moisture. Examples of rainforests include the Amazon rainforest in South America and the Congo rainforest in Central Africa. Rainforests are always very humid and warm, and because they are close to the equator, the temperature stays between 70 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit for most of the year. Next, we're going to discuss temperate forests. The temperate forest biome is found in cool to warm climates. These are common in the eastern United States of America as well as Europe. They have a combination of coniferous and deciduous trees with lots of wildlife. Deciduous trees have leaves that turn colors and fall off in cold seasons. Deer, bears, bobcats, and squirrels are common to this biome. Temperate forest biomes have lots of deciduous coniferous trees and lots of wildlife. Now we're going to talk about the taiga forest. The taiga is one of the three main forest biomes. The taiga is the driest and coldest of the three. The taiga is sometimes called the boreal forest or the coniferous forest. It is the largest of all the land biomes. Taiga is a biome full of coniferous trees called pine trees. Coniferous trees have needles instead of leaves and they grow upward in the shape of triangles. You've probably seen them before, very similar to Christmas trees. They are often found in the cold climates and mountainous areas of northern Russia and northern Canada. There is more wildlife there than in the tundra. Bears are actually very common here as well as lynx, gray wolves, moose, and beavers, but the winters are very harsh, but not as cold and harsh as tundra. After forests we have deserts. Deserts are primarily defined by their lack of rain. Deserts generally only get about 10 inches or less of rain in a year. Deserts are characterized by having dry soil, little to no surface water, and high evaporation. They are so dry that sometimes rain evaporates before it even hits the ground. Then we have grasslands. Grasslands are wide, huge expanses of land filled with low growing plants such as grasses and wildflowers. The amount of rain is not enough to grow tall trees and produce a forest, but it is enough to not form a desert. The temperate grasslands have seasons including a hot summer and a cold winter. Grasslands are huge areas, grassy land with little or no trees. Herding animals often roam the grasslands, chomping on the grass as they move along. The midwest of the United States of America has some of the very biggest grassland biomes. Then we have savannah. The savannah is a type of grassland biome. Savannah is sometimes called a tropical grassland. And then we have a tundra, the earth's coldest biome. The tundra biome which has permanently frozen subsoil called permafrost. It's a cold and treeless area where harsh conditions make it very difficult for plants and animals to survive. The main plants here include mosses, lichens, and short grass. Arctic foxes, reindeer, and migrating birds are some common tundra animals. Did you know that around 20 percent of the earth's land surface is actually covered with tundra? The ground is frozen all year round and again it's called permafrost, which is a permanent frost. The arctic tundra is found near the north and south poles of the planet where the earth is furthest from the sun. Next we have our aquatic biomes. A marine biome is primarily made up of saltwater oceans. It's the largest biome on planet earth and covers around 70 percent of the earth's entire surface. Coral reefs are one of the major marine biomes and although that is a relatively small biome, around 25 percent of the known marine species actually live in coral reefs. At first glance you may think that coral reefs are made up of rocks but they are actually live organisms. These organisms are tiny little animals called polyps. Polyps live on the outside of the reef but as polyps die they become hard and new polyps grow on top of them causing the reef to grow. Then we have freshwater. Freshwater biome is defined as having low salt content versus a marine biome which is saltwater like the ocean. There are three main types of freshwater biomes. Ponds and lakes, streams and rivers, and wetlands. All of the biomes need to be protected because over the past several years human activity has destroyed, exploited, and polluted many of the biomes and all living things are closely related to their environment so any change in any part like an increase or decrease in one type of animal or plant can cause a ripple effect and change the entire biome. So as you can see and have learned in this video, biomes are a very big and important part of our world and the world we live in. So we must make sure to do what we can in order to protect our earth as well as these biomes and ecosystems. So thank you so much for watching. I hope you learned a lot about what biomes are and please let us know what you thought by leaving a comment on our Instagram. 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