Flora of Italy

*Vascular Plant*
(known as tracheophytes or higher plants) they have this lignified tissues for conducting water, minerals, and photosynthetic things. 

*Sicilian Fir*

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Pinophyta
Class:	Pinopsida
Order:	Pinales
Family:	Pinaceae
Genus:	Abies

(Abies nebrodensis) is a fir native to the Nebrodi and Madonie mountains in northern Sicily. It is a medium-size evergreen coniferous tree growing to 15–25 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 1 m. It occurs at altitudes of 1400-1,600 m. Because people cut forests down it has become extremely rare with only 21 mature trees surviving; replanting programmes are meeting with limited success due to heavy grazing pressure by livestock belonging to local farmers.

Fauna of Italy

 *Rough Toothed Dolphin*
Can be found in the deep warm waters around the world. In person this dolphin is relatively large it can grow up to 6.9 - 9.3 ft and can weigh up 200 & 340 and the males are larger than the females.

*Physical Features*
The most noticeable feature about this dolphin is its conical shaped head and slender nose other dolphins usually have shorter snouts. The teeth are very distinctive, having a roughened surface formed by narrow uneven ridges. They have at least 19-28 teeth in each quarter of the jaw

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Italy's Biomes

*Chaparral Forest*

 


 Chaparral or Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub is a temperate biome, descibed by hot-dry summers and mild and rainy winters. Nearly all of the rainfall occurs in the winter and spring rainy season.
  Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub ecoregions occur in the worlds five Mediterranean climate zones, on the west coast of continents in the mid-latitudes: the Mediterranean Basin, California, Central Chile, Southwest Australia, the Cape Province of South Africa and as far north as the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada.

Intro to Biomes

 

                              Biomes- Is a naturally occurring community that occupies a major habits !

                           Is a tropical paradise or a tropical death trap to those who are unfamiliar for most it is a death trap because we people are mostly inhabited in a concrete jungle. There is two types of  rainforests ( Tropical ) & ( Temperate ) tropical rainforests are mostly located near the equator where it is mostly warm all year round that's why it is called TROPICAL. Temperate rainforest grow between tropics and polar regions temperature is modern climate          Ocean biomes is by far the largest of all ecosystems there's thousands of marine life like fishes, sharks, jellyfishes, stingrays, crabs etc... There's three parts of an ocean. The ocean itself , coral reefs & estuaries *Coral Reef* is like a barrier around the continent it contains coral, fish , microorganism,  invertebrates

*Estuaries* are areas where freshwater streams or rivers merge with the ocean. Mixing different levels of salt in the water, supporting a diverse fauna, including a variety of worms, oysters, crabs, and waterfowl   The tundra biome is the coldest of all biomes and it is a treeless land it is noted for its frost-molded landscapes, extremely low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. There are two types of Tundras there is "Arctic Tundra" & "Alpine Tundra"*Arctic Tundra* is located in the northern hemisphere The arctic is known for its cold, desert-like conditions. The growing season from 50 to 60 days. The average winter temperature is -34° (-30° ), but the average summer temperature is 3-12°  (37-54° )*Alpine Tundra* is located on mountains throughout the world at high altitude where trees cannot grow. The growing season is about 180 days. The nighttime temperature is usually below freezing. Unlike the arctic tundra, the soil in the alpine is well drained. The plants are very similar to those of the arctic ones and include

  The dessert  biome covers about 1/5 of the earths surface and occur where rainfall is less than 50 cm/year.There are four types of desserts *Hot & Dry*, *Semiarid*, *Coastal *, *Cold* *Hot & Dry* Temperatures exhibit daily extremes because the atmosphere contains little humidity to block the Sun's rays. Desert surfaces receive a little more than twice the solar radiation received by humid regions and lose almost twice as much heat at night. The extreme maximum ranges from 43.5-49°. Minimum temperatures sometimes drop to -18°. Rainfall is usually very low and concentrated in short bursts between long rainless periods some years are even rainless.The animals include small nocturnal carnivores. The dominant animals are burrowers and kangaroo rats. There are also insects, arachnids, reptiles and birds. *Semiarid* The major deserts of this type include the sagebrush of Utah, Montana and Great Basin. They also include the Nearctic realm (North America, Newfoundland, Greenland, Russia, Europe and northern Asia).The summers are moderately long and dry, and like hot deserts, the winters normally bring low concentrations of rainfall. Summer temperatures usually average between 21-27°. It normally does not go above 38° C and evening temperatures are cool, at around 10°. Cool nights help both plants and animals by reducing moisture loss from transpiration, sweating and breathing. During the day, insects move around twigs to stay on the shady side; jack rabbits follow the moving shadow of a cactus or shrub. Naturally, many animals find protection in underground burrows where they are insulated from both heat and aridity. These animals include mammals such as the kangaroo rats, rabbits, and skunks; insects like grasshoppers and ants; reptiles are represented by lizards and snakes; and birds such as burrowing owls and the California thrasher. *Coastal*These deserts occur in moderately cool to warm areas such as the Nearctic and Neotropical realm. A good example is the Atacama of Chile.The cool winters of coastal deserts are followed by moderately long, warm summers. The average summer temperature ranges from 13-24° C; winter temperatures are 5° C or below. The maximum annual temperature is about 35° C and the minimum is about -4° C.The average rainfall measures 8-13 cm in many areas. The maximum annual precipitation over a long period of years has been 37 cm with a minimum of 5 cmThe fairy shrimps also lay dormant eggs. Other animals include: insects,coyote and badger, toads, birds great horned owl, golden eagle and the bald eagle, lizards and snakes  *Cold* These deserts are characterized by cold winters with snowfall and high overall rainfall throughout the winter and occasionally over the summer.They occur in the Antarctic, Greenland and the Nearctic realmThey have short, moist, and moderately warm summers with fairly long, cold winters. The mean winter temperature is between -2 to 4° C and the mean summer temperature is between 21-26° C.The winters receive quite a bit of snow. The mean annual precipitation ranges from 15-26 cm. Annual precipitation has reached a maximum of 46 cm and a minimum of 9 cm. The heaviest rainfall of the spring is usually in April or May. The main plants are deciduous, most having spiny leaves. Widely distributed animals are jack rabbits, kangaroo rats, kangaroo mice, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, and antelope ground squirrel, badger, kit fox, and coyote