BiomeViewer:

Biodiversity and Human Impacts Apps

Student Worksheet

OVERVIEW
This worksheet is designed to familiarize you with the many features found in BiomeViewer.

TIPS FOR USING THE APP

• You can use BiomeViewer online or download an iPad version from the App Store.
• Click and hold the globe to spin it and explore different parts of the world.
• Click and release a spot on the globe to drop a pin there to see a summary of the characteristics of the
biome for that location.
• You can also search for locations by name, latitude/longitude, or zip code.
• In the biome summary panel, click on “More” to see a longer description, photos, a larger climate graph, and
wildlife data.
• Click on “Compare” to view details on two biomes side by side.
• On the biomes legend, use the arrows at the top to see different layers including anthromes, temperature,
precipitation, and terrain.
• Click the gear icon to toggle gridlines and political boundaries on and off.
• Click on the globe icon to switch between a spherical view and a flat projection of Earth.

BIODIVERSITY AND LATITUDE

1. Drop the pin on any point in one of the biomes listed in Table 1 below and record the following: Biome
name: Temperate Coniferous Forest
2. Latitude and longitude: 50.7N 118.2W
Range of temperatures: Minimum -8 Maximum 13
Range of rainfall: Minimum 0 Maximum 140

Total number of species (richness): 72

3. Share the data you collected with your classmates and complete Table 1 as others share their data. Pick just
one representative location for each biome.

Table 1. Characteristics of some representative biomes.

Biome Latitude Species Richness
Tundra 64N 42
Boreal Forest 52.1N 45
Temperate Deciduous Forest 45.5N 84
Desert 32.8N 131
Tropical Rain Forest 1.1N 256

Alpine 18.2S 53

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 Apps
BiomeViewer: Biodiversity and Human Impacts Student Worksheet

4. Based on the completed table, do an “I see, I think, I wonder” activity by completing Table 2.

Table 2. Questions about patterns in biomes.

I see I think I wonder
What patterns do you observe? What can you infer from the What else would you like to
patterns? explore?
I notice that the level of green I can infer that rain leads to more I would like to explore the specific
seems to correlate with an life(green) which leads to more characteristics of the animals in
increased number of species animals inhabiting the biome each biome.

I also notice that the biomes with This would tell a lot about the
more rainfall seem to be more biome since the animals will have
green and also have a higher traits that allow them to survive
species richness specifically in their biome.

5. Change the view to a flat map and turn on the gridlines. Click on the Sahara Desert near the Tropic of Cancer.
Click “compare” and select the tropical rain forest biome in Southeast Asia at about the same latitude. Then,
answer the following questions:

a. How do rainfall and temperature patterns differ between the biomes?

I notice that their patterns are relatively similar. When it comes to temperature. Where they differ
largely is in their precipitation. There is essentially no pattern to follow for the dessert and the rain forest
has a bell curve.

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 b. List the species richness for each biome. Dessert has 22 and Forest has 173.

Sahara Desert: 22 SE Asia Tropical Forest: 173

c. Think about the difference or similarity in species richness between these two biomes. What could
account for this difference or similarity?

What accounts for the difference is the amount of rain. Since the rain is used by the primary
producers(plants) for the biome, having little rain means very few animals can live in the habitat.

Apps
BiomeViewer: Biodiversity and Human Impacts Student Worksheet
HUMAN IMPACTS ON BIODIVERSITY
6. Go back to your original biome from question 1. Make sure you are still in flat map view. Change to the
Anthrome layer and select the year 2000.

a. Select the point in your biome with the highest level of human disturbance. List the Anthromes at this
location for each of these years:

1700: Croplands, and Rangelands,

1800: Croplands and rangelands
1900: Croplands, rangelands and villages
2000: Croplands, rangelands and villages, and seminatural

b. Briefly summarize how humans have impacted the environment at this location over time. c.

Over time, the land here likely became more and more useful, especially since it was utilized for crops
and farming, so the amount of this increased, and later on, villages started to form there. This was likely
from the surplus of food.
c. At this

d. location, record the following:

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 Anthrome (year 2000):
Species Richness: 84
# Species NOT listed as “Least Concern”: 5

d. Now select the point in your biome with the lowest level of human disturbance. Ideally, it should be a
wilderness area, but as close as possible to the last location. Record the following:

Anthrome year(2000)
Species Richness: 70
# Species NOT listed as “Least Concern”: 8

e. Summarize the differences in species richness and IUCN status of species between the two locations.
Make a claim for how human disturbance could have impacted biodiversity in your biome. Support your
claim with evidence.

I feel like there is an answer you are looking for but I’m not sure if this is correct, but I’ll just analyze
what I see in my numbers. The area with higher human disturbance had a species richness of 84, while
the less disturbed location had a species richness of 70. However, the number of species not listed as
"Least Concern" by the IUCN was higher in the less disturbed area (8 species) compared to the more
disturbed area (5 species). This suggests that human disturbance may increase species richness (which
might be what you are NOT looking for) but it also appears that the less disturbed location has more
species under threat, possibly because these species are more sensitive to habitat changes. Therefore,
human disturbance might support greater species variety but could also drive weak/not adaptable.
species to become more vulnerable. My evidence would be that with a simple google search, I found
that there is certain scenarios where human intervention added species to the environment. And it is
logical to think that the amount of endangered species might increase since human’s may take away
certain aspects of an animals environment, either driving it out into a new habitat or wiping it out
entirely.

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