Question

How can altitude affect biomes?

Answer 1

Hint: Biomes are determined by temperature and precipitation and altitude can affect both of them by altering the structure and function of the vegetation. Elevation also plays an important role.

Complete answer:
Biomes are partly determined by altitude. More precisely, biomes are mainly determined by temperature and precipitation, and the altitude can affect both temperature and precipitation. The temperature drops as the altitude increases. This would alter the structure and composition of our biome. Precipitation and height are a little more complicated. Higher elevations typically get snow instead of rain so the temperature is lower. Mountains will collect rainfall on one side, leading to a rise in precipitation in this region, but lower precipitation on the opposite side of the mountain.

Additional information:
Elevation plays a significant role in the protection and development of plants. Elevation can influence the form and amount of sunlight that plants obtain, the amount of water that plants can absorb and the nutrients available in the soil. As a result, some plants thrive very well at high elevations, while others may only grow at higher or lower elevations.
-Sunlight: Plants at higher elevations typically get more direct daylight than plants at lower elevations. Besides, these plants are supplied with a special form of sunlight with short-wave radiation. Whereas this has a benefit for higher elevation plants because they get more daylight than they need to expand, it can also affect agriculture if short-wave radiation reaches a certain limit. Lower elevation plants usually need less sunlight and are safer from many short-wave radiation.
-Water: Plants at lower elevations are more impacted by droughts than plants at higher elevations. Higher elevation plants usually receive a lot of runoff that flows down the mountain in the form of streams or rivers. However, recent climate change has dried out a lot of lakes and forced a lot of water to dissipate instead of trickling down the mountainside.
-Climate: Climate plays a major role in what forms of vegetation may thrive in a given region. Wind and coldness are a significant influence in the growth of plants at higher altitudes. The United States Department of Agriculture outlines unique high-altitude environments in which plant life can tolerate exceptionally low temperatures. Plants in these areas can tolerate both cold temperatures and a lot of direct sunlight during the day.

Note: The soil nutrients are influenced by both elevation and place. For example, in a recent analysis at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, researchers studied soil water and salt content at different elevations to study how shrubs and small plants grew in the Mojave Desert. Their results suggest that even the smallest difference in elevation will lead to major changes in the nature and health of the plants in the region.