Landscape Influences

• The semi-arid Columbia Plateau lies in the rainshadow of the Cascade Range to the west.Karl Weatherly/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  An easy project for amateur enthusiasts of ecology is considering the impacts landforms exert on biome distribution and extent. Find a map of the major ecological regions of the U.S. Consider the location of the vast swaths of semi-arid steppe and shortgrass prairie in the Intermountain West and western Great Plains, respectively. Both of these grassland and shrub-steppe biomes owe at least part of their existence to the presence of major mountain ranges to the windward: Due to a phenomenon called the rainshadow effect, the moist weather systems off the Pacific Ocean lose much of that moisture ascending the Cascades and Sierra Nevada, so that they descend to the Columbia Plateau and Great Basin dry. The Rockies wring much remaining moisture from westerly systems, which influences precipitation on the western Great Plains in their lee. It's important to note, however, that the Great Plains are also dry because of their great distance from an ocean's moisture factory.
  
  

Landforms and Organisms

• Mule deer find critical winter range on south-facing slopes.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Within the biome of a given organism, wildlife ecologists often note topographic influence on their research subjects. Many field-biology projects involve radio or satellite-tagging animals to track their movements and generate data on home range, seasonal migration and habitat preference. A mule deer might spend much of its time in winter on south-facing slopes, which get more solar radiation and thus are often warmer and less snowy than north-facing hillsides. A black bear just emerging from its winter den might be observed to concentrate foraging in stream drainages --- often where the first spring green-up of vegetation occurs.
  
  

Biomes and Organisms

• A polar bear's thick coat and blubber layer shield it from Arctic cold.NA/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
  
  Wildlife research projects also tend to consider an animal's response to the unique constraints and opportunities of its environment. At the biome level, this might mean looking into a polar bear's adaptations for the frigid temperatures and partly marine nature of its Arctic sea-ice landscape. Many desert plants such as cacti have succulent flesh and waxy coatings to store and conserve water.
  
  

Comparisons

• This North American pronghorn roughly resembles the Eurasian saiga, another steppe resident.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Another ecology project easily undertaken at a local zoo, museum or online resource is comparing organisms from different parts of the world that live in the same general biome. Often such animals will demonstrate similar adaptations to contend with the common ambient realities of their environment, which often results in a surprisingly similar body form, particularly if the creatures inhabit a similar ecological niche, or position. For example, saiga antelope of Eurasia and pronghorn of North America are not closely related --- though both are ruminant hoofed mammals --- but they both inhabit rolling steppe, and have stocky bodies, strong legs and swift running capabilities to pursue a migratory grazing lifestyle.