to the extreme temperatures, large animal life would have small body volume to large surface area ratios.
In these climatic conditions, both plant and animal life will have made specialized adoptions to reduce water loss; these adoptions may be biological or by technique or both.
Prairie & Grasslands
The condition of a temperate climate coupled with erratic and limited rainfall can extend grassland communities from the equator to near the polar region. On Earth, the grasslands have an annual precipitation rate that falls between 25% (10 inches) and 75% (30 inches) of the planets average. These areas are typified by small short lived plants, mainly annual and perennial herbs, relatively little rain, good fertile soil and numerous large herbivores.
In temperate regions on alien worlds which receive similar precipitation, we might expect to find similar types of biological adoptions. We might also expect to find such regions under agricultural use as fields or pasture amongst intelligent species.
While the plants and animal living in these zone will certainly look exotic, we will understand from their distribution and general adaptations to the limiting factors in the environment that they fill the same or similar roles in the ecology of the communities in which they live.
Cool Forest The temperate forest regions of Earth’s mid latitudes are extremely complex in their makeup and adoptions to temperature and moisture availability. Across broad regions of our own planet, the cool temperate forest experience temperatures ranging from -34ºC to 27ºC (-29ºF to 81ºF) with an average of 3ºC (37ºF) and precipitation rates of 10 to 60 inches per year.
The ability of a plant to survive freezing temperatures is called ‘frost resistance’, this ability varies widely among different species and is normally seasonal.
On cool and mild APST planets with low rates of axial inclination, frost resistant species would be found primarily in the mid to higher latitudes. As we encounter increased rates of axial inclination, frost resistance would tend to migrate closer to the equator. On planets with a very high degree of axial inclination and mild temperatures, we would find most plant species specialized with both frost resistance and heat tolerance. On such worlds, we might find plants going through a growing cycle where their cells are partially filled with an electrolyte during the winter, forming a biological antifreeze. As winter gives way to spring and spring to summer, the electrolyte might gel into a paste, reducing water loss. Then as the climate cooled, the paste would dissolve back into antifreeze.
Ice Caps, Tundra and Snow Fields
On many of our model worlds, we should expect to find the existence of ice caps. On the cooler worlds we will find thicker ice caps in the polar regions, with snow fields extending in various coverage down to mid latitudes. Cooler planets with a low degree of axial inclination will have permanent ice caps. Warmer planets, with a high degree of axial inclination, will have ice sheets and snow fields that migrate with the season, similar to winter snow across northern latitudes on Earth. On planets with a high degree of axial inclination the plant and animal life with have a high degree of cold and heat tolerance, species migration may be an important part of many large animal life forms and hibernation a retreat from the cold for most of the smaller less mobile creatures.
Ice caps are bordered by Tundra in terrestrial environments. As we move up through the APST range, we could find the Tundra and Ice Caps at progressively higher latitudes. Eventually the ice cap is replaced by diminished snow fields. As the APST approaches 60ºC, the Snow fields melt away and are replaced by a low illumination environment.
If we compared two planets of the same mass and axial inclination, the planet with the higher APST would have the smallest ice cap. If we compared two planets of same mass and APST, the planet with the smallest axial inclination would have the largest permanent snow fields.
On warm planets with moderate to h