Biomes

Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as contiguous areas with similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a large area, creating a typical ecosystem over that area. Such major ecosystems are termed as biomes. Biomes are defined by factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needle leaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate. Unlike Eco zones, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of ecological succession and climax vegetation (quasiequilibrium state of the local ecosystem). An ecosystem has many biotopes and a biome is a major habitat type. A major habitat type, however, is a compromise, as it has an intrinsic inhomogeneity. Some examples of habitats are ponds, trees, streams, creeks, under rocks and burrows in the sand or soil.

The biodiversity characteristic of each extinction, especially the diversity of fauna and subdominant plant forms, is a function of abiotic factors and the biomass productivity of the dominant vegetation. In terrestrial biomes, species diversity tends to correlate positively with net primary productivity, moisture availability, and temperature.

Eco regions are grouped into both biomes and eco zones.

A fundamental classification of biomes is:

1. Terrestrial (land) biomes

2. Aquatic biomes (including freshwater biomes and marine biomes)

The world is split up into several biomes but scientists just can’t agree on how many, so we are going to look at six major types: Freshwater, Marine, Desert, Forest, Grassland, and Tundra.

Deserts

This biome is the driest; it only receives 50cm of rainfall a year (about 10% of the rainfall in the rainforest). Its plants and animals have to survive in an environment with little water and dramatic temperature changes from day to night. Some animals and plants may find if difficult to adapt, but reptiles and cacti thrive in these conditions.

This biome includes: Hot and dry, Semiarid, Coastal, and Cold deserts

Forests

Forest biomes cover about 1/3 of the Earth’s land surface. They are dominated by trees and contain many different plants and animals. Forests take in the carbon that we exhale and give off the oxygen we breathe in, making them really important to our survival.

This biome includes: Tropical, Deciduous, and Taiga (boreal) forests

Freshwater

Freshwater is water that has a salt level of less than 1%. Most species living in freshwater cannot live in salt water, although there are some exceptions. This biome also plays an important role for life un Earth. It provides drinking water for humans and other animals, it is also vital for plant growth.

This biome includes: Ponds, lakes, Streams, Rivers and Wetlands

Grasslands

It may not surprise you to hear that grasslands are filled with grasses. However, the length of the grass and the number of trees within these biomes vary depending on the amount of rainfall. Since rainfall in the grasslands is lower than rainforest but higher than desert, trees exist, but they are limited to growing near streams and other water sources.

This biome includes: Savanna and Temperate grassland.

Marine

This biome covers more of the Earth’s surface than any other – about 70%. Some areas are so deep that they can contain entire mountains and even volcanoes. Like many of the other biomes on the planet, they play an important role. This biome provides most of the rainwater that comes down from

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