Biome

Biomes
Terrestrial biomes
Tundra
Taiga/boreal forests
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
Temperate coniferous forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
Montane grasslands and shrublands
Deserts and xeric shrublands
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub
Mangrove forests
Aquatic biomes
Continental shelf
Littoral/intertidal zone
Riparian
Pond
Coral reef
Kelp forest
Pack ice
Hydrothermal vents
Cold seeps
Benthic zone
Pelagic zone
Neritic zone
Other biomes
Endolithic zone

A biome is a climatically and geographically defined area of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, [1] and are often referred to as ecosystems. Biomes are defined based on factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate. Unlike ecozones, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of ecological succession and climax vegetation.

The biodiversity characteristic of each biome, 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.[2]

Ecoregions are grouped into both biomes and ecozones.

A fundamental classification of biomes is into:

  1. Terrestrial (land) biomes
  2. Freshwater biomes
  3. Marine biomes

Biomes are often given local names. For example, a Temperate grassland or shrubland biome is known commonly as steppe in central Asia, prairie in North America, and pampas in South America. Tropical grasslands are known as savanna in Australia as well as Southern Africa where in Afrikaans it is known as veldt. Sometimes an entire biome may be targeted for protection, especially under an individual nation's Biodiversity Action Plan.

Climate is a major factor determining the distribution of terrestrial biomes. Among the important climatic factors are:

Biodiversity generally increases away from the poles towards the equator and increases with humidity. The most widely used systems of classifying biomes correspond to latitude (or temperature zoning) and humidity. More info needed on the estuary biome.

Contents

Map of Biomes

Terrestrial biomes classified by vegetation
     ice sheet & polar desert      tundra      taiga      temperate broadleaf forest      temperate steppe      subtropical rainforest      Mediterranean vegetation      monsoon forest      arid desert      xeric shrubland      dry steppe      semiarid desert      grass savanna      tree savanna      subtropical dry forest      tropical rainforest      alpine tundra      montane forest

Bailey system

Robert G. Bailey developed a biogeographical classification system for the United States in a map published in 1975. Bailey subsequently expanded the system to include the rest of North America in 1981 and the world in 1989. The Bailey system is based on climate and is divided into four domains (Polar, Humid Temperate, Dry, and Humid Tropical), with further divisions based on other climate characteristics (subarctic, warm temperate, hot temperate, and subtropical; marine and continental; lowland and mountain).

WWF system

A team of biologists convened by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) developed an ecological land classification system that identified fourteen biomes, called major habitat types, and further divided the world's land area into 825 terrestrial ecoregions. This classification is used to define the Global 200 list of ecoregions identified by the WWF as priorities for conservation. The WWF major habitat types are as follows:

Freshwater biomes

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the following are classified as freshwater biomes: [3]

  • Large lakes
  • Large river deltas
  • Polar freshwaters
  • Montane freshwaters
  • Temperate coastal rivers
  • Temperate floodplain rivers and wetlands
  • Temperate upland rivers
  • Tropical and subtropical coastal rivers
  • Tropical and subtropical floodplain rivers and wetlands
  • Tropical and subtropical upland rivers
  • Xeric freshwaters and endorheic basins
  • Oceanic islands

Marine biomes

Global 200 marine major habitat types

Other marine habitat types

Anthropogenic biomes

Humans have fundamentally altered global patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem processes. As a result, vegetation forms predicted by conventional biome systems are rarely observed across most of Earth's land surface. Anthropogenic biomes provide an alternative view of the terrestrial biosphere based on global patterns of sustained direct human interaction with ecosystems, including agriculture, human settlements, urbanization, forestry and other uses of land. Anthropogenic biomes offer a new way forward in ecology and conservation by recognizing the irreversible coupling of human and ecological systems at global scales and moving us toward an understanding how best to live in and manage our biosphere and the anthropogenic biosphere we live in.

Major Anthropogenic Biomes

Other biomes

The Endolithic biome, consisting entirely of microscopic life in rock pores and cracks, kilometers beneath the surface, has only recently been discovered and does not fit well into most classification schemes.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The World's Biomes, Retrieved August 19, 2008, from University of California Museum of Paleontology
  2. ↑ Pidwirny, Michael (2006-10-16). "Biomes". Encyclopedia of Earth. Ed. Sidney Draggan. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment. Retrieved on 2006-11-16. 
  3. ↑ "Freshwater Ecoregions of the World: Major Habitat Types" [1]. Accessed May 12, 2008.

External links

Terrestrial biomes
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests · Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests · Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests · Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests · Temperate coniferous forests · Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub · Boreal forests/taiga · Mangrove · Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands · Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands · Flooded grasslands and savannas · Montane grasslands and shrublands · Deserts and xeric shrublands · Tundra
Ecozones
Afrotropic · Antarctic · Australasia · Indomalaya · Nearctic · Neotropic · Oceania · Palearctic