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Biomes are climatic
Climate

Climate encompasses the temperatures, humidity, atmospheric pressure, winds, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other Meteorology elements in a given region over long periods of time, as opposed to the term weather, which refers to current activity of these same elements....
ally and geographically defined areas of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities
Community (ecology)

In ecology, a community is an assemblage of populations of different species, interacting with one another.The term is used in various ways with slight differences in meaning....
 of plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
s, animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
s, and soil organisms
Soil biology

Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi and bacteria....
, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Biomes are defined by 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 ecozone
Ecozone

An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeography division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals....
s, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities.






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Biomes are climatic
Climate

Climate encompasses the temperatures, humidity, atmospheric pressure, winds, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other Meteorology elements in a given region over long periods of time, as opposed to the term weather, which refers to current activity of these same elements....
ally and geographically defined areas of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities
Community (ecology)

In ecology, a community is an assemblage of populations of different species, interacting with one another.The term is used in various ways with slight differences in meaning....
 of plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
s, animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
s, and soil organisms
Soil biology

Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi and bacteria....
, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Biomes are defined by 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 ecozone
Ecozone

An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeography division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals....
s, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of ecological succession
Ecological succession

Ecological succession, a fundamental concept in ecology, refers to more-or-less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological Community ....
 and climax vegetation
Climax vegetation

Climax vegetation is the vegetation which establishes itself on a given site for given climatic conditions in the absence of anthropic action after a long time ....
 (quasi-equilibrium state of the local ecosystem). An ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
 has a habitat
Habitat

The term habitat has a number of meanings:* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows** Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play...
 and a biome is a major habitat type. A major habitat type, however, is a compromise, as it has an intrinsic inhomogeneity.

The biodiversity
Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems....
 characteristic of each biome, especially the diversity of fauna and subdominant plant forms, is a function of abiotic factors and the biomass
Biomass (ecology)

Biomass, in ecology, is the mass of living biological organisms in a given area or ecosystem at a given time. Biomass can refer to species biomass, which is the mass of one or more species, or to community biomass, which is the mass of all species in the community....
 productivity of the dominant vegetation
Vegetation

refers to the flora system of a specific region....
. In terrestrial biomes, species diversity tends to correlate positively with net primary productivity
Primary production

Primary production is the production of organic compounds from atmospheric or aquatic carbon dioxide, principally through the process of photosynthesis, with chemosynthesis being much less important....
, moisture availability
Ecohydrology

Ecohydrology is a new interdisciplinary area linking hydrology with ecology processes involved in the water cycle hydrological cycle. These processes generally occur within the water or on land soil and plant foliage....
, and temperature
Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....
.

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 known in English by local names. For example, a Temperate grassland or shrubland
Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a biome whose predominant vegetation consists of grasses and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and semi-arid to semi-humid....
 biome is known commonly as steppe
Steppe

In physical geography, a steppe , pronounced , is a grassland plain without trees . The prairie can be considered a steppe. It may be semi-desert, or covered with Poaceae or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude....
 in central Asia
Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
, prairie
Prairie

Prairie refers to temperate grasslands of North America. These are areas of low topographic relief that historically supported grasses and herbs, with few or no trees, having a generally mesic habitat climate....
 in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, and pampas in South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
. Tropical grasslands are known as savanna
Savanna

A savanna, or savannah, is a tropical, subtropical or temperate woodland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the Canopy does not close....
 in Australia, whereas in Southern Africa it is known as veldt (from Afrikaans
Afrikaans

Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from Dutch language and thus classified as Low Franconian languages West Germanic languages. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller numbers of speakers living in Botswana, Angola, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Australia, New Zealand, United States of America, Taiwa...
).

Sometimes an entire biome may be targeted for protection, especially under an individual nation's Biodiversity Action Plan
Biodiversity Action Plan

This article is about a conservation biology topic. For other uses of BAP, see BAP .A 'Biodiversity Action Plan' is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats and is designed to protect and restore biological systems....
.

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

    Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
    : Arctic, boreal, temperate, subtropical, tropical.
  • humidity
    Humidity

    Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. In daily language the term "humidity" is normally taken to mean relative humidity. Relative humidity is defined as the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor in a Air parcel of air to the saturated vapor pressure of water vapor at a prescribed temperature....
    : humid, semi-humid, semi-arid, and arid.
    • seasonal variation: Rainfall may be distributed evenly throughout the year or be marked by seasonal variations.
    • dry summer, wet winter: Most regions of the earth receive most of their rainfall during the summer months; Mediterranean climate regions receive their rainfall during the winter months.
  • elevation
    Elevation

    The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, often the above mean sea level. Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height is used for points above the surface, such as an aircraft in flight or a s...
    : Increasing elevation causes a distribution of habitat types similar to that of increasing latitude.


The most widely used systems of classifying biomes correspond to latitude
Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
 (or temperature zoning) and humidity. Biodiversity
Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems....
 generally increases away from the poles towards the equator
Equator

The equator is the intersection of the Earth's surface with the Plane perpendicular to the Earth's rotation and containing the Earth's center of mass....
 and increases with humidity.

Bailey system


Robert G. Bailey developed a biogeographical
Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
 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).

  • 100 Polar Domain
    • 120 Tundra Division
    • M120 Tundra Division - Mountain Provinces
    • 130 Subarctic Division
    • M130 Subarctic Division - Mountain Provinces
  • 200 Humid Temperate Domain
    • 210 Warm Continental Division
    • M210 Warm Continental Division - Mountain Provinces
    • 220 Hot Continental Division
    • M220 Hot Continental Division - Mountain Provinces
    • 230 Subtropical Division
    • M230 Subtropical Division - Mountain Provinces
    • 240 Marine Division
    • M240 Marine Division - Mountain Provinces
    • 250 Prairie Division
    • 260 Mediterranean Division
    • M260 Mediterranean Division - Mountain Provinces
  • 300 Dry Domain
    • 310 Tropical/Subtropical Steppe Division
    • M310 Tropical/Subtropical Steppe Division - Mountain Provinces


WWF system

A team of biologists convened by the World Wide Fund for Nature
World Wide Fund for Nature

The World Wide Fund for Nature is an Internationalism non-governmental organization for the Conservation biology, Environmental science and Restoration ecology of the environment , formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in the United States and Canada....
 (WWF) developed an ecological land classification
Ecological land classification

Ecological land classification is defined as being a cartographical delineation of distinct ecology areas, identified by their geology, topography, soils, vegetation, climate conditions, living species, water resources, as well as anthropic factors....
 system that identified fourteen biomes , called major habitat types, and further divided the world's land area into 867 terrestrial ecoregions. Each terrestrial Ecoregion has a specific EcoID, fomat XXnnNN (XX is the Ecozone
Ecozone

An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeography division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals....
, nn is the Biome number, NN is the individual number). This classification is used to define the Global 200
Global 200

The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the WWF as priorities for conservation. According to the WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their species, dynamics, and environmental conditions ."...
 list of ecoregion
Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecology and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or "ecozone". Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural community and species....
s identified by the WWF as priorities for conservation. The WWF major habitat types are as follows, :

  • 01 Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
    Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

    Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , also known as tropical moist forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome.Tropical and subtropical forest regions with lower rainfall are home to tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests and tropical and subtropical coniferous forests....
     (tropical and subtropical, humid)
  • 02 Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
    Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests

    Thetropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome, also known as tropical dry forest, is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes....
     (tropical and subtropical, semi-humid)
  • 03 Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests
    Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests

    Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests are a forest biome. They are located in regions of semi-humid climate at tropical and subtropical latitudes....
     (tropical and subtropical, semi-humid)
  • 04 Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
    Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

    Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. The typical structure of these forests include four layers. The upper most layer is the canopy which is composed of tall mature trees....
     (temperate, humid)
  • 05 Temperate coniferous forests
    Temperate coniferous forests

    Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial ecoregion biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest....
     (temperate, humid to semi-humid)
  • 06 Boreal forests/taiga
    Taiga

    Taiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern Kazakhstan and Japan , the taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome....
     (subarctic, humid)
  • 07 Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
    Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

    Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands are a grassland biome located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes....
     (tropical and subtropical, semi-arid)
  • 08 Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands
    Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

    Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a biome whose predominant vegetation consists of grasses and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and semi-arid to semi-humid....
     (temperate, semi-arid)
  • 09 Flooded grasslands and savannas
    Flooded grasslands and savannas

    Flooded grasslands and savannas are a biome, generally located at subtropical and tropical latitudes, where which are flooded seasonally or year-round....
     (temperate to tropical, fresh or brackish water inundated)
  • 10 Montane grasslands and shrublands
    Montane grasslands and shrublands

    Montane grasslands and shrublands is a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The biome includes high altitude grasslands and shrublands around the world....
     (alpine or montane climate)
  • 11 Tundra
    Tundra

    In physical geography, tundra is an biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tund?r, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra....
     (Arctic)
  • 12 Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub or Sclerophyll forests (temperate warm, semi-humid to semi-arid with winter rainfall)
  • 13 Deserts and xeric shrublands
    Deserts and xeric shrublands

    Desert and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture. Deserts and xeric shrublands receive an annual average rainfall of ten inches or less, and have an arid or hyperarid climate, characterized by a strong moisture deficit, where annual potential loss of moisture from evapotransp...
     (temperate to tropical, arid)
  • 14 Mangrove
    Mangrove

    Mangroves are trees and shrubs that grow in saline water coastal habitats in the tropics and subtropics. The word is used in at least three senses: most broadly to refer to the habitat and entire plant assemblage or mangal, for which the terms mangrove swamp and mangrove forest are also used, to refer to all trees and...
     (subtropical and tropical, salt water inundated)


Freshwater biomes
According to the World Wildlife Fund, the following are classified as freshwater
Freshwater

Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids....
 biomes:
  • Large lakes
  • Large river deltas
  • Polar freshwater
    Freshwater

    Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids....
    s
  • Montane freshwater
    Freshwater

    Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids....
    s
  • Temperate coastal rivers
    Upland and lowland (freshwater ecology)

    In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland and lowland. Upland habitats are cold, clear, rocky, fast flowing rivers in mountainous areas; lowland habitats are warm, slow flowing rivers found in relatively flat lowland areas, with water that is frequently coloured by sediment and organic matter....
  • Temperate floodplain rivers and wetlands
    Wetland

    File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
  • Temperate upland rivers
    Upland and lowland (freshwater ecology)

    In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland and lowland. Upland habitats are cold, clear, rocky, fast flowing rivers in mountainous areas; lowland habitats are warm, slow flowing rivers found in relatively flat lowland areas, with water that is frequently coloured by sediment and organic matter....
  • Tropical and subtropical coastal rivers
    Upland and lowland (freshwater ecology)

    In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland and lowland. Upland habitats are cold, clear, rocky, fast flowing rivers in mountainous areas; lowland habitats are warm, slow flowing rivers found in relatively flat lowland areas, with water that is frequently coloured by sediment and organic matter....
  • Tropical and subtropical floodplain rivers and wetlands
    Wetland

    File:Mangrove trees in Everglades.JPGA wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Such areas may also be covered partially or completely by shallow pools of water....
  • Tropical and subtropical upland rivers
    Upland and lowland (freshwater ecology)

    In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland and lowland. Upland habitats are cold, clear, rocky, fast flowing rivers in mountainous areas; lowland habitats are warm, slow flowing rivers found in relatively flat lowland areas, with water that is frequently coloured by sediment and organic matter....
  • Xeric freshwaters and endorheic basins
  • Oceanic islands


Realms or Ecozones (terrestrial and freshwater, WWF)
  • NA Nearctic
    Nearctic

    The Nearctic is one of the eight Terrestrial ecoregion ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface.The Nearctic ecozone covers most of North America, including Greenland and the highlands of Mexico....
  • PA Palearctic
    Palearctic

    The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface.Physically, the Palearctic is the largest ecozone....
  • AT Afrotropic
    Afrotropic

    The Afrotropic is one of the earth's eight ecozones. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the southern and eastern fringes of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean....
  • IM Indomalaya
    Indomalaya

    The Indomalaya ecozone is one of the eight ecozones that cover the planet's land surface. It extends across most of South Asia and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia....
  • AA Australasia
    Australasia ecozone

    The Australasian zone is an ecozone that is coincident, but not synonymous , with the geography region of Australasia. The ecozone includes Australia, the island of New Guinea , and the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago, including the island of Sulawesi, the Moluccan islands and islands of Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, and Timo...
  • NT Neotropic
    Neotropic

    In biogeography, Neotropic or Neotropical refers to one of the world's eight terrestrial ecozones.This ecozone includes South and Central America, the Mexico lowlands, the Caribbean islands, and southern Florida, because these regions share a large number of plant and animal groups....
  • OC Oceania
    Oceania ecozone

    Oceania is the smallest of the world's terrestrial ecozones, and unique in not including any continental land mass. The ecozone includes the Pacific Ocean islands of Micronesia, the Fiji, and most of Polynesia ....
  • AN Antarctic


Marine biomes


Marine biomes (major habitat types), Global 200 (WWF)

Biomes of the coastal & continental shelf
Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
 areas (Neritic zone
Neritic zone

The neritic zone, also called the Littoral zone#Sublittoral zone, is the part of the ocean extending from the low tide mark to the edge of the continental shelf, with a relatively shallow depth extending to about 200 meters ....
 - List of ecoregions (WWF)):
  • Polar
  • Temperate shelves and sea
  • Temperate upwelling
    Upwelling

    An Upwelling is an physical oceanography phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface, replacing the warmer, usually nutrient-depleted surface water....
  • Tropical upwelling
    Upwelling

    An Upwelling is an physical oceanography phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface, replacing the warmer, usually nutrient-depleted surface water....
  • Tropical coral
    Coral reef

    Coral reefs are aragonite structures produced by living organisms. In most reefs the predominant organisms are colonial cnidarian that secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate....
     


Realms or Ecozones (marine, WWF)
  • North Temperate Atlantic
  • Eastern Tropical Atlantic
  • Western Tropical Atlantic
  • South Temperate Atlantic
  • North Temperate Indo-Pacific
  • Central Indo-Pacific
  • Eastern Indo-Pacific
  • Western Indo-Pacific
  • South Temperate Indo-Pacific
  • Southern Ocean
  • Antarctic
  • Arctic
  • Mediterranean


Other marine habitat types
  • Hydrothermal vent
    Hydrothermal vent

    A hydrothermal vent is a fissure vent in a planet's surface from which Geothermal heated water issues. Hydrothermal vents are commonly found near volcano active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart, ocean basins, and hotspot ....
    s
  • Cold seep
    Cold seep

    A cold seep is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich fluid seepage occurs, often in the form of a brine pool....
    s
  • Benthic zone
    Benthic zone

    The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean or a lake, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers....
  • Pelagic zone
    Pelagic zone

    Any water in the sea that is not close to the bottom is in the pelagic zone. The word pelagic comes from the Greek language p??a??? or p?lagos, which means open sea....
     (trades and westerlies)
  • Abyssal
  • Hadal (ocean trench)


Major Habitats, Non Global 200 (WWF)
  • Littoral/Intertidal zone
    Intertidal zone

    The intertidal zone is the area that is exposed to the air at low tide and submerged at high tide, for example, the area between tide marks. This area can include many different types of habitats, including steep rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, or wetlands ....
  • Kelp forest
    Kelp forest

    Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth....
  • Pack ice


Summary - Ecological taxonomy (WWF)

  • Biosphere
    Biosphere

    The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. From the broadest Geophysiology point of view, the biosphere is the global ecology system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and Earth's atmosphere....
     (List of ecoregions
    List of ecoregions

    This is a list of ecoregions as compiled by the World Wildlife Fund . The WWF identifies terrestrial ecoregion, freshwater ecoregion, and marine ecoregion ecoregions....
    )
    • Ecozones or Realms (8)
      • Terrestrial Biomes (Major Habitat Types, 14)
        • Ecoregions (867)
          • Ecosystems (Habitats)
      • Freshwater Biomes (Major Habitat Types, 12)
        • Ecoregions (426)
          • Ecosystems (Habitats)
    • Marine Ecozones or Realms (13)
      • Continental Shelf
        Continental shelf

        The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during Ice age such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and Bay....
         Biomes (Major Habitat Types, 5)
        • (Marine Provinces
          Ecoregion

          An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecology and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or "ecozone". Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural community and species....
          ) (62)
          • Ecoregions (232)
            • Ecosystems (Habitats)
      • Open & Deep Sea Biomes (Major Habitat Types)
    • Endolith
      Endolith

      An endolith is an organism that lives inside Rock , coral, animal shells, or in the Porositys between mineral grains of a rock. Many are extremophiles; living in places previously thought inhospitable to life....
      ic Biome


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
Anthropogenic biomes

Anthropogenic biomes, also known as anthromes or human biomes, describe the terrestrial biosphere in its contemporary, human-altered form using global ecosystem units defined by global patterns of sustained direct human interaction with ecosystems....
 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
  • Dense Settlements
  • Villages
  • Croplands
  • Rangelands
  • Forested


Other biomes

The Endolith
Endolith

An endolith is an organism that lives inside Rock , coral, animal shells, or in the Porositys between mineral grains of a rock. Many are extremophiles; living in places previously thought inhospitable to life....
ic biome, consisting entirely of microscopic life in rock pore
Porosity

Porosity is a measure of the void spaces in a material, and is measured as a fraction, between 0?1, or as a percentage between 0?100%. The term is used in multiple fields including ceramics, metallurgy, materials, manufacturing, earth sciences and construction....
s and cracks, kilometers beneath the surface, has only recently been discovered and does not fit well into most classification schemes.

Map of Biomes


Freshwater Biomes

Drainage basins of the principal oceans and seas of the world. Grey areas are endorheic
Endorheic

An endorheic basin is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans. Normally the water accruing in drainage basins flows out through surface rivers or by underground diffusion through Permeability rock to the oceans....
 basins that do not drain to the ocean.

See also

  • Biomics
    Biomics

    Biomics is a biological study to process biome data. Biome contains a very large scale omics information such as metagenome and pangenome where genomic sequences are mass produced....
  • Biosphere reserve
    Biosphere reserve

    A biosphere reserve is an international conservation designation given by UNESCO under its Programme on Man and the Biosphere . The World Network of Biosphere Reserves is the collection of all 531 biosphere Nature reserve in 105 countries ....
  • Earth Science
    Earth science

    Earth science , is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth . It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet....
  • Ecoregion
    Ecoregion

    An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecology and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or "ecozone". Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural community and species....
  • Ecology
    Ecology

    Ecology is the science study of the distribution and Abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their nature environment ....
  • Ecosystem
    Ecosystem

    An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
  • Ecotope
    Ecotope

    Ecotopes are the smallest ecologically-distinct landscape features in a landscape mapping and classification system. As such, they represent relatively wiktionary:Homogeneous, spatially-explicit landscape functional units that are useful for stratifying landscapes into ecologically distinct features for the measurement and mapping of landsca...
  • Ecozone
    Ecozone

    An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeography division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals....
  • Climate classification
    Climate classification

    Climate classification systems are ways of classifying the world's climates. A climate classification may correlate closely with a biome category, as climate is a major influence on biological life in a region....
  • Climate zones by altitude
    Climate zones by altitude

    The Climate Zones by Altitude describe the manifestation of the Flora and the Fauna of one region in relation to its altitude through the Ecology and the Geobotany....
  • Effect of Climate Change on Plant Biodiversity
    Effect of climate change on plant biodiversity

    Environmental conditions play a key role in defining the function and Range of plants, in combination with other factors. Changes in long term environmental conditions that can be collectively coined climate change are known to have had enormous impacts on plant diversity patterns in the past and are seen as having significant current impacts....
  • Gene pool
    Gene pool

    In population genetics, a gene pool is the complete set of unique alleles in a species or population....
  • Genetic pollution
    Genetic pollution

    Genetic pollution is undesirable gene flow into wild populations. The term is usually associated with the gene flow from a Genetic engineering organism to a non GE organism; however, conservation biology and conservationists are using it to describe gene flow from a Domestication, feral, Introduced species or invasive species to a Wildlife...
  • Genetic erosion
    Genetic erosion

    Genetic erosion is a process whereby an already limited gene pool of an endangered species of plant or animal diminishes even more when individuals from the surviving population die off without getting a chance to meet and breed with others in their endangered Small population size....
  • Habitat
    Habitat (ecology)

    A habitat is an ecological or Natural_environment area that is inhabited by a particular animal or plant species. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the physical environment that surrounds a species population....
  • Kuchler plant association
    A.W. Kuchler

    A.W. Kuchler is an United States geographer and naturalist who is noted for developing a plant association system in widespread use in the USA. Some of this database has become digitized for integration into GIS mapping systems....
  • Natural environment
    Natural environment

    The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all life and non-living things occurring nature on Earth or some region thereof....
  • Nature
    Nature

    File:Jungle in Punjab.JPGNature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe....
  • World Network of Biosphere Reserves
    World Network of Biosphere Reserves

    The World Network of Biosphere Reserves was established at the International Conference on Biosphere Reserves in Seville in 1995.This complete list of Biosphere Reserves is from the UNESCO Web site ....


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