A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...

that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader term than habitat and can comprise a variety of habitats. While a biome can cover large areas, a microbiome is a mix of organisms that coexist in a defined space on a much smaller scale. For example, the

human microbiome The human microbiome is the aggregate of all microbiota that reside on or within human tissues and biofluids along with the corresponding anatomical sites in which they reside, including the skin, mammary glands, seminal fluid, uterus, ovarian ...

is the collection of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that are present on or in a human body. A biota is the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biotas of the Earth make up the biosphere.

Etymology

The term was suggested in 1916 by

Clements Clement may refer to: People * Clements (surname) Places * Clements, California, U.S. * Clements, Kansas, U.S. * Clements, Maryland, U.S. * Clements, Minnesota, U.S. * Clements, West Virginia, U.S. * Port Clements, British Columbia, Canada Zoo ...

, originally as a synonym for ''

biotic community A biocenosis (UK English, ''biocoenosis'', also biocenose, biocoenose, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, life assemblage), coined by Karl Möbius in 1877, describes the interacting organisms living together in a hab ...

'' of Möbius (1877). Later, it gained its current definition, based on earlier concepts of phytophysiognomy,

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

and vegetation (used in opposition to flora), with the inclusion of the animal element and the exclusion of the taxonomic element of species composition. In 1935, Tansley added the climatic and soil aspects to the idea, calling it ''

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

''. The

International Biological Program The International Biological Program (IBP) was an effort between 1964 and 1974 to coordinate large-scale ecological and environmental studies. Organized in the wake of the successful International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-1958, the Internat ...

(1964–74) projects popularized the concept of biome. However, in some contexts, the term biome is used in a different manner. In German literature, particularly in the Walter terminology, the term is used similarly as ''

biotope A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term "habitat", which is more commonly used in English-speaking countrie ...

'' (a concrete geographical unit), while the biome definition used in this article is used as an international, non-regional, terminology—irrespectively of the continent in which an area is present, it takes the same biome name—and corresponds to his "zonobiome", "orobiome" and "pedobiome" (biomes determined by climate zone, altitude or soil). In Brazilian literature, the term "biome" is sometimes used as synonym of '' biogeographic province'', an area based on species composition (the term '' floristic province'' being used when plant species are considered), or also as synonym of the "morphoclimatic and phytogeographical domain" of Ab'Sáber, a geographic space with subcontinental dimensions, with the predominance of similar geomorphologic and climatic characteristics, and of a certain vegetation form. Both include many biomes in fact.

Classifications

To divide the world into a few ecological zones is difficult, notably because of the small-scale variations that exist everywhere on earth and because of the gradual changeover from one biome to the other. Their boundaries must therefore be drawn arbitrarily and their characterization made according to the average conditions that predominate in them. A 1978 study on North American grasslands found a positive logistic correlation between evapotranspiration in mm/yr and above-ground net primary production in g/m²/yr. The general results from the study were that precipitation and water use led to above-ground primary production, while solar irradiation and temperature lead to below-ground primary production (roots), and temperature and water lead to cool and warm season growth habit. These findings help explain the categories used in Holdridge's bioclassification scheme (see below), which were then later simplified by Whittaker. The number of classification schemes and the variety of determinants used in those schemes, however, should be taken as strong indicators that biomes do not fit perfectly into the classification schemes created.

Holdridge (1947, 1964) life zones

In 1947, the American botanist and climatologist Leslie Holdridge classified climates based on the biological effects of temperature and rainfall on vegetation under the assumption that these two abiotic factors are the largest determinants of the types of vegetation found in a habitat. Holdridge uses the four axes to define 30 so-called "humidity provinces", which are clearly visible in his diagram. While this scheme largely ignores soil and sun exposure, Holdridge acknowledged that these were important.

Allee (1949) biome-types

The principal biome-types by Allee (1949): * Tundra * Taiga * Deciduous forest * Grasslands *

Desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About o ...

* High plateaus * Tropical forest *

Minor terrestrial biomes Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

Kendeigh (1961) biomes

The principal biomes of the world by Kendeigh (1961): * ''Terrestrial'' ** Temperate deciduous forest ** Coniferous forest ** Woodland **

Chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

** Tundra ** Grassland **

** Tropical savanna ** Tropical forest * Marine ** Oceanic plankton and nekton ** Balanoid-gastropod- thallophyte ** Pelecypod-

annelid The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecol ...

** Coral reef

Whittaker (1962, 1970, 1975) biome-types

Whittaker classified biomes using two abiotic factors: precipitation and temperature. His scheme can be seen as a simplification of Holdridge's; more readily accessible, but missing Holdridge's greater specificity. Whittaker based his approach on theoretical assertions and empirical sampling. He had previously compiled a review of biome classifications.

Key definitions for understanding Whittaker's scheme

* Physiognomy: sometimes referring to the plants' appearance; or the biome's apparent characteristics, outward features, or appearance of ecological communities or species - including plants. * Biome: a grouping of terrestrial ecosystems on a given continent that is similar in vegetation structure, physiognomy, features of the environment and characteristics of their animal communities. *

Formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

: a major kind of community of plants on a given continent. * Biome-type: grouping of convergent biomes or formations of different continents, defined by physiognomy. * Formation-type: a grouping of convergent formations. Whittaker's distinction between biome and formation can be simplified: formation is used when applied to plant communities only, while biome is used when concerned with both plants and animals. Whittaker's convention of biome-type or formation-type is a broader method to categorize similar communities.

Whittaker's parameters for classifying biome-types

Whittaker used what he called "gradient analysis" of ecocline patterns to relate communities to climate on a worldwide scale. Whittaker considered four main ecoclines in the terrestrial realm. # Intertidal levels: The wetness gradient of areas that are exposed to alternating water and dryness with intensities that vary by location from high to low tide # Climatic moisture gradient # Temperature gradient by altitude # Temperature gradient by latitude Along these gradients, Whittaker noted several trends that allowed him to qualitatively establish biome-types: * The gradient runs from favorable to the extreme, with corresponding changes in productivity. * Changes in physiognomic complexity vary with how favorable of an environment exists (decreasing community structure and reduction of stratal differentiation as the environment becomes less favorable). * Trends in the diversity of structure follow trends in species diversity; alpha and beta species diversities decrease from favorable to extreme environments. * Each growth-form (i.e. grasses, shrubs, etc.) has its characteristic place of maximum importance along the ecoclines. * The same growth forms may be dominant in similar environments in widely different parts of the world. Whittaker summed the effects of gradients (3) and (4) to get an overall temperature gradient and combined this with a gradient (2), the moisture gradient, to express the above conclusions in what is known as the Whittaker classification scheme. The scheme graphs average annual precipitation (x-axis) versus average annual temperature (y-axis) to classify biome-types.

Biome-types

# Tropical rainforest #

Tropical seasonal rainforest The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

#* semideciduous # Temperate giant rainforest #

Montane rainforest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

# Temperate deciduous forest #

Temperate evergreen forest In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

#* needleleaf #* sclerophyll # Subarctic-subalpine needle-leaved forests ( taiga) # Elfin woodland #

Thorn forests and woodlands Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comic ...

# Thorn scrub #

Temperate woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

Temperate shrublands Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The predominant vegetation in this biome consists of grass and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and ranges from semi-arid ...

#* heath #* sclerophyll #* subalpine-needleleaf #* subalpine-broadleaf # Savanna # Temperate grassland # Alpine grasslands # Tundra # Tropical desert # Warm-temperate desert #

Cool temperate desert scrub Cool commonly refers to: * Cool, a moderately low temperature * Cool (aesthetic), an aesthetic of attitude, behavior, and style Cool or COOL may also refer to: Economics * Country of origin labelling * mCOOL - US consumer legislation to enforc ...

# Arctic-alpine desert #

Bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

# Tropical fresh-water swamp forest # Temperate fresh-water swamp forest #

Mangrove swamp Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...

# Salt marsh # Wetland

Goodall (1974–) ecosystem types

The multi-authored series ''Ecosystems of the World'', edited by David W. Goodall, provides a comprehensive coverage of the major "ecosystem types or biomes" on Earth:

Walter (1976, 2002) zonobiomes

The eponymously-named Heinrich Walter classification scheme considers the seasonality of temperature and precipitation. The system, also assessing precipitation and temperature, finds nine major biome types, with the important climate traits and vegetation types. The boundaries of each biome correlate to the conditions of moisture and cold stress that are strong determinants of plant form, and therefore the vegetation that defines the region. Extreme conditions, such as flooding in a swamp, can create different kinds of communities within the same biome.

Schultz (1988) eco-zones

Schultz (1988, 2005) defined nine ''ecozones'' (his concept of ecozone is more similar to the concept of biome than to the concept of

ecozone An Ecozone may refer to: * Ecozone (Canada), one of 15 first-level ecological land classifications in Canada * Biogeographic realm, the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface (referred to as ''ecozone'' by BBC) * Biome, a large c ...

of BBC):Schultz, J. ''Die Ökozonen der Erde'', 1st ed., Ulmer, Stuttgart, Germany, 1988, 488 pp.; 2nd ed., 1995, 535 pp.; 3rd ed., 2002; 4th ed., 2008; 5th ed., 2016. Transl.: ''The Ecozones of the World: The Ecological Divisions of the Geosphere''. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1995; 2nd ed., 2005

# polar/subpolar zone # boreal zone # humid mid-latitudes # dry mid-latitudes # subtropics with winter rain # subtropics with year-round rain # dry tropics and subtropics # tropics with summer rain # tropics with year-round rain

Bailey (1989) ecoregions

Robert Bailey (geographer), Robert G. Bailey nearly developed a

biogeographical Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, i ...

classification system of ecoregions for the United States in a map published in 1976. He subsequently expanded the system to include the rest of North America in 1981, and the world in 1989. The Bailey system, based on climate, 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 (Köppen: Ft) ** M120 Tundra Division – Mountain Provinces ** 130 Subarctic Division (Köppen: E) ** M130 Subarctic Division – Mountain Provinces * 200 Humid Temperate Domain ** 210 Warm Continental Division (Köppen: portion of Dcb) ** M210 Warm Continental Division – Mountain Provinces ** 220 Hot Continental Division (Köppen: portion of Dca) ** M220 Hot Continental Division – Mountain Provinces ** 230 Subtropical Division (Köppen: portion of Cf) ** M230 Subtropical Division – Mountain Provinces ** 240 Marine Division (Köppen: Do) ** M240 Marine Division – Mountain Provinces ** 250 Prairie Division (Köppen: arid portions of Cf, Dca, Dcb) ** 260 Mediterranean Division (Köppen: Cs) ** M260 Mediterranean Division – Mountain Provinces * 300 Dry Domain ** 310 Tropical/Subtropical Steppe Division ** M310 Tropical/Subtropical Steppe Division – Mountain Provinces ** 320 Tropical/Subtropical Desert Division ** 330 Temperate Steppe Division ** 340 Temperate Desert Division * 400 Humid Tropical Domain ** 410 Savanna Division ** 420 Rainforest Division

Olson & Dinerstein (1998) biomes for WWF / Global 200

A team of biologists convened by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) developed a scheme that divided the world's land area into biogeographic realms (called "ecozones" in a BBC scheme), and these into

ecoregions An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

(Olson & Dinerstein, 1998, etc.). Each ecoregion is characterized by a main biome (also called major habitat type).Olson, D. M. & E. Dinerstein (1998). The Global 200: A representation approach to conserving the Earth’s most biologically valuable ecoregions. ''Conservation Biol.'' 12:502–515

.Olson, D. M., Dinerstein, E., Wikramanayake, E. D., Burgess, N. D., Powell, G. V. N., Underwood, E. C., D'Amico, J. A., Itoua, I., Strand, H. E., Morrison, J. C., Loucks, C. J., Allnutt, T. F., Ricketts, T. H., Kura, Y., Lamoreux, J. F., Wettengel, W. W., Hedao, P., Kassem, K. R. (2001). Terrestrial ecoregions of the world: a new map of life on Earth. ''Bioscience'' 51(11):933–938

. This classification is used to define the Global 200 list of ecoregions identified by the WWF as priorities for conservation. For the terrestrial ecoregions, there is a specific EcoID, format XXnnNN (XX is the biogeographic realm, nn is the biome number, NN is the individual number).

Biogeographic realms Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities of ...
(terrestrial and freshwater)

* NA: Nearctic * PA:

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

* AT: Afrotropic * IM: Indomalaya * AA:

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecolo ...

* NT: Neotropic * OC: Oceania * AN:

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

The applicability of the realms scheme above - based on Udvardy (1975)—to most freshwater taxa is unresolved.Abell, R., M. Thieme, C. Revenga, M. Bryer, M. Kottelat, N. Bogutskaya, B. Coad, N. Mandrak, S. Contreras-Balderas, W. Bussing, M. L. J. Stiassny, P. Skelton, G. R. Allen, P. Unmack, A. Naseka, R. Ng, N. Sindorf, J. Robertson, E. Armijo, J. Higgins, T. J. Heibel, E. Wikramanayake, D. Olson, H. L. Lopez, R. E. d. Reis, J. G. Lundberg, M. H. Sabaj Perez, and P. Petry. (2008). Freshwater ecoregions of the world: A new map of biogeographic units for freshwater biodiversity conservation. ''BioScience'' 58:403–414

.

Biogeographic realms ( Marine ecoregion, marine)

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada ( Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm ( Greenland), Finland, Iceland ...

* Temperate Northern Atlantic *

Temperate Northern Pacific The Temperate Northern Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the temperate waters of the northern Pacific Ocean. The Temperate Northern Pacific connects, via the Bering Sea, to the Arctic marine realm, which includes ...

* Tropical Atlantic * Western Indo-Pacific *

Central Indo-Pacific The Central Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean, and the connecting seas. The Central Indo-Pacific is a part of the larger Indo-Pacific, w ...

* Eastern Indo-Pacific * Tropical Eastern Pacific * Temperate South America * Temperate Southern Africa * Temperate Australasia * Southern OceanSpalding, M. D. et al. (2007). Marine ecoregions of the world: a bioregionalization of coastal and shelf areas. ''BioScience'' 57: 573–583

.

Biomes (terrestrial)

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...

or sclerophyll forests (temperate warm, semihumid to semiarid with winter rainfall) #

Deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in thi ...

(temperate to tropical, arid) # Mangrove (subtropical and tropical, salt water inundated)

Biomes (freshwater)

According to the WWF, the following are classified as

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

biomes: * Large lakes * Large river deltas * Polar

s * Montane

s * 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

Biomes (marine)

Biomes of the coastal and

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

areas ( neritic zone): * Polar * Temperate shelves and sea * Temperate upwelling * Tropical upwelling * Tropical coral

Summary of the scheme

* Biosphere ** Biogeographic realms (terrestrial) (8) ***

Ecoregions An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

(867), each characterized by a main biome type (14) **** Ecosystems (

s) * Biosphere ** Biogeographic realms (freshwater) (8) ***

(426), each characterized by a main biome type (12) **** Ecosystems (biotopes) * Biosphere ** Biogeographic realms (marine) (12) *** (

Marine provinces The following is a list of marine ecoregions, as defined by the WWF and The Nature Conservancy The WWF/Nature Conservancy scheme groups the individual ecoregions into 12 marine realms, which represent the broad latitudinal divisions of polar, te ...

) (62) ****

(232), each characterized by a main biome type (5) ***** Ecosystems (biotopes) Example: * Biosphere ** Biogeographic realm:

*** Ecoregion: Dinaric Mountains mixed forests (PA0418); biome type: temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ****

Ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

: Orjen, vegetation belt between 1,100 and 1,450 m, Oromediterranean zone, nemoral zone (temperate zone) *****

Biotope A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term "habitat", which is more commonly used in English-speaking countrie ...

: ''Oreoherzogio-Abietetum illyricae'' Fuk. ( Plant list) ****** Plant: Silver fir ('' Abies alba'')

Other biomes

Marine biomes

Pruvot (1896) zones or "systems": * Littoral zone *

Pelagic zone The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...

* Abyssal zone Longhurst (1998) biomes: * Coastal * Polar * Trade wind * Westerly Other marine habitat types (not covered yet by the Global 200/WWF scheme): * Open sea * Deep sea *

Hydrothermal vent A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...

s * Cold seeps *

Benthic zone The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning ...

(trades and westerlies) * Abyssal * Hadal (ocean trench) * Littoral/

Intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

* Salt marsh * Estuaries * Coastal lagoons/Atoll lagoons * Kelp forest * Pack ice

Anthropogenic biomes

Humans have altered global patterns of

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity' ...

and

processes. As a result, vegetation forms predicted by conventional biome systems can no longer be observed across much of Earth's land surface as they have been replaced by crop and rangelands or cities.

Anthropogenic biomes Anthropogenic biomes, also known as anthromes, human biomes or intensive land-use biome, describe the terrestrial biosphere (biomes) in its contemporary, human-altered form using global ecosystem units defined by global patterns of sustained direct ...

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 way to recognize the irreversible coupling of human and ecological systems at global scales and manage Earth's biosphere and anthropogenic biomes. Major anthropogenic biomes: * Dense settlements * Croplands * Rangelands * Forested * Indoor

Microbial biomes

Endolithic 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.

Effects of climate change

Anthropogenic

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

has the potential to greatly alter the distribution of Earth's biomes. Meaning, biomes around the world could change so much that they would be at risk of becoming new biomes entirely. General frequency models have been a staple in finding out the impact climate change could have on biomes. More specifically, 54% and 22% of global land area will experience climates that correspond to other biomes. 3.6% of land area will experience climates that are completely new or unusual. Average temperatures have risen more than twice the usual amount in both arctic and mountainous biomes, which leads to the conclusion that arctic and mountainous biomes are currently the most vulnerable to climate change. The current reasoning surrounding as to why this is the case are based around the fact that colder environments tend to reflect more sunlight, as a result of the snow and ice covering the ground. Since the annual average temperatures are rising, ice and snow is melting. As a result, albedo is lowered. Keeping a keen eye on terrestrial biomes is important, as they play a crucial role in climate regulation. South American terrestrial biomes have been predicted to go through the same temperature trends as arctic and mountainous biomes. With its annual average temperature continuing to increase, the moisture currently located in forest biomes will dry up.

Etymology

Classifications

Holdridge (1947, 1964) life zones

Allee (1949) biome-types

Kendeigh (1961) biomes

Whittaker (1962, 1970, 1975) biome-types

Key definitions for understanding Whittaker's scheme

Whittaker's parameters for classifying biome-types

Biome-types

Goodall (1974–) ecosystem types

Walter (1976, 2002) zonobiomes

Schultz (1988) eco-zones

Bailey (1989) ecoregions

Olson & Dinerstein (1998) biomes for WWF / Global 200

Biogeographic realms Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities of ...
(terrestrial and freshwater)

Biogeographic realms ( Marine ecoregion, marine)

Biomes (terrestrial)

Biomes (freshwater)

Biomes (marine)

Summary of the scheme

Other biomes

Marine biomes

Anthropogenic biomes

Microbial biomes

Endolithic biomes

Effects of climate change

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Etymology

Classifications

Holdridge (1947, 1964) life zones

Allee (1949) biome-types

Kendeigh (1961) biomes

Whittaker (1962, 1970, 1975) biome-types

Key definitions for understanding Whittaker's scheme

Whittaker's parameters for classifying biome-types

Biome-types

Goodall (1974–) ecosystem types

Walter (1976, 2002) zonobiomes

Schultz (1988) eco-zones

Bailey (1989) ecoregions

Olson & Dinerstein (1998) biomes for WWF / Global 200

Biogeographic realms Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities of ... (terrestrial and freshwater)

Biogeographic realms ( Marine ecoregion, marine)

Biomes (terrestrial)

Biomes (freshwater)

Biomes (marine)

Summary of the scheme

Other biomes

Marine biomes

Anthropogenic biomes

Microbial biomes

Endolithic biomes

Effects of climate change

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Biogeographic realms Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities of ...
(terrestrial and freshwater)