biome

Examples of biome in the following topics:

• What constitutes a biome?

  • Terrestrial biomes are based on land, while aquatic biomes include both ocean and freshwater biomes.
  • Each biome consists of communities that have adapted to the different climate and environment inside the biome.
  • The distribution of these biomes shows that the same biome can occur in geographically distinct areas with similar climates.
  • Biomes have no distinct boundaries.
  • Each type of biome can be found in multiple places.

• Abiotic Factors Influencing Aquatic Biomes

  • Abiotic factors that influence aquatic biomes include light availability, depth, stratification, temperature, currents, and tides.
  • As with terrestrial biomes, aquatic biomes are influenced by a series of abiotic factors.
  • The importance of light in aquatic biomes is central to the communities of organisms found in both freshwater and marine ecosystems.

• Tropical Wet Forest and Savannas

  • Compared to other forest biomes, tropical wet forests have little variation in seasonal temperatures.
  • Tropical wet forests have more species of trees than any other biome.
  • One way to visualize this is to compare the distinctive horizontal layers within the tropical wet forest biome.
  • Epiphytes are found throughout tropical wet forest biomes.
  • Each of the world's major biomes is distinguished by characteristic temperatures and amounts of precipitation.

• Marine Biomes

  • The ocean and coral reefs make up two types of marine biomes where organisms are influenced by depth and light availability.
  • The ocean is the largest marine biome.
  • Within the ocean, coral reefs are a second kind of marine biome.
  • Nutrients are scarce in this less-productive part of the marine biome.

• Freshwater Biomes

  • Lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and wetlands are all freshwater biomes, which differ in depth, water movement, and other abiotic factors.
  • Freshwater biomes occur throughout the world's terrestrial biomes.
  • Differentiate among the freshwater biomes of lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, and wetlands

• Temperate Forests

  • Temperate forests are the most common biome in eastern North America, Western Europe, Eastern Asia, Chile, and New Zealand.
  • This biome is found throughout mid-latitude regions.
  • Because of the moderate, annual rainfall and temperatures, deciduous trees are the dominant plant in this biome .
  • In addition, temperate forests show less diversity of tree species than do tropical wet forest biomes.
  • The trees of the temperate forests leaf out and shade much of the ground; however, this biome is more open than tropical wet forests because trees in the temperate forests do not grow as tall as the trees in tropical wet forests.

• Abiotic Factors Influencing Plant Growth

  • Net primary productivity is an important variable when considering differences in biomes.
  • Very productive biomes have a high level of aboveground biomass.
  • The magnitude and distribution of global primary production varies between biomes.

• Climate and Weather

  • The climate of a biome is characterized by having consistent temperature and annual rainfall ranges.
  • Climate does not address the amount of rain that fell on one particular day in a biome or the colder-than-average temperatures that occurred on one day.

• Subtropical Deserts and Chaparral

  • In some years, evaporation exceeds precipitation in this very dry biome.
  • The type of vegetation and limited animal diversity of this biome are closely related to the low and unpredictable precipitation.
  • The annual rainfall in this biome ranges from 65 cm to 75 cm (25.6–29.5 in), with the majority of rain falling in the winter.

• Estuaries: Where the Ocean Meets Fresh Water

  • Estuaries form a unique marine biome that occurs where a source of fresh water, such as a river, meets the ocean.