Biomes
Biomes are large geographical areas characterized by their distinct climate, flora, and fauna. They are typically classified into categories such as deserts, forests, grasslands, and tundras. Each biome has its own unique set of environmental conditions and supports specific types of plant and animal life, playing a crucial role in the Earth's biodiversity and ecosystem.
7 Key excerpts on "Biomes"
eBook - ePub- Britannica Educational Publishing, John P Rafferty(Authors)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Britannica Educational Publishing(Publisher)
...CHAPTER 3 B IOMES AND E COSYSTEMS T he largest of Earth’s ecological communities are Biomes and biogeographic regions. Each one of these vast systems possesses a unique set of species and climatic conditions. However, noticeable patterns emerge. Deserts around the world are characterized by high atmospheric pressure and low moisture, whereas tropical rainforests on different continents have ample moisture and warm temperatures. These climatic conditions contribute to the dominant vegetation type found in each area. (Deserts are characterized by sparse, shrubby vegetation, whereas tropical forests are made up of a rich diversity of thick-canopied tall trees.) This chapter is devoted to describing the unique characteristics of different Biomes and biogeographic regions, as well as the features some share with others. A biogeographic region is an area of animal and plant distribution having similar or shared characteristics throughout. It is a matter of general experience that the plants and animals of the land and inland waters differ to a greater or lesser degree from one part of the world to another. Why should this be? Why should the same species not exist wherever suitable environmental conditions for them prevail? Geographic regions around the world that have similar environmental conditions are capable of harbouring the same type of biota. This situation effectively separates the biosphere into Biomes—ecological communities that have the same climatic conditions and geologic features and that support species with similar life strategies and adaptations. A biome is frequently described as a major community of plants and animals with similar life-forms and environmental conditions. It includes various communities and is named for the dominant type of vegetation, such as grassland or coniferous forest...
eBook - ePubEcology
From Individuals to Ecosystems
- Michael Begon, Colin R. Townsend(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
...groupings, ‘Biomes’, in which biogeographers recognise marked differences in the flora and fauna of different parts of the world. The number of terrestrial Biomes that are distinguished is a matter of taste. They certainly grade into one another, and sharp boundaries are a convenience for cartographers rather than a reality of nature. We describe eight terrestrial Biomes and illustrate their global distribution in Figure 1.22, and show how they may be related to annual temperature and precipitation (Figure 1.23). Apart from anything else, understanding the terminology that describes and distinguishes these Biomes is necessary when we come to consider key questions later in the book. Why are there more species in some communities than in others? Are some communities more stable in their composition than others, and if so why? Do more productive environments support more diverse communities? Or do more diverse communities make more productive use of the resources available to them? Figure 1.22 World distribution of the major Biomes of vegetation. Source : From http://www.zo.utexas.edu/faculty/sjasper/images/50.24.gif. Figure 1.23 Biomes in relation to rainfall and temperature. The variety of environmental conditions experienced in terrestrial Biomes can be described in terms of their annual rainfall and mean annual temperatures. Source : After Woodward & Lomas (2004). tundra Tundra occurs around the Arctic Circle, beyond the tree line. Small areas also occur on sub‐Antarctic islands in the southern hemisphere. ‘Alpine’ tundra is found under similar conditions but at high altitude. The environment is characterised by the presence of permafrost – water permanently frozen in the soil – while liquid water is present for only short periods of the year. The typical flora includes lichens, mosses, grasses, sedges and dwarf trees...
eBook - ePubExploring Environmental Issues
An Integrated Approach
- David D. Kemp(Author)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Although there is no universally accepted classification of Biomes, most observers list about ten, including various combinations of tropical and temperate forests and grassland, deserts and tundra. Because there are few sharp boundaries in the environment, adjacent Biomes grade into each other in a transition zone called an ecotone, which may be many kilometres wide and include characteristics of the two Biomes, or it may be relatively narrow, with the change from one system to the other taking place within as little as a few hundred metres. Where the zone is broad, the ecotone will include plants and animals from both adjacent Biomes and perhaps others that are characteristic of the ecotone itself, producing a community that may be more diverse than those adjacent to it. An important characteristic of Biomes is their ability to cope with change. Human interference in the past century or so has introduced so much change into the system, however, that some Biomes have not been able to absorb it or recover from it. As a result, maps of Biomes do not always reflect the current reality and descriptions of the characteristics of Biomes refer to the situation that applied before they were disturbed. If the remaining natural Biomes are to be preserved and protected, and the projected changes threatened by global warming are to be managed, it is important to know what currently exists and what might be expected to exist in a particular area. The following descriptions of the earth's major Biomes will therefore consider them as they would have existed prior to human interference, but with reference to the nature and impact of that interference as appropriate (Figure 3.13). Tropical rain forest Tropical rain forest, also called selva, is the rain forest of low latitudes...
eBook - ePub- Rattan Lal(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...Global Resources Paul Reich U.S. Department of Agriculture—Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A. Hari Eswaran U.S. Department of Agriculture—Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) (Retired), Washington, District of Columbia, U.S.A. Abstract For most purposes, the term biome is used to identify the natural habitat conditions around the world. Depending on the purpose, the global ecosystem is divided into units each characterized by a specific combination of climatic factors. Two major determinants of biome type are precipitation (total and its distribution) and air temperature. These two elements of climate have been commonly used to define the major Biomes of the world. A third variable that affects the habitat type is the soil. This entry presents a general overview of the soils characterizing the major Biomes of the world. INTRODUCTION A biome is defined as “a community of organisms interacting with one another and with the chemical and physical factors making up their environments.” [ 1 ] Detailed maps showing the Biomes of the world are not available due to conceptual differences of definitions and reliable global databases. There are many excellent and detailed studies of specific habitats around the world, and using these and the global soils and climate database of the world, [ 2 ] a map showing the distribution of the major Biomes was drawn. The terms used to describe the Biomes are common in use, but their subdivisions are based on important differentiating factors. MAJOR Biomes The five major Biomes of the world and their subdivisions are listed in Table 1 and their distribution is shown in Fig. 1. Some geographers have used elevation as a differentiating factor and recognized a “montane biome.” This biome’s small extent precludes its description in this section. Few geographers recognize the Mediterranean biome as presented here as a subdivision of the Temperate biome...
eBook - ePub30-Second Ecology
50 key concepts and challenges, each explained in half a minute
- Mark Fellowes, Becky Thomas(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Ivy Press(Publisher)
...Biomes & BIODIVERSITY Biomes & BIODIVERSITY GLOSSARY benthic An ecological zone in freshwater and marine environments at the bottom of a body of water, including the sediment and sub-surface layers. biome A major region that is defined by the plants and animals living there and determined largely by climate and latitude. A biome differs from an ecosystem, which encompasses organisms and their interactions with each other and the environment, in a specific location. For example, tropical forest is a biome that includes ecosystems such as montane humid forest, seasonal dry forest and coastal-plain swamp forest. ecosystem services These are the direct or indirect benefits to people provided by ecosystems. These services may impact human survival or quality of life and are categorized into four service types: provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural. elevational diversity gradient An observed pattern in ecology where an increase in elevation leads to an increase in species richness, up to a certain point, where it begins to decrease again. This leads to a hump-shaped trend in diversity in mountain ranges, where the highest numbers of different species are found at mid-elevations. endemic/endemism Relating to an organism that is found only in a specific location. glaciation The process by which glaciers are formed as well as the movement and recession of glaciers and how they shape the surrounding landscape. In the past, glaciers covered a much larger extent of the Earth’s surface...
eBook - ePubJumpstart! Geography
Engaging activities for ages 7-12
- Mark Jones, Sarah Whitehouse(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Carry out your research of the climate for these places and then pack your case, justifying the items you would be taking. Example two: You need to pack for a 2-week trip leaving on the 1st August to Iceland and Northern Norway, ending up with 5 days in Stockholm, Sweden. Example three: You are going away for 3 weeks, leaving on 20th December. Your itinerary is as follows: skiing in St Anton, Austria (6 days), then visiting Sicily, Italy (6 days), and the remaining time will be spent travelling in the north of Tunisia. WORLD Biomes – A LITTLE BIT OF KNOWLEDGE A Biome is a very large ecosystem composed of living things such as plants and animals and non-living things such as rocks and soil particles. Biomes such as Tropical Rainforest, Hot Desert and Temperate Forest are large areas of distinctive flora (plants) and fauna (insects, birds and animals) that tend to be located between certain lines of latitude. The different type of plants and animals within a biome are primarily a response to climate; however, they can vary because of seasonal weather patterns, altitude and geology. Plants, animals and people all have to cope with adapting to the particular demands of their different environments. I am a biome This activity involves children getting together into groups to research one biome between them. So for hot deserts, for example, they could each find out about a different hot desert such as the Sahara in North Africa, the Kalahari in South-West Africa or the Atacama in South America. They could each make a headdress to represent their chosen biome and could then locate themselves on a giant outdoor map to represent different examples from around the world...
eBook - ePub- Richard John Huggett(Author)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...PART I INTRODUCING BIOGEOGRAPHY 1 WHAT IS BIOGEOGRAPHY? Biogeographers study the geography, ecology, and evolution of living things. This chapter covers: • ecology – environmental constraints on living • history and geography – time and space constraints on living Biogeographers address a misleadingly simple question: why do organisms live where they do? Why does the speckled rangeland grasshopper live only in short-grass prairie and forest or brush-land clearings containing small patches of bare ground? Why does the ring ouzel live in Norway, Sweden, the British Isles, and mountainous parts of central Europe, Turkey, and southwest Asia, but not in the intervening regions? Why do tapirs live only in South America and southeast Asia? Why do the nestor parrots – the kea and the kaka – live only in New Zealand? Two groups of reasons are given in answer to such questions as these – ecological reasons and historical-cum-geographical reasons. ECOLOGY Ecological explanations for the distribution of organisms involve several interrelated ideas. First is the idea of populations, which is the subject of analytical biogeography. Each species has a characteristic life history, reproduction rate, behaviour, means of dispersion, and so on. These traits affect a population’s response to the environment in which it lives. The second idea concerns this biological response to the environment and is the subject of ecological biogeography. A population responds to its physical surroundings (abiotic environment) and its living surroundings (biotic environment). Factors in the abiotic environment include such physical factors as temperature, light, soil, geology, topography, fire, water, and air currents; and such chemical factors as oxygen levels, salt concentrations, the presence of toxins, and acidity. Factors in the biotic environment include competing species, parasites, diseases, predators, and humans. In short, each species can tolerate a range of environmental factors...
