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A biome (/ ˈ b aɪ. oʊ m /) is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. [1] [2] Biomes may span more than one continent. A biome encompasses multiple ecosystems within its boundaries
They are distinct from biomes, also known as major habitat types, which are divisions of the Earth's surface based on life form, or the adaptation of animals, fungi, micro-organisms and plants to climatic, soil, and other conditions. Biomes are characterized by similar climax vegetation. Each realm may include a number of different biomes.
In contrast, biomes occupy large areas of the globe and often encompass many different kinds of geographical features, including mountain ranges. [ 10 ] Biotic diversity within an ecosystem is the variability among living organisms from all sources, including inter alia , terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems. [ 11 ]
Biomes vary due to global variations in climate. Biomes are often defined by their structure: at a general level, for example, tropical forests, temperate grasslands, and arctic tundra. [4]: 14 There can be any degree of subcategories among ecosystem types that comprise a biome, e.g., needle-leafed boreal forests or wet
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, isolation and habitat area. [1]
[57] [58] Helping refine this definition, Author Kirkpatrick Sale wrote in 1974 that "A bioregion is a part of the earth's surface whose rough boundaries are determined by natural rather than human dictates, distinguishable from other areas by attributes of flora, fauna, water, climate, soils and landforms, and human settlements and cultures ...
Plant communities are broadly distributed into biomes based on the form of the dominant plant species. [13] For example, grasslands are dominated by grasses, while forests are dominated by trees. Biomes are determined by regional climates, mostly temperature and precipitation, and follow general latitudinal trends. [13]
Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. [1] The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes. Tropical grasslands are mainly found between 5 degrees and 20 degrees in both ...