Zoology · Ch 11 — Organisms and Population
Concept of Biome and Distribution
Concept of Biome and Distribution
A biome is a large region of the Earth unified by broadly similar vegetation and climatic conditions, and biomes play a crucial role in sustaining life on the planet. Each biome is characterised by a combination of its soil, climate, and typical plant and animal life (its flora and fauna), and distinct biological communities develop within a biome in response to that shared physio-chemical climate. Because biomes can span whole continents, a biome is a broader concept than a habitat — any single biome typically contains a wide variety of individual habitats within it. The type of organisms and adaptations found within a biome is largely set by factors such as temperature, light and water availability. A biome's defining characters include its geographic position (latitude and longitude), its climate and physiochemical environment, and its predominant plant and animal life; and because these factors change gradually across geography rather …
What this figure shows. A labelled list-style diagram naming the major biomes of the Earth arranged for geographic reference: Tropical Rain Forest, Temperate Forest, Desert, Tundra, Taiga (Boreal forest), Grassland, Savanna/Tropical Grassland, Freshwater, Marine and Ice. The figure functions as a legend that pairs each biome name with the broad climatic and vegetational identity used later in the chapter to describe how organisms and their adaptations differ from one biome to the next across the planet's …
What this figure shows. A branching diagram that organises terrestrial biomes along two crossed gradients — decreasing temperature running from hot to cold, and decreasing moisture running from wet to dry. Along these axes it places Rainforest and Savanna in the hot/wet-to-dry tropical zone, Temperate forest and Temperate grassland in the mid-latitude zone, and Desert, Taiga and Arctic Tundra toward the cold and dry end, showing Subarctic and Arctic zones nested progressively colder. The figure visually demonstrates that a biome's identity is jointly determined by how much heat and how much moistu …