• What is a biome?
• Biome types
• Biome examples

We explain what a biome is and what types of biomes exist. Plus, examples of biomes: desert, steppe, tundra, jungle, and more.

Earth that presents uniformities in terms of weather, flora and fauna, thus constituting an identifiable area based on the type and variety of ecosystems that it is possible to find in it.

The same biome, then, can have different local names, but the same biogeographic category is always considered, with stable ecological characteristics. This term should not be confused with others such as ecozone, habitat or ecoregions.

Thus, and taking into account basic and determining characteristics, such as height, latitude, temperature, types I usually and precipitation margin, it is possible to trace the set of biomes present in the land surface, paying attention to the relationships between soils, vegetation and fauna, to define each one separately. This is an especially important classification task for biologists, ecologists and conservationists.

The number of biomes in the world is finite, and encompasses all known places to date. According to the WWF, there are 14 terrestrial biomes, 14 freshwater biomes and 7 marine biomes.

Biome types

Biomes are classified according to different systems, but the most used are those of WWF, Holdridge, Whittaker, Walter and Bailey. Each system is based on its own rules, taking into account the physical, geographical, climatic and biotic conditions that affect each region. Thus, one can speak of:

• Terrestrial biomes. Those that take place on land, that is, somewhere on the continental shelf, be it on plains, moutains or deserts of any nature.
• Marine biomes. Those found in salt water reservoirs: seas and oceans, as well as the continental coasts.
• Freshwater biomes. Those that take place in lakes, rivers, and other reservoirs of Water sweet, as well as their respective coasts.

Biome examples

Desert. A predominantly arid biome, with little rainfall and xerophytic vegetation, if any. There are warm ones, like the one that covers the north of the Africa (Sahara desert) and frozen or polar, like the plateau Antarctic ice, so cold that liquid water is non-existent. They also tend to occur on sandy, rocky and icy soils. Almost a third of the planet is covered by this type of biome: 50 million square kilometers (53% warm and the rest cold).

Steppe. Biome with little rainfall, flat territory and herbaceous vegetation (shrubs and weeds at the most) that are usually far from the sea. They have a wide thermal variation and soils rich in minerals, but scarce in organic material and therefore not very fertile. It can be considered a wasteland, that is, a cold and rocky desert, like the steppes of Asia, North America and Argentine Patagonia, or the high plateau of the Andean Puna.

Tundra. Biome of low temperatures and frozen soils, low vegetation typical of the polar zones, occupying almost a fifth of the total surface of the planet. Mosses, lichens and marshy soils predominate, abundant in peat bogs. It is common in Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland, as well as in the extreme south of Chile and Argentina, regions with cold climates and summer short, whose maximum temperatures do not exceed 10 ° C. Occasionally, freezing of the ground may occur (permafrost).

Taiga. Call at once boreal forest, this biome is the largest forest reserve on the planet, composed almost exclusively of tall conifers and evergreens, such as firs, maples and pines, and an abundant herbivorous fauna. They are exclusive to the northern hemisphere: Siberia and European Russia, Alaska and Canada.

Meadow. Predominant biome of temperate grasslands and shrubs, in areas of low rainfall (around 300 to 1500mm per year), unable to host woods, but without becoming desert areas. Its soil is fertile with abundant layers, a product of the short life of the vegetation. Ideal for growing food plants, with cold winters and hot summers, typical of North American areas or the Argentine pampas.

Rain forest. This biome extends near the equator, in South America (the Amazon), in Africa (the jungle of the Congo), in Asia and Oceania. It is the most abundant in biomass on the planet: tall and lush vegetation with an abundant crown, which guarantees a fertile and humid soil, with very frequent and abundant annual rainfall and a warm climate, devoid of winter. They are the great reservoir of biodiversity of the planet (50% of all known species) in a strip less than 7% of the earth's surface.