Biomes

Environment and Ecology Concept of Ecology

Biomes

It is a recognizable community unit formed as a result of interaction of regional climates with regional substrata. The members of a biome are the plants and animals inhabiting it. Thus , a biome is a large region characterized by certain forms of life. Most biomes are determined by their characteristic weather pattern or climate. Every biome is home to a number of ecosystems.

Major terrestrial biomes include:

Major aquatic biomes include:

Intertidal (littoral): Shorelines and coasts; subject to periods of wet and dry

Neritic: Shallow waters to the continental shelf

Oceanic (pelagic): Surface layers of the open ocean

Aphotic (abyssal): Deep-water areas where no sunlight penetrates

Freshwater: Ponds, lakes, rivers, etc.; tied closely to surrounding terrestrial biomes.

Flora and Fauna

S. No	Name of Biome	Flora	Fauna
1	Tundra: Northernmost region adjoining the ice bound poles	Devoid of trees except stunted shrubs in the southern part of tundra biome, ground flora includes lichen, mosses.	The typical animals are reindeer, arctic fox, polar bear, snowy owl, lemming arctic hare. Reptiles and amphibians are almost absent.
2	Taiga: Northern Europe, Asia and North America. Moderate temperature than Tundra. Also known as boreal forest.	The dominating vegetation is coniferous evergreen mostly spruce with some pine and firs.	The fauna consists of small seed eating birds, hawks, fur bearing carnivores, little minks, elks, puma, Siberian tiger, Wolves
3	Temperate Deciduous Forests: Extends over Central and southern Europe, Eastern North America, Western china, Japan, New Zealand etc. Moderate average rainfall.	The flora includes trees like beech,oak, maple and cherry, generally the most productive agricultural areas	Most animals are the familiar vertebrates and invertebrates.
4	Tropical rain forest: Tropical areas in the equatorial regions which is abound with life. Temperature and rainfall high.	Tropical rainforest covers about 7 % of the earth’s surface & 40 % of the worlds plant and animal species. Multiple storey	of broad leaved evergreen tree species are in abundance. Most animals and epiphytes plants are concentrated in the canopy or tree top zones.
5	Savannah: Tropical region; Savannah is most extensive in Africa.	Grasses with scattered trees and fire resisting thorny shrubs.	grazers and browsers such as antelopes, buffaloes, zebras, elephants rhinoceros; Carnivores include lion, Cheetah, hyena and mongoose and many rodents.
6	Grassland: North America, Ukraine etc. Dominated by grasses. Temperate conditions with rather low rainfall.	Grasses dominate the vegetation. The flora is drought resistance vegetation such as cactus, euphorbias, sagebrush	The fauna include large herbivores like bison, antelope, cattle, rodents, prairie dog, wolves and a rich and diverse array of ground nesting bird.
7	Desert: Continental interiors with very low and sporadic rainfall with low humidity.	The days are very hot but nights are cold.	Fauna: Reptiles, mammals and birds.