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This is a list of terrestrial ecoregions as compiled by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The WWF identifies terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecoregions. The terrestrial scheme divides the Earth's land surface into 8 biogeographic realms, containing 867 smaller ecoregions. Each ecoregion is classified into one of 14 major habitat types, or biomes.
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
Terrestrial ecosystems occupy 55,660,000 mi 2 (144,150,000 km 2), or 28.26% of Earth's surface. [5] Major plant taxa in terrestrial ecosystems are members of the division Magnoliophyta (flowering plants), of which there are about 275,000 species, and the division Pinophyta (conifers), of which there are about 500 species.
Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (Olson et al. 2001, BioScience) WWF terrestrial ecoregions of the world One way of mapping the world into 18 terrestrial vegetation biomes, each containing one or more ecoregions EPA level III ecoregions in the contiguous United States. Alaska ecoregions (102-120) not shown.
Each realm may include a number of different biomes. A tropical moist broadleaf forest in Central America, for example, may be similar to one in New Guinea in its vegetation type and structure, climate, soils, etc., but these forests are inhabited by animals, fungi, micro-organisms and plants with very different evolutionary histories.
California comes in a close second with 13 ecoregions across four biomes in the same realm. By contrast, Rhode Island is the least biodiverse with just one ecoregion—the Northeastern coastal forests—encompassing the entire state. [1] The terrestrial ecoregions of the 50 states of the United States are as follows:
Pages in category "Terrestrial biomes" The following 22 pages are in this category, out of 22 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. A. Amazon biome; B.
A map of the Amazon rainforest ecoregions. The yellow line encloses the ecoregions per the World Wide Fund for Nature. A map of the bioregions of Canada and the US. An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm.