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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 ]
Earth's biosphere is divided into several biomes, inhabited by fairly similar flora and fauna. On land, biomes are separated primarily by latitude. Terrestrial biomes lying within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles are relatively barren of plant and animal life. In contrast, most of the more populous biomes lie near the equator.
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
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.
The term "montane" in the name of the biome refers to "high elevation", rather than the ecological term that denotes the region below the treeline. This biome includes high elevation ( montane and alpine ) grasslands and shrublands , including the puna and páramo in South America, subalpine heath in New Guinea and East Africa, steppes of the ...
Communities interacting not only with each other but also with the physical environment encompass an ecosystem, such as the Savanna ecosystem. All of the ecosystems make up the biosphere, the area of life on Earth. The simple standard biological organisation scheme, from the lowest level to the highest level, is as follows: [1]
The history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and extinct organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to the present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (abbreviated as Ga, for gigaannum) and evidence suggests that life emerged prior to 3.7 Ga. [1] [2] [3] The similarities among all known present-day species indicate that they have diverged through the ...
A biogeochemical cycle, or more generally a cycle of matter, [1] is the movement and transformation of chemical elements and compounds between living organisms, the atmosphere, and the Earth's crust. Major biogeochemical cycles include the carbon cycle , the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle .