Biosphere Contents

6. Biomes

Biomes are used to classify the different major types of ecosystem at a global scale

Several ecologists have tried to produce a classification of global biomes. Classification is made difficult because natural ecosystems do not neatly fit into a set of distinct categories. Clements and Shelford (1939) based their concept of biomes around the idea of biotic communities: if left undisturbed, a community would pass through a number of stages and eventually become a typical climatic climax community for an area of the world. These typical climax communities could be grouped together and mapped into the dominant plant/animal assemblage communities - called biomes. More recent definitions also include climatic conditions, including temperature, seasonality and precipitation, plus intertidal levels (for mangrove swamps).

The 14 biomes of the world according to WWF

What is a biome?