Biomes
The World's Major Communities
Barbara Sue Grayson
What is a Biome?
Biomes are the different regions of our planet that have different climates, plants and animals.
Freshwater Biome
Freshwater is a biome that has water with a low salt concentration — usually less than 1%. There are several types of freshwater biomes. These include ponds, lakes, streams, rivers and wetlands. Animals and plants that live in freshwater biomes have cells that have adjusted to the low salt amount in the water.
Marine Biome
Three-fourths of the earth’s surface is covered by marine biomes. Oceans, coral reefs, and estuaries are the different types of marine biomes. Evaporation of water from a marine biome is part of the water cycle and provides rain for the land. Algae in the oceans provide much of the world’s oxygen supply.
Desert Biome
Desert biomes are named because of the occurrence of little rainfall each year. Deserts have less than 50 cm of rain per year. There are several types of deserts, including hot and dry, semiarid, coastal and cold. The plants and animals in the desert biomes are specialized to survive in these dry areas. When rain does fall, it usually causes floods in this type of biome.
Forest Biome
Forest biomes have been in existence for over 420 million years. Tropical, temperate and boreal are the three types of forest biomes. They cover one-third of the land on the earth and are found in various latitudes of the planet.
Grassland Biome
Grassland biomes are covered in grasses and have very few shrubs or trees. The grassland biome exists in hot dry climates where there is plentiful rainfall. The two main types of grasslands are tropical grasslands or savannas and temperate grasslands.
Tundra Biome
The origin of the word tundra means treeless plain. It is the coldest of all the biomes. In the tundra biome there is little precipitation, very low temperatures, and short growing seasons. There are two types of tundra biomes. These are the arctic and alpine tundras. Because of the harsh conditions, animals have little time to reproduce and their populations vary widely in number depending on the food available.
Conservation and Preservation
of the World’s Biomes
While the earth’s biomes have naturally changed over the history of life on the earth, the recent impact of human activities has changed them in a major way. Because we share the plane with many animals and plants, our actions can have both positive and negative effects on the different biomes. Some of the most detrimental actions include tearing down large areas of biomes, introducing new species, and polluting the habitats of biomes. The human species can carry the responsibility of helping in the conservation and preservation of all biomes. Educating people about the importance of biomes and their interactions with life on earth is the first step. You need to decide if you are willing to take on this responsibility.
To learn more about biomes,
visit these websites:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/index.php
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/mammals/habitat/map.html
http://www.thewildclassroom.com/biomes/index.html
http://www.chlive.org/pbeck/eastlibrary/BIOMESANDECOSYSTEMS.htm