Biom is what?

Scientists have been trying to classify ecosystems on the planet for a long time. But because of the lack of information and a huge number of natural ecosystems, it is not possible to classify each puddle and sand dune with its ecosystem. Ecologists decided to classify multiple combinations of ecosystems - biomes.

Biom is what?

We hear a lot about different biomes, but few of us can imagine how exactly this word is characterized. In general, the biome is a large biological system with its own climate. This system is characterized by a dominant plant species or landscape. There is such a definition as the terrarium of the biome. This means which minerals, timber, animals are mined on its territory. For example, deciduous forest biome - deciduous trees predominate. Or mushroom biome - a place with a humid climate, suitable for the life of different types of fungi and their spores. If you move from the north to the equator, you can see all the main biomes.

How many basic biomes?

Which biomes predominate and what is their number? Ecologists identified nine major biomes on land. The first biome is the tundra, the second is the taiga. Further biomes of deciduous forests in the temperate climate zone, steppe biome, chaparol (vegetative world of the Mediterranean), deserts, tropical savannas, spiny (tropical) woodlands, and the ninth biome are tropical forests. Each of them is unique in the climate, vegetation and animal life. Separate, the tenth item can be identified eternal ice - winter biome.

Tundra and taiga

The tundra is a biome with perennial plants. It occupies most of the north of Eurasia and part of North America. Located between the southern forests and the polar ice. The further the tundra moves away from the ice, the wider the area of the treeless wood becomes. Conditions for living in the tundra are severe, but in spite of this, a great variety of animals and plants lives here. The tundra is especially beautiful in the summer season. It is covered with a thick layer of greenery, becoming a haven for migrating animals and birds. The basis of the plant world is lichen, moss. Rarely are undersized woody plants. The main inhabitant of the tundra is the reindeer. There are many arctic foxes, hares and voles. Another resident is a lemming. This little animal does great harm to the tundra. These animals eat a huge amount of non-rich tundra vegetation, which is not able to recover quickly. Due to lack of food, the whole animal world of the biome suffers.

Taiga - biome of coniferous (northern) forests. It is located in the Northern Hemisphere, occupying about eleven percent of the entire land area. Almost half of this area is larch, the rest of the trees are pine, spruce, fir. There are few and deciduous - birch and alder. The main animals are moose and deer (from herbivores), predators more: wolves, lynxes, martens, mink, sable and wolverine. A huge number and variety of rodents - from the vole to the mole. Amphibians live in the viviparous, it is associated with a short summer, for which there is no way to warm the masonry. As part of the main inhabitants of the taiga is partridge.

Deciduous forests and steppes

Deciduous forests are located in a comfortable zone with a temperate climate. Basically it is the east of the USA, Central Europe and part of East Asia. There is enough moisture, a severe cold winter and a long warm summer. The main trees of this biome are broad-leaved: ash, oak, beech, linden and maple. There are also conifers - spruce, sequoia and pine. Here flora and fauna are well developed. A variety of predators are wild cats, wolves, foxes. A large population of bears and deer, badgers, rodents and birds.

The steppes. The basis of this biome is the prairies of North America and the steppes of Asia. There is no necessary amount of precipitation, which would suffice for the growth of trees, but enough to prevent the formation of deserts. In the steppes of North America a wide variety of herbaceous plants and herbs. There are undersized (up to half a meter), mixed grass (up to one and a half meters) and tall grass (the height of plants reaches three meters). The Altai mountains divided the Asian steppes into eastern and western steppes. These lands are rich in humus, are constantly sown with grain, and places with high grass are adapted for pastures. All mammalian cloven-hoofed animals have long been domesticated. And the wild inhabitants of the steppes - coyotes, jackals and hyenas have adapted to live peacefully in the neighborhood with people.

Chaparol and the desert

Mediterranean vegetation occupied the territory around the Mediterranean Sea. It's a very hot, dry summer, and winter is cool with high humidity. The main plants here are shrubs with spines, herbs with a bright aroma, plants with thick glossy leaves. Trees can not grow normally due to climatic conditions. Chapolor is famous for the number of snakes and lizards that live here. There are wolves, roe deer, lynx, pumas, hares and, of course, kangaroos (on the territory of Australia). Frequent fires prevent the invasion of the desert, favorably affecting the soil (return to the ground useful substances), which is good for the growth of grasses and bushes.

The desert stretched its possessions on one third of the whole land. It occupies arid territories of the earth, where precipitation for the year falls less than two hundred and fifty millimeters. There are hot deserts (Sahara, Atakama, Aswan, etc.), and there are also such deserts where in winter the air temperature drops to minus twenty degrees. This is the Gobi Desert. Typical for the desert are sand, bare stones, rocks. Vegetation is a rare seasonal, mainly milk and cacti. The animal world consists of small creatures that can hide under the stones from the sun. Of the large species, only the camel lives here.

Tropical biomes

Savannahs are huge spaces with dense grass and rare solitary trees. The soil here is rather scarce, high grass and spurge prevail, trees - baobab and acacia. In savannahs live large herds of artiodactyls: zebras, wildebeest and gazelles. This number of herbivores is not found anywhere else. The abundance of herbivores also served as an abundance of predators. Here live cheetahs, lions, hyenas, leopards.

The sparse woodland is in South and South-West Africa. Here there are rare deciduous trees, bizarre forms of prickly bushes.

Tropical forests are found in South America, West Africa, Madagascar. Constant high humidity contributes to the growth of dense and huge plants. These forests reach seventy-five meters high. Rafflesia arnoldi grows here - it is the largest flower in the world. The soil in the tropics is poor, the main nutrients are concentrated in the already existing plants. Annual cuttings of a huge number of these tropics in 50 years can provoke the most large-scale biological catastrophe.