Biomes and the Biosphere
Big idea: Climate, soils and disturbance shape broad terrestrial and aquatic biomes, while the biosphere connects all ecosystems through global flows of energy, matter and organisms.
Learning goals
- biome
- climate diagram
- aquatic zonation
- biosphere
- ecotone
Core concepts
biome
A broad ecological region defined by climate, characteristic vegetation and associated organisms.
climate diagram
A graph that combines monthly temperature and precipitation to characterize environmental seasonality.
aquatic zonation
Spatial organization of water ecosystems by depth, light, flow, salinity and substrate.
biosphere
The global system comprising all living organisms and the regions of Earth they inhabit.
ecotone
A transition zone between ecological communities that may contain species from both and unique boundary conditions.