Concept and classification of Biomes

Whats is a Biome?

Are climatically and geographically defined as contiguous areas with similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a large area, creating a typical ecosystem over that area

Classification of Biomes

Terrestrial biomes: Biomes found on earth, and possess abundance of vegetation are known as terrestrial biomes. They have many variations, depending on climate, vegetation and the location thereof, some of the most popular terrestrial biomes are tundra, forest, grassland and desert.

Tundra biomes: are extremely cold and harsh conditions. These include areas of Russia and the Arctic. Only a few types of plants and animals can survive here, and even humans find it very difficult to live in such conditions. The forest biome is found in tropical and subtropical areas, they have high humidity, abundant rainfall and lush vegetation.

The grassland biome: has abundance of plants, grass and flowers. They have a rainy season and a dry season, is a kind of environment with decent temperatures throughout the year. As a result, it is easier for plants and animals to be able to survive.

The desert biome: is the hottest and driest of all terrestrial biomes. Extreme temperatures and lack of rain can really take its toll, the fire risk is very high as well, which can result in many burned areas.

Freshwater biomes: Freshwater biome are those found in freshwater. It's amazing the amount of aquatic life that exists out there. The water depth and temperature determine what lives there. If the water moves or is stagnant is also something that is taken into consideration. When you think in freshwater biomes, they do not have to be large bodies of water.

These include lakes, rivers, streams, ponds and wetlands. Sometimes living organisms have only a single cell. They often rely on water for food and survival. When you look in freshwater, you can see areas of moss, this is an indicator that there are organisms that live in water and feed on moss as a means to survive in their biome.

Marine biomes: When you think about large bodies of water, such as oceans, we are thinking of marine biomes. Containing salt water instead of fresh water, coral reefs and estuaries are also included. The marine biome is the largest of all biomes in the world, it makes sense since much of the surface of the Earth is made up of water. It is amazing what can occur in marine biomes and the technology we have today allows us to use underwater cameras to see the excellent relations between plants and animals that live there.

Endolithic biomes: Some argue if the endolithic biome is actually a separate classification. However, many experts believe that these living beings deserve proper categorization. You'll find endolithic biomes in all other types of biomes, and refer to various forms of microscopic life. They live in rocks and pores, so they are very difficult to identify and categorize.

Anthropogenic biomes: Perhaps the most difficult element of the biomes are anthropogenic biomes. This has to do with human efforts, and the land used for growing food through agriculture falls into this category. The forms of vegetation that can be evaluated, and based on this information, we are able to determine that grows best in a certain type of environment.

Food and Nonfood relation

The food chain or food chain  indicates the feeding relationships between producers, consumers and decomposers. In other words, the string reflects who eats whom (a living organism that feeds on upstream and, in turn, are eaten by that follows).



It is, in short, a current of energy that begins with photosynthesis and then transferred from one organism to another through nutrition. The food chain, therefore, begins with photosynthetic plants that have the ability to create live from inert matter. Therefore, they are called producers.

Categories of Organisms

All ecosystems contain three basic types of organisms: producers, consumers and decomposers. Each type of organism plays a vital role in the ecosystem. If one of the three types of organisms were to disappear, all living things would die as the cyclical flow of life-giving energy collapsed.

Ecosystem:

• An ecosystem is a network of living organisms and non-living things. The organisms in an ecosystem rely on each other and their environment to sustain themselves. An ecosystem may be any size, from a part of your home to regions larger than most nations. Different environments have their own unique ecosystems, but there is no such thing as a single, perfect environment. Organisms develop within a given environment and will adapt or perish as the environment changes.

Producers:

• Although the three types of organisms work together in a cycle of energy, it is easiest to think of producers as the organisms that begin the cycle. Producers take energy from inorganic sources and convert it into sugars. Green plants are producers that take energy from the sun and create sugars through photosynthesis. Deep-sea bacteria are also producers; they live near vents in the ocean's floor and convert chemicals into sugar. Producers are autotrophs because they are at the base of the food chain (also known as trophic levels).

Consumers:

• As their name suggests, consumers are the organisms that consume energy from producers. Insects and animals are consumers, and there are three types within this category. Herbivores are primary consumers because they eat only autotrophs (plants). Carnivores then consume these herbivores (insects and animals). If a carnivore only eats herbivores, it is a secondary consumer. A carnivore that eats the secondary consumer would be a tertiary consumer. Omnivores, such as humans, consume both autotrophs and herbivores (and occasionally carnivores).

Decomposers:

• Decomposers are the final type of organism in an ecosystem. All producers and consumers eventually die and become detritus. The decomposers then consume this lifeless detritus and convert it into vital inorganic material. Decomposers return this inorganic material to the environment where it provides important nutrients for producers. Thus, the cycle begins again as nutrients provided by decomposers sustain producers, consumers feed on the producers and decomposers reintroduce the remaining energy.

Structure of Ecosystem

All ecosystems have to include both abiotic and biotic components, the interactions, and a known source of energy. The simplest but least representative of ecosystems therefore contains just one living plant – the biotic component, in a small terrarium with light exposure to which water source with essential nutrients for the plant’s growth has been added – the abiotic environment. The other extreme is the biosphere, which has all of Earth's organisms and the interactions between them and Earth’s systems – the abiotic environment. And of course, the majority of ecosystems fall in between the extremes of complexity.

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS:

                           The non living factors are called the abiotic component. They include the physical and chemical components. They are solar energy, water,CO2, temperature, humidity, pH, nitrogen, etc.

BIOTIC COMPONENTS:

                           The living components of the environment comprises the biotic components. Biotic components are classified as:

• PRODUCERS: These are the autotrophic organisms that are capable of photosynthesis. The are primarily the food producers.They make food for themselves and indirectly for other components directly or indirectly. Green plants are the primary producers.

• CONSUMERS: They depend on producers for their food directly or indirectly. They are further classified as herbivores(feed only on plants), carnivores(feed only on animals) and omnivores(feed both on plants and animals). 

• DECOMPOSERS: They obtain food from the dead remains of other producers and consumers.They are very important to complete the food cycle.They include bacteria and fungi.

Levels of Organization

Individual, Species, Organism:

An individual is any living thing or organism.

Population:

A group of individuals of a given species that live in a specific geographic area at a given time.

Community:

This includes all the populations in a specific area at a given time.

Ecosystem: 

As explained in the pages earlier, ecosystems include more than a community of living organisms (abiotic) interacting with the environment (abiotic). 

Biome: 

A biome, in simple terms, is a set of ecosystems sharing similar characteristics with their abiotic factors adapted to their environments.

Biosphere: 

When we consider all the different biomes, each blending into the other, will all humans living in many different geographic areas, we form a huge community of humans, animals and plants, in their defined habitats.

What is an Ecosystem?

An ecosystem consists of the biological community that occurs in some locale, and the physical and chemical factors that make up its non-living or abiotic environment. There are many examples of ecosystems -- a pond, a forest, an estuary, a grassland. The boundaries are not fixed in any objective way, although sometimes they seem obvious, as with the shoreline of a small pond. Usually the boundaries of an ecosystem are chosen for practical reasons having to do with the goals of the particular study.