Biomes
It's all tied together
What is a biome?
Please watch the video for an overview of what a biome is...
Introduction to Biomes
Simply put a biome is any group of plants and animals that occupy a habitat. So a desert, and all of the plants and animals in that desert would make up a desert biome. Biomes have both abiotic and biotic components. The abiotic components are those things that are the non-living parts of a biome. In our desert example it would include the sand, rocks, minerals, air, water, etc. found there. On the other hand, the biotic parts of our desert biome would include everything that is living - the plants, animals and microbes.
Please watch the video below about the different types of biomes on Earth. Please take notes which should include at a minimum the name of the biome and its characteristics.
For example: Desert Biome - scarce amounts of precipitation; large differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures
Biomes of the World
All of the biomes on Earth make up our biosphere - the parts of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere where life exists. As you can tell from the video, abiotic and biotic factors are different and in most cases unique across the different biomes... after all, you wouldn't expect to find a polar bear living happily in the desert. This biodiversity or variety of life in a biome is an extremely important part of maintaining a healthy environment here on Earth. However, destructive practices by humans such as deforestation and introduction of invasive species are threatening biodiversity across the globe. Invasive species are those that are not native to an area and therefore do not have natural predators. These species can cause great economic and environmental harm as their populations grow unchecked.
Can't we all just get along?
A niche is an organism's unique place in its biome. It includes things like food and feeding patterns, transportation, mating, diurnal and nocturnal rhythms. If any part of an organism's niche changes, the organism must adapt or die. Of course all of the organisms in a biome interact - some to a greater degree than others. Competition for resources can occur when two or more individuals or species vie for the same things such as food, mates, living space. These biotic relationships include predation, parasitism, mutualism (both organisms benefit from the relationship), commensalism (one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed) and mimicry.
These complex relationships between organisms in a biome lead to the development of food webs that can affect population growth and the cycling of nutrients in the biome.