Biomes are classified according to the inherent microbiota of a region. There are five major ones on our planet. And they all have sub-types. Find out all about it here.

 

Soil Type, climate, temperature ranges, light and water amount, biodiversity in a particular region, are the factors that determine the classification of a biome.

 

As such, there are five broad types of biomes, but some scientists consider the sub-types to add to the numbers.

 

Aquatic

 

Both freshwater and marine biomes are primarily slotted under aquatic biomes, though they are sometimes claimed as independent categories.

Any waterbody enclosed or flanked by land like ponds, lakes, rivers, etc., are considered freshwater biomes. They contain less than one percent salt. Marine biomes, comprising ocean, coral reefs, and estuaries, cover about one-third of Earth's surface.

 

Grasslands

 

As the nomenclature indicates, regions dominated by grass — they are generally open spaces with warm, dry climate are termed grassland. Tropical (also called savannas) and temperate are the two sub-types. Tropical grasslands permeate areas nearer to the equator and include half of Africa, Australia, the Indian subcontinent and South America. They have few trees.

Found further away from the equator, temperate grasslands, in counties like South Africa, Hungary, Argentina, Uruguay, North America, and Russia, don't have any trees or shrubs and receive less precipitation than savannas. They are further divided into two types, prairies — with taller grasses and steppes with shorter grasses.

 

Forests

 

Covering about one-third of the Earth, forests, populated by trees, contain the majority of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, including insects, birds, and mammals. The three chief forest biomes are temperate, tropical, and boreal forests (aka taiga). While tropical forests, found nearer to the equator are warm and humid, temperate forests are further away from experiencing all the four seasons, the boreal forests, placed even higher have the coldest and driest climate with precipitation occurring typically as snow.

 

Deserts

 

Any area receiving less than 50 centimetres (20 inches) per year is noted as a desert. Occupying about a third of the landmass, they lie mostly near the subtropical areas. According to their climatic conditions and location, deserts can be listed as hot and dry, semiarid, coastal, and cold.

Because of temperature extremities, the limited biodiversity — consisting of small reptiles and mammals, have a special adaptive means of survival in that hostile environment.

 

Tundra

 

Bone-chilling temperatures ranging from -34 to 12 degrees Celsius (-29 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit), low precipitation of just 15–25 centimetres (six to ten inches) per year, poor nutrient quality of permafrost, short summers, characterise the tundras. It's two subtypes are the Arctic, on the north of boreal forests and alpine on the high-altitude mountains.

Biodiversity is restricted to rudimentary vegetation like grasses, shrubs, mosses, and lichens and environment-specific wildlife.