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A fundamental classification of biomes is into: Terrestrial (land) biomes Freshwater biomes Marine biomes

Biomes are climatically and geographically defined areas of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms,[1] and are often referred to as ecosystems. Biomes are defined by factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate. Unlike ecozones, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of ecological succession and climax vegetation (quasi-equilibrium state of the local ecosystem). An ecosystem has many biotopes and a biome is a major habitat type. A major habitat type, however, is a compromise, as it has an intrinsic inhomogeneity. The biodiversity characteristic of each biome, especially the diversity of fauna and subdominant plant forms, is a function of abiotic factors and the biomass productivity of the dominant vegetation. In terrestrial biomes, species diversity tends to correlate positively with net primary productivity, moisture availability, and temperature.[2]

What is a Biome?     A biome is a large area with similar flora, fauna, and microorganisms.  Most of us are familiar with the tropical rainforests, tundra in the arctic regions, and the evergreen trees in the coniferous forests. Each of these large communities contain species that are adapted to its varying conditions of water, heat, and soil.  For instance, polar bears thrive in the arctic while cactus plants have a thick skin to help preserve water in the hot desert.  To learn more about each of the major biomes, click on the appropriate heading to the right.  What is an Ecosystem?     Most of us are confused when it comes to the words ecosystem and biome.  What's the difference?  There is a slight difference between the two words.  An ecosystem is much smaller than a biome.  Conversely, a biome can be thought of many similar ecosystems throughout the world grouped together.  An ecosystem can be as large as the Sahara Desert, or as small as a puddle or vernal pool.     Ecosystems are dynamic interactions between plants, animals, and microorganisms and their environment working together as a functional unit.  Ecosystems will fail if they do not remain in balance.  No community can carry more organisms than its food, water, and shelter can accomodate.  Food and territory are often balanced by natural phenomena such as fire, disease, and the number of predators.  Each organism has its own niche, or role, to play.

The Sumatran rhinoceros is a small, hairy rhinoceros which survives in limited numbers in pockets of Indonesian and Malaysian rain forests. In the early 1900s it ranged over most of Southeast Asia from the Himalayas in Bhutan, eastern India through Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. Now they are only found in little forest pockets on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.

The smallest living rhinoceros, the Sumatran rhinoceros has a gray-brown leathery hide. Its deep folds around the neck, behind the front legs, and before the hind legs give the rhinoceros an armor-plated appearance. It has a short, stocky body and stumpy legs which are covered with coarse reddish-brown hair. Its body length is from 8 to 8.5 feet and stands 4.5 feet at the shoulders. A mature rhino weighs from 2200 to 4400 pounds.

The Sumatran rhinoceros is the only Asian rhinoceros with two horns. Both sexes of rhinos have horns, the front horn being larger, averaging 15 to 20 inches. The male's horns are usually bigger than the female's, whose second, smaller horn is often absent. The upper lip curves down and can move around to grasp objects.

lanet Earth is part of a vast space neighborhood called the solar system. Our solar system is an amazing place. It’s ev

Tropical rainforests are warm, wet forests with many tall trees. In most tropical rainforests, it rains every day. Tropical rainforests grow in a narrow zone near the equator. They are found in Africa, Asia, Australia, and South and Central America. The largest rainforest in the world is the Amazon rainforest in South America. Tropical rainforests are home to a huge number of different plants and animals. All tropical rainforests are endangered.

Mangroves are woody trees or shrubs that grow in mangrove habitats or mangal (Hogarth, 1999). The mangrove is often considered a type of biome. Mangrove habitat is exclusively tropical and tidal, and therefore having soil or sediment that is water-logged and saline or of variable salinity. Areas where mangal occurs includes estuaries and marine shorelines. A wide variety of plant species can be found in mangrove habitat, but some 54 species in 20 genera, belonging to 16 families constitute the "true mangroves" — species that occur exclusively in mangrove habitats and rarely elsewhere (Hogarth, 1999).

Cold, snowy, windy. When you hear those words they make you think of mountains. The Alpine biome is like winter is to people in New England; snow, high winds, ice, all the typical winter things. In Latin the word for 'high mountain' is 'alpes'. That is where today's word alpine comes from. Alpine biomes are found in the mountain regions all around the world. They are usually at an altitude of about 10,000 feet or more. The Alpine biome lies just below the snow line of a mountain. As you go up a mountain, you will travel through many biomes. In the North American Rocky Mountains you begin in a desert biome. As you climb you go through a deciduous forest biome, grassland biome, steppe biome, and taiga biome before you reach the cold Alpine biome. In the summer average temperatures range from 10 to 15° C . In the winter the temperatures are below freezing. The winter season can last from October to May. The summer season may last from June to September. The temperatures in the Alpine biome can also change from warm to freezing in one day. Because the severe climate of the Alpine biome, plants and animals have developed adaptations to those conditions. There are only about 200 species of Alpine plants. At high altitudes there is very little CO2, which plants need to carry on photosynthesis. Because of the cold and wind, most plants are small perennial groundcover plants which grow and reproduce slowly. They protect themselves from the cold and wind by hugging the ground. Taller plants or trees would soon get blown over and freeze. When plants die they don't decompose very quickly because of the cold. This makes for poor soil conditions. Most Alpine plants can grow in sandy and rocky soil. Plants have also adapted to the dry conditions of the Alpine biome. Plant books and catalogs warn you about over watering Alpine plants. Alpine animals have to deal with two types of problems: the cold and too much high UV wavelengths. This is because there is less atmosphere to filter UV rays from the sun. There are only warm blooded animals in the Alpine biome, although there are insects. Alpine animals adapt to the cold by hibernating, migrating to lower, warmer areas, or insulating their bodies with layers of fat. Animals will also tend to have shorter legs, tails, and ears, in order to reduce heat loss. Alpine animals also have larger lungs, more blood cells and hemoglobin because of the increase of pressure and lack of oxygen at higher altitudes. This is also true for people who have lived on mountains for a long time, like the Indians of the Andes Mountains in South America and the Sherpas of the Himalayas in Asia. bibliography: "Himalayas", http://encarta.msn.com/find/, (June 2000). "General Ecology, EEOB 404", http://www.tulane.edu/~eeob/Courses/Ecology_Materials/arctic_alpine_99f.html, (June 2000).

Rainforests are important for many reasons. Very importantly, the plants clean the air. By absorbing carbon dioxide they help slow down the greenhouse effect. Rainforest trees store carbon dioxide in their roots, stems, branches, and leaves. Destroying the rainforests causes carbon dioxide to be released, which makes the greenhouse effect worse.

Rainforests actually create the rain that gives them their name. As water evaporates from the forest back into the atmosphere, it forms clouds above the rainforest. The clouds release the water back as rain, which evaporates into the atmosphere, and so on in a cycle. Rainforests affect the rain and weather patterns in other parts of the world. Removal of the forests can change the rainfall patterns elsewhere.

It is believed that over 50% of the world's species of plants and animals are found in the rainforest

 Amazingly, only cover 6 - 7% of the total land surface on Earth is covered by rainforest.  On average, there are between 20 to 80 different species of trees per acre.  There is also a wide variety of animal life found in the rainforest.

Rainforests are disappearing very quickly. The good news is that there are a lot of people who want to save rainforests. The bad news is saving rainforests is not going to be easy. It will take the efforts of many people working together in order to ensure rainforests and their wildlife will survive for your children to appreciate and enjoy.

Teach others about the importance of the environment and how they can help save rainforests. Restore damaged ecosystems by planting trees on land where forests have been cut down. Encourage people to live in a way that doesn't hurt the environment Establish parks to protect rainforests and wildlife Support companies that operate in ways that minimize damage to the environment

Tropical rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on earth. A four-square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 1500 species of flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 125 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, 100 species of reptiles, 60 species of amphibians, and 150 species of butterflies. More than 50% of the world's plant and animal species inhabit the 7% of the world that is covered in rainforest.

Some forests in Southeast Asia have been around for more than 100 million years, when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. During the Ice Ages, the last of which occurred about 10,000 years ago, the frozen areas of the North and South Poles spread over much of the earth, causing huge numbers of extinctions.

While there are many species of plants in a square-mile of tropical rainforest, there may only be one or two of each. In addition as most of the species are found nowhere else on Earth, by removing one plant or animal, the fragile ecosystem would be threatened, and the species may be forced into extinction.

Many animals wake up to full activity in the night and can be seen and heard throughout the rainforests if you are walking through at night. Bats generally fly far around the rainforests at night searching for food.

Monkeys and Apes can be found on various continents. Monkeys live in Asia, Africa and South America. Gorillas and chimps live in Africa, and orangutans and gibbons live in Southeast Asia.

Many animals wake up to full activity in the night and can be seen and heard throughout the rainforests if you are walking through at night. Bats generally fly far around the rainforests at night searching for food.

According to some estimates, 50 million acres of rain forest are cut down every year.  The United Nations says the figure is closer to 17 million acres.  The World Wildlife Fund says that every minute, 25 to 50 acres are cut or burned to the ground.

The native people live in harmony with the jungle. They do not hurt the rainforest. But some people do hurt the rainforest to make money. They cut down the trees to make furniture and paper. They burn the forest to clear the land for raising cows. They mine for gold and drill for oil. These people hurt the rainforest only to make money for themselves or their companies. Pretend you are a kid who lives in the rainforest. Who is harming the jungle to make money?

There are about 1,000 indigenous tribes in the rainforests of the world.

Those nearest the equator, where the climate is very hot and wet all through the year, are evergreen because the trees can grow all the time and so are always in leaf

Cloud forests are yet another type of rainforest, so-called because they can be found high up mountains, where they are nearly always in cloud. The climate here is very cool but extremely wet.

Central America offers great biodiversity, but development, tree cutting, farming, and pollution threaten the region’s natural places.

The harpy eagle nests in the tallest trees and hunts birds, monkeys, and sloths. Swinging through the lower branches, the grey woolly monkey uses its tail to grip. But this is gradually being destroyed. The Amazon Basin once dense, is now rapidly being opened up. The land is being developed for oil, mining, and farming.

The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is one of the world's largest birds of prey, reaching over three feet from head to tail. This awesome predator is a powerful flyer, able to pluck a sloth or monkey off a tree branch. It gets its name from a mythical Greek demon that preyed on people

Hang onto old pieces of junk mail. While you can't stop companies from wasting trees to produce ads that nobody reads, you can still put the paper to good use. Use old envelopes from credit card offers to take phone messages or make "to do" lists.

The world's rainforests are among our most precious natural resources. Many rare species of plants and animals live in the rainforests. As modern civilization continues to progress, an increasing percentage of the world's rainforests are cleared for commercial purposes. Thankfully, there are many easy things you can do to help conserve the rainforest.

LocatedToucans are located in Central and South America in tropical and sub-tropical rainforests.DietToucans will eat mostly small fruit and sometimes insects.HabitatToucans live in holes of hollow trees.SizeToucans can grow to be about 33 - 65 centimeters in height.