biome

/ˌbaɪˈoʊm/

/ˈbaɪəʊm/

Other forms: biomes

A biome is a specific environment that's home to living things suited for that place and climate. A desert biome is great for a lizard, but a koala needs the leafy greens of a forest biome.

A plant or animal makes its home in a specific biome, which is pronounced "BI-ohm." While a biome can range from an arctic tundra to a tropical rain forest, living things need to stay in the biome that's best suited to keeping them alive and growing. Scientists in the field of ecology, the study of the environmental connections between living things, work to understand the effects of climate change and population growth on biomes.

Definitions of biome

1. noun

   a major biotic community characterized by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate
   types:

   desert

   arid land with little or no vegetation

   grassland

   land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life

   forest, timber, timberland, woodland

   land that is covered with trees and shrubs

   bent

   an area of grassland unbounded by fences or hedges

   hayfield, meadow

   a field where grass or alfalfa are grown to be made into hay

   grazing land, lea, ley, pasture, pastureland

   a field covered with grass or herbage and suitable for grazing by livestock

   prairie

   a treeless grassy plain

   savanna, savannah

   a flat grassland in tropical or subtropical regions

   veld, veldt

   elevated open grassland in southern Africa

   greenwood

   woodlands in full leaf

   riparian forest

   woodlands along the banks of stream or river

   silva, sylva

   the forest trees growing in a country or region

   tree farm

   a forest (or part of a forest) where trees are grown for commercial use

   type of:

   biotic community, community

   (ecology) a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other