Biomes & ecosystems
Major terrestrial biomes from tropical rainforest to tundra.
Biomes are large ecological regions shaped by climate, soil, and evolution — think tropical rainforest, desert, or tundra. They help explain why certain plants and animals occur together across continents.
Colors on this map come from the WWF / RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017 dataset, grouped into nine readable world-scale classes. Mangrove fringes and small islands are simplified away at this scale; coastlines follow Natural Earth so biome edges do not look jagged.
- Forests — tropical, temperate, and boreal (taiga) dominate wet or seasonal wet climates.
- Grasslands & savannas — rainfall supports grasses more than closed forest.
- Deserts & Mediterranean scrub — dry or summer-dry climates.
- Tundra — cold, treeless polar and high-latitude regions.
See also: Latitude climate bands, Köppen climate classes, Major river systems.
- The intersection of terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the Mediterranean — Coastal biome overlap.
- GIS and the exploration of desert landscapes and oases — Arid-land biomes.
- Mapping human impact: urban growth and deforestation — Biome change.