Alternative site for the Global ecosystem typology with additional information for ecosystem profiles and indicative maps.
This site is maintained by jrfep
The biome concept evolved from its original application to continental-scale vegetation units associated with major climate types, to units reflecting functional and evolutionary processes, albeit still with an emphasis on terrestrial vegetation (Mucina 2018). Here, we adopt elements of the functional biome concept proposed by Moncrieff et al. (2016) and generalised by Mucina (2018). We took a deductive approach to definition of units, using our conceptual model to focus a priori on convergent ecosystem functions and traits that are shaped by one or more dominant assembly processes (Keith et al. in review; Table 3).
The focus on traits and the ecological drivers that shape them, albeit qualitative, enabled us to extend the traditional scope of the biome concept from vegetation-climate relationships on land (Ricklefs & Relye 2018) to the entire biosphere. For example, functional distinctions justify recognition of different biomes on marine shelves and the deep sea floor. Marine shelves host diverse photoautotroph communities of benthic macrophytes, epiphytic algae and planktonic algae, compared to the deep sea floor, where a lack of sunlight precludes the existence of any photoautotrophs. The pelagic ocean waters, with exclusively planktonic autotrophs that diminish with depth (hence sunlight penetration), define a third functionally distinctive biome in the oceans. Conceptually, such distinctions in ecosystem are analogous to those between traditionally recognised terrestrial biomes, such as tropical forests and deserts that show marked contrasts in structural features of their autotroph communities shaped by the availability of water. In both cases, the diagnostic of functional differences between candidate biomes is founded on a diagnosis of major assembly filters that come to the fore in shaping functional traits of the ecosystems assignable to them. Although the ultimate outcomes involve subjective judgements, there is a common conceptual model and clear justification or recognition of separate biomes.
The 25 biomes recognised in v1.0 of the global ecosystem typology are described below. As noted above, many conform to ‘traditional’ terrestrial biomes (e.g. Whittaker 1975; Ricklefs & Relye 2018) because of the close interrelations between functional traits and plant dominant growth forms. Other functionally distinctive groupings fall outside the traditional scope of the biome concept, including lentic and lotic freshwater biomes, pelagic and benthic marine biomes, and several anthropogenic biomes. Ecosystems in this latter group are created by human activity, which continues to drive and maintain their assembly (Ellis et al. 2010).