Biomes & ecosystems

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.