Geography · Physical geography
World biomes
Rainforest, savanna, tundra, taiga, desert.
What is a biome?
A biome is a large area of Earth with similar climate, plants and animals. Scientists group places with matching weather patterns and living things. Five major land biomes are rainforest, savanna, desert, taiga and tundra. Each biome has adapted to different amounts of rainfall and temperature. Understanding biomes helps us see how climate shapes ecosystems (communities of living things).
Tropical rainforests and savannas
Tropical rainforests get huge amounts of rain all year round – over two metres annually. Dense forests grow with tall trees forming layers called canopies. Savannas are tropical grasslands with scattered trees. They have wet and dry seasons, not constant rain. Both biomes are hot, but savannas are drier. Lions live in savannas; jaguars live in rainforests.
Deserts – the driest biome
Deserts receive less than twenty-five centimetres of rain each year. Plants and animals must survive extreme dryness. Not all deserts are hot – some are cold, like Antarctica. Hot deserts have scorching days but often cold nights. Cacti store water in thick stems. Desert animals often shelter during daytime heat.
Taiga – the snowy forest
Taiga (also called boreal forest) stretches across northern Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. Long, freezing winters and short summers define this biome. Evergreen trees like spruce and pine keep their needles year-round. Taiga gets more precipitation than tundra, mostly as snow. Animals like bears and wolves roam these vast forests.
Tundra – the frozen treeless land
Tundra is the coldest biome, found near the Arctic Circle. Temperatures stay below freezing most of the year. The ground beneath stays permanently frozen – this is called permafrost. Only low plants like mosses, lichens and small shrubs grow here. Trees cannot survive because roots cannot penetrate permafrost. Caribou and Arctic foxes live in tundra regions.
Worked examples
1. A biome has two metres of rain yearly, is always hot, and has tall trees forming layers. Which biome is it?
- Check the rainfall: two metres is very high, so not desert or tundra.
- Check temperature: always hot rules out taiga and tundra.
- Tall trees forming layers matches tropical rainforest, not savanna grassland.
- Answer: tropical rainforest.
2. A region has long freezing winters, short summers, and evergreen trees like spruce. Which biome fits?
- Cold winters and short summers rule out tropical biomes like rainforest and savanna.
- Evergreen trees mean it cannot be tundra (which is treeless).
- Taiga has freezing winters, short summers and coniferous (evergreen) forests.
- Answer: taiga.
3. An area gets less than twenty-five centimetres of rain yearly and has extreme dryness. Which biome?
- Very low rainfall (under twenty-five centimetres) is the key clue.
- Extreme dryness matches desert conditions.
- Rainforest, savanna, taiga and tundra all receive more precipitation.
- Answer: desert.
Try it yourself
A biome has wet and dry seasons, scattered trees and grassland where lions hunt. Which biome is it?
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