Earth's Biomes
Updated: Aug 18
Explore Earth through recurring patterns of life
Shanti Plants – The Earth Provides
From tropical forests and deserts to rivers, polar seas and productive coastal waters, similar environmental conditions can create recurring types of ecosystems in different parts of the world.
A biome is a broad ecological pattern shaped by factors such as climate, water, elevation, soils, ocean circulation and characteristic communities of life. Unlike a realm or bioregion, a biome is not necessarily one continuous geographic place. The same type of biome can occur in separate regions and across different realms.
The Earth’s Resource Map uses biomes as one layer between broad realms and more detailed bioregions, ecoregions and resource records. They help explain why similar environments can support related ecological processes even when they are geographically distant.
Use this index to explore terrestrial, freshwater and ocean biome systems and the records currently connected to them.
What This Index Covers
Terrestrial Biomes
The terrestrial section follows the 14 widely recognised biome types used by the One Earth Bioregions Framework. These describe recurring land-based communities shaped mainly by climate, vegetation, elevation and water availability. One Earth Bioregions Framework
The same terrestrial biome may occur in several realms. A tropical moist forest in South America is therefore part of the same broad biome type as a tropical moist forest in another realm, while still containing different species and ecological histories.
Freshwater Biomes
The freshwater section follows the 12 Major Habitat Types used by Freshwater Ecoregions of the World.
These group freshwater ecoregions according to shared biological, chemical and physical characteristics. They are approximately equivalent to terrestrial biomes but represent rivers, lakes, wetlands, deltas and other freshwater systems. Freshwater Major Habitat Types
Ocean Biomes
The ocean section uses the four principal pelagic biomes described in the Longhurst framework:
Polar
Westerlies
Trade Winds
Coastal
These biomes are shaped largely by physical ocean processes and patterns of phytoplankton production. The 56 Longhurst biogeochemical provinces are grouped below under their four parent ocean biomes. These provinces are not marine realms: they describe recurring pelagic conditions shaped by physical forces and patterns of phytoplankton production.
Ocean-biome boundaries can move with seasonal and interannual changes. This framework primarily describes pelagic productivity patterns and does not represent every coastal, seafloor or deep-ocean habitat.
Terrestrial biomes, freshwater Major Habitat Types and Longhurst ocean biomes are useful companion layers, but they are not identical classification systems.
Browse Resources
Browse the biomes currently indexed below. Links are included where a biome record has been published. Freshwater and ocean biome links will be added as reviewed records become available.
Terrestrial Biomes
Freshwater Biomes
Large Lakes
Large River Deltas
Montane Freshwaters
Oceanic Islands
Polar Freshwaters
Temperate Coastal Rivers
Temperate Floodplain Rivers & Wetland Complexes
Temperate Upland Rivers
Tropical & Subtropical Coastal Rivers
Tropical & Subtropical Floodplain Rivers & Wetland Complexes
Tropical & Subtropical Upland Rivers
Xeric Freshwaters & Endorheic (Closed) Basins
Ocean Biomes
Polar
Atlantic Arctic — Atlantic
Atlantic sub-Arctic — Atlantic
North Pacific epicontinental sea — Pacific
Antarctic — Antarctic
Austral polar — Antarctic
Boreal polar — Arctic
Westerlies
Northeast Atlantic subtropical gyral — Atlantic
Mediterranean Sea — Atlantic
Northwest Atlantic subtropical gyral — Atlantic
Gulf Stream — Atlantic
North Atlantic Drift — Atlantic
Tasman Sea — Pacific
Kuroshio current — Pacific
Eastern Pacific subarctic gyres — Pacific
Western Pacific subarctic gyres — Pacific
North Pacific polar front — Pacific
Northwest Pacific subtropical — Pacific
Northeast Pacific subtropical — Pacific
Northwest Arabian Sea upwelling — Indian
South subtropical convergence — Antarctic
Subantarctic water ring — Antarctic
Trade Winds
South Atlantic gyral — Atlantic
Eastern tropical Atlantic — Atlantic
Western tropical Atlantic — Atlantic
Caribbean — Atlantic
North Atlantic tropical gyral — Atlantic
Archipelagic deep basins — Pacific
Pacific equatorial divergence — Pacific
North Pacific equatorial counter current — Pacific
North Pacific Tropical gyre — Pacific
California current — Pacific
South Pacific gyre — Pacific
Western Pacific warm pool — Pacific
Indian South subtropical gyre — Indian
Indian monsoon gyre — Indian
Coastal
Southwest Atlantic shelves — Atlantic
Brazilian current coast — Atlantic
Benguela current coast — Atlantic
Guinea current coast — Atlantic
Canary current coast — Atlantic
Guianas coast — Atlantic
Northeast Atlantic shelves — Atlantic
Northwest Atlantic shelves — Atlantic
Humboldt current coast — Pacific
East Australian coast — Pacific
Sunda-Arafura shelves — Pacific
China Sea — Pacific
Central American coast — Pacific
Alaska coastal downwelling — Pacific
New Zealand coast — Pacific
Coastal Californian current — Pacific
East African coast — Indian
Western Australian and Indonesian coast — Indian
Eastern India coast — Indian
Red Sea, Persian Gulf — Indian
Western India coast — Indian
Read First
Supporting Read First guides will be linked here as they are published. Until then, review the coverage, evidence and safety guidance below before using biome records for practical decisions.
Coverage and Evidence
The Earth's Resource Map is being built progressively.
A biome appearing in this index means that the ecological category is indexed. It does not mean that all knowledge about that region is complete, verified or suitable for practical use.
Coverage is shown openly using four levels:
Indexed — The region or resource is known to the system and can be connected to its identity, source and broad context. Details may still be incomplete.
Referenced — Traceable sources support some information, such as occurrence, description, ecology or possible uses. Practical guidance may still be incomplete.
Verified — Important stated claims have passed the required evidence, safety and conservation review for the context shown.
Localised and actionable — Verified information also includes the local context needed for practical guidance, such as occurrence, season, law, preparation or harvesting requirements, lookalikes, sustainability and regional review.
Evidence is assessed claim by claim. A reliable source supporting one fact does not automatically verify every statement about a species, resource or region.
Geographic boundaries are also tools for organising ecological information rather than hard barriers in nature. Species distributions, water systems, climate, migration and ecological relationships can cross mapped boundaries.
Never assume that advice verified for one location within a biome applies across the whole biome or automatically applies in another location. Local laws, conservation status, culturally governed knowledge, environmental conditions, common names, lookalikes and safe practices can differ between places.
For identification, consumption, harvesting, handling or other higher-risk decisions, use the complete resource record, its evidence and safety information, and appropriate local or professional guidance. Never act solely from a visual match or an incomplete database record.
Where information is missing or uncertain, the Earth's Resource Map will show that gap rather than presenting incomplete knowledge as complete.
Last Reviewed
18 August 2026
This date records the review of this index page and its geographic framework. Individual biome, bioregion, ecoregion and resource records may have different evidence, publication and review dates.
Continue Exploring
References
Abell, R. et al. (2008). Freshwater ecoregions of the world: A new map of biogeographic units for freshwater biodiversity conservation. BioScience, 58(5), 403–414. https://doi.org/10.1641/B580507
Longhurst, A. R. (2007). Ecological Geography of the Sea (2nd ed.). Academic Press. Publisher record
One Earth. (2023). One Earth Bioregions Framework.
Reygondeau, G., Longhurst, A., Martinez, E., Beaugrand, G., Antoine, D., & Maury, O. (2013). Dynamic biogeochemical provinces in the global ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 27(4), 1046–1058. https://doi.org/10.1002/gbc.20089
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