What are biomes and what are they for?
Biomes describe global patterns of ecosystem form and process within the biosphere and therefore represent the most basic global categories of ecosystems, such as tropical rainforests, grasslands and deserts. They are a basic part of biology and Earth science education and are therefore found in nearly every introductory textbook on these subjects. They are also a critical part of global models of the biosphere, representing ecosystem processes and their dynamics in models of earth systems, including climate. Conventional biome maps are derived from vegetation patterns that correspond to global patterns in climate, terrain and geology.