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biome — English
A large, global ecosystem (see “ecosystem”). Each biome’s name comes from the dominant type of natural vegetation that typifies it. Thus there are, inter alia, temperate grassland, tundra, coniferous forest, and warm desert biomes. The main natural factors which control the nature of any biome are climate and soil type. A biome can extend across an entire continent or a large part of it. Comparable biomes occur on a number of continents, for example warm deserts occur in Africa, Australia, North America, South America, and Asia. Cold deserts and tundras occur in the northern parts of Europe, Asia, North America and the southern extremities of South America. Savannas (savannahs), grasslands, equatorial forests and tropical east coast forests occur on a whole number of continents, notably a strikingly large region of Africa.
