Page 10 - SGG_220316_Teachers_Handbook_Module_6

Image 5. Ecological diversity: A. Tropical Rainforest; B. Desert shrubland; C. Coral Reef; D. Tundra
Forest.

1.2. Biomes, ecosystems and ecosystem’s services’

Planet Earth is full of biodiversity, but biodiversity is not the same on each part of the Earth, mainly
because Earth abiotic conditions (particularly climate) are different along the different parts of the
planet. This relation between climate and biodiversity, mostly with the vegetation, has led to the
development of Earth Bioclimatic classification. Macrobiomes are large areas with uniform
vegetation structure (it can also be defined as large-scale ecosystems), which result from the
interaction between bioclimate and vegetation structure classification. This bioclimatic
classification builds upon thermicity (bioclimatic belts) and rainfall/temperature ratios
(ombrotypes) along both altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. Planet Earth has 5 Macrobiomes, see
Images 6 and 7. Each Macrobiomes divides into Biomes accordingly to thermicity, ombrotypes and
vegetation.

As seen in previous chapter, one of the measures for biodiversity is the ecological diversity. This
ecological diversity is observable from the macrobiomes to the ecosystems and habitats (EUNIS
definition on previous chapter).

Ecosystems are geographical areas on which interaction between living organisms
interact between each other and with the abiotic conditions of that physical
environment.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the
views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the

information contained therein.