biome

American  

[bahy-ohm] / ˈbaɪ oʊm /

noun

Ecology.

1. a complex biotic community characterized by distinctive plant and animal species and maintained under the climatic conditions of the region, especially such a community that has developed to climax.

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biome British  

/ ˈbaɪˌəʊm /

noun

1. a major ecological community, extending over a large area and usually characterized by a dominant vegetation See formation

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biome Scientific  

/ bī′ōm′ /

1. A large community of plants and animals that occupies a distinct region. Terrestrial biomes, typically defined by their climate and dominant vegetation, include grassland, tundra, desert, tropical rainforest, and deciduous and coniferous forests. There are two basic aquatic biomes, freshwater and marine, which are sometimes further broken down into categories such as lakes and rivers or pelagic, benthic, and intertidal zones.

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Etymology

Origin of biome

First recorded in 1915–20; bi- ² + -ome, indicating a mass or part of something ( see -oma)

Explanation

A biome is a specific environment that's home to living things suited for that place and climate. A desert biome is great for a lizard, but a koala needs the leafy greens of a forest biome. A plant or animal makes its home in a specific biome, which is pronounced "BI-ohm." While a biome can range from an arctic tundra to a tropical rain forest, living things need to stay in the biome that's best suited to keeping them alive and growing. Scientists in the field of ecology, the study of the environmental connections between living things, work to understand the effects of climate change and population growth on biomes.

Example Sentences

To overcome this, the team combined data from the UK Baby Biome Study with genomic information from E. coli bloodstream infection surveillance programs in the UK and Norway, previously compiled by the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

From Science Daily • Nov. 4, 2025

This research is part of the ongoing UK Baby Biome study and is funded by Wellcome and the Wellcome Sanger Institute.

From BBC • Sep. 6, 2024

Ag Biome operates with a “flat” business model: It eschews managers, favoring committees instead.

From New York Times • Jul. 5, 2023

Fecal matter is transferred either through endoscopy or swallowed capsules, and Open Biome has already shipped about 2,000 treatments to almost 200 hospitals, according to the Washington Post.

From Time • Jan. 30, 2015

The known range of T. ornata includes the southern half of the Grassland Biome, part of the Desert Biome, and that part of the Temperate Deciduous Forest Biome known as the Prairie-Forest Ecotone.

From Natural History of the Ornate Box Turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata Agassiz by Legler, John M.

Related Words

• ecosystem
• habitat