Points to Consider
You now have a general idea of what a biome is and how the diversity of a biome is related to
otherfactors; thenextchapter, onecosystemdynamics, willgiveyouagreaterunderstanding
of how energy flow, cycling of matter, and succession vary from one biome to another
- One of the aquatic biomes, the hydrothermal vents, mentioned previously in this chap-
ter, is not dependent on sunlight but on bacteria, which utilize the chemistry of the
hot volcanic vents; see if you can guess where these bacteria fit into the flow of energy
in an ecosystem.
Image Sources
(1) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Seawifs_global_biosphere.jpg.
Public Domain.(2) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Serengeti_Lion_Running_saturated.jpg. CC-BY-SA 2.5.(3) Oliver Herold.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wild-meadow-country.jpg.
CC-BY-SA 3.0.(4) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atacama1.jpg. Public Domain.(5) Shane Anderson.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santacruz_300.jpg.
Public Domain – NOAA.(6) Thermos.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panurus_biarmicus_flock.jpg.
GNU-FDL.(7) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kelp_forest_Channel_Islands.JPG.
CC-BY-SA 2.5.(8) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kudzu_field_horz1.JPG. GNU-FDL.(9) http://commons.wikimedia.org/Image:Population_curve.svg. Public Domain.(10) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:
Sonoran_Desert_Scottsdale_AZ_50351.JPG. CC-BY-SA 2.0 Germany.
(11) http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GreatBarrierReef-EO.JPG. Public
Domain.
