Ecosystems and Biomes

The community and its abiotic environment constitute an ecosystem. The biotic and abiotic components may have significant interactions. A biome is a life zone or biogeoclimatic region that shares a common climate, soil and collection of plant communities and hence ecosystems. Typical biomes include desert, scrubland, tundra, bog, forest, rainforest, woodland, and grassland.

Ecosystem Breakdown

Models are used to study the interactions within and between ecosystems. Such studies ultimately are useful to determine the vulnerability of ecosystems to break-down due to loss of some species or invasion by others. This may impact the functioning of the ecosystem in terms of its ability to efficiently use water, light, and nutrients in the production of plant carbon.

Figure 2 shows the changes in natural vegetation for the US as simulated by two different vegetation models under a doubling of atmospheric CO₂. Maps on the right consider both the climatic and physiological effects of the enhanced CO₂, whereas the maps in the center consider only the climatic effects.

Figure 3 gives the change in terrestrial carbon storage simulated for the US under a doubling of atmospheric CO₂ for various combinations of climate models, biogeochemistry models, and vegetation models.

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