FORSite>Contents>The Forest Community>Biomes

OVERVIEW

When you have successfully completed this section you will:

1. Be able to identify the major forest biomes and cover types which occur in North America.

2. Know the most important species which occur in each forest biome.

Forest trees may be grouped according to the dominant vegetation composition and/or locality factors. This type of grouping is referred to as a forest cover type.

Vegetation groups can also be split into biomes. 

Biomes are a means of classifying vegetation into distinct groups, at a very broad scale. North America is comprised of 11 very different biomes, including...

Desert 

Broad Sclerophyll

Pinyon-Juniper

Temperate Grasslands 

Mountain Complex 

Subtropical 

Tropical 

Northern Coniferous Forest 

Moist Temperate Coniferous Forest 

Temperate Deciduous Forest 

Biome information reprinted from: College of Agriculture, Department of Forestry, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1974.