Click here for a printable version, including the text for all biomes. You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to print. (Click here for free download). Imagine that you are taking a trip across the United States. As you travel from one part of the country to another, you quickly discover that different plants and animals live in different areas. So you would probably be really surprised to see an alligator in the middle of the Mojave Desert or a cactus in the Everglades! Why do some kinds of plants and animals survive in one area but not in another? Why do different groups of plants and animals live in different areas? You can probably answer these questions easily once you think about them. The kinds of animals that live in an area depend largely on the kinds of plants that grow there. For example, the midwestern United States was once home to millions of grazing bison. Today, however, most of the grasses that once grew in the Midwest have been replaced by corn and wheat fields. What effect do you think this has had on the bison population? You are right if you said that the herds of bison have greatly decreased and have almost disappeared. (Today, small herds of bison have been established on private land.) If the plant life in an area determines the animal life in that area, what determines the plant life? The plant life in an area is determined mainly by climate. Recall that climate refers to the general conditions of temperature and precipitation for an area over a long period of time. As The United States has six major climate regions. These are: Moist Continental, Moist subtropical, Marine west coast, Mediterranean, Desert, and Steppe. Scientists classify areas with similar climates, plants, and animals into divisions called biomes (BIGH-ohmz).

Biomes are divisions that help scientists better understand the natural world. But as is often the case in science, not all scientists agree on the kinds and number of biomes. However, most scientists accept at least six land biomes. Each of these biomes is located in some area of the United States.The major land biomes of the United States are tundras, coniferous forests, deciduous forests, tropical rain forests, grasslands, and deserts.

There are also several types of aquatic, or water, biomes. Because aquatic biomes do not depend on climate, they will not be considered here.

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