Biome is a concept used to group different natural areas on earth. This grouping is usually based on the animal(fauna) and plant life(flora), how the organisms survive in these areas, and the environmental conditions. Even though grouping using organisms is hard, because there is an estimated 17 million species; but by comparing the different adaptations of organisms living in the same area, we can begin to understand the complexity of the biome.$^1$$^2$
Basically, a biome is a area of land characterized by its different organisms. This allows us to compare many different areas across the world easily. They can also be called “life zones”(bio meaning life)$^1$$^2$
Examples include grasslands, coniferous forest, tundra, marine or rainforests.$^2$
An ecosystem is a geographical area, where organisms and the physical environment work together in a particular unit of space.. This may sound similar to a biome, but they are not the same. A biome is made up of many ecosystems.$^3$$^4$
For example, the Sahara Desert has many ecosystems. There is the oasis ecosystem, which contains the date palm tree, freshwater, and animals like the crocodile. There is also the dune ecosystem. This is to say that the ecosystem itself, is not always the biome. $^3$
In both ecosystems and biomes, there are abiotic and biotic factors.$^3$
Biotic factors are essentially all living parts of an ecosystem or a biome. This includes producers, like trees and algae, and consumers, ranging from rabbits to foxes. This also includes the decomposers like fungi and bacteria.$^5$
The abiotic factors are all non-living parts of an ecosystem or a biome. This includes air, water, soil, light, salinity, and temperature. All of these factors play an important role in their ecosystem and biome, but they are non-living items.$^5$
The main interaction to keep in mind is that changes in the abiotic factors will most likely impact the biotic factors. For example, trees being cut down or air quality changing; both of those will lead to the increase in some and decrease of other biotic factors. However the change in biotic factors do not necessarily impact the abiotic factors. For example, the death of many consumers does not change the air quality.$^5$
There are five main biomes: aquatic, grassland, tundra, forest, and desert. However these five biomes are further sub-divided into sub-types of biomes.$^6$
Aquatic biome: freshwater and marine.$^6$