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Biome Dex™

Explore the world’s biomes

Each biome card links the animals and plants that live there. Flip a card for the climate, geography, and conservation story — rare habitats wear a coloured ring.

🐾
★ Uncommon

The rainforests of the sea — living limestone cities built by tiny animals.

🪸 Coral Reef
Coral reefs are shallow tropical marine ecosystems built over millennia by colonies of reef-building (hermatypic) corals living in symbiosis with photosynthetic algae. They cover a tiny fraction of the ocean floor yet shelter roughly a quarter of all marine species, making them among the most biodiverse habitats on Earth.
Climate
Aquatic
Region
Indo-Pacific & tropical Atlantic
Species
14
Plants
0
🐾

Hot, wet, and impossibly green — the most species-rich land biome on Earth.

🌴 Tropical Rainforest
Tropical rainforests are warm, perennially wet broadleaf forests near the equator, built in dense vertical layers from forest floor to emergent canopy. They hold more than half of all known terrestrial plant and animal species on a small share of the land surface, and play an outsized role in the global carbon and water cycles.
Climate
Tropical
Region
Neotropics, Afrotropics & Indomalaya
Species
13
Plants
8
🐾
★ Rare

Mist-drenched mountain forests where the trees drink from the clouds.

☁️ Cloud Forest
Cloud forests are cool, perpetually misty tropical montane forests that occur in a narrow altitude band where persistent low cloud bathes the canopy. Their trees are festooned with mosses, ferns, orchids, and bromeliads that harvest water directly from fog, supporting a wealth of endemic species found nowhere else.
Climate
Montane
Region
Tropical montane (Neotropics & Afromontane)
Species
6
Plants
5
🐾
★ Uncommon

Salt-tolerant forests on stilts where the land meets the tide.

🌊 Mangrove Forest
Mangrove forests are intertidal coastal woodlands of salt-tolerant trees and shrubs that root in oxygen-poor, waterlogged mud between land and sea. Their tangled prop roots buffer coastlines, store enormous amounts of carbon, and serve as nurseries for a huge range of fish and invertebrates.
Climate
Tropical
Region
Tropical & subtropical coasts
Species
7
Plants
0
🐾
★ Uncommon

Underwater cathedrals of fast-growing seaweed swaying in cold, rich water.

🌿 Kelp Forest
Kelp forests are dense, productive underwater stands of large brown algae that grow along cool, nutrient-rich rocky coastlines. Giant kelp can grow astonishingly fast, building a three-dimensional canopy that shelters fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals in temperate seas.
Climate
Temperate
Region
Cool temperate coasts
Species
3
Plants
0
🐾

🦒 Savanna

Tropical

Wide grasslands dotted with scattered trees and great herds of grazers.

🦒 Savanna
Savannas are tropical and subtropical grasslands with scattered trees and shrubs, shaped by a strong wet-and-dry seasonal rhythm and by fire and grazing. They support some of the planet's most famous large-mammal communities and vast seasonal migrations.
Climate
Tropical
Region
Afrotropics, Neotropics & Australia
Species
9
Plants
0
🐾

Four-season woodlands of broadleaf trees that blaze and shed each autumn.

🍁 Temperate Forest
Temperate forests are mid-latitude woodlands — chiefly deciduous broadleaf, often mixed with conifers — that experience four distinct seasons. Defined by the annual cycle of leaf-out, growth, autumn color, and winter dormancy, they support a familiar community of mammals, birds, amphibians, and insects.
Climate
Temperate
Region
Holarctic (N. America, Europe, E. Asia)
Species
8
Plants
3
🐾

Sun-baked, rain-starved lands where life runs on heat and thirst.

🏜️ Desert
Deserts are arid biomes defined by very low precipitation, where evaporation greatly exceeds rainfall and life is sculpted by water scarcity. Despite the harshness, deserts host remarkably specialized plants and animals adapted to extreme heat, cold nights, and drought.
Climate
Arid
Region
Subtropical & continental arid zones
Species
12
Plants
1
🐾

Flowing freshwater highways carving the land and carrying life downstream.

🏞️ Freshwater River
Rivers and streams are flowing (lotic) freshwater ecosystems that move water, sediment, and nutrients from headwaters to the sea. Their currents, oxygen levels, and changing depth create a mosaic of habitats from cold rocky riffles to slow, warm lowland reaches, home to a vast diversity of fish, invertebrates, and amphibians.
Climate
Aquatic
Region
All continents (lotic freshwater)
Species
14
Plants
8
🐾

Waterlogged in-between worlds — neither fully land nor open water.

🐸 Wetland & Swamp
Wetlands and swamps are transitional ecosystems where soil is saturated or shallowly flooded for much of the year, including marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens. They are biological powerhouses that filter water, buffer floods, store carbon, and shelter an outsized share of amphibians, birds, and aquatic life.
Climate
Temperate
Region
Worldwide (freshwater wetlands)
Species
11
Plants
5
🐾
★ Uncommon

Thin-air heights above the treeline where only the toughest life endures.

🏔️ Alpine / Montane
Alpine and montane biomes are high-elevation environments where altitude, not latitude, drives a cold, harsh climate. Above the treeline, low-growing cushion plants, hardy grasses, and cold-adapted animals survive intense sun, fierce wind, deep cold, and a short growing season.
Climate
Montane
Region
High mountains worldwide
Species
4
Plants
0
🐾
★ Rare

Crystal-clear sinkhole pools opening into flooded underworld caves.

🕳️ Cenote
Cenotes are natural sinkholes formed where limestone bedrock collapses to expose groundwater, creating clear freshwater pools that often connect to vast flooded cave systems. Cool, stable, and dimly lit, they harbor specialized cave-adapted life and form a unique freshwater world, most famously across Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula.
Climate
Aquatic
Region
Karst limestone (Yucatán & similar)
Species
7
Plants
2