Ecoregions

In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Compare:

thumb|upright=1.35|Typical grassland thumb|Setaria pumila, a species of [[Poaceae (the dominant plant family in grasslands)]] A grassland is an area (or ecosystem) where the vegetation is dominated by grasses. Sedges and rushes can also be found along with some of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on Earth, covering 31–69% of the Earth's land area. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural gras

thumb|A map of the Amazon rainforest, which is composed of multiple ecoregions. The yellow line encloses the ecoregions within the Amazon per the [[World Wide Fund for Nature.]]

small group of trees

vegetation zone

thumb|upright=1.3|Typical veld near Petrified forest, Khorixas|Petrified forest in [[Namibia]] thumb|Springbok in growing veld; [[Etosha National Park, Namibia]] thumb|Springboks in the burned veld; Etosha National Park, Namibia

In phytogeography, a phytochorion is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both regions overlap, called a vegetation tension zone, or ecotone.

area of land where plant growth may be limited

Widespread biome during the Last Glacial Maximum

The Yungas (Aymara yunka; 'warm or temperate Andes or earth', Quechua yunka; 'warm area on the slopes of the Andes') is a bioregion of a narrow band of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from Peru and Bolivia, and extends into Northwest Argentina at the slope of the Andes pre-cordillera. It is a transitional zone between the Andean highlands and the eastern forests. Like the surrounding areas, the Yungas belong to the Neotropical realm; the climate is rainy, humid, and warm.

forest consisting entirely or mainly of evergreen trees which do not shed their leaves or needles seasonally

type of forest dominated by pine species

thumb|One scheme of potential North American bioregions based on watersheds. Bioregionalism is a philosophy that suggests that political, cultural, and economic systems are more sustainable and just if they are organized around naturally defined areas called bioregions (similar to ecoregions). Bioregions are defined through physical and environmental features, including watershed boundaries and soil and terrain characteristics. Bioregionalism stresses that the determination of a bioregion is also a cultural phenomenon, and emphasizes local populations, knowledge, and solutions.

thumb|Primary drainage basins in Canada A bioregion is a geographical area defined not by administrative boundaries, but by distinct characteristics such as plant and animal species, ecological systems, soils and landforms, human settlements, and topographic features such as drainage basins (also referred to as "watersheds"). A bioregion can be on land or at sea. The idea of bioregions was adopted and popularized in the mid-1970s by a school of philosophy called bioregionalism, which includes the concept that human culture can influence bioregional definitions due to its effect on non-cultural

type of tropical forest

dense, scrublike vegetation

measure used in conservation biology

Arly-Singou is a large ecosystem in Burkina Faso. It encompasses the Arli National Park and the Singou Reserve. It is considered to comprise part of the most significant and important savanna woodland wildlife areas still existing in West Africa.

The Rupununi is a region in the south-west of Guyana, bordering the Brazilian Amazon. The Rupununi river, also known by the local indigenous peoples as Raponani, flows through the Rupununi region. The name Rupununi originates from the word rapon in the Makushi language, in which it means the black-bellied whistling duck found along the river. thumb|243x243px|A map of the rivers, including the Rupununi, that flow through Guyana

right|300px|thumb|upright=1.1|Sagebrush