What Is a Biome?

Biomes are defined by their abiotic factors, which include the vegetation, the soils, the geology, the relief and the climate. A single biome is not the same thing as an ecosystem, but a biome can resemble a large ecosystem in some ways. Animals and plants have specific adaptations in place that permit them to exist in a particular area. There are often several different units of an ecosystem that exist within a single biome.