Anthropogenic biome

Anthropogenic Biomes (Ellis & Ramankutty 2008)

Anthropogenic biomes, also known as anthromes or human biomes, describe the terrestrial biosphere in its contemporary, human-altered form using global ecosystem units defined by global patterns of sustained direct human interaction with ecosystems.

For more than a century, the biosphere has been described in terms of global ecosystem units called biomes, which are vegetation types like tropical rainforests and grasslands that are identified in relation to global climate patterns. Taking into account the fact that humans have fundamentally altered climate systems and global patterns of ecosystem form, process, and biodiversity, anthropogenic biomes provide an alternative viewpoint, to the classic images of Earth's wild ecosystems.

See also

• Biomes
• Anthropocene

External links

• View the Anthropogenic Biomes in Google Earth
• Interview with Erle Ellis: The Earth We Created Allianz Knowledge, August 2008
• Anthropogenic Biomes project web site (with downloadable data)

References

• Ellis, E. C. and N. Ramankutty. 2008. Putting people in the map: anthropogenic biomes of the world. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/070062link