The IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology v1.01: Descriptive profiles for Biomes and Ecosystem Functional Groups David A. Keith, Jose R. Ferrer, Emily Nicholson, Melanie J. Bishop, Beth A. Polidoro, Eva Ramirez- Llodra, Mark G. Tozer, Jeanne L. Nel, Ralph Mac Nally, Edward J. Gregr, Kate E. Watermeyer, Franz Essl, Don Faber-Langendoen, Janet Franklin, Caroline E. R. Lehmann, Andres Etter, Dirk J. Roux, Jonathan S. Stark, Jessica A. Rowland, Neil A. Brummitt, Ulla C. Fernandez-Arcaya, Iain M. Suthers, Susan K. Wiser, Ian Donohue, Leland J. Jackson, R. Toby Pennington, Nathalie Pettorelli, Angela Andrade, Tytti Kontula, Arild Lindgaard, Teemu Tahvanainan, Aleks Terauds, Oscar Venter, James E. M. Watson, Michael A Chadwick, Nicholas J. Murray, Justin Moat, Patricio Pliscoff, Irene Zager, Richard T. Kingsford Adapted from: ‘Earth’s ecosystems: a function-based typology for conservation and sustainable management’ February 2020 Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Development of the typology ....................................................................................................................................... 2 Design principles ................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Levels of classification within the Global Ecosystem Typology ........................................................................ 5 Realms ............................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Biomes ............................................................................................................................................................................ 20 Ecosystem Functional Groups ................................................................................................................................ 20 Lower levels of classification ................................................................................................................................... 22 Reflections on the approach to typology development ................................................................................... 23 Descriptive profiles for Ecosystem Functional Groups ................................................................................. 25 Nomenclature ............................................................................................................................................................. 25 Text descriptions ...................................................................................................................................................... 25 Exemplary photographs......................................................................................................................................... 28 Major ecosystem drivers ....................................................................................................................................... 28 Diagrammatic assembly models ......................................................................................................................... 28 Indicative distribution maps ................................................................................................................................ 28 Use of references ....................................................................................................................................................... 32 Updates ......................................................................................................................................................................... 32 References cited ........................................................................................................................................................ 32 T1. Tropical-subtropical forests biome ...................................................................................................................... 1 T1.1 Tropical-subtropical lowland rainforests ............................................................................................... 2 T1.2 Tropical-subtropical dry forests and scrubs .......................................................................................... 3 T1.3 Tropical-subtropical montane rainforests .............................................................................................. 4 T1.4 Tropical heath forests ...................................................................................................................................... 5 T2. Temperate-boreal forests and woodlands biome ....................................................................................... 6 T2.1 Boreal and temperate montane forests and woodlands ................................................................... 7 T2.2 Deciduous temperate forests........................................................................................................................ 8 T2.3 Oceanic temperate rainforests ..................................................................................................................... 9 T2.4 Warm temperate rainforests ..................................................................................................................... 10 T2.5 Temperate pyric humid forests ................................................................................................................ 11 T2.6 Temperate pyric sclerophyll forests and woodlands ...................................................................... 12 T3. Shrublands and shrubby woodlands biome .................................................................................................. 13 T3.1 Seasonally dry tropical shrublands......................................................................................................... 14 ii T3.2 Seasonally dry temperate heath and shrublands .............................................................................. 15 T3.3 Cool temperate heathlands ........................................................................................................................ 16 T3.4 Young rocky pavements, lava flows and screes ................................................................................. 17 T4. Savannas and grasslands biome ........................................................................................................................ 18 T4.1 Trophic savannas............................................................................................................................................ 19 T4.2 Pyric tussock savannas ................................................................................................................................ 20 T4.3 Hummock savannas....................................................................................................................................... 21 T4.4 Temperate woodlands .................................................................................................................................. 22 T4.5 Temperate subhumid grasslands ............................................................................................................ 23 T5. Deserts and semi-deserts biome ....................................................................................................................... 24 T5.1 Semi-desert steppe ........................................................................................................................................ 25 T5.2 Succulent or Thorny deserts and semi-deserts ................................................................................. 26 T5.3 Sclerophyll hot deserts and semi-deserts ............................................................................................ 27 T5.4 Cool deserts and semi-deserts .................................................................................................................. 28 T5.5 Hyper-arid deserts ......................................................................................................................................... 29 T6. Polar-alpine (cryogenic) biome .......................................................................................................................... 30 T6.1 Ice sheets, glaciers and perennial snowfields ..................................................................................... 31 T6.2 Polar-alpine cliffs, screes, outcrops and lava flows .......................................................................... 32 T6.3 Polar tundra and deserts ............................................................................................................................. 33 T6.4 Temperate alpine meadows and shrublands ...................................................................................... 34 T6.5 Tropical alpine grasslands and herbfields ........................................................................................... 35 T7. Intensive land-use biome ..................................................................................................................................... 36 T7.1 Annual croplands ...........................................................................................................................................