“Biome” and “ecosystem” are words sometimes used interchangeably to describe a specific type of environment, but this is an erroneous conflation. While the exact nature of the world’s biomes is a matter of some debate, they relate to one another in that they both break the globe down into smaller components based on features of the environment.
Biome Types
No official biome count exists. According to the University of Santa Barbara, some scientists only recognize aquatic, desert, forest, grassland and tundra biomes. Other lists include several more, distinguishing between temperate forests, tropical rainforests and tropical dry forests, for example. Others might break down the aquatic biome into freshwater, freshwater wetlands, marine, coral reef and estuary biomes. More distinct biome types include mountain or alpine biomes, island biomes -- often associated with the marine or ocean biome -- and the chaparral, which describes flat areas, rocky hills and mountain slopes.
Ecosystem Components
Ecosystems can be very small, sometimes no larger than a single puddle. An ecosystem is not a place like a biome is, but rather the set of interactions between the living things in that place. The way the plants, animals and other living organisms such as bacteria and funguses interact with the resources of that ecosystem -- water, sunlight and soil, for instance -- determine how the ecosystem functions.
Hope this helps. We went over this already. lol :0
