2.6 Australia’s biomes using the geography concept of ‘scale’
The examination of world biomes at the beginning of this chapter identified five biomes in Australia:
- tropical rainforest
- tropical seasonal forest/savanna
- temperate deciduous forest
- sub-tropical desert
- woodland/shrubland.
This examination of biomes was based on a map of the world with a very small scale. Small-scale maps can only show a certain amount of detail. The focus is now on the biomes found in Australia. This requires study at a much larger scale, where more detail can be shown.
Here are two sources representing Australia’s biomes. Which is better?
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Source 2.21 Australia’s biomes -
Source 2.22 Australia’s biomes
Source 2.21 is simple and uses the terms used earlier in the chapter. Source 2.22 is more complex. There are more biomes identified, and they have more complicated names.
If Source 2.21 is used, it is clear that the study will be very general. Another issue with Source 2.22 is the terminology. The terms ‘desert’ and ‘savanna’ are fine, but defining the rest of Australia as ‘tropical’ is a problem: Perth, Hobart and Sydney are all in ‘tropical’ areas. Their climates in reality are not.
Source 2.22 identifies seven biomes on the Australian continent. There are some broad links to the biomes identified earlier in the chapter. Let’s revisit these.
| World biome | Australian biome |
|---|---|
| Tropical rainforest | Tropical and sub-tropical moist broadleaf forests |
| Tropical seasonal forest/savanna | Tropical and sub-tropical grasslands, savanna and shrubland |
| Temperate deciduous forest | Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest |
| Woodland/shrubland | Mediterranean forests, woodland and scrub |
| Sub-tropical desert | Deserts and xeric shrublands |
It is immediately clear that there are also differences. When biomes are examined at this scale, there are more of them, and the biomes are more likely to include more than one vegetation type, such as ‘savanna and shrubland’, or ‘deserts and xeric shrublands’. Where do the terms ‘broadleaf, Mediterranean and xeric’ come from and what is a ‘mixed’ forest? Follow these up to find their meanings.
These issues simply relate to the scale at which a study is being undertaken: a global study of biomes is made at a very small scale but a study of biomes in Australia can be made at a larger scale.
Eventually, if the focus was like zooming in with Google Earth, the scale would be so large that it would no longer be a study of biomes but a study of ecosystems.