Biomes are large-scale ecosystems occupying large spaces. The biome concept should theoretically facilitate scientific synthesis of global-scale studies of the past, present, and future biosphere. However, there is neither a consensus biome map nor universally accepted definition of terrestrial biomes, making joint interpretation and comparison of biome-related studies difficult. “Desert,” “rainforest,” “tundra,” “grassland,” or “savanna,” while widely used terms in common language, have multiple definitions and no universally accepted spatial distribution. Fit-for-purpose classification schemes are necessary, so multiple biome-mapping methods should for now co-exist. In this review, we compare biome-mapping methods, first conceptually, then quantitatively. To facilitate the description of the diversity of approaches, we group the extant diversity of past, present, and future global-scale biome-mapping methods into three main families that differ by the feature captured, the mapping technique, and the nature of observation used: (1) compilation biome maps from expert elicitation, (2) functional biome maps from vegetation physiognomy, and (3) simulated biome maps from vegetation modeling. We design a protocol to measure and quantify spatially the pairwise agreement between biome maps. We then illustrate the use of such a protocol with a real-world application by investigating the potential ecological drivers of disagreement between four broadly used, modern global biome maps. In this example, we quantify that the strongest disagreement among biome maps generally occurs in landscapes altered by human activities and moderately covered by vegetation. Such disagreements are sources of bias when combining several biome classifications. When aiming to produce realistic biome maps, biases could be minimized by promoting schemes using observations rather than predictions, while simultaneously considering the effect of humans and other ecosystem engineers in the definition. Throughout this review, we provide comparison and decision tools to navigate the diversity of approaches to encourage a more effective use of the biome concept.

中文翻译：

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如何绘制生物群落：生物群落绘图方法的定量比较和回顾


生物群落是占据大空间的大规模生态系统。从理论上讲，生物群落概念应该有助于对过去、现在和未来生物圈的全球范围研究进行科学综合。然而，既没有共识的生物群落图，也没有普遍接受的陆地生物群落定义，使得生物群落相关研究的联合解释和比较变得困难。 “沙漠”、“雨林”、“苔原”、“草原”或“稀树草原”虽然在通用语言中广泛使用，但具有多种定义，并且没有普遍接受的空间分布。适合目的的分类方案是必要的，因此多种生物群落制图方法目前应该共存。在这篇综述中，我们首先从概念上比较生物群落制图方法，然后从定量上进行比较。为了便于描述方法的多样性，我们将过去、现在和未来全球规模生物群落制图方法的现有多样性分为三个主要系列，这些系列因捕获的特征、制图技术和所使用的观察性质而有所不同：（1）根据专家启发编制生物群落图，（2）根据植被地貌的功能生物群落图，以及（3）根据植被建模的模拟生物群落图。我们设计了一个协议来测量和量化生物群落地图之间的空间配对一致性。然后，我们通过调查四种广泛使用的现代全球生物群落地图之间分歧的潜在生态驱动因素，来说明这种协议在现实世界中的应用。在此示例中，我们量化了生物群落地图之间最强烈的分歧通常发生在因人类活动而改变且被植被适度覆盖的景观中。在组合多个生物群落分类时，这种分歧是偏差的来源。 当旨在制作真实的生物群落地图时，可以通过推广使用观察而不是预测的方案来最大限度地减少偏差，同时在定义中考虑人类和其他生态系统工程师的影响。在整个审查过程中，我们提供了比较和决策工具来引导方法的多样性，以鼓励更有效地使用生物群落概念。