Editing 40d:Biome

{{quality|Exceptional|15:56, 30 September 2010 (UTC)}}{{av}}
A '''biome''' is a biotic area with homogeneous features, characterized by distinctive [[plant]]s, [[creatures|animal species]] and [[climate]]. A biome will also contain only one set of stone layers, though these usually expand beyond a single biome. Your [[dwarves]] will find different resources depending on which biomes they select when starting a fort.

== Selecting a biome ==

Biomes are important when choosing a fortress location in order to understand your [[surroundings]]. Individual biomes, which form at least one map-tile of your embark location, can be cycled with the {{Key|F#}}-keys; for example, an area with 3 biomes present can be cycled using {{Key|F1}}, {{Key|F2}} and {{Key|F3}}. The selected biome will be highlighted with flashing Xs on the Local Map, and the biome's information will be displayed on the right side of the screen. ''(See the [[Indecisive%27s_illustrated_fortress_mode_tutorial|illustrated guide]] for more detail).''

== Understanding Biomes ==

Selecting different Biomes gives you some ability to influence the difficulty of your game.  Each biome has a different set of resources; the availability of [[tree]]s, [[sand]], certain [[plant]]s or [[animal]]s, and sometimes [[water]] is specific to a particular biome, and different biomes may have different stone layers containing [[flux]], [[coal]], useful [[ore]]s, or a high chance of [[magma]].  [[Mountain]]s have a lot of [[ore]] and some exclusive [[underground river|features]], but no [[soil]].

Generally it is advantageous to plot your embark [[location]] at the convergence of multiple different biomes, the more the better (within reason) - which is made easier if you enlarge your starting embarkation area.  However, it is not usually too hard to find three or four biomes using the default size.
* ''Note: Making the starting plot larger will slow your game down considerably; likewise, a small embark area can dramatically increase framerate.''

By making use of several biomes you can provide more resources for your fort.  Making sure one of your biomes contains either a broadleaf or conifer [[forest]] will provide you with an ample supply of [[tree]]s, even if the rest of your plot extends into badlands and [[desert]].  You might get wood from a forest, ore from a mountain, and flux from [[hills]] that just happen to have a flux layer; many other permutations are possible.

Any biome can have any set of [[surroundings]]; for example a [[glacier]] could be [[haunted]], [[wilderness]] or [[mirthful]]).  However, a named region (which is a contiguous area of one category of biomes, such as forests or wetlands) will be either good, neutral, or evil.  It is not uncommon to see a large mountain range with one alignment and a few mountains, disconnected from the main mountain range by a single region tile, with a different alignment.  Therefore, the more biomes you have, the more likely it is to have several alignments, if so desired.

If your plot contains only [[ocean]], [[lake]] or [[mountain]] biomes you will not be able to embark. The dwarves would have difficulty parking their [[wagon (embark)|wagon]] on water, while mountains are too barren and remote to reach.

The exact process is unknown, but no relation has been found between biomes and the stone layers that lie deep beneath them in the same area block.

== Available Biomes ==

=== Freezing ===
*[[Mountain]]
*[[Glacier]]
*[[Tundra]]

=== Wetlands ===
*[[Temperate]] Freshwater [[Swamp]]
*Temperate Saltwater Swamp
*Temperate Freshwater [[Marsh]]
*Temperate Saltwater Marsh
*[[Tropical]] Freshwater Swamp
*Tropical Saltwater Swamp
*Mangrove Swamp
*Tropical Freshwater Marsh
*Tropical Saltwater Marsh

=== Forests ===
*[[Taiga]]
*[[Temperate]] [[Coniferous forest|Coniferous Forest]]
*Temperate [[Broadleaf forest|Broadleaf Forest]]
*[[Tropical]] Coniferous Forest
*Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forest
*Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forest

=== Plains ===
*[[Temperate]] [[Grassland]]
*Temperate [[Savanna]]
*Temperate [[Shrubland]]
*[[Tropical]] Grassland
*Tropical Savanna
*Tropical Shrubland

=== Deserts ===
*[[Badlands]]
*[[Rocky wasteland|Rocky Wasteland]]
*[[Sand desert|Sand Desert]]

=== [[Ocean]]s ===
*Tropical Ocean
*Temperate Ocean
*Arctic Ocean

=== Murky [[Pool]]s ===
*[[Temperate]] Freshwater Pool
*Temperate Brackish Pool
*Temperate Saltwater Pool
*[[Tropical]] Freshwater Pool
*Tropical Brackish Pool
*Tropical Saltwater Pool

=== [[Lake]]s ===
*[[Temperate]] Freshwater Lake
*Temperate Brackish Lake
*Temperate Saltwater Lake
*[[Tropical]] Freshwater Lake
*Tropical Brackish Lake
*Tropical Saltwater Lake

=== [[River]]s ===
*[[Temperate]] Freshwater River
*Temperate Brackish River
*Temperate Saltwater River
*[[Tropical]] Freshwater River
*Tropical Brackish River
*Tropical Saltwater River

=== Underground ===
* Subterranean Water
* Subterranean Chasm
* Subterranean Magma

==Biomes at World Generation==

Biomes are created at [[world generation]] based on the elevation, rainfall, and drainage of the tile as follows:

{|{{prettytable}}
|-style="background:#dddddd"
!Biome !!Elevation !!Rainfall !!Drainage
|-
|Water ||0-99 ||Any ||Any
|-
|Sand Desert ||100-299 ||0-9 ||0-32
|-
|Rock Desert ||100-299 ||0-9 ||33-49
|-
|Desert Badlands A ||100-299 ||0-9 ||50-65
|-
|Desert Badlands B ||100-299 ||0-9 ||66-100
|-
|Grassland ||100-299 ||10-19 ||0-49
|-
|Savanna ||100-299 ||20-32 ||0-49
|-
|Marsh ||100-299 ||33-65 ||0-32
|-
|Shrubland ||100-299 ||33-65 ||33-49 
|-
|Hills ||100-299 ||10-65 ||50-100
|-
|Swamp ||100-299 ||66-100 ||0-32
|-
|Forest ||100-299 ||66-100 ||33-100
|-
|Low Mountain ||300-332 ||Any ||Any
|-
|Mountain ||333-365 ||Any ||Any
|-
|High Mountain ||366-400 ||Any ||Any
|}

More visually, for just the middle elevations:
{|border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; text-align: center; "<!-- copied from Prettytable template, but those colspans required centering. -->
|-
| rowspan=2 colspan=2 |
! colspan=5 |Rainfall
|-
!0-9 ||10-19 ||20-32 ||33-65 ||66-100
|-
! rowspan=4 |Drainage ||0-32
| Sand Desert
| rowspan=2 |Grassland
| rowspan=2 |Savanna ||Marsh ||Swamp
|-
!33-49
|Rock Desert ||Shrubland
| rowspan=3 |Forest
|-
!50-65
|Badlands A
| colspan=3 rowspan=2 |Hills
|-
!66-100
|Badlands B
|}

== See Also ==
*[[Regions]] for the possible values for Trees, Vegetation and Surroundings.
*[[Volcano]]es which are not a biome in Dwarf Fortress, but may provide important resources
*[[Climate]]

{{World|Biomes}}

{{Category|Biomes|*}}