Biomes

Future Game
121

If the trees aren’t artificial, wouldn’t it just be a forest? Maybe a “young” forest if the trees are small?

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122

I know, but sometimes these forests are made of just a single type of trees. That doesn’t seem like something autoevo would generate.

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123

I am assuming that at least some alien flowers produce something like nectar, and that some animal will use it to produce some substance, and sentient being will want to farm it. Or maybe they will farm the nectar straight from the flowers themselves. Maybe, on another planet, the species that makes a honey like substance from a nectar like substance is cow sized, but on earth, Nectar Farms (best name I could come up with) do not qualify as ranches, so I tried to come up with another name.

Is this better?

  • Arable Land Plantation (Medium)
    (Subtypes)
    • Arable Crop (example: root vegetables, cotton, bell peppers,and tobacco)
    • Cereal Grains (On earth, some types of rice and all non-rice Cereal Grains are “arable”)
    • Timber Trees (Any tree that gets cut down to harvest.)
  • Permanent Cropland Plantation (Medium)
    (Subtypes)
    • Orchard (Trees which are not cut down to harvest, such as Fruit and/or Nut Trees, Coffee, Palm Oil, and Pineapple)
    • Vineyard (On earth, grape vines and black pepper)
    • Cereal Grains (On earth, some types of Rice are “permanent”)
    • ??? (Sugar Cane. Not considered a Cereal Grain, doesn’t really fit other categories, but a really important crop on earth)

Edit: Perhaps Cereal Grain and Sugar Cane could be combined into an Edible Grass category ( Poaceae?)? I really think trees, vines, grass, and other crops should be distinct though.

For the record:
Farm: An area of land dedicated to growing consumables and/or domesticated animals.

Plantation: A large Farm dedicated to one specific crop.

Ranch: An area of land dedicated to raising livestock or game.

Arable Land: Cropland that requires yearly replanting. (Example: Root Vegetables)

Permanent Cropland: Cropland that can be re-harvested without replanting. (Example: Fruit Trees)

Rangeland/Pasture: Places for grazing livestock. Rangelands have primarily native vegetation and pastures are more intentionally grown with seeding, irrigation, and fertilizer.

Aquaculture: Farm for aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants.

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124

Not sure if a species that large could reliably feed just off nectar…

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125

But could they produce honey? Also, how big are the alien flowers?

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126

I’d assume flowers beyond earth would not be much larger than our terran flowers as they rather rarely need pollination by large creatures (since there almost always are smaller creatures better at pollinating).

Maybe, if they’re eusocial.

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127

Idea for better Cropland subtypes

  • Arable Land Plantation (Medium)
    (Subtypes)

    • Arable Crop Forest (Tree that gets cut down to harvest. Also called Timber Farms)
    • Arable Crop Shrubland (I am not familiar with any earth examples of this)
    • Arable Grassland (On earth: most cereal grains)
    • Arable Crop Field (example: root vegetables, cotton, bell peppers, and tobacco)

  • Permanent Cropland Plantation (Medium)
    (Subtypes)

    • Permanent Crop Forest (also called an Orchard. Trees which are not cut down to harvest, such as Fruit and/or Nut Trees, Coffee, and Palm Oil)
    • Perennial Crop Shrubland (Pineapple?)
    • Vineyard (On earth, grape vines. Also, black pepper plantations)
    • Perennial Grassland (On earth, some types of Rice and Sugarcane)

Note: On earth, “Vineyard” is specifically used for Grape Vines. But why not use it for other vines, like Black Pepper Vines? Unless someone has a better name for a Wood-y Vine Biome.

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128

Maybe “Perennial Crop Field” as the arable one seems to be the arable equivalent to vineyards?

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129

After further research, I am replacing Permanent Vineyard and Arable Crop Field with Permanent and Arable “Garden”. Also, while it is still a WIP, here is where I am at.

Farm: An area of land dedicated to growing consumables and/or domesticated animals.

Plantation: A large Farm dedicated to one specific crop.

Ranch: An area of land dedicated to raising livestock or game.

Arable Land: Cropland that requires yearly replanting. (Example: Root Vegetables)

Permanent Cropland: Cropland that can be re-harvested without replanting. (Example: Fruit Trees)

Rangeland/Pasture: Places for grazing livestock. Rangelands have primarily native vegetation and pastures are more intentionally grown with seeding, irrigation, and fertilizer.

Aquaculture: Farm for aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants.

Deepwater Cropland: Aquatic or Semiaquatic cropland where the water is more than 50 cm (20 in) deep for at least a month.

(Non-Earth nomenclature) Nectar Farm: Agricultural land where nectar or nectar based products, like honey, is collected. In the case of the latter, if the creature that produces the product qualifies as livestock, it would be a Ranch (note: Earth Bees do not meet the definition of “livestock”). Edit: It turns out Bees, as well as Poultry, are “Microlivestock”, so perhaps having a seperate category is unnecessary. Though I would not use the prefix “Micro”. I suggest broadening the definition of Livestock to include smaller creatures, poultry, and aquatic creatures (which are not considered livestock or microlivestock on earth).

Cluster of Settlements and Agricultural Land (Huge)

  • (Density Subtype) (Specialization Subtype) (Size Subtype) Settlements (Large)
    • Residential Area (Medium)
      • Residential Building (Could be Medium, Small, or Tiny)
        • Wall (Interior)
        • (Use Subtype) Room
    • Market (Medium) (Could be one (medium) building, a group of small buildings, or a large group of tiny stalls)
    • Dump (Medium)
    • Ship Yard (Medium or Small)
  • Mine (Large or Medium?)
  • Farmland (Large)
    • Arable Land Plantation (Medium)
      (Subtypes)
      • Arable Forest (Tree that gets cut down to harvest. Also called Timber Farms)
      • Arable Crop Shrubland (I am not familiar with any earth examples of this)
      • Arable Garden (example: root vegetables, cotton, arable vine crops (tomatoes, squash, peas), and tobacco)
      • Arable Grassland (On earth: most cereal grains)
    • Permanent Cropland Plantation (Medium)
      (Subtypes)
      • Permanent Crop Forest (Trees which are not cut down to harvest, such as Fruit and/or Nut Trees, Coffee, and Palm Oil. Also called Orchards)
      • Perennial Crop Shrubland (Pineapple?)
      • Permanent Garden (Perennial Vegetables (asparagus, artichoke, rhubarb) and Vines (grapes, black peppers, kiwifruit))
      • Perennial Grassland (On earth, some types of Rice and Sugarcane)
    • Arable Aquaculture
      (Subtypes)
      • Micro Algal Farm (example: Plankton farm (this is apparently more popular than macro algal farming))
      • Aquatic Deepwater Arable Cropland (I am not sure if earth Deepwater Rice is Arable or Permanent)
      • Semiaquatic Arable Grassland (Flooded Arable) (Some Rice)
      • Arable Aquatic Garden (example: Lotus Flowers)
    • Permanent Aquaculture
      (Subtypes)
      • Algal Crop Forest (example: Kelp Farm)
      • Aquatic Deepwater Permanent Cropland (See Deepwater Arable note)
      • Semiaquatic Permanent Grassland (I am not familiar with any earth examples of this)
      • Semiaquatic Permanent Garden (example: Taro)
    • Non Cropland Farm (Medium)
      (Subtypes)
      • Terrestrial Ranch(Livestock or Game)
      • Aquatic Ranch (Freshwater or Marine)
      • Nectar Farm (Earth example: Bee Farm: (for Honey), could also be to farm the nectar directly from the flower)
  • Range/Pasture (Large)

(WIP) Polyculture

  • Grassland/Aquatic Creature/Water Foul Systems (examples: numerous types of rice polyculture)
  • Algal Forest/Aquatic Creature Combo
  • Crop/Livestock Combo (example: some Family Farms)
  • Forest/Garden Combo (several crops grow better in the shade provided by permanent trees)
  • Grassland/Garden Combo (example: Maize, Beans, and Squash in a three field rotation)

Artificial Freshwater Biomes

  • Rivers
    • Canals
      • Waterways
      • Aqueducts
      • Subterranean Waterways
      • Subterranean Aqueducts
    • Freshwater Pipes
    • Sewage System
      • Industrial Sewer
      • Sanitary Sewers
      • Storm Drain
      • Combined Sewage System
    • Industrial Waste River See Pollution below
  • Lake
    • Reservoir
    • Subterranean Reservoir
    • Flooded Mines

Artificial Cave-like System

  • Underground Mine
  • Subway
  • Catacombs
  • Utility Tunnels
  • (Other Tunnel Network)

(Power Subtype) (Use Subtype) Boat (Could be Large, Medium, Small, or Tiny)

Artificial Shoreline (I am still researching this one)

Destroyed and Abandoned Areas

  • Abandoned Excavation Site
    • Open Pit Mine
    • Strip Mine
    • Mountaintop Removal Mine
  • Abandoned Deforested Forest
  • Abandoned Settlement
  • Submerged Structure
    • Boat
    • Settlement
  • Landfill
  • (Edit) Desertificated Land?

Polluted (Biome Name)

  • Industrial Waste
  • Irradiated
  • Oil Covered
  • (Pollution Subtype)
  • (Pollution Subtype)
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130

Also, would deserts resulting from desertification count as artificial biomes?

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131

That could be a Destroyed Biome maybe?

132

So like a biome completely hostile to life?

133

As I understand it, Desertification does not include expansion of existing deserts, but only creation of new ones where other biomes existed before. Likely, a Woodland or Grassland creature would not adapt well to there home becoming a desert. While having the climate of a desert, it would be more like a barrens for a while since desert dwelling plants and animals would not be native to the area.

Edit: Also: I have been thinking about combo land use, How does this look?

Farmland
(Terrain Type)(Use Type)((Optional) Second Use Type)
Terrain Subtypes

  • Terrestrial
  • Semiaquatic
  • Deepwater

(Note: can have 2 of the following use categories)
Cropland Subtype (Note: All Croplands have the Arable, Perennial, or Permanent Sub-Subtypes)

  • Forest
  • Shrubland
  • Grassland
  • Garden
  • (Micro Algal Farm Category)

Ranch Subtypes

  • Game
  • Livestock (Note: May be multifunctional)
    • Labor
      • Speed
      • Heavy Lifting
    • Producer
      • Eggs
      • Milk
      • Wool
      • Honey
    • Foraging (pigs seek out Truffles)
    • Meat
    • Hide

Examples:

  • Terrestrial Forest (Permanent) Garden (Perennial)
  • Deepwater Grassland (Arable) Ranch (Livestock: Meat)
  • Terrestrial Ranch (Livestock: Meat, Milk, Hide, Labor (Heavy Lifting))
  • Semiaquatic Ranch (Game)

Taking suggestions for what to call land/water used to grow micro algal crops.

134

Hmm. So deserts without any native lifeforms would just be called barrens then, right?
I also recall deserts can help keep areas around them fertile (like sahara and the amazon).

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135

Maybe: “(Species Name Here) made Barrens”?

136

Is that supposed to be the name of the sapient species responsible or of a grazing species which contributed the most to the desertification?

137

The sapient species.

138

Also I can guess lifeless terrestrial exoplanets will be covered only in barrens when they are first discovered…

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139

Yeah, natural deserts are a part of the ecosystem and removing them would mess everything up, same as any other biome. Artificial dry wastelands might make sense to split along with how they interact with the ecosystem. If they’re next to a preexisting desert and have that desert’s species, they sound like deserts to me, but if the ecosystem has not done anything with the land and it’s just a mess, yeah, horrid wasteland.

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140

How would artificial lakes (like dam lakes) be handled?

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