Inside the S. Dillon Ripley Center
Visit deserts, rainforests, grasslands, wetlands, and tundra without leaving the National Mall. Biomes: Life in the Balance highlights these distinct ecological regions (known as biomes), the plants and animals that call them home, and the Smithsonian scientists who study and protect them.
These installation panels tell diverse stories about habitats and the plants, animals, and humans that call them home
Learn More about Biomes in the Desert
Learn More about Aquatic Biomes
Learn More about Biomes in the Rainforest
Learn More about Biomes in the Tundra
Learn More about Biomes in the Grasslands
Installation inside the S. Dillon Ripley Center
The desert biome display visualizes how saguaro cacti serve as a home to the Sonoran Desert’s Gila woodpecker and elf owl.
The desert biome showcases plants native to the Sonoran Desert such as prickly pear and saguaro cacti.
The aquatic biome display imagines a Chesapeake Bay salt marsh with a great blue heron silhouetted against smooth cordgrass.
Wood silhouettes of blue crabs and marsh periwinkle in the aquatic biome.
The tundra biome display highlights interactions between the lemming, arctic fox, snowy owl, and vegetation.
A variety of grasses and milkweed commonly found in Midwest prairies accompany wood silhouettes of a baby bison and a northern harrier in the grassland biome.
The temperate rainforest biome display depicts a bear eating a salmon, the decomposition of which will nourish the soil and enable ferns native to the Pacific Northwest to thrive.
Click on a numbered circle to find details about an exhibit
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Outside the National Museum of African American History and Culture
Discover the story of the Southern live oak tree: an enduring symbol of safety, strength, and resilience.
Did you know that beneath your feet is a network of living organisms communicating with each other?
Outside the National Museum of American History
When a tree dies, it’s not the end of the story; it’s the start of a new chapter.
Outside the National Museum of American History
Native wildflowers are beautiful, but did you know they also help us produce food?
Outside the National Museum of Natural History
Ever wondered what a bird nest looks like up close?
Outside the National Museum of Natural History
Bugs are everywhere, and they need places to live, just like us.
Inside the S. Dillon Ripley Center
Visit deserts, rainforests, grasslands, wetlands, and tundra without leaving the National Mall.
Enid A. Haupt Garden
Figs are delicious, but did you know they also play a vital role in their habitats?
Enid A. Haupt Garden
Plants and animals live in habitats, but did you know that some species create habitats themselves?
Outside the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Monarch butterflies travel around 3,000 miles when migrating—that’s farther than the distance between Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.
For centuries, humans have sought inspiration from nature while studying the mysteries of flight.
Outside the National Museum of the American Indian
The Native Landscape at the NMAI features more than 33,000 plants of approximately 150 species native to our area.
Inside the Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery
Experience the benefits of bringing the great outdoors inside!
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