BioEden Mixed-Biome Domes

Running two climates in one BioEden dome is possible, genuinely useful, and the single most technically demanding thing in the game. This page covers when it is worth doing and the one rule you cannot break.

What a climate wedge is

Rather than holding a single temperature and humidity across the whole dome floor, you divide the floor into sections and position climate devices so each section holds different conditions. Because a dome's climate is a *distribution* rather than a single value — which the dome overlays show clearly — you can deliberately engineer that distribution instead of fighting it.

The result is one dome that satisfies two species whose bands do not overlap.

When it is worth doing

Worth it when:

• You are short on materials, power or space for a second dome
• The two species' bands are close but not overlapping, so the gradient does not have to be extreme
• Both species are herbivores, or otherwise have no diet conflict
• You want population breadth rather than Perfect status

Not worth it when:

• You are chasing Perfect. Two bands in one dome means compromising on both.
• One of the species is a carnivore. See below.
• The bands are far apart. Holding a 20° gradient across one dome floor is a device and power problem that

usually costs more than a second dome would.

• Your power or water network is already near capacity. Wedges need more devices, not fewer.

The rule you cannot break

Never place a carnivore on the shared edge between two wedges.

A predator positioned on the boundary has practical access to both zones. Everything you gained by dividing the dome is lost, and you now have a carnivore ranging across your entire population instead of a contained one. If a carnivore is in a wedged dome at all, it belongs deep inside its own section, as far from the boundary as the floor allows — and ideally with a supplied Carnivore Feeder so it has no reason to range.

Honestly, the better answer is usually not to mix a carnivore into a wedged dome at all. See carnivores vs herbivores.

Building a wedge layout

1. Check the two bands overlap partially or sit adjacent. If, hypothetically, one species wanted a cool band and another a hot one with a wide gap between them, you would be engineering a large gradient across one floor and should reconsider. Read both bands off their Bestiary cards before you commit.
2. Divide the floor into contiguous sections, not a checkerboard. Climate bleeds. Two large blocks hold their conditions far better than many small ones.
3. Place climate devices deep inside each section, not at the border. A humidifier on the boundary humidifies both sides.
4. Use vegetation and water features as part of the gradient. A watering hole raises local humidity; use it on the humid side rather than centrally.
5. Verify with the overlays, not with the average. Turn on the temperature and humidity toggles and confirm each section actually holds its band across its whole area.
6. Keep predators away from the seam. Non-negotiable.
7. Leave network headroom. A wedged dome runs more devices simultaneously than a single-climate dome, and instability defeats the whole design.

The honest cost-benefit

A wedged dome costs more devices, more power, more water and considerably more of your attention than two simple domes. What it saves is dome capacity and floor space, both of which can be genuinely scarce mid-campaign.

For most players, the correct sequencing is: build simple single-climate domes until you actually run out of the ability to build more, and only then start wedging. Wedging early, because it seems clever, tends to produce a dome where nothing quite reaches Residency.

An alternative worth considering

Before you wedge, check whether the two species could simply live in different *biomes* rather than different wedges. If your planet has both a Jungle region and a Forest region, two ambient-appropriate domes cost less to run than one wedged dome fighting a gradient, because the ambient climate does most of the work in each.

This is also better for Perfect status, better for Residency, and better for your Impact Level, since fewer climate devices means less power draw. Wedging is a solution to a space problem, not a default technique.