As a quick breakdown of vanilla biomes:
Plains - Lots of space, easy access to dyes and seeds, often a good place for pigs and cows, somewhat fewer caves.
Swamp - lots of sheep, oddly. And rubber trees, rubber trees everywhere. Plenty of easy water, and one of the better spelunking biomes.
Ocean - fewest caves, and no land mass. Best option for underwater bases, obviously, and squid ink. No hostiles though.
Mountain - tough terrain and lots of cows. absolute best for cave spawning, so a great quarry location. good views and a nice spot for wind power.
Desert - the glorious power of the sun. seems like more creepers. plenty of sand for glass, but no trees to speak of.
Island - For kicks, really. oceans have poor cave formation, and islands have few resources, unless theyre larger.
Forest - All the trees. Better rubber tree placement than most. occasionally sheep.
Jungle - plenty of mob hunting day or night. best place for treehouses if you're on vanilla. neutral in most other regards.
I think thats most of them; that's all in regards to IC2 mostly, but then again, most other mods make explicit mention of their biome interactions, if they have any at all.