I searched and couldn't find this info, sorry if I'm repeating a question. What is the difference between the attack boost and the ability boost in biome research?
If you look closely, every dragon is specialized in one of the biomes. By LEVELING your dragon up, you can increase its base attack, which is that dragons attack if you attack/defend outside of its biome - that is also what dragon attack research increases. However, you will also see under Abilities tab of the dragon, several specialized abilities (which boost the attack of the dragon on specific biomes and specific attacks/defenses). That boost to the specific biome, which is usually increased by RANKING your dragon up with shards, is what dragon ability research increases.