Biogeographic realm
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A biogeographic realm is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions. A biogeographic realm is also known as "ecozone", although that term may also refer to ecoregions.
Description
The realms delineate large areas of Earth's surface within which organisms have evolved in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated by geographic features, such as oceans, broad deserts, or high mountain ranges, that constitute natural barriers to migration. As such, biogeographic realm designations are used to indicate general groupings of organisms based on their shared biogeography. Biogeographic realms correspond to the floristic kingdoms of botany or zoogeographic regions of zoology.
From 1872, Alfred Russel Wallace developed a system of zoogeographic regions, extending the ornithologist Philip Sclater's system of six regions.[1]
Biogeographic realms are characterized by the evolutionary history of the organisms they contain. They are distinct from
The distribution of organisms among the world's biogeographic realms has been influenced by the distribution of
Concept history
The "biogeographic realms" of Udvardy
The usage of the term "ecozone" is more variable. Beginning in the 1960s, it was used originally in the field of
In the Global 200/WWF scheme,[7] originally the term "biogeographic realm" in Udvardy sense was used. However, in a scheme of BBC,[8] it was replaced by the term "ecozone".
Terrestrial biogeographic realms
Udvardy biogeographic realms
WWF / Global 200 biogeographic realms
The
Biogeographic realm |
Area | Lands included | |
---|---|---|---|
million square kilometres | million square miles | ||
Palearctic | 54.1 | 20.9 | The bulk of Eurasia and North Africa. |
Nearctic | 22.9 | 8.8 | Greenland and most of North America. |
Afrotropic | 22.1 | 8.5 | Trans-Saharan Africa, Madagascar and Arabia. |
Neotropic | 19.0 | 7.3 | South America, Central America, the Caribbean, South Florida and the Falkland Islands. |
Australasia | 7.6 | 2.9 | Australia, Melanesia, New Zealand, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi and the neighbouring islands. The northern boundary of this zone is known as the Wallace Line. |
Indomalaya | 7.5 | 2.9 | The Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, southern China and most of the Greater Sunda Islands. |
Oceania | 1.0 | 0.39 | Polynesia (except New Zealand), Micronesia, and the Fijian Islands. |
Antarctic | 0.3 | 0.12 | Antarctica, Alexander Island, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. |
The Palearctic and Nearctic are sometimes grouped into the Holarctic realm.
Morrone biogeographic kingdoms
Following the nomenclatural conventions set out in the International Code of Area Nomenclature, Morrone[10] defined the next biogeographic kingdoms (or realms) and regions:
- Holarctic kingdom Heilprin (1887)
- Nearctic region Sclater (1858)
- Palearctic region Sclater (1858)
- Holotropical kingdom Rapoport (1968)
- Neotropical region Sclater (1858)
- Ethiopian region Sclater (1858)
- Oriental region Wallace (1876)
- Austral kingdom Engler (1899)
- Cape region Grisebach (1872)
- Andean region Engler (1882)
- Australian region Sclater (1858)
- Antarctic region Grisebach (1872)
- Transition zones:
- Mexican transition zone (Nearctic–Neotropical transition)
- Saharo-Arabian transition zone (Palearctic–Ethiopian transition)
- Chinese transition zone (Palearctic–Oriental transition zone transition)
- Indo-Malayan, Indonesian or Wallace's transition zone (Oriental–Australian transition)
- South American transition zone (Neotropical–Austral transition)
Freshwater biogeographic realms
The applicability of Udvardy scheme[2] to most freshwater taxa is unresolved.[11]
The drainage basins of the principal oceans and seas of the world are marked by continental divides. The grey areas are endorheic basins that do not drain to the ocean.[citation needed]
Marine biogeographic realms
According to Briggs[13] and Morrone:[14]
- Indo-West Pacific region
- Eastern Pacific region
- Western Atlantic region
- Eastern Atlantic region
- Southern Australian region
- Northern New Zealand region
- Western South America region
- Eastern South America region
- Southern Africa region
- Mediterranean–Atlantic region
- Carolina region
- California region
- Japan region
- Tasmanian region
- Southern New Zealand region
- Antipodean region
- Subantarctic region
- Magellan region
- Eastern Pacific Boreal region
- Western Atlantic Boreal region
- Eastern Atlantic Boreal region
- Antarctic region
- Arctic region
According to the WWF scheme:[15]
- Arctic realm
- Temperate Northern Atlantic realm
- Temperate Northern Pacific realm
- Tropical Atlantic realm
- Western Indo-Pacific realm
- Central Indo-Pacific realm
- Eastern Indo-Pacific realm
- Tropical Eastern Pacific realm
- Temperate South America realm
- Temperate Southern Africa realm
- Temperate Australasia realm
- Southern Ocean realm
See also
- Biome
- Cosmopolitan distribution
- Ecotone
- Phytochorion and World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, used in botany
References
- S2CID 1723657.
- ^ a b c Udvardy, Miklos D.F. (1975). "A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world". IUCN Occasional Paper (18). Morges: International Union for Conservation of Nature and natural resources (IUCN).
- ISSN 0012-8252.
- ^ a b "ecozones.ca home page". www.ecozones.ca. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
- ^ Scott, Geoffrey A.J. (1995). Canada's vegetation: a world perspective. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 13.
- ISBN 978-3-540-28527-4.
- ^ S2CID 86613942.
- ^ a b "Ecozones". BBC Nature. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018.
- ^ Olson, D. M., Dinerstein, E., Wikramanayake, E. D., Burgess, N. D., Powell, G. V. N., Underwood, E. C., D'Amico, J. A., Itoua, I., Strand, H. E., Morrison, J. C., Loucks, C. J., Allnutt, T. F., Ricketts, T. H., Kura, Y., Lamoreux, J. F., Wettengel, W. W., Hedao, P., Kassem, K. R. (2001). Terrestrial ecoregions of the world: a new map of life on Earth. Bioscience 51(11):933-938.
- S2CID 83401946.
- ^ "Freshwater Ecoregions of the World" (PDF). www.feow.org. Retrieved 2022-12-31.
- .
- ISBN 9780444825605.
- ISBN 9780231512831.
- S2CID 29150840. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2021.