The Importance Of Biogeography

Biogeography

The study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time is referred to as biogeography. This phenomenon explains how related species can be found on different continents in the context of continental drift eg. Figure 1 shows the distribution of continents.

Figure 1: Gondwana 125 million years ago and continent distribution present day redrawn from________

Organisms and biological communities often vary in regard to geographic gradients of latitude. For instance, in geographic gradients of latitude with regards to the equator, the temperatures are stable around the equator which leads to a greater biodiversity whereas areas further away from the equator experience a seasonal variation

Modern biogeographic research can be subdivided into different disciplines, for instance, phytogeography which is the branch of biogeography that studies the distribution of plants and zoogeography which is the branch that studies the distribution of animals. Importance of patterns, processes, and scale

Darwin derived more evidence for evolution from the facts of biogeography than any other biological phenomenon. It was so important that it was discussed in two chapters of his book, the Origin of the Species. The basis of our knowledge today is founded on the principals of evolution and so from the principals of biogeography. Spatial and temporal concepts are the foundation of biogeography. These factors can be explained by looking at patterns, processes and scale.

Patterns can be divided into abiotic patterns that are considered to be the foundation of biotic patterns. Abiotic patterns are considered to be continental drift, elevation, soil type, temperature fluctuation, humidity, climate type, precipitation, seasonal variation, etc. Whereas biotic patterns are subdivided into biota distribution, surface biome and species

Ecological biogeography focuses on studying the of extant (modern or present-day) biogeographic relationships between organisms and their environment. The three key elements of ecological biogeography are temperature, relative humidity and salinity. The most common fields of research within ecological biogeography are climatic equability that focuses on the variation between daily and annual temperatures, primary productivity that focuses on the evapotranspiration rates of plants and then habitat heterogeneity that lead to the presence of more