An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeographic division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns of plants and animals. Biogeography is the study of the distribution of Biodiversity over Space and Time. Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Ecozones represent large areas of the earth's surface where plants and animals developed in relative isolation over long periods of time, and are separated from one another by geologic features, such as oceans, broad deserts, or high mountain ranges, that formed barriers to plant and animal migration. An ocean (from Greek, ''Okeanos'' (Oceanus) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the Hydrosphere. A desert is a Landscape or region that receives very little precipitation. A mountain range is a chain of Mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys Ecozones correspond to the floristic kingdoms of botany or zoogeographic regions of mammal zoology. A Phytochorion, in Phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species Botany, plant science(s, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of Biology and is the scientific study of plant Life An ecozone or biogeographic realm is the largest scale biogeographic division of the earth's surface based on the historic and evolutionary distribution patterns Zoology (from Greek ζῷον, zoon, "animal" + λόγος, " Logos " "knowledge" is the branch of Simply they are a definition of the plants and animals in a region further divided by the land form region. (Example the taiga ecozone in Canada is divided into the taiga plains, and taiga shield. )

Ecozones are characterized by the evolutionary history of the plants and animals they contain. As such, they are distinct from biomes, also known as major habitat types, which are divisions of the earth's surface based on life form, or the adaptation of plants and animals to climatic, soil, and other conditions. A biome is a climatically and geographically defined area of ecologically similar climatic conditions such as communities of Plants Animals and Soil, often typeset as SOiL, is a four piece rock band from Chicago Illinois United States founded by Shaun Glass Tom Schofield Tim King and Adam Zadel Biomes are characterized by similar climax vegetation, regardless of the evolutionary lineage of the specific plants and animals. Climax vegetation is the Vegetation which establishes itself on a given site for given climatic conditions in the absence of Each ecozone may include a number of different biomes. A tropical moist broadleaf forest in Central America, for example, may be similar to one in New Guinea in its vegetation type and structure, climate, soils, etc. Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF also known as tropical moist forests, are a Tropical and Subtropical Forest , but these forests are inhabited by plants and animals with very different evolutionary histories.

The patterns of plant and animal distribution in the world's ecozones was shaped by the process of plate tectonics, which has redistributed the world's land masses over geological history. Plate tectonics (from Greek τέκτων tektōn "builder" or "mason" describes the large scale motions of Earth 's Lithosphere

The term ecozone, as used here, is a fairly recent development, and other terms, including kingdom, realm, and region, are used by other authorities to denote the same meaning. J. Schultz uses the term "ecozone" to refer his classification system of biomes.

WWF Ecozones

Map of six of the world's eight ecozones      Nearctic      Palearctic      Afrotropic      Indomalaya      Australasia      Neotropic      Oceania and Antarctic ecozones not shown

The ecozones are based largely on the biogeographic realms of Pielou (1979) and Udvardy (1975). The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial Ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight Ecozones dividing the Earth surface See Tropical Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa for other aspects The Afrotropic is one of the earth's eight Ecozones It includes The Indomalaya ecozone is one of the eight Ecozones that cover the planet's land surface The Australasian zone is an ecological region that is coincident but not synonymous (by some definitions with the geographic Region of Australasia In Biogeography, Neotropic or Neotropical refers to one of the world's eight terrestrial Ecozones This ecozone includes South and Central America the Oceania is the smallest of the world's terrestrial Ecozones and unique in not including any Continental land mass Antarctica is one of eight terrestrial Ecosystems The ecosystem includes Antarctica and several island groups in the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans A team of biologists convened by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) developed a system of eight biogeographic realms (ecozones) as part of their delineation of the world's over 800 terrestrial ecoregions. An ecoregion ( ecological region) sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or "

• Nearctic 22. The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial Ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface 9 mil. km² (including most of North America)
• Palearctic 54. The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight Ecozones dividing the Earth surface 1 mil. km² (including the bulk of Eurasia and North Africa)
• Afrotropic 22. For the superstate in George Orwell 's novel see Nations of Nineteen Eighty-Four. North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan See Tropical Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa for other aspects The Afrotropic is one of the earth's eight Ecozones It includes 1 mil. km² (including Sub-Saharan Africa)
• Indomalaya 7. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries The Indomalaya ecozone is one of the eight Ecozones that cover the planet's land surface 5 mil. km² (including Afghanistan and Pakistan, the South Asian subcontinent and Southeast Asia)
• Australasia 7. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. The Australasian zone is an ecological region that is coincident but not synonymous (by some definitions with the geographic Region of Australasia 7 mil. km² (including Australia, New Guinea, and neighbouring islands). For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known The northern boundary of this zone is known as the Wallace line. The Wallace Line (or Wallace's Line) is a boundary that separates the zoogeographical regions of Asia and Australia.
• Neotropic 19. In Biogeography, Neotropic or Neotropical refers to one of the world's eight terrestrial Ecozones This ecozone includes South and Central America the 0 mil. km² (including South America and the Caribbean)
• Oceania 1. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting Oceania is the smallest of the world's terrestrial Ecozones and unique in not including any Continental land mass 0 mil. km² (including Polynesia, Fiji and Micronesia)
• Antarctic 0. Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a Subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over Fiji (Matanitu ko Viti फ़िजी officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti फ़िजी द्वीप समूह गणराज्य Micronesia, from the Greek mikros (μικρός (meaning small) and nesos (νῆσος (meaning island) is a Subregion Antarctica is one of eight terrestrial Ecosystems The ecosystem includes Antarctica and several island groups in the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans 3 mil. km² (including Antarctica).

The WWF scheme is broadly similar to Udvardy's system, the chief difference being the delineation of the Australasian ecozone relative to the Antarctic, Oceanic, and Indomalayan ecozones. In the WWF system, The Australasia ecozone includes Australia, Tasmania, the islands of Wallacea, New Guinea, the East Melanesian islands, New Caledonia, and New Zealand. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Tasmania is an Australian island and state of the same name It is located south of the eastern side of the Continent, being separated from it by Bass Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water Straits from the Asian and Australian New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known The East Melanesian Islands, also known as the Solomons-Vanuatu-Bismarck moist forests, is a biogeographic region notable for its unique flora and fauna and species richness For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Udvardy's Australian realm includes only Australia and Tasmania; he places Wallacea in the Indomalayan Realm, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and East Melanesia in the Oceanian Realm, and New Zealand in the Antarctic Realm. Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water Straits from the Asian and Australian

Bioregions

The WWF scheme further subdivides the ecozones into bioregions, defined as "geographic clusters of ecoregions that may span several habitat types, but have strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level (genus, family). " The WWF bioregions are as follows:

• Afrotropic
• Antarctic
• Australasia
  • Wallacea
  • New Guinea and Melanesia
• Indomalaya
  • Indian subcontinent
  • Indochina
  • Sunda Shelf and Philippines
• Nearctic
  • Canadian Shield
  • Eastern North America
  • Northern Mexico
  • Western North America
• Neotropical
  • Amazonia
  • Caribbean
  • Central America
  • Central Andes
  • Eastern South America
  • Northern Andes
  • Orinoco
  • Southern South America
• Oceania
• Palearctic

References

• R. K. Brummitt (2001). Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water Straits from the Asian and Australian This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. The Amazon Rainforest (Brazilian Portuguese: Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica or Amazonía South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a The Andes form the world's longest exposed Mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. According to its web site " The International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases (TDWG is a Non profit scientific and educational association affiliated to the International World Geographical Scheme for recording plant distributions (PDF). Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon University (also known as CMU) is a private Research University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.
• Cox, C. Barry; Peter D. Moore (1985). Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach (Fourth Edition). Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
• Dinerstein, Eric; David Olson; Douglas J. Graham; et al. (1995). A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank, Washington DC.
• Ricketts, Taylor H. , Eric Dinerstein, David M. Olson, Colby J. Loucks, et al. (1999). Terrestrial Ecoregions of North America: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press, Washington DC.
• Schultz, J. : Die Ökozonen der Erde, Ulmer Stuttgart, 3rd ed. 2002 (1st ed. 1988). ISBN 3-8252-1514-8
• Schultz, J. : Handbuch der Ökozonen, Ulmer Stuttgart 2000. ISBN 3-8252-8200-7
• Schultz, J. : The Ecozones of the World, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2n ed. 2005. ISBN 3540200142
• Udvardy, M. D. F. (1975). A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world. IUCN Occasional Paper no. 18. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN.
• Wikramanayake, Eric; Eric Dinerstein; Colby J. Loucks; et al. (2002). Terrestrial Ecoregions of the Indo-Pacific: a Conservation Assessment. Island Press; Washington, DC.

See Also

• Ecological land classification

External links

• The Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ecozones. Ecological land classification is defined as being a cartographical delineation of distinct ecological areas identified by their Geology, Topography