NATURE AND SCOPE OF

BIOGEOGRAPHY
BY :- ANCHAL CHAWLA (1918104)
AKANKSHA BHARGAVA (1918136)
 DEFINING
BIOGEOGRAPHY
• BIOGEOGRAPHY, THE STUDY OF THE
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF PLANTS,
ANIMALS, AND OTHER FORMS OF LIFE. IT
IS CONCERNED NOT ONLY WITH
HABITATION PATTERNS BUT ALSO WITH
THE FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR
VARIATIONS IN DISTRIBUTION.
• STRICTLY SPEAKING, BIOGEOGRAPHY IS A
BRANCH OF BIOLOGY, BUT PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHERS HAVE MADE IMPORTANT
CONTRIBUTIONS, PARTICULARLY IN THE
STUDY OF FLORA. MODERN
ADVANCEMENTS IN THE CLASSIFICATION
OF VEGETATION AND THE PREPARATION
OF MAPS OF VEGETATION BEGAN IN THE
20TH CENTURY WITH THE WORK OF
AMERICAN BOTANISTS FORREST SHREVE,
HOMER L. SHANTZ, HUGH M. RAUP, AND
Frontispiece to Alfred Russel Wallace's book The Geographical
OTHERS.
Distribution of Animals
• THE WORD "BIOGEOGRAPHY" IS BEST UNDERSTOOD WHEN WE BREAK THE WORD
DOWN INTO THREE ROOT WORDS:

BIO MEANS LIFE.

• SOME WORDS THAT COME FROM THIS ROOT ARE BIOLOGY (THE STUDY OF LIVING
THINGS), BIOGRAPHY (A WRITTEN RECORD OF SOMEONE’S LIFE), AND SYMBIOSIS
(HOW TWO DIFFERENT ORGANISMS LIVE TOGETHER AND DEPEND ON EACH
OTHER).

GEO MEANS EARTH.

• SOME WORDS THAT COME FROM THIS ROOT ARE GEOLOGY (THE STUDY OF THE
EARTH AS RECORDED IN ROCKS), GEOCENTRIC (HAVING THE EARTH AS THE
CENTER), AND GEORGIC (AGRICULTURAL).

THE NAME GEORGE MEANS ONE WHO WORKS THE EARTH, AND GEORGIA MEANS
LAND OF FARMERS.

GRAPH MEANS WRITING.

• SOME WORDS THAT COME FROM THIS ROOT ARE AUTOGRAPH (THE WRITING OF
ONE’S NAME), PARAGRAPH (A PART OF A PIECE OF WRITING THAT DEALS WITH ONE
SUBJECT), AND GRAPHITE (A SHINY BLACK SUBSTANCE THAT IS USED IN PENCILS).

• A BIOGEOGRAPHIC REGION IS A LARGE, GENERALLY CONTINUOUS DIVISION OF THE

EARTH'S SURFACE HAVING A DISTINCTIVE BIOTIC COMMUNITY. BIOGEOGRAPHIC
REGIONS ARE USUALLY DEFINED SEPARATELY FOR FLORAL AND FAUNAL
COMMUNITIES AND ARE LARGELY RESTRICTED TO THE TERRESTRIAL AREAS OF THE
EARTH.
 BIOGEOGRAPHY OF CAMELS- AN EXAMPLE
• TODAY, THE CAMEL FAMILY INCLUDES
DIFFERENT TYPES OF CAMELS. THEY ARE
SHOWN IN FIGURE BELOW. ALL OF TODAY’S
CAMELS ARE DESCENDED FROM THE SAME
CAMEL ANCESTORS. THESE ANCESTORS
LIVED IN NORTH AMERICA ABOUT A MILLION
YEARS AGO.

• EARLY NORTH AMERICAN CAMELS MIGRATED

TO OTHER PLACES. SOME WENT TO EAST ASIA.
THEY CROSSED A LAND BRIDGE DURING THE
LAST ICE AGE. A FEW OF THEM MADE IT ALL
THE WAY TO AFRICA. OTHERS WENT TO
SOUTH AMERICA. THEY CROSSED THE
ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. ONCE CAMELS
REACHED THESE DIFFERENT PLACES, THEY
EVOLVED INDEPENDENTLY. THEY EVOLVED
ADAPTATIONS THAT SUITED THEM FOR THE
PARTICULAR ENVIRONMENT WHERE THEY
 NATURE OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
• THE PATTERNS OF SPECIES DISTRIBUTION ACROSS GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS CAN USUALLY BE EXPLAINED THROUGH A
COMBINATION OF HISTORICAL FACTORS SUCH AS: SPECIATION, EXTINCTION, CONTINENTAL DRIFT, AND GLACIATION.
THROUGH OBSERVING THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES, WE CAN SEE ASSOCIATED VARIATIONS IN SEA
LEVEL, RIVER ROUTES, HABITAT, AND RIVER CAPTURE. ADDITIONALLY, THIS SCIENCE CONSIDERS THE GEOGRAPHIC
CONSTRAINTS OF LANDMASS AREAS AND ISOLATION, AS WELL AS THE AVAILABLE ECOSYSTEM ENERGY SUPPLIES.

• OVER PERIODS OF ECOLOGICAL CHANGES, BIOGEOGRAPHY INCLUDES THE STUDY OF PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES IN:
THEIR PAST AND/OR PRESENT LIVING REFUGIUM HABITAT; THEIR INTERIM LIVING SITES; AND/OR THEIR SURVIVAL
LOCALES. AS WRITER DAVID QUAMMEN PUT IT, "...BIOGEOGRAPHY DOES MORE THAN ASK WHICH SPECIES? AND
WHERE. IT ALSO ASKS WHY? AND, WHAT IS SOMETIMES MORE CRUCIAL, WHY NOT?.“

• BIOGEOGRAPHY IS THE STUDY OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF SPECIES AND ECOSYSTEMS IN GEOGRAPHIC SPACE AND
THROUGH GEOLOGICAL TIME. ORGANISMS AND BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES OFTEN VARY IN A REGULAR FASHION
ALONG GEOGRAPHIC GRADIENTS OF LATITUDE, ELEVATION, ISOLATION AND HABITAT AREA.

• BIOGEOGRAPHIC STUDIES DIVIDE EARTH’S SURFACE—PRIMARILY THE CONTINENTS AND ISLANDS—INTO REGIONS
EXHIBITING DIFFERENCES IN THE AVERAGE COMPOSITION OF FLORA AND FAUNA. IT IS THOUGHT THAT THE PRESENT-
DAY DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS OF PLANT AND ANIMAL FORMS, AS REFLECTED IN SUCH BIOGEOGRAPHIC REGIONS, ARE
THE RESULT OF MANY HISTORICAL AND CURRENT CAUSES.
BIOGEOGRAPHY, IN ITS BROADEST SENSE, ATTEMPTS TO
UNDERSTAND THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN AND AMONG
THE ENVIRONMENT, ANIMALS, PLANTS AND MAN, ALL OF
WHICH CONSTITUTE THE SUB-SYSTEMS OF THE GLOBAL
ECOSYSTEM. THUS

BIO-GEOGRAPHICAL STUDIES INCLUDE:

• TO EXAMINE, BY MEANS OF EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS,

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COMPLEX ECOLOGICAL
SYSTEMS AND PROPAGATION AREAS E.G. IN A FOREST,
GRASSLAND, POND OR AN ESTUARY.

• TO ANALYSE THE SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL AFFINITIES

BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL ORGANISMS AND POPULATIONS.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE SPATIAL VARIATIONS OF AN

INDIVIDUAL SPECIES OF PLANT OR ANIMAL MAY DIFFER IN
THE SAME TYPE OF ECOSYSTEM ON ACCOUNT OF THE
DIFFERENCES IN THE INTAKE OF SOLAR ENERGY OR THE
NUTRIENTS PRESENT. IN OTHER CASES THE DIFFERENCES
MAY BE MEASURED TEMPORALLY AND SOME SPECIES MAY
INCREASE OR DECREASE AFTER SOME TIME ON ACCOUNT
OF COMPETITION, INHIBITION OR MUTUALISM. STILL
OTHERS MAY EVOLVE INTO DIFFERENT SPECIES BY
ACCIDENT, MUTATION OR EVOLUTION.
• TO EVALUATE THE ECOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF THE AREA FOR A SPECIES OF
PLANT OR ANIMAL.
• THE POTENTIAL MAY BE INFLUENCED BY ABIOTIC FACTORS LIKE SOIL,
RELIEF, AMOUNT OF NUTRIENTS PRESENT IN A GIVEN AREA, CLIMATIC
CONDITIONS OF TEMPERATURE, RAINFALL AND MOISTURE OR BY BIOTIC
FACTORS LIKE THE METHODS OF DISPERSAL OF THAT SPECIES, BEHAVIOR
TOWARDS ENVIRONMENT, REPRODUCTIVE RATE, ADAPTATIONS TO
ENVIRONMENT ETC.
• TO MEASURE THE IMPACT OF ANTHROPOGENIC FACTORS WHICH ARE
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GROWTH OR EXTINCTION OF CERTAIN SPECIES IN A
REGION AS HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS DIVERSE IN EVERY REGION DUE TO
ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATIONS.
• TO EXPLORE THE HISTORICAL REASONS OF THE PATTERNS OF BIOTIC
DISPERSAL IN THE PAST WHICH TO A LARGE EXTENT INFLUENCE THE
PRESENT DISTRIBUTIONAL PATTERN AS WELL.
• EXAMINATION OF THE PAST DISTRIBUTIONAL PATTERN IS DONE BY
PALAENTOLOGICAL STUDIES OF FOSSIL RECORDS.
• IT WILL BE PERTINENT HERE TO POINT OUT THAT THE CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS IN THE DISTRIBUTIONAL PATTERN
OF BIOTA ARE OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE TO GEOGRAPHERS. SUCH STUDIES ARE NOT DONE IN ANY OTHER SCIENCE,
AS THEY ARE INVARIABLY LINKED WITH THE LOCAL OR REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT, IT IS EASY TO EVALUATE FOR A
GEOGRAPHER THAT THE GRASSLANDS OF THE AMERICAS ARE STILL IN THEIR ORIGINAL, FLOURISHING STATE DUE TO
POOR GRAZING BY ANIMALS WHICH IN TURN IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECENT INHABITATION OF THESE TWO
CONTINENTS BY MAN. SIMILARLY, IT IS ON ACCOUNT OF THE SEPARATION OF AUSTRALIAN CONTINENT, IN THE EOCENE
PERIOD, FROM THE ‘PANGEA’ CONTINENT THAT THE ANIMAL AND VEGETAL FORMS OF LIFE DIFFER FROM ALL THE
CONTINENTS AND THE IMPACT OF GEOGRAPHIC ISOLATION IS MOST PROMINENT.

• THE STUDY OF THE RESPONSES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS TO THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS IS WITHIN THE
PURVIEW OF BIOGEOGRAPHY. THEIR BEHAVIOURS CAUSE DIFFERENT BIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN AN AREA. IT IS
FASCINATING TO FIND THAT THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF EQUATORIAL REGIONS ARE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE OF
TEMPERATE REGIONS ON ACCOUNT OF VARIATIONS IN CLIMATE. EQUALLY SIGNIFICANT ARE THE WAYS IN WHICH THE
PLANTS AND ANIMALS ADAPT TO VARIOUS CLIMATIC REGIMES RESPONSES TO CLIMATE OR TO TOPOGRAPHY, SOIL AND
CHEMICAL NUTRIENTS ARE EXHIBITED BY PLANTS IN A MULTITUDE OF MORPHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL
MODIFICATIONS. THEY ARE ALSO MARKEDLY NOTICEABLE IN WILD ANIMALS AS THE ANIMALS OF COLD REGIONS LIVE IN
BURROWS AND HAVE A THICK COVER OF FUR OR HAIR ON THEIR SKIN TO SAVE THEMSELVES AGAINST COLD, WHILE
THOSE LIVING IN TROPICAL REGIONS ARE DEVOID OF THE HAIRY COVER AND LEAD AN ARBOREAL LIFE.
 CHARLES DARWIN
•MOST PEOPLE HAVE HEARD ABOUT CHARLES DARWIN, THE FAMED
BIOLOGIST AND FATHER OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION AND NATURAL
SELECTION. HE STUDIED BIOGEOGRAPHY AND IS MOST FAMOUS FOR THE
STUDY OF FINCHES ON THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS OFF THE COAST OF
SOUTH AMERICA. THESE FINCHES WERE ORIGINALLY FROM THE
MAINLAND AND THEN FOUND THEMSELVES ON THE ISLANDS, WHERE
DIFFERENT FOOD WAS AVAILABLE. THE FINCHES HAD TO ADAPT TO EAT
THE NEW FOODS TO SURVIVE. THEIR HEADS GOT LARGER, SOME OF
THEIR BEAKS GOT HARDER AND LARGER, AND THEIR COLORING
CHANGED. THIS IS ANOTHER CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF HOW AN ANIMAL
CHANGED DUE TO A NEW ENVIRONMENT.
•PLANTS CHANGE DUE TO ALTERATIONS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENTS AS
WELL. IN CURRENT EVENTS, WE HEAR ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
REGULARLY. PLANT BREEDERS, OR PEOPLE WHO STUDY AND CREATE NEW
PLANTS TO BETTER SUIT THE ENVIRONMENT, ARE WORKING ON EDIBLE
PLANTS THAT CAN SURVIVE BETTER IN DROUGHT, HIGH HEAT, COLDER
TEMPERATURES AND HARSH SOIL CONDITIONS. PLANT BREEDERS HAVE
STUDIED WINTER WHEAT PLANTS TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN SURVIVE A
COLD WINTER UNDER SNOW IN DRY REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
AND THE WORLD.
 ALFRED RUSSEL
WALLACE
• ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE STUDIED THE DISTRIBUTION OF
FLORA AND FAUNA IN THE AMAZON BASIN AND THE
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO IN THE MID-19TH CENTURY. HIS
RESEARCH WAS ESSENTIAL TO THE FURTHER
DEVELOPMENT OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, AND HE WAS LATER
NICKNAMED THE "FATHER OF BIOGEOGRAPHY". WALLACE
CONDUCTED FIELDWORK RESEARCHING THE HABITS,
BREEDING AND MIGRATION TENDENCIES, AND FEEDING
BEHAVIOR OF THOUSANDS OF SPECIES. HE STUDIED
BUTTERFLY AND BIRD DISTRIBUTIONS IN COMPARISON TO
THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL BARRIERS.
 ALFRED WEGNER
• ALFRED WEGENER INTRODUCED THE THEORY OF
CONTINENTAL DRIFT IN 1912, THOUGH IT WAS NOT
WIDELY ACCEPTED UNTIL THE 1960S. THIS THEORY WAS
REVOLUTIONARY BECAUSE IT CHANGED THE WAY THAT
EVERYONE THOUGHT ABOUT SPECIES AND THEIR
DISTRIBUTION AROUND THE GLOBE. THE THEORY
EXPLAINED HOW CONTINENTS WERE FORMERLY JOINED
TOGETHER IN ONE LARGE LANDMASS, PANGEA, AND
SLOWLY DRIFTED APART DUE TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE
PLATES BELOW EARTH'S SURFACE. THE EVIDENCE FOR
THIS THEORY IS IN THE GEOLOGICAL SIMILARITIES
BETWEEN VARYING LOCATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE,
FOSSIL COMPARISONS FROM DIFFERENT CONTINENTS,
AND THE JIGSAW PUZZLE SHAPE OF THE LANDMASSES ON
EARTH. THOUGH WEGENER DID NOT KNOW THE
MECHANISM OF THIS CONCEPT OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT,
THIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF BIOGEOGRAPHY Schematic distribution of fossils on Pangea according to
WAS SIGNIFICANT IN THE WAY THAT IT SHED LIGHT ON Wegener
THE IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOGRAPHIC
 MODERN RELEVANCE

• BIOGEOGRAPHY NOW INCORPORATES MANY DIFFERENT FIELDS

INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY,
BOTANY AND PLANT BIOLOGY, ZOOLOGY, GENERAL BIOLOGY, AND
MODELLING . BIOGEOGRAPHY IS BEING APPLIED TO BIODIVERSITY
CONSERVATION AND PLANNING, PROJECTING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL
CHANGES ON SPECIES AND BIOMES, PROJECTING THE SPREAD OF
INFECTIOUS DISEASES, INVASIVE SPECIES, AND FOR SUPPORTING
PLANNING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CROPS.

• TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLVING AND ADVANCES HAVE ALLOWED FOR

GENERATING A WHOLE SUIT OF PREDICTOR VARIABLES FOR
BIOGEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS, INCLUDING SATELLITE IMAGING AND
PROCESSING OF THE EARTH.[23] TWO MAIN TYPES OF SATELLITE
IMAGING THAT ARE IMPORTANT WITHIN MODERN BIOGEOGRAPHY ARE
GLOBAL PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY MODEL (GLO-PEM) AND GEOGRAPHIC
INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS). GLO-PEM USES SATELLITE-IMAGING GIVES
"REPETITIVE, SPATIALLY CONTIGUOUS, AND TIME SPECIFIC
OBSERVATIONS OF VEGETATION". THESE OBSERVATIONS ARE ON A
GLOBAL SCALE.[24] GIS CAN SHOW CERTAIN PROCESSES ON THE EARTH'S
SURFACE LIKE WHALE LOCATIONS, SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES, AND
BATHYMETRY.[25] CURRENT SCIENTISTS ALSO USE CORAL REEFS TO
 SCOPE OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
Biogeography, in its broadest sense, attempts to understand the interactions
between and among the environment, animals, plants and man, all of which
constitute the sub-systems of the global ecosystem. The main scope of
biogeography is as follows:

To examine, by means of experimental analysis, the relationship between

complex ecological systems and propagation areas e.g. in a forest, grassland,
pond or estuary.
To analyse the spatial and temporal affinities between individual organisms
and populations.
To evaluate the ecological potential of the area for a species of plant and
animal. The potential may be influenced by abiotic factors like soil, relief,
amount of nutrients present in a given area, climatic conditions of temperature,
rainfall and moisture or by biotic factors like the methods of dispersal of that
species, behaviour towards environment, reproductive rate, adaptations to
environment etc.
To measure the anthropogenic factors which are responsible for the growth and
extinction of certain species in a region.
To explore the historical reasons of the patterns of biotic dispersal in the past
Multi disciplinary nature of
which to a large extent influence the present distributional pattern as well.
Biogeography
It will be pertinent here to point out that the cause-effect relationships in the distributional pattern of biota are of paramount
Importance to geographers. Such studies are not done in any other science, as they are invariably linked with the local or
regional environment.

The study of the responses of plants and animals to their environmental conditions is within the purview of biogeography.
Their behaviors cause different biological conditions in an area. It is fascinating to find that the flora and fauna of equatorial
regions are different from those of temperate regions on account of variations in climate.

The information provided by the distributional pattern of the

biota is a useful index for
exploring the environmental specialties of the area. For
instance, the xerophytic, scarce vegetation of an area is
indicative of the arid conditions where precipitation is less than
the required need for plants.

Biogeography attempts to provide solutions to biotic disequilibrium which has now gradually crept in
on a large scale. It imparts a better understanding of ecological functions and processes and of the nature of
ecological inter-relationships. Such studies, undoubtedly, stimulate the geographer’s interest in unfolding the
intricacies of various ecosystems.
The attention of geographers has now focused on the study of ecosystems due to the rapid depletion of organic material and
the increasing modification of the biosphere by man which has highlighted the serious complexity of existing ecological
problems.

The significance of man as a universal and long established ecological variable is, at last being fully realized by ecologists,
biologists and geographers. Over-cropping, exacerbated by direct and indirect habitat modification has sparked off biological
chain-reactions which man, as yet, has been unable to control completely. A synoptic view of such anthropogenic factors is
one of the main tasks of biogeographers.
• KNOWLEDGE OF SPATIAL VARIATION IN THE NUMBERS AND TYPES OF ORGANISMS IS AS VITAL TO US TODAY AS IT WAS TO
OUR EARLY HUMAN ANCESTORS, AS WE ADAPT TO HETEROGENEOUS BUT GEOGRAPHICALLY PREDICTABLE ENVIRONMENTS.
BIOGEOGRAPHY IS AN INTEGRATIVE FIELD OF INQUIRY THAT UNITES CONCEPTS AND INFORMATION FROM ECOLOGY,
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, TAXONOMY, GEOLOGY, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, PALAEONTOLOGY, AND CLIMATOLOGY.[2][3]

• MODERN BIOGEOGRAPHIC RESEARCH COMBINES INFORMATION AND IDEAS FROM MANY FIELDS, FROM THE
PHYSIOLOGICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ON ORGANISMAL DISPERSAL TO GEOLOGICAL AND CLIMATOLOGICAL
PHENOMENA OPERATING AT GLOBAL SPATIAL SCALES AND EVOLUTIONARY TIME FRAMES.

• THE SHORT-TERM INTERACTIONS WITHIN A HABITAT AND SPECIES OF ORGANISMS DESCRIBE THE ECOLOGICAL APPLICATION
OF BIOGEOGRAPHY. HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY DESCRIBES THE LONG-TERM, EVOLUTIONARY PERIODS OF TIME FOR
BROADER CLASSIFICATIONS OF ORGANISMS. EARLY SCIENTISTS, BEGINNING WITH CARL LINNAEUS, CONTRIBUTED TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF BIOGEOGRAPHY AS A SCIENCE.
 CONTENTS OF BIOGEOGRAPHY

he primary subject matter of biogeography comprises the analysis and interpretation of different aspects of living
organisms including plants and animals of the biospheric ecosystem. Thus, on the basis on plant and animal,
biogeography is divided into three basic branches and these three also divided in sub-discipline. They are given below :
1. Plant Biogeography or Phytogeography
2. Zoogeography or Animal Geography
3. Pedology or Soil Geography
 PHYTOGEOGRAPHY
• IT IS THE GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS, MAINLY CONCERNED WITH THE SCIENTIFIC
STUDY OF THEIR DISTRIBUTION IN SPACE AND

• OVER TIME, AND OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ELEMENTS INFLUENCING THIS

DISTRIBUTION. IT IS AKIN TO PLANT ECOLOGY, BUT

• BROADER IN SCOPE, DRAWING ON CHEMISTRY, CLIMATOLOGY, GENETICS, GEOLOGY,

HISTORY, PATAEONTOLOGY, PHYSICS,

• TAXONOMY AND PLANT SOCIOLOGY. PLANT GEOGRAPHY IS CONCERNED WITH

PLANTS AS SOCIAL UNITS AND WITH THE PHENOMENA

• THAT AFFECT THEIR LIFE-CYCLES, INCLUDING THE ORIGIN, FORMATION,

COMPOSITION, AND STRUCTURE OF PLANT COMMUNITIES,

• THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SPECIES AND

BETWEEN SPECIES AND THEIR ENVIRONRNENT, AND

• THE CLASSIFICATION OF PLANT COMMUNITIES.

 ZOOGEOGRAP
HY
• ANOTHER BRANCH OF BIOGEOGRAPHY IS THE STUDY OF ANIMAL LIFE IN ITS
VARIOUS ASPECTS OF DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS

• AND INTERACTIONS WITH THE ENVIRONMENT CALLED ZOOGEOGRAPHY

WHICH INCLUDES THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF VARIOUS

• ‘ZOOIDS’, AND THE VARIOUS OTHER ANIMALS LIVING IN AGGLOMERATIONS

SHOWING INTERDEPENDENCE ON EACH OTHER AND THE

• PLANTS.

• THE STUDY OF DISTRIBUTIONAL ASPECTS OF ANIMALS AND THEIR CAUSAL

RELATIONSHIPS STARTED WITH THE DARWINIAN

• ERA WHEN CHARLES DARWIN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WROTE THE

‘ORIGIN OF SPECIES’. A. R. WALLACE, A

• CONTEMPORARY OF DARWIN, WAS ANOTHER GREAT EXPONENT OF

ZOOGEOGRAPHY.
 Pedology
Pedology is a discipline within soil science which focuses on understanding and characterizing soil formation, evolution,
and the theoretical frameworks for modeling soil bodies, often in the context of the natural environment.

Accordingly, pedology embraces several subdisciplines, namely,

soil chemistry, soil physics, and soil microbiology.

In studying the fundamental phenomenology of soils, e.g. soil formation

(aka pedogenesis), pedologists pay particular attention to observing soil
morphology and the geographic distributions of soils, and the placement
of soil bodies into larger temporal and spatial context
Today, the subject matter of biogeography is also broken on the basis of approaches to the study of plants and animals
communities into three main fields of study :
1. Historical Biogeography,
2. Ecological Biogeography, and
3. Conservation Biogeography.

. Historical Biography :
Historical biogeography is called paleobiogeography and studies the past
distributions of species. It looks at their evolutionary history and things like past
climate change to determine why a certain species may have developed in a
particular area. The branch of historical biogeography is called
paleobiogeography because it often includes paleogeographic ideas—most
notably plate tectonics.
2. Ecological Biogeography :
Ecological biogeography looks at the current factors responsible
for the distribution of plants and animals, and the most common
fields of research within ecological biogeography are climatic
equability, primary productivity, and habitat heterogeneity.

3. Conservation Biogeography :
Scientists in the field of conservation biogeography study ways
in which humans can help restore the natural order of plant and
animal life in a region. In recent years, scientists and nature
enthusiasts alike have further expanded the field of
biogeography to include conservation biogeography—the
protection or restoration of nature and its flora and fauna, whose
devastation is often caused by human interference in the natural
cycle
Biogeography is also divided on the basis of habitats into 3
categories as follows :

1. Mainland or Terrestrial Biogeography:

Mainland or terrestrial biogeography is concerned with the
study of flora and fauna of the continents and parts thereof
adopting both historical (evolutionary) and ecological
approaches.

2. Marine Biogeography :
Marine biogeography is the study of marine organisms of
plankton, nekton and benthos communities in different marine
biozones.
3. Island Biogeography :
Island biogeography is quite different from terrestrial and marine biogeography because each island has different
history of its origin and different patterns of evolution of its flora end fauna.
 CONCEPTS AND FIELDS
• BIOGEOGRAPHY IS A SYNTHETIC SCIENCE, RELATED TO GEOGRAPHY, BIOLOGY, SOIL SCIENCE, GEOLOGY, CLIMATOLOGY, ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION.

• SOME FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS IN BIOGEOGRAPHY INCLUDE:

- ALLOPATRIC SPECIATION – THE SPLITTING OF A SPECIES BY EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHICALLY ISOLATED POPULATIONS

• EVOLUTION – CHANGE IN GENETIC COMPOSITION OF A POPULATION

• EXTINCTION – DISAPPEARANCE OF A SPECIES

• DISPERSAL – MOVEMENT OF POPULATIONS AWAY FROM THEIR POINT OF ORIGIN, RELATED TO MIGRATION

• ENDEMIC AREAS

• GEODISPERSAL – THE EROSION OF BARRIERS TO BIOTIC DISPERSAL AND GENE FLOW, THAT PERMIT RANGE EXPANSION AND THE MERGING OF
PREVIOUSLY ISOLATED BIOTAS

• RANGE AND DISTRIBUTION

• VICARIANCE – THE FORMATION OF BARRIERS TO BIOTIC DISPERSAL AND GENE FLOW, THAT TEND TO SUBDIVIDE SPECIES AND BIOTAS, LEADING TO
SPECIATION AND EXTINCTION; VICARIANCE BIOGEOGRAPHY IS THE FIELD THAT STUDIES THESE PATTERNS

• COMPARATIVE BIOGEOGRAPHY

• THE STUDY OF COMPARATIVE BIOGEOGRAPHY CAN FOLLOW TWO MAIN LINES OF INVESTIGATION:[28]

• SYSTEMATIC BIOGEOGRAPHY, THE STUDY OF BIOTIC AREA RELATIONSHIPS, THEIR DISTRIBUTION, AND HIERARCHICAL CLASSIFICATION

• EVOLUTIONARY BIOGEOGRAPHY, THE PROPOSAL OF EVOLUTIONARY MECHANISMS RESPONSIBLE FOR ORGANISMAL DISTRIBUTIONS. POSSIBLE
MECHANISMS INCLUDE WIDESPREAD TAXA DISRUPTED BY CONTINENTAL BREAK-UP OR INDIVIDUAL EPISODES OF LONG-DISTANCE MOVEMENT.