List of biogeographic provinces

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A map of the zoogeographical realms by Alfred Russel Wallace, which practically correspond to the biogeographic provinces developed by Miklos Udvardy.
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Nearctic
Palearctic
Ethiopian (Afrotropic)
Oriental (Indomalaya)
Australian (Australasia and Oceania)
Neotropic Wallace03.jpg
A map of the zoogeographical realms by Alfred Russel Wallace, which practically correspond to the biogeographic provinces developed by Miklos Udvardy.
   Nearctic
  Ethiopian (Afrotropic)
  Oriental (Indomalaya)
  Australian (Australasia and Oceania)
   Neotropic

This page features a list of biogeographic provinces that were developed by Miklos Udvardy in 1975, [1] [2] later modified by other authors.[ according to whom? ] Biogeographic Province is a biotic subdivision of biogeographic realms subdivided into ecoregions, which are classified based on their biomes or habitat types and, on this page, correspond to the floristic kingdoms of botany.

Contents

The provinces represent the large areas of Earth's surface within which organisms have been evolving in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated from one another by geographic features, such as oceans, broad deserts, or high mountain ranges, that constitute barriers to migration.

Biomes are characterized by similar climax vegetation, though each realm may include a number of different biomes. A tropical moist broadleaf forest in Brazil, for example, may be similar to one in New Guinea in its vegetation type and structure, climate, soils, etc., but these forests are inhabited by plants with very different evolutionary histories.

Afrotropical Realm

Ecoregions of the Afrotropical realm, color-coded by biome. Dark green: tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Light brown: tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests. Yellow: tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. Light green: temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. Light blue: flooded grasslands and savannas. Light purple: montane grasslands and shrublands. Brown: Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub. Beige: deserts and xeric shrublands. Magenta: mangroves Afrotropical biomes.svg
Ecoregions of the Afrotropical realm, color-coded by biome. Dark green: tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Light brown: tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests. Yellow: tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. Light green: temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. Light blue: flooded grasslands and savannas. Light purple: montane grasslands and shrublands. Brown: Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub. Beige: deserts and xeric shrublands. Magenta: mangroves

Antarctic Realm

The Antarctic biogeographic realm (New Zealand is included in Udvardy's interpretation, which is known as Neozealandia) LocationAntarctica.png
The Antarctic biogeographic realm (New Zealand is included in Udvardy's interpretation, which is known as Neozealandia)

Australasian Realm

Ecoregions of the Australasian realm, color-coded by biome (Udvardy's model excludes the South Pacific islands, such as New Guinea and New Zealand). Dark green: tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Light brown: tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests. Yellow: tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. Green: temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. Light green: temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. Light blue: flooded grasslands and savannas. Light purple: montane grasslands and shrublands. Brown: Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub. Beige: deserts and xeric shrublands. Magenta: mangroves. Australasian biomes.svg
Ecoregions of the Australasian realm, color-coded by biome (Udvardy's model excludes the South Pacific islands, such as New Guinea and New Zealand). Dark green: tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Light brown: tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests. Yellow: tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. Green: temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. Light green: temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. Light blue: flooded grasslands and savannas. Light purple: montane grasslands and shrublands. Brown: Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub. Beige: deserts and xeric shrublands. Magenta: mangroves.

Indomalayan Realm

Ecoregions of the Indomalayan realm, color-coded by biome. Beige: deserts and xeric shrublands. Light brown: tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests. Green: tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Bright green: tropical and subtropical coniferous forests. light green: temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. Dark green: temperate coniferous forests. Light blue: flooded grasslands and savannas. Light purple: montane grasslands and shrublands. Magenta: mangroves. Indomalayan biomes.svg
Ecoregions of the Indomalayan realm, color-coded by biome. Beige: deserts and xeric shrublands. Light brown: tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests. Green: tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests. Bright green: tropical and subtropical coniferous forests. light green: temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. Dark green: temperate coniferous forests. Light blue: flooded grasslands and savannas. Light purple: montane grasslands and shrublands. Magenta: mangroves.

Nearctic Realm

The Nearctic realm Ecozone-Biocountries-Nearctic-2.svg
The Nearctic realm

Neotropical Realm

The Neotropical realm and its subdivisions Neotropic-Ecozone-Biocountries-IM.svg
The Neotropical realm and its subdivisions

Oceanian Realm

Map of Oceanian realm (Udvardy's version includes New Guinea and Melanesia). Oceanian realm.jpg
Map of Oceanian realm (Udvardy's version includes New Guinea and Melanesia).

Palearctic Realm

The Palearctic realm Ecozone Palearctic.svg
The Palearctic realm

Region coding

The hierarchy of the scheme is (with early replaced terms in parentheses): [1]

So, for example, the Australian Central Desert province is in the Australasian realm (6), is the 9th biogeographic province in that realm, and its biome falls within "warm deserts and semideserts" (7), so it is coded 6.9.7.

The realms and provinces of the scheme are hence coded as follows:

  • 1.1.2 Sitkan province
  • 1.2.2. Oregonian province
  • 1.3.3 Yukon taiga province
  • 1.4.3 Canadian taiga province
  • 1.5.5. Eastern forest province
  • 1.6.5 Austroriparian province
  • 1.7.6 Californian province
  • 1.8.7 Sonoran province
  • 1.9.7 Chihuahuan province
  • 1.10.7 Tamaulipan province
  • 1.11.8 Great Basin province
  • 1.12.9 Aleutian Islands province
  • 1.13.9 Alaskan tundra province
  • 1.14.9 Canadian tundra province
  • 1.15.9 Arctic Archipelago province
  • 1.16.9 Greenland tundra province
  • 1.17.9 Arctic desert and icecap province
  • 1.18.11 Grasslands province
  • 1.19.12 Rocky Mountains province
  • 1.20.12 Sierra-Cascade province
  • 1.21.12 Madrean-Cordilleran province
  • 1.22.14 Great Lakes province
  • 2.1.2. Chinese Subtropical Forest province
  • 2.2.2 Japanese Evergreen Forest province (= Japanese Subtropical Forest)
  • 2.3.3 West Eurasian Taiga province
  • 2.4.3 East Siberian Taiga province
  • 2.5.5 Icelandian province (= Iceland)
  • 2.6.5 Subarctic Birchwoods province
  • 2.7.5 Kamchatkan province
  • 2.8.5 British Islands province (= British + Irish Forest)
  • 2.9.5 Atlantic province (West European Forest, in part)
  • 2.10.5 Boreonemoral province (Baltic Lowland, in part)
  • 2.11.5 Middle European Forest province (= East European Mixed Forest)
  • 2.12.5 Pannonian province (= Danubian Steppe)
  • 2.13.5 West Anatolian province
  • 2.14.5 Manchu-Japanese Mixed Forest province (= Manchurian + Japanese Mixed Forest)
  • 2.15.6 Oriental Deciduous Forest province
  • 2.16.6 Iberian Highlands province
  • 2.17.7 Mediterranean Sclerophyll province
  • 2.18.7 Sahara province
  • 2.19.7 Arabian Desert province (= Arabia)
  • 2.20.8 Anatolian-Iranian Desert province (= Turkish-Iranian Scrub-steppe)
  • 2.21.8 Turanian province (= Kazakh Desert Scrub-steppe)
  • 2.22.8 Takla-Makan-Gobi Desert steppe province
  • 2.23.8 Tibetan province
  • 2.24.9 Iranian Desert province
  • 2.25.9 Arctic Desert province
  • 2.26.9 Higharctic Tundra province (= Eurasian Tundra, in part)
  • 2.27.11 Lowarctic Tundra province (= Eurasian Tundra, in part)
  • 2.28.11 Atlas Steppe province (= Atlas Highlands)
  • 2.29.11 Pontian Steppe province (= Ukraine-Kazakh Steppe)
  • 2.30.11 Mongolian-Manchurian Steppe province (= Gobi + Manchurian Steppe)
  • 2.31.12 Scottish Highlands Highlands province
  • 2.32.12 Central European Highlands province
  • 2.33.12 Balkan Highlands province
  • 2.34.12 Caucaso-Iranian Highlands (= Caucasus + Kurdistan-Iran) province
  • 2.35.12 Altai Highlands province
  • 2.36.12 Pamir-Tian-Shan Highlands province
  • 2.37.12 Hindu Kush Highlands province
  • 2.38.12 Himalayan Highlands province
  • 2.39.12 Szechwan Highlands province
  • 2.40.13 Macaronesian Islands province (= 4 island provinces)
  • 2.41.13 Ryukyu Islands province
  • 2.42.14 Lake Ladoga province
  • 2.43.14 Aral Sea province
  • 2.44.14 Lake Baikal province
  • 3.1.1 Guinean Rain Forest province
  • 3.2.1 Congo Rain Forest province
  • 3.3.1 Malagasy Rain Forest province
  • 3.4.4 West African Woodland/savanna province
  • 3.5.4 East African Woodland/savanna province
  • 3.6.4 Congo Woodland/savanna province
  • 3.7.4 Miombo Woodland/savanna province
  • 3.8.4 South African Woodland/savanna province
  • 3.9.4 Malagasy Woodland/savanna province
  • 3.10.4 Malagasy Thorn Forest province
  • 3.11.6 Cape Sclerophyll province
  • 3.12.7 Western Sahel province
  • 3.13.7 Eastern Sahel province
  • 3.14.7 Somalian province
  • 3.15.7 Namib province
  • 3.16.7 Kalahari province
  • 3.17.7 Karroo province
  • 3.18.12 Ethiopian Highlands province
  • 3.19.12 Guinean Highlands province
  • 3.20.12 Central African Highlands province
  • 3.21.12 East African Highlands province
  • 3.22.12 South African Highlands province
  • 3.23.13 Ascension and St. Helena Islands province
  • 3.24.13 Comores Islands and Aldabra province
  • 3.25.13 Mascarene Islands province
  • 3.26.14 Lake Rudolf province
  • 3.27.14 Lake Ukerewe (Victoria) province
  • 3.28.14 Lake Tanganyika province
  • 3.29.14 Lake Malawi (Nyasa) province
  • 4.1.1 Malabar Rainforest province
  • 4.2.1 Ceylonese Rainforest province
  • 4.3.1 Bengalian Rainforest province
  • 4.4.1 Burman Rainforest province
  • 4.5.1 Indochinese Rainforest province
  • 4.6.1 South Chinese Rainforest province
  • 4.7.1 Malayan Rainforest province
  • 4.8.4 Indus-Ganges Monsoon Forest province
  • 4.9.4 Burma Monsoon Forest province
  • 4.10.4 Thailandian Monsoon Forest province
  • 4.11.4 Mahanadian province
  • 4.12.4 Coromandel province
  • 4.13.4 Ceylonese Monsoon Forest province
  • 4.14.4 Deccan Thorn Forest province
  • 4.15.7 Thar Desert province
  • 4.16.12 Seychelles and Amirantes Islands province
  • 4.17.12 Laccadives Islands province
  • 4.18.12 Maldives and Chagos Islands province
  • 4.19.12 Cocos-Keeling and Christmas Islands province
  • 4.20.12 Andaman and Nicobar Islands province
  • 4.21.12 Sumatra province
  • 4.22.12 Java province
  • 4.23.12 Lesser Sunda Islands province
  • 4.24.12 Celebes province
  • 4.25.12 Borneo province
  • 4.26.12 Philippines province
  • 4.27.12 Taiwan province
  • 5.1.13 Papuan province
  • 5.2.13 Micronesian province
  • 5.3.13 Hawaiian province
  • 5.4.13 Southeastern Polynesian province
  • 5.5.13 Central Polynesian province
  • 5.6.13 New Caledonian province
  • 5.7.13 East-Melanesian province
  • 6.1.1 Queensland Coastal province
  • 6.2.2 Tasmanian province
  • 6.3.4 Northern Coastal province
  • 6.4.6 Western Sclerophyll province
  • 6.5.6 Southern Sclerophyll province
  • 6.6.6 Eastern Sclerophyll province≠
  • 6.7.6 Brigalow province
  • 6.8.7 Western Mulga province
  • 6.9.7 Central Desert province
  • 6.10.7 Southern Mulga/Saltbush province
  • 6.11.10 Northern Savanna province
  • 6.12.10 Northern Grasslands province
  • 6.13.11 Eastern Grasslands and Savannas province
  • 7.1.2 Neozealandia province
  • 7.2.9 Maudlandia province
  • 7.3.9 Marielandia province
  • 7.4.9 Insulantarctica province
  • 8.1.1 Campechean province (= Campeche)
  • 8.2.1 Panamanian province
  • 8.3.1 Colombian Coastal province
  • 8.4.1. Guyanese province
  • 8.5.1 Amazonian province
  • 8.6.1. Madeiran province
  • 8.7.1 Serra do mar province (= Bahian coast)
  • 8.8.2 Brazilian Rain Forest province (= Brazilian Deciduous Forest)
  • 8.9.2 Brazilian Planalto province (= Brazilian Araucaria Forest)
  • 8.10.2 Valdivian Forest province (= Chilean Temperate Rain Forest, in part)
  • 8.11.2 Chilean Nothofagus province (= Chilean Temperate Rain Forest, in part)
  • 8.12.4 Everglades province
  • 8.13.4 Sinaloan province
  • 8.14.4 Guerreran province
  • 8.15.4 Yucatecan province (= Yucatán)
  • 8.16.4 Central American province (= Carib-Pacific)
  • 8.17.4 Venezuelan Dry Forest province
  • 8.18.4 Venezuelan Deciduous Forest province
  • 8.19.4 Ecuadorian Dry Forest province
  • 8.20.4 Caatinga province
  • 8.21.4 Gran Chaco province
  • 8.22.5 Chilean Araucaria Forest province
  • 8.23.6 Chilean Sclerophyll province
  • 8.24.7 Pacific Desert province (= Peruvian + Atacama Desert)
  • 8.25.7 Monte (= Argentinian Thorn-scrub) province
  • 8.26.8 Patagonian province
  • 8.27.10 Llanos province
  • 8.28.10 Campos Limpos province (= Guyana highlands)
  • 8.29.10 Babacu province
  • 8.30.10 Campos Cerrados province (= Campos)
  • 8.31.11 Argentinian Pampas province (= Pampas)
  • 8.32.11 Uruguayan Pampas province
  • 8.33.12 Northern Andean province (= Northern Andes)
  • 8.34.12 Colombian Montane province
  • 8.35.12 Yungas province (= Andean cloud forest)
  • 8.36.12 Puna province
  • 8.37.12 Southern Andean province (= Southern Andes)
  • 8.38.13 Bahamas-Bermudan province (= Bahamas + Bermuda)
  • 8.39.13 Cuban province
  • 8.40.13 Greater Aritillean province (= Jamaica + Hispaniola + Puerto Rico)
  • 8.41.13 Lesser Antillean province (= Lesser Antilles)
  • 8.42.13 Revilla Gigedo Island province
  • 8.43.13 Cocos Island province
  • 8.44.13 Galapagos Islands province
  • 8.45.13 Fernando de Noronja Island province
  • 8.46.13 South Trinidade Island province
  • 8.47.14 Lake Titicaca province

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biome</span> Biogeographical unit with a particular biological community

A biome is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. A biome encompasses multiple ecosystems within its boundaries. It can also comprise a variety of habitats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steppe</span> Ecoregion of plain grasslands without trees

In physical geography, a steppe is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sclerophyll</span> Type of plant

Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct sunlight. The word comes from the Greek sklēros (hard) and phyllon (leaf). The term was coined by A.F.W. Schimper in 1898, originally as a synonym of xeromorph, but the two words were later differentiated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palearctic realm</span> Biogeographic realm covering most of Eurasia

The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.

The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or water containing a characteristic set of natural communities that share a large majority of their species dynamics, and environmental conditions". For example, based on their levels of endemism, Madagascar gets multiple listings, ancient Lake Baikal gets one, and the North American Great Lakes get none.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savanna</span> Mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem

A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of grasses. According to Britannica, there exists four savanna forms; savanna woodland where trees and shrubs form a light canopy, tree savanna with scattered trees and shrubs, shrub savanna with distributed shrubs, and grass savanna where trees and shrubs are mostly nonexistent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afrotropical realm</span> One of Earths eight biogeographic realms

The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopian Zone or Ethiopian Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecology of California</span> Environments and natural history of California

The ecology of California can be understood by dividing the state into a number of ecoregions, which contain distinct ecological communities of plants and animals in a contiguous region. The ecoregions of California can be grouped into four major groups: desert ecoregions, Mediterranean ecoregions, forested mountains, and coastal forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangeland</span> Biomes which can be grazed by animals or livestock (grasslands, woodlands, prairies, etc)

Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, steppes, and tundras. Rangelands do not include forests lacking grazable understory vegetation, barren desert, farmland, or land covered by solid rock, concrete and/or glaciers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mediterranean Basin</span> Region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have a Mediterranean climate

In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin, also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea, is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and warm to hot, dry summers, which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub vegetation. It was a very important part of Mediterranean civilizations.

Biodiversity in Israel and Palestine is about the fauna and flora in the geographical region of Israel and of the Palestinian National Authority. This geographical area within the historical region of Palestine extends from the Jordan River and Wadi Araba in the east, to the Mediterranean Sea and the Sinai desert in the west, to Lebanon in the north, and to the gulf of Aqaba, or Eilat in the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holdridge life zones</span> Global bioclimatic scheme for the classification of land areas

The Holdridge life zones system is a global bioclimatic scheme for the classification of land areas. It was first published by Leslie Holdridge in 1947, and updated in 1967. It is a relatively simple system based on few empirical data, giving objective criteria. A basic assumption of the system is that both soil and the climax vegetation can be mapped once the climate is known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberley tropical savanna</span> Terrestrial ecoregion in Western Australia

The Kimberley tropical savanna is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in northwestern Australia, covering portions of Western Australia and the Northern Territory south of the Timor Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub</span> Habitat defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature

Mediterranean scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in low-lying inland locations but can be cool near colder seas. Winters are typically mild to cool in low-lying locations but can be cold in inland and higher locations. All these ecoregions are highly distinctive, collectively harboring 10% of the Earth's plant species.

Vegetation classification is the process of classifying and mapping the vegetation over an area of the earth's surface. Vegetation classification is often performed by state based agencies as part of land use, resource and environmental management. Many different methods of vegetation classification have been used. In general, there has been a shift from structural classification used by forestry for the mapping of timber resources, to floristic community mapping for biodiversity management. Whereas older forestry-based schemes considered factors such as height, species and density of the woody canopy, floristic community mapping shifts the emphasis onto ecological factors such as climate, soil type and floristic associations. Classification mapping is usually now done using geographic information systems (GIS) software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iberian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests</span>

The Iberian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion in southwestern Europe. It occupies the interior valleys and plateaus of the Iberian Peninsula. The ecoregion lies mostly in Spain, and includes some portions of eastern Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainforests and vine thickets</span>

Rainforests and vine thickets are a major vegetation group in Australia. It consists of temperate to tropical rainforests, monsoon forests, and vine thickets. Rainforests and vine thickets are generally found in small pockets across the eastern and northern portions of the continent, including western Tasmania, eastern New South Wales, eastern Queensland, the northern portion of the Northern Territory, and the Kimberley Region of northeastern Western Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 Udvardy, M. D. F. (1975). A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world. IUCN Occasional Paper no. 18. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN.
  2. Udvardy, Miklos D. F. (1975) World Biogeographical Provinces (Map). The CoEvolution Quarterly, Sausalito, California. link.

Bibliography