What is Biogeography?

The study of plants, animals, and other living things in terms of their geographic distribution is referred to as biogeography. Biogeography is usually examined in coexistence with ecological and historical variables that have affected organisms' spatial distribution across time. It is not only based on the habitation patterns; it is also about the reasons that cause differences in distribution. Biogeographic studies divide the Earth's surface into diverse flora and fauna compositions, notably the continents and islands. Biogeography is a field of science, but physical geographers have made vital commitments, especially in flora. Biogeography is a multidisciplinary field of study that combines concepts and data from ecology, evolutionary biology, taxonomy, geology, physical geography, paleontology, and climatology.

Types of Biogeography

In biogeography is diverged into mainly three types, there are historical, ecological, and conservation biogeography. These biogeographic types address the dispersal of organisms from a different angle.

Historical biogeography

Historical biogeography is mainly related to animal distributions. The examination of phylogenetic distributions across time is a part of historical biogeography study. Paleobiogeography is a branch of historical biogeography; it usually involves paleobiogeographic ideas.

Ecological biogeography

Ecology is the scientific study of the interconnection between living organisms such as people and their physical surroundings. Individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems also involve the biosphere; these are all considered in ecology. Ecological biogeography is referred to as the study of the role of the factor to worldwide plant and animal dispersal. Climate equability, primary productivity, and habitat heterogeneity are all significant factors in ecological biogeography. Climate equability is identifying the variation between daily and annual temperature. The evapotranspiration of plants is measured by primary productivity, and environmental variety leads to higher biodiversity.

Conservation biogeography

By providing data on potential conservation biology concerns, conservation biogeography aims to assist policymakers in successfully managing the current quantity of biodiversity globally. The amount and diversity of living organisms within a given ecosystem or habitat, as well as all climatic influences such as temperature, climate, oxygen, and carbon dioxide levels, are all considered in biodiversity. Biodiversity may be assessed both globally and locally, such as ponds.

Themes central to biogeography

There are majorly four general primary themes to the biogeography they are the classification of geographic regions based on biotas, rebuilding of the cultural evolution of biotas including origin, spread, and diversification, providing explanations for biodiversity, and providing details for geographic variations in the characteristics of individuals and populations of closely related species, such as trends in morphology, demography, and behaviors.

Process of biogeography

There are mainly three primary processes in biogeography they are dispersal, evolution, and extinction. Dispersal is one of the most important processes in biogeography. The movement of involving many individuals from their natal population to a new place, or population, where they will settle and reproduce, is called dispersal. The spread of organisms is difficult to interpret because of dispersal. The most primary contrast between kinds of dispersal is between creatures that disseminate using their energy and species that disperse using energy from the environment.

What role does biogeography play in evolution?

Evolution is the process of change that occurs over generations in all forms of life. It discusses how the new species have formed and developed from the primitive species. Evolutionary biology is the study of how evolution occurs. Biological populations evolve as a result of genetic changes that correspond to changes in the observable traits of the organisms. One of the main pillars of modern biological science is the evolution theory. Biogeography addresses the evolutionary, climatic, and geological processes. Evolution is mainly based on the connection between the population of organisms and the environment. Biogeography demonstrates evolutionary at comparing firmly connected species with small variations that emerged through adaptations to their distinct habitats. Due to the formation of climate and ecosystems, the Earth's continents have drifted away that created new geographical isolated regions. Due to this separation and isolation, geographically distant individuals of the same species diverged, leading to the creation of new species. This concept is essential because it allows us to apply what we know about past adaptations in response to changing surroundings to future situations. One of the most familiar examples of biodiversity supporting evolution is Charles Darwin’s study of finches on the Galapagos Islands.

Island biogeography

Some of the major crucial evidence for evolution comes from island biogeography. On the Galapagos Islands, Darwin studied finches. The finches were the offspring of a single South American bird that arrived at the islands. The very first bird was a seed-eating bird. It spawned a slew of finch species. Each species was created to eat a certain sort of food. This is called adaptive radiation.

Importance of biogeography

Biogeography is important to find out the connection between the living and non-living things that impact species' ability to survive in the past and present, as well as to detect biodiversity trends. Biogeography allows us to recognize geographical diversities, as well as variations in those diversities and their environment.

Example of biogeography

The Australian continent is an example of the impact of landmass isolation on the distribution of species. Around 75% of all plant and animal species discovered in Australia are unique to the planet. The kangaroo, koala bear, and wallaby are all unique in Australia, resulting from Pangea's splitting and continental drift, which occurred some 200 million years ago. In addition, Australia's isolation has resulted in a surplus of marsupials and a lack of mammals.

Context and Applications

This topic is crucial in the exams for school, graduate, and postgraduate levels, especially for bachelors in zoology & botany, and masters in zoology & botany.

Practice Problems

Question 1: Who proposed the natural selection theory of the evolution of species?

1. Mendel
2. Dalton
3. Darwin
4. Morgan

Answer: Option 3 is correct.

Explanation: In his book "The Origin of Species," Charles Robert Darwin gave the theory of evolution. The concept he established is called as "Theory of natural selection.”

Question 2: Darwin's research on the Galapagos Islands of the finches is an example of _____ biogeography.

1. Historical
2. Conservational
3. Ecological

Answer: Option 2 is correct.

Explanation: Conservation biogeography attempts to assist policymakers in successfully managing the current quantity of biodiversity across the world. The amount and diversity of living organisms within a given ecosystem or habitat, as well as all climatic influences such as temperature, climate, oxygen, and carbon dioxide levels, are all considered in biodiversity. Biodiversity may be assessed both globally and locally, such as ponds.

Question 3: Which of the following was lacking in the atmosphere during at the time of life?

1. NH₃
2. H₂
3. O₂
4. CH₄

Answer: Option 3 is correct.

Explanation: Hydrogen atoms were the largest and most reactive in the initial atmosphere. The initial hydrogen atoms from water and no free oxygen were present. There is, therefore, a decreased air from the original atmosphere, unlike the oxidizing atmosphere.

Question 4: The theory of evolution of Darwin was greatly influenced by observation of species on ________________.

1. Ilha da Queimada Grande
2. Guatemala
3. Faroe Islands
4. Galapagos Islands

Answer: Option 4 is correct.

Explanation: There were numerous species of finches found on the islands by Charles Darwin. The diverse bird species differed from island to island, he discovered. Darwin assumed that the species were all connected with a unique, mainland parent species.

Question 5: The origin of species was written by_______________.

1. Charles Darwin
2. Ludmila Kuprianova
3. Mikhail A. Fedonkin
4. None of the above

Answer: Option 1 is correct.

Explanation: In the book 'Origin of Species,' Darwin published his findings and conclusions on evolution. This work of Darwin became highly popular and influenced people's ideas on organic evolution.