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Marine Realms
A marine ecoregion is an ecoregion, or ecological region, of the oceans and seas identified and defined based on biogeography, biogeographic characteristics. Introduction A more complete definition describes them as “Areas of relatively homogeneous species composition, clearly distinct from adjacent systems” dominated by “a small number of ecosystems and/or a distinct suite of oceanographic or topographic features”. Ecologically they “are strongly cohesive units, sufficiently large to encompass ecological or life history processes for most sedentary species.”Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson et al. "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". Bioscience Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573–58/ref> Marine Ecoregions of the World—MEOW The global classification system Marine Ecoregions of the World—MEOW was devised by an international team, including major conservation organizations, academic in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. In theory, biodiversity or conservation ecoregions are relatively large areas of land or water where the probability of encountering different species and communities at any given point remains relatively constant, within an acceptable range of variation (largely undefined at this point). Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches. Firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible. Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biogeographic Realm
A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions. Description The realms delineate large areas of Earth's surface within which organisms have evolved in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated geographic features, such as oceans, broad deserts, or high mountain ranges, that constitute natural barriers to migration. As such, biogeographic realm designations are used to indicate general groupings of organisms based on their shared biogeography. Biogeographic realms correspond to the floristic kingdoms of botany or zoogeographic regions of zoology. From 1872, Alfred Russel Wallace developed a system of zoogeographic regions, extending the ornithologist Philip Sclater's system of six regions. Biogeographic realms are characterized by the evolutionary history of the orga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biomes
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader term than habitat and can comprise a variety of habitats. While a biome can cover large areas, a microbiome is a mix of organisms that coexist in a defined space on a much smaller scale. For example, the human microbiome is the collection of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that are present on or in a human body. A biota is the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biotas of the Earth make up the biosphere. Etymology The term was suggested in 1916 by Clements, originally as a synonym for ''biotic community'' of Möbius (1877). Later, it gained its cur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-smallest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean. Over the past 30 years, the Southern Ocean has been subject to rapid climate change, which has led to changes in the marine ecosystem. By way of his voyages in the 1770s, James Cook proved that waters encompassed the southern latitudes of the globe. Since then, geographers have disagreed on the Southern Ocean's northern boundary or even existence, considering the waters as various parts of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, instead. However, according to Commodore John Leech of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), recent oceanographic research has discovered the importance of Southern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temperate Australasia
Temperate Australasia is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the temperate and subtropical waters of Australia and New Zealand, including both the Indian Ocean and Pacific coasts of the continent and adjacent islands. Temperate Australasia is a marine realm, one of the great biogeographic divisions of the world's ocean basins. Temperate Australasia encompasses the western, southern, and southeastern coasts of Australia, and Tasmania. The tropical waters of northern Australia are part of the Central Indo-Pacific marine realm. Temperate Australasia includes New Zealand's North and South Islands, the Kermadec Islands, Chatham Island, and Snares Island. The rest of New Zealand's subantarctic islands are part of the Southern Ocean realm.Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson ''et al'' (2007). "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". ''Bioscience'' Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573–58/ref> I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temperate Southern Africa
Temperate Southern Africa is a biogeography, biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the temperate waters of southern Africa, where the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean meet. It includes the coast of South Africa and Namibia, and reaches into southern Angola. It also includes the remote islands of Île Amsterdam, Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul, Saint-Paul, to the east in the southern Indian Ocean. Temperate Southern Africa is a marine realm, one of the great biogeographic divisions of the world's ocean basins. The boundary between the Temperate Southern Africa and Western Indo-Pacific marine realms is near Lake St. Lucia, in South Africa near the border with Mozambique. The realm extends up the Atlantic coast of Africa to Tômbua in southern Angola, where it transitions to the Tropical Atlantic realm. Subdivisions The Temperate Southern Africa realm is further subdivided into three marine provinces. Benguela province includes the Atlantic portion of the realm, influenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temperate South America
Temperate South America is a biogeography, biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the temperate and subtropical waters of South America, including both the Pacific Ocean, Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coasts of the continent and adjacent islands. It also includes the remote Gough Island and Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic Ocean. Temperate Southern Africa is a marine realm, one of the great biogeographic divisions of the world's ocean basins. On the Atlantic coast, Temperate South America transitions to the Tropical Atlantic marine realm near Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. On the Pacific coast, it extends to Punta Aguja in northern Peru, where it transitions to the Tropical Eastern Pacific realm. To the south lies the Southern Ocean. The Atlantic coast is influenced by the Brazil Current, which carries warm tropical waters south along the coast. On the Pacific coast, the cold Humboldt Current carries cold Antarctic waters north towards the tropics. Subdivi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Eastern Pacific
The Tropical Eastern Pacific is one of the twelve marine realms that cover the coastal waters and continental shelves of the world's oceans. The Tropical Eastern Pacific extends along the Pacific Coast of the Americas, from the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula in the north to northern Peru in the south. It is bounded on the north by the Temperate Northern Pacific realm, and on the south by the Temperate South America realm. It includes a number of oceanic islands and oceanic island groups like the Galápagos Islands, Revillagigedo Islands, Cocos Island, and Clipperton Island. Clipperton has been labelled as a meeting point between the Oceanian realm and the Tropical Eastern Pacific realm. The Galápagos Islands are also believed to have much higher percentages of Indo-West Pacific species in their marine faunas when compared to the continental American coasts. A 2018 study revealed interconnectivity of species between the Line Islands, Hawaii and Clipperton, as well a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Indo-Pacific
The Eastern Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters around island groups in the central Pacific Ocean. It includes most of Polynesia, except for New Zealand and the Kermadec Islands. It also includes the Marshall Islands and Kiribati from Micronesia. It adjoins the Central Indo-Pacific realm to the west, which encompasses Melanesia and the other island groups of Micronesia. The Eastern Indo-Pacific is a marine realm, one of the great biogeographic divisions of the world's ocean basins. Subdivisions The Eastern Indo-Pacific marine realm is divided into six marine provinces. Three provinces are further divided into marine ecoregions.Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson ''et al.'' (2007). "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". ''Bioscience'' Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573–58/ref> * Hawaii province ** Hawaiian Islands, Hawaii * Marshall, Gilbert, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Indo-Pacific
The Central Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean, and the connecting seas. The Central Indo-Pacific is a part of the larger Indo-Pacific, which includes the tropical Indian Ocean, the western and central tropical Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia. The Central Indo-Pacific may be classified as a marine realm, one of the great biogeographic divisions of the world's ocean basins, or as a subrealm of the Indo-Pacific.Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson ''et al.'' "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas". ''Bioscience'' Vol. 57 No. 7, July/August 2007, pp. 573–583/ref> The Central Indo-Pacific realm covers eastern shores of the tropical Indian Ocean, including most of the Indian Ocean coast of the Indonesian archipelago, the northern Australian coast, and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Indo-Pacific
The Western Indo-Pacific is a biogeographic region of the Earth's seas, comprising the tropical waters of the eastern and central Indian Ocean. It is part of the larger Indo-Pacific, which includes the tropical Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the seas connecting the two in the general area of Indonesia. The Western Indo-Pacific may be classified as a marine realm, one of the great biogeographic divisions of the world's ocean basins, or as a subrealm of the Indo-Pacific. The Western Indo-Pacific realm covers the western and central portion of the Indian Ocean, including Africa's east coast, the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, and Andaman Sea, as well as the coastal waters surrounding Madagascar, the Seychelles, Comoros, Mascarene Islands, Maldives, and Chagos Archipelago. The transition between the Western Indo-Pacific and Central Indo-Pacific occurs at the Strait of Malacca and in southern Sumatra. The Western Indo-Pacifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Atlantic
The Tropical Atlantic realm is one of twelve marine realms that cover the world's coastal seas and continental shelves. The Tropical Atlantic covers both sides of the Atlantic. In the western Atlantic, it extends from Bermuda, southern Florida, and the southern Gulf of Mexico through the Caribbean and along South America's Atlantic coast to Cape Frio in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state. In the Eastern Atlantic, it extends along the African coast from Cape Blanco in Mauritania to the Tigres Peninsula on the coast of Angola. It also includes the seas around St. Helena and Ascension islands. The Tropical Atlantic is bounded on the north and south by temperate ocean realms. The Temperate Northern Atlantic realm lies to the north on both the North American and African-European shores of the Atlantic. To the south, the ocean realms conform to the continental margins, not the ocean basins; the Temperate South America realm lies to the south along the South American coast, and the Temper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
