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62-742: Indo-Burma encompasses 2,373,000 square kilometres (916,000 sq mi) of tropical Asia, east of the Ganges-Brahmaputra lowlands. Formerly including the Himalaya chain and the associated foothills in Nepal, Bhutan, and India, Indo-Burma has now been more narrowly redefined as the Indo-Chinese subregion. The area contains the Lower Mekong catchment. It begins in eastern Bangladesh and then extends across north-eastern India, south of

124-591: A few conifer species. Pine and juniper are typical trees found in Mediterranean montane forests. The broadleaf trees show more variety and are often evergreen, e.g. evergreen oak . This type of forest is found in the Mediterranean Basin , North Africa , Mexico and the southwestern US , Iran , Pakistan and Afghanistan . In the tropics, montane forests can consist of broadleaf forest in addition to coniferous forest . One example of

186-415: A given ecoregion are more similar to each other than to those of surrounding ecoregions and together form a conservation unit. Freshwater systems include rivers , streams , lakes , and wetlands . Freshwater ecoregions are distinct from terrestrial ecoregions, which identify biotic communities of the land, and marine ecoregions, which are biotic communities of the oceans. A map of Freshwater Ecoregions of

248-469: A holistic, "weight-of-evidence" approach where the importance of various factors may vary. An example of the algorithmic approach is Robert Bailey 's work for the U.S. Forest Service, which uses a hierarchical classification that first divides land areas into very large regions based on climatic factors, and subdivides these regions, based first on dominant potential vegetation, and then by geomorphology and soil characteristics. The weight-of-evidence approach

310-778: A river section transforms that section into a large pond, reduces the temperature and oxygen content, and increases river-bed erosion and water turbidity downriver. Reservoir operation procedures result in occasional or regular flooding of sandbars, sandbanks, stretches of channel mosaic, and other habitats that would normally be exposed during the dry season, with impacts on nesting bird and turtle species. Mangroves have been converted to small shrimp aqua-cultural ponds, while intertidal mudflats have been afforested with mangrove or intensely fished by lines of stack nets, which severely impacts their value as feeding habitat for migratory waterbirds and other species. Moreover, sand dune ecosystems are severely threatened by afforestation, for instance, with

372-517: A set of ecoregions identified by WWF whose conservation would achieve the goal of saving a broad diversity of the Earth's ecosystems, includes a number of areas highlighted for their freshwater biodiversity values. The Global 200 preceded Freshwater Ecoregions of the World and incorporated information from regional freshwater ecoregional assessments that had been completed at that time. Sources related to

434-402: A tropical montane forest is a cloud forest , which gains its moisture from clouds and fog. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and vegetation, in which case they are also referred to as mossy forests. Mossy forests usually develop on the saddles of mountains, where moisture introduced by settling clouds is more effectively retained. Depending on latitude,

496-407: A web application developed by Resolve and Google Earth Engine. An ecoregion is a "recurring pattern of ecosystems associated with characteristic combinations of soil and landform that characterise that region". Omernik (2004) elaborates on this by defining ecoregions as: "areas within which there is spatial coincidence in characteristics of geographical phenomena associated with differences in

558-426: Is analogous to that used for terrestrial ecoregions. Major habitat types are identified: polar, temperate shelves and seas, temperate upwelling, tropical upwelling, tropical coral, pelagic (trades and westerlies), abyssal, and hadal (ocean trench). These correspond to the terrestrial biomes . The Global 200 classification of marine ecoregions is not developed to the same level of detail and comprehensiveness as that of

620-518: Is called the tree line . The biotemperature of the subalpine zone is between 3 and 6 °C (37 and 43 °F). Above the tree line the ecosystem is called the alpine zone or alpine tundra , dominated by grasses and low-growing shrubs. The biotemperature of the alpine zone is between 1.5 and 3 °C (34.7 and 37.4 °F). Many different plant species live in the alpine environment, including perennial grasses , sedges , forbs , cushion plants , mosses , and lichens . Alpine plants must adapt to

682-440: Is characterized by distinct seasonal weather patterns. During the northern winter months, dry, cool winds blow from the stable continental Asian high-pressure system, resulting in a dry period under clear skies across much of the south, center, and west of the hotspot (the dry, northeast monsoon). As the continental system weakens in spring, the wind direction reverses and air masses forming the southwest monsoon picks up moisture from

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744-622: Is exemplified by James Omernik's work for the United States Environmental Protection Agency , subsequently adopted (with modification) for North America by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation . The intended purpose of ecoregion delineation may affect the method used. For example, the WWF ecoregions were developed to aid in biodiversity conservation planning, and place a greater emphasis than

806-526: Is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible. Secondly, ecoregion boundaries rarely form abrupt edges; rather, ecotones and mosaic habitats bound them. Thirdly, most ecoregions contain habitats that differ from their assigned biome . Biogeographic provinces may originate due to various barriers, including physical (plate tectonics, topographic highs), climatic (latitudinal variation, seasonal range) and ocean chemical related (salinity, oxygen levels). The history of

868-446: Is the mean temperature considering temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F) to be 0 °C (32 °F). Above the elevation of the montane forest, the trees thin out in the subalpine zone, become twisted krummholz , and eventually fail to grow. Therefore, montane forests often contain trees with twisted trunks. This phenomenon is observed due to the increase in the wind strength with the elevation. The elevation where trees fail to grow

930-512: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands ), the eastern part of Bangladesh ( Chittagong hill tracts ), southernmost China, most of Myanmar (excluding the northern tip), most of Thailand (excluding the southern tip), and all of Cambodia , Laos , and Vietnam . Six large mammal species have been discovered since the 1990s: the large-antlered muntjac , the Annamite muntjac , the grey-shanked douc ,

992-550: The Annamite striped rabbit , the leaf deer , and the saola . Ten species of the Indo-Burma are threatened: saola , Eld's deer , Cat Ba langur , fishing cat , giant ibis , Mekong giant catfish , spoon-billed sandpiper , red-headed vulture and white-rumped vulture , sarus crane and the Irrawaddy dolphin . The Indo-Burma Hotspot is one of the environments on planet Earth under the highest threat of destruction. As

1054-549: The Hengduan Mountains adjoining Asia's Tibetan Plateau have been identified as the world's oldest continuous alpine ecosystem with a community of 3000 plant species, some of them continuously co-existing for 30 million years. Climates with biotemperatures below 1.5 °C (35 °F) tend to consist purely of rock and ice. Montane forests occur between the submontane zone and the subalpine zone . The elevation at which one habitat changes to another varies across

1116-608: The Himalayas and the Sahara . The boundaries of ecoregions are often not as decisive or well recognized, and are subject to greater disagreement. Ecoregions are classified by biome type, which are the major global plant communities determined by rainfall and climate. Forests, grasslands (including savanna and shrubland), and deserts (including xeric shrublands ) are distinguished by climate ( tropical and subtropical vs. temperate and boreal climates) and, for forests, by whether

1178-656: The Pacific Northwest of North America, climate change may cause "potential reduced snowpack, higher levels of evapotranspiration, increased summer drought" which will negatively affect montane wetlands. Montane forests in Mediterranean climate are warm and dry except in winter, when they are relatively wet and mild. Montane forests located in Mediterranean climates, known as oro-Mediterranean, exhibit towering trees alongside high biomass. These forests are typically mixed conifer and broadleaf forests, with only

1240-422: The climate becomes cooler , due to a decrease in atmospheric pressure and the adiabatic cooling of airmasses. In middle latitudes , the change in climate by moving up 100 meters on a mountain is roughly equivalent to moving 80 kilometers (45 miles or 0.75° of latitude ) towards the nearest pole. The characteristic flora and fauna in the mountains tend to strongly depend on elevation, because of

1302-442: The lee side of rocks and grow only as high as the rock provides wind protection. Further growth is more horizontal than vertical, and additional rooting may occur where branches contact the soil. Snow cover may protect krummholz trees during the winter, but branches higher than wind-shelters or snow cover are usually destroyed. Well-established krummholz trees may be several hundred to a thousand years old. Meadows may be found in

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1364-450: The "ecoregion" as a unit of analysis. The " Global 200 " is the list of ecoregions identified by WWF as priorities for conservation . Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater and marine ecoregions. In this context, terrestrial is used to mean "of land" (soil and rock), rather than the more general sense "of Earth " (which includes land and oceans). WWF (World Wildlife Fund) ecologists currently divide

1426-504: The Australian exotic Casuarina equisetifolia . Overfishing and the increasing use of destructive fishing techniques diminishes the fish population in both coastal and offshore marine ecosystems. The area also holds endemism in freshwater turtle species, most of which are threatened with extinction, due to over-harvesting and extensive habitat loss. Bird life in Indo-Burma is diverse, holding almost 1,300 different bird species, including

1488-627: The Brahmaputra River, to encompass nearly all of Myanmar, part of southern and western Yunnan Province in China, all of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Cambodia and Vietnam, the vast majority of Thailand and a small part of Peninsular Malaysia. In addition, the hotspot covers the coastal lowlands of southern China (in southern Guangxi and Guangdong), as well as several offshore islands, such as Hainan Island (of China) in

1550-558: The Earth. The use of the term ecoregion is an outgrowth of a surge of interest in ecosystems and their functioning. In particular, there is awareness of issues relating to spatial scale in the study and management of landscapes . It is widely recognized that interlinked ecosystems combine to form a whole that is "greater than the sum of its parts". There are many attempts to respond to ecosystems in an integrated way to achieve "multi-functional" landscapes, and various interest groups from agricultural researchers to conservationists are using

1612-552: The Omernik or Bailey systems on floral and faunal differences between regions. The WWF classification defines an ecoregion as: A large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities that: According to WWF, the boundaries of an ecoregion approximate the original extent of the natural communities prior to any major recent disruptions or changes. WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecoregions, and approximately 450 freshwater ecoregions across

1674-626: The Pleistocene offered smaller-area refugia from the glaciers. Montane forests in temperate climate occur in Europe (the Alps , Carpathians , and more ), in North America (e.g., Appalachians , Rocky Mountains , Cascade Range , and Sierra Nevada ), South America , New Zealand , and the Himalayas . Climate change is predicted to affect temperate montane forests. For example, in

1736-609: The South China Sea and the Andaman Islands (of India) in the Andaman Sea. The hotspot contains the Lower Mekong catchment. The hotspot encompasses 33 terrestrial ecoregions , which include tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests , tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests , tropical and subtropical coniferous forests , temperate broadleaf and mixed forests , and mangroves . The transition to

1798-909: The Sundaland Hotspot in the south occurs on the Thai-Malay Peninsula, the boundary between the two hotspots is represented by the Kangar-Pattani Line, which cuts across the Thailand-Malaysia border, though some analyses indicate that the phytogeographical and zoogeographical transition between the Sundaland and Indo-Burma biotas may lie just to the north of the Isthmus of Kra, associated with a gradual change from wet seasonal evergreen dipterocarp rainforest to mixed moist deciduous forest. Much of Indo-Burma

1860-594: The WWC scheme: Others: Montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains . The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases , causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial factor in shaping plant community, biodiversity, metabolic processes and ecosystem dynamics for montane ecosystems. Dense montane forests are common at moderate elevations, due to moderate temperatures and high rainfall. At higher elevations,

1922-571: The WWF concept prioritizes biogeography, that is, the distribution of distinct species assemblages. In 2017, an updated terrestrial ecoregions dataset was released in the paper "An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm" led by E. Dinerstein with 48 co-authors. Using recent advances in satellite imagery the ecoregion perimeters were refined and the total number reduced to 846 (and later 844), which can be explored on

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1984-523: The World (TEOW), led by D. Olsen, E. Dinerstein, E. Wikramanayake, and N. Burgess. While the two approaches are related, the Bailey ecoregions (nested in four levels) give more importance to ecological criteria and climate zones, while the WWF ecoregions give more importance to biogeography, that is, the distribution of distinct species assemblages. The TEOW framework originally delineated 867 terrestrial ecoregions nested into 14 major biomes, contained with

2046-783: The World, released in 2008, has 426 ecoregions covering virtually the entire non-marine surface of the earth. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) identifies twelve major habitat types of freshwater ecoregions: Large lakes, large river deltas, polar freshwaters, montane freshwaters, temperate coastal rivers, temperate floodplain rivers and wetlands, temperate upland rivers, tropical and subtropical coastal rivers, tropical and subtropical floodplain rivers and wetlands, tropical and subtropical upland rivers, xeric freshwaters and endorheic basins, and oceanic islands. The freshwater major habitat types reflect groupings of ecoregions with similar biological, chemical, and physical characteristics and are roughly equivalent to biomes for terrestrial systems. The Global 200 ,

2108-480: The authors was to support global biodiversity conservation by providing a "fourfold increase in resolution over that of the 198 biotic provinces of Dasmann (1974) and the 193 units of Udvardy (1975)." In 2007, a comparable set of Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW) was published, led by M. Spalding, and in 2008 a set of Freshwater Ecoregions of the World (FEOW) was published, led by R. Abell. Bailey's ecoregion concept prioritizes ecological criteria and climate, while

2170-677: The broad latitudinal divisions of polar, temperate, and tropical seas, with subdivisions based on ocean basins (except for the southern hemisphere temperate oceans, which are based on continents). Major marine biogeographic realms, analogous to the eight terrestrial biogeographic realms , represent large regions of the ocean basins: Arctic , Temperate Northern Atlantic , Temperate Northern Pacific , Tropical Atlantic , Western Indo-Pacific , Central Indo-Pacific , Eastern Indo-Pacific , Tropical Eastern Pacific , Temperate South America , Temperate Southern Africa , Temperate Australasia , and Southern Ocean . A similar system of identifying areas of

2232-427: The change in climate. This dependency causes life zones to form: bands of similar ecosystems at similar elevations. One of the typical life zones on mountains is the montane forest: at moderate elevations, the rainfall and temperate climate encourages dense forests to grow. Holdridge defines the climate of montane forest as having a biotemperature of between 6 and 12 °C (43 and 54 °F), where biotemperature

2294-453: The climate is harsher, with lower temperatures and higher winds, preventing the growth of trees and causing the plant community to transition to montane grasslands and shrublands or alpine tundra . Due to the unique climate conditions of montane ecosystems, they contain increased numbers of endemic species. Montane ecosystems also exhibit variation in ecosystem services , which include carbon storage and water supply. As elevation increases,

2356-737: The cool, wet climate and abundant sunlight. The most extensive montane grasslands and shrublands occur in the Neotropical páramo of the Andes Mountains . This biome also occurs in the mountains of east and central Africa , Mount Kinabalu of Borneo , the highest elevations of the Western Ghats in South India and the Central Highlands of New Guinea . A unique feature of many wet tropical montane regions

2418-401: The delineation of ecoregions an imperfect science. Another complication is that environmental conditions across an ecoregion boundary may change very gradually, e.g. the prairie-forest transition in the midwestern United States, making it difficult to identify an exact dividing boundary. Such transition zones are called ecotones . Ecoregions can be categorized using an algorithmic approach or

2480-405: The early 1970s, the term 'ecoregion' was introduced (short for ecological region), and R.G. Bailey published the first comprehensive map of U.S. ecoregions in 1976. The term was used widely in scholarly literature in the 1980s and 1990s, and in 2001 scientists at the U.S. conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF) codified and published the first global-scale map of Terrestrial Ecoregions of

2542-585: The future. Reduction in cloudiness may already be affecting the Monteverde cloud forest in Costa Rica . The subalpine zone is the biotic zone immediately below the tree line around the world. In tropical regions of Southeast Asia the tree line may be above 4,000 m (13,000 ft), whereas in Scotland it may be as low as 450 m (1,480 ft). Species that occur in this zone depend on

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2604-465: The globe, particularly by latitude . The upper limit of montane forests, the tree line , is often marked by a change to hardier species that occur in less dense stands. For example, in the Sierra Nevada of California , the montane forest has dense stands of lodgepole pine and red fir , while the Sierra Nevada subalpine zone contains sparse stands of whitebark pine . The lower bound of

2666-405: The harsh alpine environment. Cushion plants , looking like ground-hugging clumps of moss, escape the strong winds blowing a few inches above them. Many flowering plants of the alpine tundra have dense hairs on stems and leaves to provide wind protection or red-colored pigments capable of converting the sun's light rays into heat. Some plants take two or more years to form flower buds, which survive

2728-485: The harsh conditions of the alpine environment, which include low temperatures, dryness, ultraviolet radiation, and a short growing season. Alpine plants display adaptations such as rosette structures, waxy surfaces, and hairy leaves. Because of the common characteristics of these zones, the World Wildlife Fund groups a set of related ecoregions into the " montane grassland and shrubland " biome. A region in

2790-1246: The hotspot also is one of the most species rich and home to many endangered species found nowhere else, the current threat is even more alarming. Indo-Burma was one of the first places where humans developed agriculture, and has a history of using fire to clear land for agriculture and other needs. The need for agricultural products has increased in recent years, with the expansion of both human populations and markets. This has contributed to widespread forest destruction; tree plantations (teak, rubber, oil palm) have replaced large areas of lowland forest, while coffee, tea, vegetable crops and sugarcane plantations threaten montane and hill forests. Other threats to forests include logging, mining for gems and ore, firewood collection, and charcoal production. Aquatic ecosystems are also under intense development pressure in many areas. Freshwater floodplain swamps and wetlands are destroyed by draining for wet rice cultivation, particularly in Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam. Rivers have been dammed in order to store water to generate electricity for countries’ economic growth, or for export to neighboring countries to generate foreign exchange earnings. Damming

2852-501: The land surface of the Earth into eight biogeographical realms containing 867 smaller terrestrial ecoregions (see list ). The WWF effort is a synthesis of many previous efforts to define and classify ecoregions. The eight realms follow the major floral and faunal boundaries, identified by botanists and zoologists, that separate the world's major plant and animal communities. Realm boundaries generally follow continental boundaries, or major barriers to plant and animal distribution, like

2914-511: The location of the zone on the Earth; for example, Pinus mugo (scrub mountain pine) occurs in Europe , the snow gum is found in Australia, and the subalpine larch , mountain hemlock , and subalpine fir occur in western North America. Trees in the subalpine zone often become krummholz , that is, crooked wood, stunted and twisted in form. At tree line, tree seedlings may germinate on

2976-644: The lower limit of montane rainforests on large mountains is generally between 1,500 and 2,500 metres (4,900 and 8,200 ft) while the upper limit is usually from 2,400 to 3,300 metres (7,900 to 10,800 ft). Tropical montane forests might exhibit high sensitivity to climate change. Climate change may cause variation in temperature, precipitation and humidity, which will cause stress on tropical montane forests. The predicted upcoming impacts of climate change might significantly affect biodiversity loss and might result in change of species range and community dynamics. Global climate models predict reduced cloudiness in

3038-841: The montane zone may be a "lower timberline" that separates the montane forest from drier steppe or desert region. Montane forests differ from lowland forests in the same area. The climate of montane forests is colder than lowland climate at the same latitude, so the montane forests often have species typical of higher-latitude lowland forests. Humans can disturb montane forests through forestry and agriculture . On isolated mountains, montane forests surrounded by treeless dry regions are typical " sky island " ecosystems. Montane forests in temperate climate are typically one of temperate coniferous forest or temperate broadleaf and mixed forest , forest types that are well known from Europe and northeastern North America . Montane forests outside Europe tend to be more species-rich, because Europe during

3100-472: The oceans for conservation purposes is the system of large marine ecosystems (LMEs), developed by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A freshwater ecoregion is a large area encompassing one or more freshwater systems that contains a distinct assemblage of natural freshwater communities and species. The freshwater species, dynamics, and environmental conditions within

3162-430: 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). Ecoregions are also known as "ecozones" ("ecological zones"), although that term may also refer to biogeographic realms . Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches. Firstly, no single bio-geographic framework

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3224-415: The quality, health, and integrity of ecosystems ". "Characteristics of geographical phenomena" may include geology , physiography , vegetation, climate, hydrology , terrestrial and aquatic fauna , and soils, and may or may not include the impacts of human activity (e.g. land use patterns, vegetation changes). There is significant, but not absolute, spatial correlation among these characteristics, making

3286-608: The seas to the southwest and bring abundant rains as they rise over the hills and mountains. A wide diversity of ecosystems is represented in this hotspot, including mixed wet evergreen, dry evergreen, deciduous, and montane forests. There are also patches of shrublands and woodlands on karst limestone outcrops and, in some coastal areas, scattered heath forests. In addition, a wide variety of distinctive, localized vegetation formations occur in Indo-Burma, including lowland floodplain swamps, mangroves, and seasonally inundated grasslands. The area includes portions of eastern India (including

3348-544: The subalpine zone. Tuolumne Meadows in the Sierra Nevada of California , is an example of a subalpine meadow. Example subalpine zones around the world include the French Prealps in Europe, the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountain subalpine zones in North America, and subalpine forests in the eastern Himalaya , western Himalaya , and Hengduan mountains of Asia. Alpine grasslands and tundra lie above

3410-408: The term is somewhat vague. It has been used in many contexts: forest classifications (Loucks, 1962), biome classifications (Bailey, 1976, 2014), biogeographic classifications ( WWF / Global 200 scheme of Olson & Dinerstein, 1998), etc. The phrase "ecological region" was widely used throughout the 20th century by biologists and zoologists to define specific geographic areas in research. In

3472-454: The terrestrial ecoregions; only the priority conservation areas are listed. See Global 200 Marine ecoregions for a full list of marine ecoregions. In 2007, TNC and WWF refined and expanded this scheme to provide a system of comprehensive near shore (to 200 meters depth) Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW). The 232 individual marine ecoregions are grouped into 62 marine provinces , which in turn group into 12 marine realms , which represent

3534-723: The threatened white-eared night-heron , the grey-crowned crocias , and the orange-necked partridge . Terrestrial ecoregion An ecoregion ( ecological region ) 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

3596-479: The tree line, in a world of intense radiation, wind, cold, snow, and ice. As a consequence, alpine vegetation is close to the ground and consists mainly of perennial grasses , sedges , and forbs . Annual plants are rare in this ecosystem and usually are only a few inches tall, with weak root systems. Other common plant life-forms include prostrate shrubs ; tussock -forming graminoids ; and cryptogams , such as bryophytes and lichens . Plants have adapted to

3658-913: The trees are predominantly conifers ( gymnosperms ), or whether they are predominantly broadleaf ( Angiosperms ) and mixed (broadleaf and conifer). Biome types like Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ; tundra ; and mangroves host very distinct ecological communities, and are recognized as distinct biome types as well. Marine ecoregions are: "Areas of relatively homogeneous species composition , clearly distinct from adjacent systems….In ecological terms, these are strongly cohesive units, sufficiently large to encompass ecological or life history processes for most sedentary species." They have been defined by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to aid in conservation activities for marine ecosystems . Forty-three priority marine ecoregions were delineated as part of WWF's Global 200 efforts. The scheme used to designate and classify marine ecoregions

3720-663: The tundra is very fragile. Repeated footsteps often destroy tundra plants, leaving exposed soil to blow away, and recovery may take hundreds of years. Alpine meadows form where sediments from the weathering of rocks has produced soils well-developed enough to support grasses and sedges. Alpine grasslands are common enough around the world to be categorized as a biome by the World Wildlife Fund . The biome, called " Montane grasslands and shrublands ", often evolved as virtual islands, separated from other montane regions by warmer, lower elevation regions, and are frequently home to many distinctive and endemic plants which evolved in response to

3782-452: The winter below the surface and then open and produce fruit with seeds in the few weeks of summer. Non-flowering lichens cling to rocks and soil. Their enclosed algal cells can photosynthesize at temperatures as low as −10 °C (14 °F), and the outer fungal layers can absorb more than their own weight in water. The adaptations for survival of drying winds and cold may make tundra vegetation seem very hardy, but in some respects

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3844-491: The world's 8 major biogeographical realms. Subsequent regional papers by the co-authors covering Africa, Indo-Pacific, and Latin America differentiate between ecoregions and bioregions, referring to the latter 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 specific goal of

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