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34-671: The Zika (or Ziika ) Forest ( / ˈ z iː k ə / ) is a tropical forest near Entebbe in Uganda . Ziika means 'overgrown' in the Luganda language. As the property of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) of Entebbe , it is protected and restricted to scientific research. The forest covers an area of about 25 hectares (62 acres) next to the swamps of Waiya Bay , an inlet of Lake Victoria . Easily accessible and combining several ecosystems ,

68-601: A biogeographical classification system of ecoregions for the United States in a map published in 1976. He subsequently expanded the system to include the rest of North America in 1981, and the world in 1989. The Bailey system, based on climate, is divided into four domains (polar, humid temperate, dry, and humid tropical), with further divisions based on other climate characteristics (subarctic, warm temperate, hot temperate, and subtropical; marine and continental; lowland and mountain). A team of biologists convened by

102-472: A certain vegetation form. Both include many biomes in fact. To divide the world into a few ecological zones is difficult, notably because of the small-scale variations that exist everywhere on earth and because of the gradual changeover from one biome to the other. Their boundaries must therefore be drawn arbitrarily and their characterization made according to the average conditions that predominate in them. A 1978 study on North American grasslands found

136-601: A lack of human resources and political interest (thus lack of financial support) are hampering efforts to improve forest land allocation and a Payments for Forest Environmental Services scheme. Biome A biome ( / ˈ b aɪ . oʊ m / ) 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

170-425: A positive logistic correlation between evapotranspiration in mm/yr and above-ground net primary production in g/m /yr. The general results from the study were that precipitation and water use led to above-ground primary production, while solar irradiation and temperature lead to below-ground primary production (roots), and temperature and water lead to cool and warm season growth habit. These findings help explain

204-636: A result of the emergence of drier, cooler climates. The tropical forest was originally identified as a specific type of biome in 1949. Tropical forests are often thought of as evergreen rainforests and moist forests, but these account for only a portion of them (depending on how they are defined – see maps). The remaining tropical forests are a diversity of many different forest types including: Eucalyptus open forest, tropical coniferous forests , savanna woodland ( e.g. Sahelian forest ), and mountain forests (the higher elevations of which are cloud forests ). Over even relatively short distances,

238-455: A variety of habitats . While a biome can cover small 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

272-433: A way to recognize the irreversible coupling of human and ecological systems at global scales and manage Earth's biosphere and anthropogenic biomes. Major anthropogenic biomes: The endolithic biome, consisting entirely of microscopic life in rock pores and cracks, kilometers beneath the surface, has only recently been discovered, and does not fit well into most classification schemes. Anthropogenic climate change has

306-447: A wide range of disturbances, including more localized pressures such as habitat loss and degradation and anthropogenic climate change . Studies have also shown that ongoing climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of some climate extremes (e.g. droughts, heatwaves and hurricanes) which, in combination with other local human disturbances, are driving unprecedented negative ecological consequences for tropical forests around

340-503: Is woody plant encroachment , which can change grass savanna into shrub savanna. Average temperatures have risen more than twice the usual amount in both arctic and mountainous biomes, which leads to the conclusion that arctic and mountainous biomes are currently the most vulnerable to climate change. South American terrestrial biomes have been predicted to go through the same temperature trends as arctic and mountainous biomes. With its annual average temperature continuing to increase,

374-400: Is used when applied to plant communities only, while biome is used when concerned with both plants and animals. Whittaker's convention of biome-type or formation-type is a broader method to categorize similar communities. Whittaker used what he called "gradient analysis" of ecocline patterns to relate communities to climate on a worldwide scale. Whittaker considered four main ecoclines in

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408-587: The Rockefeller Foundation . In 1947, the Zika virus was isolated from a rhesus monkey stationed at Zika. In 1960, a 36.6-metre (120-ft) steel tower was moved from Mpanga Forest to Zika to study the vertical distribution of mosquitoes, allowing for a comprehensive study of the mosquito population in 1964. In that same year, the Zika virus was identified from a collected Aedes africanus sample. No routine mosquito collections were performed for about

442-610: The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) developed a scheme that divided the world's land area into biogeographic realms (called "ecozones" in a BBC scheme), and these into ecoregions (Olson & Dinerstein, 1998, etc.). Each ecoregion is characterized by a main biome (also called major habitat type). This classification is used to define the Global 200 list of ecoregions identified by the WWF as priorities for conservation. For

476-517: The old-growth forest had been reduced from 76% to 50% of the island, mostly due to fire and agricultural expansion . A widely-held view is that placing a value on the ecosystem services these forests provide may bring about more sustainable policies. However, clear monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for environmental, social and economic outcomes are needed. For example, a study in Vietnam indicated that poor and inconsistent data combined with

510-550: The terrestrial ecoregions , there is a specific EcoID, format XXnnNN (XX is the biogeographic realm , nn is the biome number, NN is the individual number). The applicability of the realms scheme above - based on Udvardy (1975)—to most freshwater taxa is unresolved. According to the WWF, the following are classified as freshwater biomes: Biomes of the coastal and continental shelf areas ( neritic zone ): Example: Pruvot (1896) zones or "systems": Longhurst (1998) biomes : Other marine habitat types (not covered yet by

544-643: The Global 200/WWF scheme): Humans have altered global patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem processes. As a result, vegetation forms predicted by conventional biome systems can no longer be observed across much of Earth's land surface as they have been replaced by crop and rangelands or cities. Anthropogenic biomes provide an alternative view of the terrestrial biosphere based on global patterns of sustained direct human interaction with ecosystems, including agriculture , human settlements , urbanization , forestry and other uses of land . Anthropogenic biomes offer

578-491: The World , edited by David W. Goodall , provides a comprehensive coverage of the major "ecosystem types or biomes" on Earth: The eponymously named Heinrich Walter classification scheme considers the seasonality of temperature and precipitation. The system, also assessing precipitation and temperature, finds nine major biome types, with the important climate traits and vegetation types . The boundaries of each biome correlate to

612-533: The Zika Forest is well suited to the study of mosquitoes . According to the UVRI, the size of the research area of the forest is about 12 hectares (30 acres). The forest has a rich biodiversity in plants and moths, and is home to about 40 types of mosquitoes. The UVRI also maintains an insectarium . The forest is also accessible to visitors for bird watching . Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter once visited

646-471: The animal element and the exclusion of the taxonomic element of species composition . In 1935, Tansley added the climatic and soil aspects to the idea, calling it ecosystem . The International Biological Program (1964–74) projects popularized the concept of biome. However, in some contexts, the term biome is used in a different manner. In German literature, particularly in the Walter terminology,

680-420: The basis of tree canopy density, such schemes do not work well in tropical forests. There is no single scheme that defines what a forest is, in tropical regions or elsewhere. Because of these difficulties, information on the extent of tropical forests varies between sources. However, tropical forests are extensive, making up just under half the world's forests. The tropical domain has the largest proportion of

714-493: The biological effects of temperature and rainfall on vegetation under the assumption that these two abiotic factors are the largest determinants of the types of vegetation found in a habitat. Holdridge uses the four axes to define 30 so-called "humidity provinces", which are clearly visible in his diagram. While this scheme largely ignores soil and sun exposure, Holdridge acknowledged that these were important. The principal biome-types by Allee (1949): The principal biomes of

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748-542: The boundaries between these biomes may be unclear, with ecotones between the main types. The nature of tropical forests in any given area is affected by several factors, most importantly: The Global 200 scheme, promoted by the World Wildlife Fund , classifies three main tropical forest habitat types ( biomes ), grouping together tropical and sub-tropical areas (maps below): Extent of tropical and sub-tropical - A number of tropical forests have been designated High-Biodiversity Wilderness Areas , but remain subject to

782-543: The categories used in Holdridge's bioclassification scheme (see below), which were then later simplified by Whittaker. The number of classification schemes and the variety of determinants used in those schemes, however, should be taken as strong indicators that biomes do not fit perfectly into the classification schemes created. In 1947, the American botanist and climatologist Leslie Holdridge classified climates based on

816-449: The conditions of moisture and cold stress that are strong determinants of plant form, and therefore the vegetation that defines the region. Extreme conditions, such as flooding in a swamp, can create different kinds of communities within the same biome. Schultz (1988, 2005) defined nine ecozones (his concept of ecozone is more similar to the concept of biome than to the concept of ecozone of BBC): Robert G. Bailey nearly developed

850-698: The forest for that purpose. The Zika virus as well as the moths Sidisca zika and Milocera zika are named after the forest. The Zika Forest is where the infected Aedes mosquito first spread Zika to rhesus monkeys, then spreading further to humans. Investigations of mosquitoes at Zika started in 1946 as part of the study of human yellow fever at the Yellow Fever Research Institute (renamed East African Virus Research Institute in 1950, and then Uganda Virus Research Institute in 1977), established in Entebbe , Uganda in 1936 by

884-535: The next four decades, while human activities encroached on the forest. An updated mosquito collection finally took place in 2009 and 2010. The name Zika has been made notorious by the Zika virus, involved in a growing number of outbreaks around the globe from 2007 onwards. 0°7′27″N 32°31′32″E  /  0.12417°N 32.52556°E  / 0.12417; 32.52556 Tropical forest Some tropical forest types are difficult to categorize. While forests in temperate areas are readily categorized on

918-410: The potential to greatly alter the distribution of Earth's biomes. Meaning, biomes around the world could change so much that they would be at risk of becoming new biomes entirely. More specifically, between 54% and 22% of global land area will experience climates that correspond to other biomes. 3.6% of land area will experience climates that are completely new or unusual. An example of a biome shift

952-420: The term biome is sometimes used as a synonym of biogeographic province , an area based on species composition (the term floristic province being used when plant species are considered), or also as synonym of the "morphoclimatic and phytogeographical domain" of Ab'Sáber , a geographic space with subcontinental dimensions, with the predominance of similar geomorphologic and climatic characteristics, and of

986-473: The term is used similarly as biotope (a concrete geographical unit), while the biome definition used in this article is used as an international, non-regional, terminology—irrespectively of the continent in which an area is present, it takes the same biome name—and corresponds to his "zonobiome", "orobiome" and "pedobiome" (biomes determined by climate zone, altitude or soil). In the Brazilian literature,

1020-607: The terrestrial realm. Along these gradients, Whittaker noted several trends that allowed him to qualitatively establish biome-types: Whittaker summed the effects of gradients (3) and (4) to get an overall temperature gradient and combined this with a gradient (2), the moisture gradient, to express the above conclusions in what is known as the Whittaker classification scheme. The scheme graphs average annual precipitation (x-axis) versus average annual temperature (y-axis) to classify biome-types. The multi-authored series Ecosystems of

1054-462: The way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biotas of the Earth make up the biosphere . The term was suggested in 1916 by Clements , originally as a synonym for biotic community of Möbius (1877). Later, it gained its current definition, based on earlier concepts of phytophysiognomy , formation and vegetation (used in opposition to flora ), with the inclusion of

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1088-476: The world by Kendeigh (1961): Whittaker classified biomes using two abiotic factors: precipitation and temperature. His scheme can be seen as a simplification of Holdridge's; more readily accessible, but missing Holdridge's greater specificity. Whittaker based his approach on theoretical assertions and empirical sampling. He had previously compiled a review of biome classifications. Whittaker's distinction between biome and formation can be simplified: formation

1122-470: The world's forests (45 percent), followed by the boreal, temperate and subtropical domains. More than 3.6 million hectares of virgin tropical forest was lost in 2018. The original tropical rainforests , which covered the planet's land surface, were the type of flora that covered Earth.Other canopy forests expanded north-south of the equator during the Paleogene epoch, around 40 million years ago, as

1156-625: The world. All tropical forests have experienced at least some levels of disturbance. Current deforestation in the biodiversity hotspots of North of South America, sub-Saharan Africa, South-East Asia and the Pacific, can be attributed to export of commodities such as: beef, soy, coffee, cacao, palm oil , and timber; there is a requirement for "strong transnational efforts ... by improving supply chain transparency [and] public–private engagement". A study in Borneo describes how, between 1973 and 2018,

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