When the Greek stem bio, which means ‘life,’ is added to the English equivalent of geographia, the etymological result is ‘the geography of life’–i.e., the distribution of living organisms. In fact, biogeography is concerned with the distribution of the various associations of plants and animals on the Earth ( biocenosis ). Plants, in particular, depend for their survival on climate (the climatic factor) and on surficial materials and soils, which can be grouped under the heading edaphic factor (see entry on Edaphology ). In general, geomorphogenetic processes contribute, sometimes predominantly, to environmental instabilities that have important implications for ecology. Whether it is gradual or catastrophic, instability tends to rejuvenate soils. If catastrophic, it may eventually result in the destruction of a biocenosis and its replacement when pioneer species colonize the affected area.
Further information can be gained from Simmons (1979, 1982), Nelson and Platnick (1981) and Myer...
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Bibliography
Myers, A. A., and Gillet, P. S. (eds), 1988. Analytical Biogeography. London: Chapman & Hall.
Nelson, G., and Platnick, N., 1981. Systematics and Biogeography: Cladisties and Vicariance. New York: Columbia University Press.
Simmons, I. G., 1979. Biogeography: Natural and Cultural. London: Edward Arnold.
Simmons, I. G., 1982. Biogeographical Processes. London: Allen & Unwin.
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© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Tricart, J.L.F. (1999). Biogeography. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_35
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_35
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