Questions tagged [biogeography]
Study of the distribution of species & ecosystems in geographic space & through (geological) time
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Is there a recently published Flora of Japan in English?
I am currently getting into the study of the flora of east asia. For China, Taiwan and Korea I could quickly find modern treatises, see 1-3 below. But not for Japan, to my surprise: Even after quite ...
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Why Laramidia is more rich in dinosaurs than Appalachia?
Most of the North American dinosaurs are known from Laramidia - the sub-continent western to the Western Interior Sea. From Appalachia, far less dinosaurs are known. However, looking at maps, ...
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Why are polar seas rich with nutrients and plankton?
It is well known that baleen whales migrate to the polar seas to feed on plankton and krill (marine crustaceans). The question why are the polar seas rich with krill and plankton? If the answer "...
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How big does a landmass have to be in order for biota to not undergo island dwarfism or gigantism?
Somebody asked it here, and the answer was basically "there's no specific size". Still, I'd like to ask if there's an average size to it. Would a Greenland-sized landmass cause elephants to ...
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Why did the indigenous peoples of northern Asia and America not evolve the same physical characteristics as people of Nordic ancestry?
I was watching DW's documentary on the Arctic the other day, and I was struck by how the indigenous peoples of the far north seemed - visually speaking - to fit into two categories. On the one hand, ...
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Is a pampa an example of ecological succession?
I'm not very sure if a pampa is an example of an ecological succession.
The reason of my doubt is due I've remember hearing that a Pampa is formed when a Valley which has had a river on it, no longer ...
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How do fish persist in the upper parts of mountainous rivers with waterfalls?
I was recently traveling in a remote mountain region and hiking alongside a very small river.
What caught my attention was the fish in the small ponds under the waterfalls.
These ponds were just a ...
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Did the old world have relatives of plants which were brought after the discovery of Americas?
When the Americas were discovered many plants were brought back to Europe. For example: potato, tomato, strawberries, chilies etc. At the same time many animals were brought to the Americas including: ...
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Appropriate model to test if environmental variable is significant between two species?
I want to know if a given environmental variable has an effect on the range of two species/two groups of species. Specifically, I am interested in testing if one species has a "preference" for higher/...
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Where can I find the data on the geographical distribution of the species of Drosophila within various areas of the world?
Let X denote an arbitrary geographic area where drosophilas occur in the wild. I will need the answers to the questions of the following type:
What is the three most occurring species of the ...
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Range map atlas for insects?
I often use BONAP's North American Plant Atlas, for researching plant taxa ranges.
BONAP maintains relatively complete phytogeographic and related botanical databases for all free-living vascular ...
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What is the thickness of the biosphere?
In other words, what is the vertical distance between the deepest and highest point on Earth where life is found?
Life has been discovered at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, 13 km below sea level. ...
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Gene flow analysis with a single mitochondrial marker
I am currently studying a mud snail genus called Ecrobia. Several species of this genus occur in both the Mediterranean and Black seas. Therefore, I would like to investigate whether there is:
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Addax in the Land of Israel
The Addax (Addax nasomaculatus) is critically endangered species of a desert anetelope with impressive long horns. Today there are small populations in the Sahara desert and the Arabian desert (Saudi ...
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What kinds of animals does insular dwarfism affect and how large does an island need to be to escape it?
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I've been wondering about insular dwarfism, and would like to know if it only affects certain animals (Since some animals grow larger upon colonizing an island, often due to the ...
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Lystrosaurus was the largest creature on land in the early Triassic, why did they need burrows?
Lystrosaurus was the largest creature on land in the early Triassic, why did they need burrows? What were they hiding from?
(less seriously, why were they so ugly?)
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Population-biology, migration-patterns, & ethology of the Big Five (elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, & buffalo) in S. Africa's winter months?
I know that animals are unpredictable, but I also know that there are seasons in which the wildlife are more active. Now, August in South Africa is still their winter season, which is emerging into ...
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Earth's history: The Great Oxidation Event and the 'Boring Billion'
From what I understand the 'Great Oxidation Event' occurred around 2.4 billion - 2.3 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria flooded Earth’s atmosphere with oxygen.
The 'boring billion' period was ...
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Which Geologic time scale is the most accurate? [closed]
I kindly ask to show me some pictures that is a generally accurate geologic time scale.
In google, a lot of geo time scales are different.
On what i have searched there are 2 major eons which are
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How do similar environments on islands in close proximity result in allopatric speciation?
I would like to ask a question on the very classic example of allopatric speciation seen in the Galapagos finches. Adaptive radiation occurred because the finches flew from island to island, so there ...
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The mechanism of the evolutionary rate hypothesis
There are several hypotheses for explaining the latitudinal gradients in species diversity (link). Of which, the evolutionary rate hypothesis states that warm temperature increases the rate of ...
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What is meant by topographic barrier?
There are three types of barriers, physical , climatic and biological barriers that can prevent the dispersal of organisms.
Topographic barrier falls in the category of physical barrier but exactly ...
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What is this white stuff inside apples?
I live at Vancouver, BC, Canada and I often find this kind of white stuff inside the apples I buy
I used to live in Europe (Switzerland) and never saw that before. It very much look like a fungus. Is ...
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How does Australia fit into 'New World' / 'Old World' dichotomy?
How are places such as Australia and New Zealand classified when differentiating geographic areas based on 'New World' and 'Old World?'
My understanding is:
New World = North America + South America ...
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