Tropical Biogeography Overview
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Questions and Answers

Any country that lies between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn is considered ______.

tropical

Nearly every country in ______ is tropical.

Africa

The Burj al Arab is an iconic hotel in the United Arab Emirates, a ______ country.

tropical

Gondwana is the name given to the more ______ of supercontinents that were part of the Pangaea supercontinent.

<p>southerly</p> Signup and view all the answers

Tropical rain forests have abundant moisture and very little ______ variation.

<p>temp</p> Signup and view all the answers

The ______ has open, widely spaced trees and seasonal rainfall.

<p>Savanna</p> Signup and view all the answers

Gondwana incorporated present-day South America, Africa, Arabia, Madagascar, India, Australia, and ______.

<p>Antarctica</p> Signup and view all the answers

South American and Australian ______ are more closely related to one another than they are to New Zealand species.

<p>midges</p> Signup and view all the answers

Deserts have sparse vegetation and scattered ______.

<p>grasses</p> Signup and view all the answers

______ are found mainly in Southeast Asia.

<p>Dipterocarps</p> Signup and view all the answers

The study of how species are scattered across the planet is called ______.

<p>biogeography</p> Signup and view all the answers

About 250 million years ago, almost all land was in the form of one large continent called ______.

<p>Pangaea</p> Signup and view all the answers

Overall, tropics marks the highest ______ of plant & animal live on earth.

<p>diversity</p> Signup and view all the answers

Plants and animals were widely distributed across the continent, with few geographical barriers to impede their ______.

<p>dispersal</p> Signup and view all the answers

The biogeographic regions of the world roughly coincide with the ______ themselves.

<p>continents</p> Signup and view all the answers

______ is the theory that the Earth's outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle.

<p>Plate tectonics</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Earth's crust is composed of several distinct ______.

<p>plates</p> Signup and view all the answers

More than 200 million years ago a land mass began to break up into two parts, Laurasia and ______.

<p>Gondwanaland</p> Signup and view all the answers

Laurasia would eventually disintegrate into North America, Europe, Asia, Greenland and ______.

<p>Iceland</p> Signup and view all the answers

Gondwanaland later broke up to become South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica and ______.

<p>India</p> Signup and view all the answers

Clear folding in the ______ rocks is evidence of the plate movement

<p>Himalayan</p> Signup and view all the answers

______ is the name given to the northernmost part of the Pangaea supercontinent.

<p>Laurasia</p> Signup and view all the answers

A great naturalist used evolutionary theory to interpret the natural world and helped found the modern science of ______.

<p>biogeography</p> Signup and view all the answers

As he traveled through Indonesia, he was struck by the sharp distinction between the northwestern part of the archipelago and the ______, despite their similar climate and terrain.

<p>southeastern</p> Signup and view all the answers

______ and Java were ecologically more like the Asian mainland.

<p>Sumatra</p> Signup and view all the answers

He traced a remarkably clear boundary which later became known as ______.

<p>Wallace's Line</p> Signup and view all the answers

Alfred Russel Wallace later recognized six great ______ regions on Earth.

<p>biogeographical</p> Signup and view all the answers

The line is named after Alfred Russel ______, who noticed the clear division during his travels through the East Indies.

<p>Wallace</p> Signup and view all the answers

The line runs through Indonesia, between Borneo and Sulawesi (Celebes), and through the Lombok Strait between Bali and ______.

<p>Lombok</p> Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Tropical Biogeography

  • Biogeography is the study of how plant and animal species are distributed across the planet and how they got there.
  • Alfred Russel Wallace helped establish the field of biogeography.
  •  The tropics are the region between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° S).
  •  Nearly every country in Africa is tropical.
  • Palm trees are common in tropical regions.
  • The Burj al Arab is an iconic hotel in the United Arab Emirates, a tropical country.
  • The tropics have a wide range of ecosystems, including rainforest, savanna, and desert.

Types of Tropical Ecosystems

  • Tropical Rain Forest: Precipitation is about 250 cm/year. Temperature variation is minimal, and moisture is abundant. Rainforests have greater species diversity than other biomes.

  • Savanna: Precipitation ranges from 90 to 150 cm/year. It's characterized by open, widely spaced trees and seasonal rainfall. This biome is found in parts of Africa, South America, and Australia.

  • Desert: Precipitation is about 20 cm/year. Vegetation is sparse and includes scattered grasses. Deserts are found in parts of Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America.

Biogeography of Tropical Regions

  • Approximately 250 million years ago, almost all land was a single large continent known as Pangaea.
  • Plants and animals were widely distributed across Pangaea with few geographical barriers.
  • Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell is divided into plates that move over the mantle, impacting biogeographic regions. Plate movement shapes continents and affects how species are distributed.
  • The Earth's crust is composed of several distinct plates.

Biogeography of Tropical Regions (Continued)

  • More than 200 million years ago, after the dinosaurs evolved, Pangaea broke into Laurasia and Gondwana.
  • Laurasia became North America, Europe, Asia, Greenland, and Iceland.
  • Gondwana became South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and India.
  • Fossil evidence (like Glossopteris and Mesosaurus) highlights how these continents were once connected.

Evidence of Plate Movement

  • Clear folding in the Himalayan rock formations shows evidence of plate movement and tectonic forces.
  • The rocks tilted towards higher snow-covered peaks in areas influenced by plate collisions.
  • The geological study of rocks shows they were originally on the sea floor.

Gondwanaland

  • Gondwanaland represents the southern part of the supercontinent Pangaea and encompassed present-day South America, Africa, Arabia, Madagascar, India, Australia, and Antarctica.
  • It shows how these continents were once joined.

Biogeography in the Tropics

  • Much evolution has occurred since Gondwanaland.
  • South American and Australian midges are closely related to each other, yet not to New Zealand midges.
  • The midges of all three key land masses (South America, Africa, and Australia) are more closely related than to those in the African landmass.
  • Southeast Asia has many conifers whereas there are only two species in the New World tropics and only one in Africa.
  • Dipterocarps are mostly found in Southeast Asia. The tropical regions exhibit the highest biodiversity of plants and animals on Earth.

Laurasia

  • Laurasia was the northern part of the supercontinent Pangaea. Present-day North America, Europe, and Asia were incorporated in Laurasia.

Alfred Russel Wallace

  • Alfred Russel Wallace was a naturalist who significantly contributed to the science of biogeography.
  • He observed a distinct boundary (Wallace's Line) in Indonesia dividing the Asian and Australian regions, highlighting different species distribution patterns. The line distinguishes distinct fauna and flora.

Wallace's Line

  • Wallace's line is a faunal boundary that separates the ecozones of Asia and Wallacea which, in turn, are a transitional zone between Asia and Australia.
  • West of this line, mostly Asian species are found, and east of the line, the species are a mix of Asian and Australian.
  • The line runs through Indonesia, between Borneo and Sulawesi, and through the Lombok Strait between Bali and Lombok.

Additional Information

  • The diagrams and maps provide visual representations of the geographical distributions, plate tectonics and the distribution of species.

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Description

Explore the fascinating world of tropical biogeography, focusing on how plant and animal species are distributed in the tropical regions. Learn about key ecosystems such as tropical rainforests and savannas, and discover their unique characteristics. This quiz will also highlight significant contributors like Alfred Russel Wallace and iconic locations such as the Burj al Arab.

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