GPHY 207 Final: GPHY 207 Exam
Document Summary
What percent of all species have been identified: according to macdonald, about 2 million have been identified, with anywhere from 4 to 20 million yet to be identified. Understanding processes also helps with species preservation and prediction. Explaining how present and past distributions are controlled is a function of three complex factors: (remember these: geographic, environmental, historical. Distribution and abundance (both pattern and process) global biodiversity. Integrative, synthetic discipline (biology, geology, systematics) that subsumes other disciplines (e. g. paleontology, anthropology, geology, anatomy, , etc ) Reductionism explains patterns by understanding the most reduclible elements but limits our understanding of complex systems (need some, but ) Emergent properties key to biogeography: e. g. Phytogeographers/zoogeographers: present and past distributions of plants and animals. Ecological biogeography: study of the modern relationships between organisms and the environment, and between species. Historical biogeography: study of past distributions and the evolution of life.
