Biogeographic Transition Zones

Abstract

Biogeographic transition zones involve the passage from one biogeographic unit to another one at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Environmental conditions and ecological factors allow their mixture and the co-occurrence but also constrain their distribution further into one another. The deconstruction of biota into biogeographical affinities allow detecting a gradual pattern of variation across transition zone and to map sites of highest compositional heterogeneity. Biogeographic transition zones represent areas of great interest because they synthesize evolutionary and ecological principles shaping biological distribution and differentiation.