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America is the only continent that harbors three biogeographic regions: the Nearctic in the north, the Neotropical in the center, and the Andean in the south. This condition allows for the existence of two biogeographic transition zones: the Mexican Transition Zone between the Nearctic and Neotropical regions and the South American Transition Zone between the Neotropical and Andean regions. These regions and transition zones may be divided into smaller units, namely, biogeographic provinces and ecoregions. Biogeographic provinces and ecoregions represent different kinds of spatial arrangements, which correspond to the evolutionary and ecological approaches, respectively. In this chapter, the features of both types of units are addressed, in order to understand the patterns of geographical distribution of mammals in the Americas. In addition, a new shapefile of the Andean region is presented complementing previous contributions to the American regionalization. Finally, a comparison between the biogeographic regionalization and natural protected areas is presented and new possible priority areas for the conservation of Latin American mammals are proposed.

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Biogeographic Regions, Provinces, and Ecoregions: Integrating Mammalian Patterns from the Chihuahuan Desert to the Magellanic Moorland

  • 动态工具书词条

  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • T. Escalante,
  • J. J. Morrone,
  • E. A. Noguera-Urbano,
  • G. Rodríguez-Tapia,
  • M. L. Sandoval-Salinas

摘要

America is the only continent that harbors three biogeographic regions: the Nearctic in the north, the Neotropical in the center, and the Andean in the south. This condition allows for the existence of two biogeographic transition zones: the Mexican Transition Zone between the Nearctic and Neotropical regions and the South American Transition Zone between the Neotropical and Andean regions. These regions and transition zones may be divided into smaller units, namely, biogeographic provinces and ecoregions. Biogeographic provinces and ecoregions represent different kinds of spatial arrangements, which correspond to the evolutionary and ecological approaches, respectively. In this chapter, the features of both types of units are addressed, in order to understand the patterns of geographical distribution of mammals in the Americas. In addition, a new shapefile of the Andean region is presented complementing previous contributions to the American regionalization. Finally, a comparison between the biogeographic regionalization and natural protected areas is presented and new possible priority areas for the conservation of Latin American mammals are proposed.