An update of Wallace’s zoogeographic regions of the world

Benjamin George Holt; Jean-Philippe Lessard; Michael Krabbe Borregaard; Susanne Fritz; Miguel Bastos; Dimitar Stefanov Dimitrov; Pierre-Henri Fréderic Fabre; Catherine H. Graham; Gary R. Graves; Knud Andreas Jønsson; David Bravo Nogues; Zhiheng Wang; Robert James Whittaker; Jon Fjeldså; Carsten Rahbek

doi:10.1126/science.1228282

An update of Wallace’s zoogeographic regions of the world

Benjamin George Holt, Jean-Philippe Lessard, Michael Krabbe Borregaard, Susanne Fritz, Miguel Bastos, Dimitar Stefanov Dimitrov, Pierre-Henri Fréderic Fabre, Catherine H. Graham, Gary R. Graves, Knud Andreas Jønsson, David Bravo Nogues, Zhiheng Wang, Robert James Whittaker, Jon Fjeldså, Carsten Rahbek

Ecology and Evolution

651 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Modern attempts to produce biogeographic maps focus on the distribution of species, and the maps are typically drawn without phylogenetic considerations. Here, we generate a global map of zoogeographic regions by combining data on the distributions and phylogenetic relationships of 21,037 species of amphibians, birds, and mammals. We identify 20 distinct zoogeographic regions, which are grouped into 11 larger realms. We document the lack of support for several regions previously defined based on distributional data and show that spatial turnover in the phylogenetic composition of vertebrate assemblages is higher in the Southern than in the Northern Hemisphere. We further show that the integration of phylogenetic information provides valuable insight on historical relationships among regions, permitting the identification of evolutionarily unique regions of the world.

Original language	English
Journal	Science
Volume	339
Issue number	6115
Pages (from-to)	74-78
Number of pages	5
ISSN	0036-8075
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1228282
Publication status	Published - 4 Jan 2013

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Cite this

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title = "An update of Wallace{\textquoteright}s zoogeographic regions of the world",

abstract = "Modern attempts to produce biogeographic maps focus on the distribution of species, and the maps are typically drawn without phylogenetic considerations. Here, we generate a global map of zoogeographic regions by combining data on the distributions and phylogenetic relationships of 21,037 species of amphibians, birds, and mammals. We identify 20 distinct zoogeographic regions, which are grouped into 11 larger realms. We document the lack of support for several regions previously defined based on distributional data and show that spatial turnover in the phylogenetic composition of vertebrate assemblages is higher in the Southern than in the Northern Hemisphere. We further show that the integration of phylogenetic information provides valuable insight on historical relationships among regions, permitting the identification of evolutionarily unique regions of the world.",

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AU - Holt, Benjamin George

AU - Lessard, Jean-Philippe

AU - Borregaard, Michael Krabbe

AU - Fritz, Susanne

AU - Bastos, Miguel

AU - Dimitrov, Dimitar Stefanov

AU - Fabre, Pierre-Henri Fréderic

AU - Graham, Catherine H.

AU - Graves, Gary R.

AU - Jønsson, Knud Andreas

AU - Nogues, David Bravo

AU - Wang, Zhiheng

AU - Whittaker, Robert James

AU - Fjeldså, Jon

AU - Rahbek, Carsten

PY - 2013/1/4

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N2 - Modern attempts to produce biogeographic maps focus on the distribution of species, and the maps are typically drawn without phylogenetic considerations. Here, we generate a global map of zoogeographic regions by combining data on the distributions and phylogenetic relationships of 21,037 species of amphibians, birds, and mammals. We identify 20 distinct zoogeographic regions, which are grouped into 11 larger realms. We document the lack of support for several regions previously defined based on distributional data and show that spatial turnover in the phylogenetic composition of vertebrate assemblages is higher in the Southern than in the Northern Hemisphere. We further show that the integration of phylogenetic information provides valuable insight on historical relationships among regions, permitting the identification of evolutionarily unique regions of the world.

AB - Modern attempts to produce biogeographic maps focus on the distribution of species, and the maps are typically drawn without phylogenetic considerations. Here, we generate a global map of zoogeographic regions by combining data on the distributions and phylogenetic relationships of 21,037 species of amphibians, birds, and mammals. We identify 20 distinct zoogeographic regions, which are grouped into 11 larger realms. We document the lack of support for several regions previously defined based on distributional data and show that spatial turnover in the phylogenetic composition of vertebrate assemblages is higher in the Southern than in the Northern Hemisphere. We further show that the integration of phylogenetic information provides valuable insight on historical relationships among regions, permitting the identification of evolutionarily unique regions of the world.

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An update of Wallace’s zoogeographic regions of the world

Abstract

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