Displaying 1 - 17 out of 17 Object(s)
| Term | Definition | |
|---|---|---|
| Boreal | Referring to high northern latitudes, for example boreal forests the most common of which is the taiga | |
| Boreotropics | A former tropical region around the earth at the level of the southern United States, Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and southern Europe, which lasted until about 38 million years ago, when the climate got cooler. | |
| Circumaustral | Referring to a plant or animal distributed around the high latitudes of the southern hemisphere. |  |
| Circumboreal | Referring to the distribution of a plant or animal that is found throughout the boreal region, i.e., the northern regions of Eurasia and North America. | |
| Cretaceous Period | A geological time period that is part part of the Mesozoic Era beginning about 144 million years ago and ending about 65 million years ago. See the University of California Museum of Paleontaology at http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/index.php for more information. |  |
| Disjunct | Having two or more populations of a species widely separated from one another, e.g., |
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| Guayana | A phytogeographic region corresponding to the Guayana Shield and including the Guianas and parts of northern Amazonian Brazil, Amazonian Colombia, and Amazonian Venezuela. Guayana should not to be confused with Guyana, the country, or the Guianas, a political term that encompasses Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. | |
| Guayana Shield | A geographic region in northern South America corresponding with Precambrian bedrock. | |
| Hot spot | A concept first developed by Norman Myers in which priority for conservation is based on the idea that it will be too costly to protect all species throughout the world; thus, Myers suggested that areas with high degrees of endemism and which are under going rapid lost of habitat should be given priority for protection. As many as 44% of all species of vascular plants and 35% of all species in four vertebrate groups are confined to 25 hotspots comprising only 1.4% of the land surface of the Earth. The idea of this strategy is to put maximum effort into protecting these areas. See Myers, N. et al. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853-858. |  |
| Macaronesia | The geographic region including five island groups off the northwest coast of Africa: Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, and Salvages. | |
| Malesia | The geographic region including six southeastern Asian countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. | |
| Mata Atlântica | A Portuguese term referring to rain forest running along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from the state of Rio Grande do Norte to the state of Rio Grande do Sul in a band from 120 to 160 kilometers wide. This band may be interrupted in various places by other types of vegetation. | |
| Neotropics (adj.= neotropical) | Referring to that part of the earth in the New World between the Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees 27 minutes N and the Tropic of Capricorn at 23 degress 27 minutes S. These are the northern and southern latitudes at which the sun can be directly overhead at some time during the year. Same as New World tropics. |  |
| Paleotropics | Referring to that part of the earth in the Old World between the Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees 27 minutes N and the Tropic of Capricorn at 23 degress 27 minutes S. These are the northern and southern latitudes at which the sun can be directly overhead at some time during the year. | |
| Planalto | A Portuguese and Spanish word referring to a flat area usually at elevations; e.g., the planaltos of central Brazil and in Andean valleys. | |
| Taiga | Referring to the coniferous forests extending across much of subarctic North America and Eurasia; also know as boreal forests. | |
| Tropics | Referring to that part of the earth ibetween the Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees 27 minutes N and the Tropic of Capricorn at 23 degress 27 minutes S. These are the northern and southern latitudes at which the sun can be directly overhead at some time during the year. |