An ecoregion is "a relatively large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities."
This description is part of a definition, by the World Wildlife Fund that is widely accepted and used. However, the use of the term "relatively large" is interpreted differently in different locales. Another way of looking at an ecoregion is a "recurring pattern of ecosystems associated with characteristic combinations of soil and landform that characterise that region" (Brunckhorst, 2000). Others have defined ecoregions as areas of ecological potential based on combinations of biophysical parameters such as climate and topography. Biodiversity is also an important aspect of the study of ecoregions. The biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tend to be distinct from that of other ecoregions.
The World Wilfdlife Fund's full definition of an ecoregion is the following:
A large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities that
(a) share a large majority of their species and ecological dynamics;
(b) share similar environmental conditions, and;
(c) interact ecologically in ways that are critical for their long-term persistence.
World Wildlife Fund ecologists currently divide the land surface of the Earth into 8 major ecozones containing 867 smaller terrestrial ecoregions (see list). Many consider this classification to be quite decisive, and some propose these as stable borders for bioregional democracy initiatives.
The ecozones are very well-defined, following major continental boundaries, while the ecoregions are subject to more change and controversy. Accordingly, Wikipedia organizes ecology articles under each of the ecozones.
The use of the term ecoregion is an outgrowth of a surge of interest in ecosystems and their functioning. In particular, there is awareness of issues relating to spatial scale in the study and management of landscapes. It is widely recognized that interlinked ecosystems combine to form a whole that is "greater than the sum of its parts." There are many attempts to respond to ecosystems in an integrated way to achieve "multi-functional" landscapes and various interest groups from agricultural researchers to conservationists are using the ecoregion as a unit of analysis.
This movement is variously called bioregional democracy, watershed cooperation, or bioregional representation, or one of various other similar names—all of which denote democratic control of a natural commons and local jurisdictional dominance in any economic developmental path decisions—while not removing more generalized civil rights protections of a larger national state.
Particularly within the frameworks of proposals in the Bioregional State, ecoregions or watersheds aid in faciliation of the innate "ecological self-interest" of people to avoid externalities in human health, ecology, or economic relations that are impressed upon people living in a particular ecological area by informal politics guided from larger state frameworks.
The Bioregional Revolution movement is a new organization (circa 2004) promoting bioregionalism, permaculture, local currencies, and nonviolence in response to "peak oil" and other converging problems they claim we are likely to see in the 21st century.
One bioregion is distinguished from another by characteristics of flora, fauna, water, climate, rocks, soils, land forms, and the hum an settlements, cultures, and communities these characteristics have spawned.
Bioregionalism is a comprehensive "new" way of defining and understanding the place where we live, and living in that place sustainably and respectfully.
The periodic bioregional gatherings are presently evolving a theory of integrated systems: ecologically based economics, agriculture, forestry, technology, law, governance, politics, education, health care, energy, and everything necessary for the human d imension of a given bioregion to function sustainably.
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