Ecoregions are defined by World Wildlife Fund as "relatively large units of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, with boundaries that approximate the original extent of natural communities prior to major land-use change". Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater ecoregions and marine ecoregions. Note: After losing a court case in 2002 on the use of the initials WWF, the organization previously known as the World Wrestling Federation has rebranded itself as World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE. WWF - The Conservation Organization was formerly known as World Wildlife Fund and Worldwide Fund for Nature. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... Ecoregions are defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as relatively large units of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, with boundaries that approximate the original extent of natural communities prior to major land-use change. Freshwater ecoregions represents the freshwater habitats of a... Marine ecoregions are regions of the worlds oceans, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), to aid in conservation activities for marine ecosystems. ...

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) ecologists currently divide the land surface of the Earth into 8 major ecozones, containing 867 smaller terrestrial ecoregions. The WWF effort is a synthesis of many previous efforts to define and classify ecoregions, and the Wikipedia uses the WWF scheme to organize its articles about ecoregions. Ecology is the branch of science that studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment. ... Earth (often referred to as The Earth) is the third planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth in order of size. ... Ecozones are global divisions which have their own characteristic interplay of climatic factors, morphodynamics, soil-forming processes, living conditions for plants and animals, and production potentials for agriculture and forestry. ... Wikipedia (IPA: , or ) is an international Web-based free-content encyclopedia. ...

The eight terrestrial ecozones follow the major floral and faunal boundaries, identified by botanists and zoologists, that separate the world's major plant and animal communities. Ecozone boundaries generally follow continental boundaries, or major barriers to plant and animal distribution, like the Himalayas and the Sahara. The boundaries of ecoregions are often not as decisive or well recognized, and are subject to greater disagreement. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Perspective view of the Himalaya and Mount Everest as seen from space looking south-south-east from over the Tibetan Plateau. ...

Ecoregions are classified by biome type, which are the major global plant communities determined by rainfall and climate. Forests, grasslands (including savanna and shrubland), and deserts (including xeric shrublands) are distinguished by climate (tropical and subtropical vs. temperate and boreal climates) and, for forests, by whether the trees are predominantly conifers (Gymnosperms), or whether they are predominantly broadleaf (Angiosperms) and mixed (broadleaf and conifer). Biome types like Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub, Tundra, and Mangroves host very distinct ecological communities, and are recognized as distinct biome types as well. In ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant, and animal communities best adapted to the regions physical natural environment, latitude, altitude and terrain factors. ... The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. ... Subtropical (or semitropical) areas are those adjacent to the tropics, usually roughly defined as the ranges 23. ... In geography, temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. ... Boreal may refer to these: Northern from the eponymous Boreas, god of the North Wind in Greek mythology. ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... Coast Douglas-fir cone This article lacks an appropriate Taxobox You can help Wikipedia by adding one. ... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms or Magnoliophyta) are one of the major groups of modern plants, comprising those that produce seeds in specialized reproductive organs called flowers, where the ovulary or carpel is enclosed. ... Bush Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub is a temperate biome, characterized by hot-dry summers and mild and rainy winters. ... In physical geography, tundra is an area where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal Mangroves are woody trees or shrubs that grow in mangrove habitats or mangal (Hogarth, 1999). ...

Ecologically-based movements like bioregionalism maintain that ecoregions, rather than arbitrarily-defined political boundaries, provide a better foundation for the formation and governance of human communities, and have proposed ecoregions and watersheds as the basis for bioregional democracy initiatives. Bioregional democracy (or the Bioregional State) is a set of environment concerns, e. ... A drainage basin is the area within the drainage basin divide (yellow outline), and drains the surface runoff and river discharge (blue lines) of a contiguous area. ... Bioregional democracy (or the Bioregional State) is a set of electoral reforms designed to force the political process in a democracy to better represent concerns about the economy, the body, and environmental concerns (e. ...

Terrestrial as used here differs slightly with use of terrestrial as a synonym for "terran" ("of Earth" in general, whether land or oceans). It follows its alternate meaning, roughly "of land" (soil and rock). Terrestrial planets, for example, include not only the earth, but all planets which have surfaces composed mostly of rock, as distinct from planets without a solid surface. A landform comprises a geomorphological unit. ... Terran means of Terra, i. ... A terrestrial planet or telluric planet is a planet which is primarily composed of silicate rocks. ...

In ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant, and animal communities best adapted to the regions physical natural environment, latitude, altitude and terrain factors. ... Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as tropical rain forests or tropical wet forests, are a tropical and subtropical forest biome. ... The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest biome is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. ... Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests are a biome located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. ... Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests are a temperate and humid biome. ... Temperate coniferous forests are a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. ... The taiga is found throughout the high northern latitudes, just below the tundra, and just above the steppes. ... Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands are a grassland biome located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and tropical latitudes. ... Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a group of biomes in which the climate is temperate to semi-arid. ... Flooded grasslands and savannas are a biome, generally located at subtropical and tropical latitudes, where flooding is very frequent. ... Montane grasslands and shrublands is biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. ... In physical geography, tundra is an area where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. ... Bush Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub is a temperate biome, characterized by hot-dry summers and mild and rainy winters. ... Deserts and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by a dry climate. ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal. ... Ecozones are global divisions which have their own characteristic interplay of climatic factors, morphodynamics, soil-forming processes, living conditions for plants and animals, and production potentials for agriculture and forestry. ... The Afrotropic Ecozone is Africa south of the Sahara Desert. ... Antarctica is one of eight terrestrial ecozones. ... The Australasia Ecozone The Australasian ecozone – is an ecological region that is coincident, but not synonymous (by some definitions), with the geographic region of Australasia. ... The Indomalaya Ecozone was previously called the Oriental region. ... The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earths land surface. ... The Neotropic ecozone is a terrestrial ecoregion which includes South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ... Oceania is the smallest of the worlds terrestrial ecozones, and unique in not including any continental land mass. ... The Palearctic or Palaearctic is one of the eight ecozones dividing the Earth surface (see map). ...

List of the Global 200

World Wildlife Fund's list of the 200 most outstanding and distinctive examples of the world's major habitat types - a coarse blueprint for global biodiversity. List of the Global 200 ecoregions See also ecoregion conservation status Terrestrial ecoregions Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Afrotropic 1 Guinean moist forests 2 Congolian coastal forests 3 Cameroon Highlands forests 4 Northeastern Congolian lowland forests 5 Central Congolian lowland forests 6 Western Congolian moist forests 7 Albertine Rift...

External links

• Map of the ecozones