- North and Central American ecosystems with unusually high biodiversity include most of the western half of California, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico's Madrean Pine Oak Woodlands and the equatorial forests of Mesoamerica contained by Central America and parts of Mexico.
- The Tropical Andes are the richest ecosystem on Earth.Tropical Mountains image by Starlyn from Fotolia.com
South America is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. The Tropical Andes are widely considered the most multifarious region on the planet, containing one sixth of Earth's plant life within less than one percent of its land area. The Cerrado woodland-savanna of Brazil, the Chilean Valdivian Forests and the east coast's richly endemic Atlantic Forest are other vitally diverse biomes found on the continent. - Despite having suffered millenia of intense human habitation, the arid Caucus region of central Europe hosts a wide variety of endemic species. Other notables include the Middle-East's Irano-Anatolian hotspot, the legendary Mediterranean Basin, and the mountains of Central Asia.
- The continent of Africa is rimmed by ecosystems of incredible biodiversity. The island of Madagascar contains species of birds, animals and plants that exist nowhere else on Earth. The floristic region on the Cape, the eastern coast's tiny, ultra-dense forests and South Africa and Namibia's Succulent Karoo region are just a few examples of untrammeled floral and faunal kingdoms of the oceanside.
- The Asia-Pacific region is host to thousands of islands and atolls of varied climes and ecosystems, which play host to some of the most exotic lifeforms known to mankind. The archipelagos of Japan, New Zealand and the Phillippines have each been identified as biodiversity hotspots, as have smaller chains like New Caledonia in the south, and the Polynesia-Micronesia region in the north. The infamous Himalayan mountains also fall within this category.
previous post
next post