Dictionary > Australasia realm

Australasia realm

Definition
noun
A biogeographic realm that covers Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, and neighbouring islands
Supplement
Biogeographic realms are large spatial regions of the Earth’s land surface. Studying biogeographic realms leads to insight especially on biodiversity. It provides understanding on the extent of biodiversity and the factors that affect it. At present, there are about eight realms recognized by the World Wildlife Fund and they are divided according to their ecosystems sharing similar biological evolutionary history and distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. The eight biogeographic realms are Nearctic realm, Palaearctic realm, Neotropical realm, Afrotropic realm, Indomalayan realm, Australasia realm, Oceanian realm, and Antarctic realm.
The Australasia realm (about 7.6 million square kilometres) includes Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, eastern of the Indonesian archipelago, Bismarck Archipelago, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia. This realm shares similar flora with the Antarctic realm. Nevertheless, the northern tropical islands share similar flora with the Southeast Asia. The Wallace Line serves as the biological dividing line from the Indomalayan realm of tropical Asia.1 This boundary (named after the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace) acts as a transitional zone between Asia and Australia.
See also:

Reference(s):

1 Australasian realm. Retrieved from ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian-realm.


You will also like...

Nephrolepis exaltata
Vascular Plants: Ferns and Relatives

Ferns and their relatives are vascular plants, meaning they have xylem and phloem tissues. Because of the presence of va..

Human Neurology
Human Neurology

Human Neurology deals essentially with the nervous system of humans. It also features the various theories put forward b..

Genetics – Lesson Outline & Worksheets
Genetics – Lesson Outline & Worksheets

  Topics Modules Quizzes/Worksheets Description Introduction to Genetics Genetics – Definition: Heredity and ..

An artist depiction of a Precambrian multicellular life form.
The Evolution of Cell Organelles

The nucleus containing the genetic material, DNA, and the mitochondria, well-identified as the "powerhouse of the cell",..

Biological Cell schematic diagram
Biological Cell Introduction

It only takes one biological cell to create an organism. A single cell is able to keep itself functional through its 'mi..

Homeostasis by water regulation
Homeostasis of Organism Water Regulation

Osmoregulation is the regulation of water concentrations in the bloodstream, effectively controlling the amount of water..

Related Articles...

No related articles found

See all Related Topics