KONSEP ECO-REGION

An ecoregion (ecological region), sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem.

Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. In theory, biodiversity or conservation ecoregions are relatively large areas of land or water where the probability of encounter of different species and communities at any given point remain relatively constant, within an acceptable range of variation (largely undefined at this point).

Three caveats are appropriate for all biogeographic mapping approaches:

1. Firstly, no single biogeographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible.
2. Secondly, ecoregion boundaries rarely form abrupt edges; rather, ecotones and mosaic habitats bound them.
3. Thirdly, most ecoregions contain habitats that differ from their assigned biome.

Ecoregions defined

Biodiversity is not spread evenly across the Earth but follows complex patterns determined by climate, geology and the evolutionary history of the planet. These patterns are called "ecoregions". WWF defines an ecoregion as a "large unit of land or water containing a geographically distinct assemblage of species, natural communities, and environmental conditions".  The boundaries of an ecoregion are not fixed and sharp, but rather encompass an area within which important ecological and evolutionary processes most strongly interact. The Global ecoregions recognize the fact that, whilst tropical forests and coral reefs harbour the most biodiversity and are the traditional targets of conservation organizations, unique manifestations of nature are found in temperate and boreal regions, in deserts and mountain chains, which occur nowhere else on Earth and which risk being lost forever if they are not conserved.