ZOOGEOGRAPHY

World Tectonic Plates Movement

Zoogeographic Regions of the World

Zoogeographic Regions

• Neotropical (NT) tropical Mexico south to South America, plus the Antilles• Number of families = 56; endemics = 28.• Afrotropic (AF) or Ethiopian (ET) Madagascar, Africa south of the Sahara, southern Arabian

Peninsula• Number of families = 58; endemics = 20.• Indo-Malayan (IM) or Oriental (OR) Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia, Philippines, Indonesia

west of Wallace's line (Sumatra, Java, Borneo)• Number of families = 49; endemics = 8.• Australian (AU) Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania, Indonesian Islands east of Wallace's line

(Celebes, Timor, etc.)• NOTE: does not include New Zealand• Number of families = 35; endemics = 21.• Oceanic Oceans of the world and truely oceanic, isolated, small islands

Wallace's line The important zoogeographical division which separates the Oriental and Notogean zoogeographical regions. AlfredWallace, a zoogeographer and contemporary of CharlesDarwin, first demarcated the boundary between the Oriental faunal region and the Australasian region with its distinctive marsupials and birds. The boundary, known to this day as Wallace's line, passes east of Java and Bali, northward through the Strait of Makassar (separating Borneo and Sulawesi), then extends eastward, south of Mindanao in the Philippines. There is a zone of mixing called ‘Wallacea’, and strictly the line defines the extreme western limit of Australasian mammals and the eastern limit of the main oriental fauna.

Map of the Malayan Archipelago showing proposed faunal boundaries and the extent of Wallacea. Murray’s line of 1866 has been omitted, it only differs from Wallace’s line in running between Java and Bali.

Philippine Faunal Regions

The occurrence of faunal regions in the Phil. was brought about by several factors:

• Ice Age(s) history of the Phil. and of the different islands composing it.• Geological history which brought about the present islands of the country,

coming mainly from northwest of Australiasian realm and parts of the southern Asian continental shelf.

• Insularity (island)effects which enabled the separate evolution of some of the diverse species.

• Differences in the elevation and mountain ranges which spawned different types of forest,consistent with the tropical forest biome.

• Effect of modulating oceanic current (Kuro-Shiwo current) in the eastern sea board of the Philippines.

• Effect of monsoons, easterlies and typhoons in the over-all differentiation.

Types of Forests in the Philippines(from sea level to top of the mountain)

• Mangrove forest( Manglar) composed dominantly of bakawan, nipa, api-api, pagatpat,and others)

• Beach forest-composed originally of bitaog,talisay,agoho• Lowland forest (Dipterocarp, Molave-akle-narra-ipil-tindalo associations)• Lower montane forest where ulayan groups are found.• Upper montane forest where gymnosperms are usually found.• Pine forest where conifers (Pinus sp.) dominates.• Mossy forest (cloud line forest)• Forest over limestone (exemplified by Initao forest vegetation)• Forest over ultramafic soils (found along faultlines and heavy metals zone)• Cave-based forest

Faunal Regions of the Philippines

• Threats to Philippine Flora and Fauna

Introduced/Exotic Species

Improperly Planned and Managed resources Harvesting

Forest Habitat Destruction