Progress in historical biogeography

Historical Biogeography

Historical biogeography can be divided into two subdisciplines: taxon biogeography and area biogeography. In the former we are interested in reconstructing the geographic distribution history of a particular group of organisms. Questions we may be interested in answering include: Where did the organisms originate? How did they colonize the areas in which they live today? When did they first com...

Phylogenetic Systematics and Biogeography: Using Cladograms in Historical Biogeography Methods

Parascript, Parasites and Historical Biogeography

Historical Biogeography of American Beech

American beech (Fagus grandifolia), now a centerpiece species of the eastern deciduous forest, has had a continually changing historical biogeography. This paper reviews the paleoecology, the presettlement occurrence, the modern range, and the current abundance pattern of beech. It synthesizes these four databases into maps representing the distribution and abundance of beech at specific period...

Historical Biogeography: The New Synthesis

Since Darwin first noted the impact of past ice ages on the distribution of organisms, biogeographers have debated whether Pleistocene glaciations shaped evolutionary patterns. A new synthesis of population genetics and palaeoclimatology promises unprecedented insights into Pleistocene evolutionary history.