Editing Biogeography (section)

==Introduction==
The patterns of species distribution across geographical areas can usually be explained through a combination of historical factors such as: [[speciation]], [[extinction]], [[continental drift]], and [[glaciation]]. Through observing the geographic distribution of species, we can see associated variations in [[sea level]], river routes, habitat, and [[river capture]]. Additionally, this science considers the geographic constraints of [[landmass]] areas and isolation, as well as the available ecosystem energy supplies.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

Over periods of [[ecology|ecological]] changes, biogeography includes the study of plant and animal species in: their past and/or present living ''[[refugium (population biology)|refugium]]'' [[habitat]]; their interim living sites; and/or their survival locales.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Martiny|first1=JBH|first2=BJM|last2=Bohannan|first3=JH|last3=Brown|display-authors=et al|url=http://alrlab.pdx.edu/media/HughesBiogeoNature.pdf|title=Microbial biogeography: putting microorganisms on the map|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621194350/http://alrlab.pdx.edu/media/HughesBiogeoNature.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-21|journal=Nature Reviews Microbiology|date=Feb 2006|volume=4|issue=2 |pages=102–112 |doi=10.1038/nrmicro1341 |pmid=16415926 }}</ref> As David Quammen put it, "...biogeography does more than ask ''Which species?'' and ''Where''. It also asks ''Why?'' and, what is sometimes more crucial, ''Why not?''."<ref>{{cite book | last=Quammen | first=David | author-link=David Quammen | title=Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions | publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons|Scribner]] | year=1996 | location=New York | pages=[https://archive.org/details/songofdodoisland00quam/page/17 17] | isbn=978-0-684-82712-4 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/songofdodoisland00quam/page/17 }}
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Modern biogeography often employs the use of [[Geographic Information Systems]] (GIS), to understand the factors affecting organism distribution, and to predict future trends in organism distribution.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cavalcanti|first=Mauro|year=2009|url=http://digitaltaxonomy.infobio.net/?Software:Biogeography_and_GIS |title=Digital Taxonomy Infobio |access-date=2009-09-18 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015021915/http://digitaltaxonomy.infobio.net/?Software:Biogeography_and_GIS |archive-date=2006-10-15 }}</ref>
Often mathematical models and GIS are employed to solve ecological problems that have a spatial aspect to them.<ref>{{cite book |last=Whittaker |first=R. |year=1998 |title=Island Biogeography: Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-850021-6 }}</ref>

Biogeography is most keenly observed on the world's [[island]]s. These habitats are often much more manageable areas of study because they are more condensed than larger ecosystems on the mainland.<ref name="Mac">{{cite book|last1=MacArthur|first1=RH|last2=Wilson|first2=EO|year=1967|title=The theory of island biogeography|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-08836-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a10cdkywhVgC&pg=PR7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731031641/https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=a10cdkywhVgC&pg=PR7|archive-date=2022-07-31}}</ref> Islands are also ideal locations because they allow scientists to look at habitats that new [[invasive species]] have only recently colonized and can observe how they disperse throughout the island and change it. They can then apply their understanding to similar but more complex mainland habitats. Islands are very diverse in their [[biome]]s, ranging from the tropical to arctic climates. This diversity in habitat allows for a wide range of species study in different parts of the world.

One scientist who recognized the importance of these geographic locations was [[Charles Darwin]], who remarked in his journal "The Zoology of Archipelagoes will be well worth examination".<ref name=Mac/> Two chapters in ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'' were devoted to geographical distribution.