Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
This stepwise approach comprises five steps, each corresponding to
particular questions, methods, and techniques. Panbiogeography and meth-
ods for identifying areas of endemism are used to identify biotic com-
ponents, which are the basic units of evolutionary biogeography. Cladistic
biogeography uses phylogenetic data to test the historical relationships
between these biotic components. On the basis of the results of the pan-
biogeographic and cladistic biogeographic analyses, a regionalization or
biogeographic classification may be achieved. Intraspecific phylogeography,
molecular clocks, and fossils are incorporated to help identify the cenocrons
that become integrated in a biotic component. Finally, the geological and
biological knowledge available can be integrated to construct a geobiotic
scenario that may help explain the way the biotic components evolved.
This stepwise approach does not imply that every biogeographer must
follow all the steps, but anybody may articulate a specific biogeographic
question and choose the most appropriate method to answer it. Given some
time, as the different analyses accumulate, they can be integrated to formu-
latecoherenttheories.Idefendthisapproachwithinthephilosophicalframe-
work of integrative pluralism (Mitchell 2002). It is not an eclectic or “anything
goes” approach, but the different methods are compatible because they give
partial solutions when answering particular questions. Integrative pluralism
with respect to methods coexists with the objective of integration in order to
explain biotic evolution.
For Further Reading
Andersson, L. 1996. An ontological dilemma: Epistemology and methodology of
historical biogeography. Journal of Biogeography 23:269-277.
Crisci, J. V. 2001. The voice of historical biogeography. Journal of Biogeography
28: 157-168.
Morrone, J. J. and J. V. Crisci. 1995. Historical biogeography: Introduction to
methods. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 26:373-401.
Vuilleumier, F. 1999. Biogeography on the eve of the twenty-first century:
Towards an epistemology of biogeography. Ostrich 70:89-103.
For Discussion
1. Carefully read the following articles:
 
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