Spatial Evolutionary Biology
The study of how geography shapes the distribution, divergence, and adaptation of life.
Why it matters now
Species are moving poleward and upslope, and their evolutionary history determines which can move and which cannot. Biogeography identifies the refugia worth protecting hardest, the corridors worth opening, and the isolated endemics that will need active help. It turns a warming map into a conservation priority list.
Where this is happening on Earth
- AsiaAlfred Russel Wallace and the Wallace Line, Indonesian archipelagoA boundary between faunal worlds that founded modern biogeography.
- South AmericaGalápagos and Andean elevation gradients, EcuadorLiving laboratories of divergence, now also laboratories of climate-driven range shift.
- AfricaCape Floristic Region, South AfricaExtraordinary endemism in a small area with nowhere further south to retreat.
- OceaniaNew Caledonia and New Zealand endemic lineagesAncient isolated radiations with no continental escape route.
- EuropeGlacial refugia in Iberia, Italy, and the BalkansPlaces where species survived past climate change, and likely will again.
The idea itself
The encyclopedia entry first, then live searches at journals and magazines that keep returning current work on this specific idea.
Current reporting from around the world
Standing feeds at reputable periodicals. These stay fresh on their own, which is why they are here instead of a list of articles that would be out of date within a season.