Terrestrial Biozones

A rough guide to the world's major terrestrial ecosystems

This website provides a guide to exploring the earth's remaining natural and semi-natural ecosystems. To help with this the world has been divided into 6 biokingdoms (see map below), 35 bioregions (world bioregions map) and 156 bioprovinces (see interactive map above) largely based on a classification developed by the eminent Soviet-Armenian botanist and biogeographer Armen Takhtajan (see further information above).

Each bioprovince is described in terms of its geographic location, basic geology, climate and floristic characteristics, and there are linked web pages covering their unique ecosystems and associated endemic flora.

These accounts are being regularly updated with the aim of eventually covering all higher taxonomic groups including vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, lichens, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, but with particular reference to endemic and locally important species.

Each bioprovince web page also has links to local biodiversity hotspots, but for a general account of biodiversity hotspots see menu bar. Photographs are available for certain biozones but to see additional images go to Photo Albums above.