Global 200 Forest Ecoregions
| Analytical Overview |
| At the global level, and within each biogeographic realm, WWF-U.S. chose ecoregions based on the following set of parameters: species richness; species endemism; higher taxonomic uniqueness; unusual ecological or evolutionary phenomena (such as migrations); global rarity of MHT; keystone habitats. |
Map Projection
Interrupted Goode's Homolosine
Map Description
In an attempt to identify priority areas for conservation, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF-U.S.) has conducted an analysis of ecoregions representing the world’s 19 terrestrial, freshwater, and marine major habitat types (MHTs). MHTs are geographic areas sharing environmental conditions, habitat structure, and patterns of biological complexity, and containing species with similar guild structures and adaptations. WWF-U.S. also developed the "Global 200" categorization for ecoregions that are outstanding representatives of the world’s diverse ecosystems. At the time of writing, 232 ecoregions were identified, comprising 136 terrestrial, 35 freshwater, and 61 marine ecoregions (Olson and Dinerstein, 1998: 509). The importance of forests for global biodiversity conservation is clear. Forest ecosystems account for 6 of the 12 terrestrial MHTs, and these 6 forest MHTs contain nearly two-thirds of all terrestrial ecoregions. This map shows the global distribution of forest ecoregions.
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Citation:
World Resources Institute - PAGE, 2000
Sources:
- Olson, D.M. and E. Dinerstein. 1998. The Global 200: A Representation Approach to Conserving the Earth's Most Biologically Valuable Ecoregions.Conservation Biology12 (3):