There are many specialized environments on Earth that are home to a vast number of plant and animal species. Each ecosystem has its own terrain and local climate and supports its own animal and plant life. The living things interact with one another, the climate, soil and terrain.
Information gathered and analyzed by biogeographers lets governments and businesses do a better job of managing the Earth and its resources. The work of biogeographers plays a key role in preserving natural habitat, protecting wildlife, and helping people make wise choices about land use across North America.
Margaret North teaches biogeography courses at a university. She's a PhD expert on the vegetation in her region. She calls herself a plant geographer. North also consults with government agencies on environmental issues.
That's a growing field. Governments are increasingly aware of and are working to resolve environmental problems around the world.
"Many of the biogeographers I helped to train work in environmental consulting firms or a variety of government agencies," she says. "Some have gone into careers in outdoor recreation."
Peter Kershaw studies the disturbance ecology of the north and western mountains. Kershaw looks at changes in the environment caused by people. He's learning how environments re-establish themselves after they've been damaged by human activity, fires or oil spills.
Biogeographers are very interested in how nature can rebound from real disasters such as an oil spill or other pollution event. But they're also keenly interested in how natural ecosystems respond to fires -- events many people might consider disasters but which are actually important to the natural life cycle of forests.
"In 1995, a wildfire destroyed my research camp....This let me investigate how the ecosystem responded to the changes and damage brought about by fire," says Kershaw.
He studies both the physical and biological environmental components of these areas -- climate, permafrost, soils, vegetation and small mammals. Kershaw's work helps increase scientific knowledge of the ways nature repairs environmental damage.
One way biogeographers help conservation and planning efforts is through gap analysis. They determine the environmental variables. These include climate, vegetation, elevation and soils. And they're all characteristic of a plant or animal habitat. Then they create a scientific model that can predict the existence of habitats where a species should live.
Governments can use the information to determine if the size and locations of parks, wilderness and nature reserves adequately protects the environments the species needs. If there are "gaps" in the number or size of safe habitats, steps can be taken to protect or create appropriate habitats.
"The main reward for biogeographers is contributing toward solving environmental problems in a practical way, a way that is directly related to decisions about how land will be used," says George Malanson. He is a biogeographer and university professor.
Robert Bailey is a government biogeographer. For over 20 years, he's been studying the distribution of plants and animal life in various environmental regions for the Forest Service. Bailey's efforts have significantly influenced the way the U.S. government protects its environment.
Chief geographer and leader of the Ecosystem Management Analysis Center, Bailey combines environmental information from many different sources. From this information, he develops maps that completely describe the environmental zones he's studying. Each region has distinct climatic, life and land characteristics.
Each region is made up of separate, smaller ecosystems. Some ecosystems are as small as a stand of trees. Like layers of an onion, these small units are nested in larger systems, which in turn are part of even larger environments.
"Boundaries of ecosystems aren't fixed," explains Bailey. "They don't recognize borders of states, provinces or countries. What people do in one region in one place influences what goes on in surrounding lands."
As a biogeographer, Bailey created the hierarchy of ecoregions used throughout the United States and in other parts of the world. "I'm trying to develop the big picture, to step away from the little dots on the map and see the entire face.
"Manipulation of one resource affects another. Cutting the trees or using the water affects everything. There are so many interrelationships. We have to ask, 'How do all the uses of land fit together?'"
This groundbreaking work helps government agencies understand and plan for environmental issues like acid rain, pollution, road building, logging, agriculture, recreational activities and industrial development.