Biogeography and biogeographical principles

Abstract

A fundamental problem of biogeography is whether it is an independent, primary discipline with its own methods and principles, or whether it is a secondary discipline dependent on some other branch of science, such as geology. Historically this problem first emerged in the work of Charles Darwin. Darwin in his first “Transmutation of Species” notebook (1837-1838) used biogeographic evidence to erect novel geological hypotheses. These included a continental drift theory in which all the continents were grouped together into the middle of the Pacific Ocean, greatly increasing the width of the Atlantic Ocean (Fig. 1). Subsequently in his “On the Origin of Species” (1859) he rejected that view and argued vehemently in favour of the permanence of continents and oceans (Fig. 2). In his mature work particular geological theories were used as the basis upon which biogeographic narratives were constructed. Alfred Wegener's continental drift theory (1929) differed from Darwin's in that it united the North and South...