The Ecozones of the World

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-X

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2. Introduction: on the Methodology of Dividing the World into Ecozones

   • Jürgen Schultz

   Pages 1-4

3. General: the Treatment of the Ecozones and Global Overviews of Selected Characteristics

   • Jürgen Schultz

   Pages 5-73

4. Regional Section: the Individual Ecozones

   • Jürgen Schultz

   Pages 74-430

5. Back Matter

   Pages 431-451

   PDF

The preliminary work on this book goes back to lectures and seminars which I held on the subject of an ecological division of the world at the Geographical Department ofthe Aachen University of Technology (RWTH Aachen). The idea of presenting this material in book form arose as I became aware that no modern compendium exists, in either German or English (or in any other language, as far as I know), which could have aided me in preparing these courses or would have helped the participating students to review the material presented in the classroom. Existing studies on major land ecosystems, some of which are highly de­ tailed, have been published over the past 15 years by firms such as the Springer­ Verlag (Ecological Studies), the Cambridge University Press (International Biological Programme) and the Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company (Ecosystems of the World); all suffer from the fact that individual aspects (mainly botanical-ecological ones) are given the utmost consideration, while other aspects (often pedological and geomorphological ones) are almost entirely neglected. Furthermore, it is most aggravating that the various studies have failed to establish consistent terminology, units of measurement, and organization of the data for all of the global ecosystems, thus making it difficult even for the knowledgeable reader to make comparisons. The individual nature of each ecozone therefore remains unclear, since it is precisely these differences that allow those characteristics peculiar to a specific ecozone to be unmistakably recognized.

• ecosystem
• ecozone
• ecozones
• polar and subpolar ecozones
• soils
• temperate ecozones
• tropical and subtropical ecozones
• vegetation
• vegetation of the world

From the reviews of the second edition:

"This is a well organized and concise description of the nine major terrestrial regions of the earth. Each region is described in terms of its distribution, climate, soil, relief and drainage, land use, and vegetation and animals. This allows for an easy comparison of salient factors between regions and also allows the reader to readily focus on a particular aspect of interest … . This is a useful and practical guide and an excellent introduction to biogeography." (Southeastern Naturalist, Vol. 5 (1), 2006)

"The book consists of two parts. A general part discusses the treatment of the ecozones and gives an overview of selected characteristics … . And a second part called Regional sections: The individual ecozones. … ‘The ecozones of the world’ is a good introduction to the ecological division of the earth, especially for those with an interest in patterns and processes on a large scale. The book is amply illustrated with figures, tables and diagrams, which, together with the text, provide a lot of information." (Frits Adema, Blumea, Vol. 51 (2), 2006)

"The book provides a summary and explanation of the most significant characteristics of the major regions of the earth … . Due to the wealth of facts and features presented on terrestrial ecozones of the world, the book is … a useful reference work for teachers and lecturers. … the author should be complimented for having done an excellent job … . The textbook gives an impressive overview of the world’s terrestrial ecozones and should be present in all reference libraries … ." (Udo Schickhoff, Phytocoenologia, Vol. 36 (3), 2006)

• Hochschule Aachen (RWTH), Geographisches Institut, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische, Aachen, Germany

  Jürgen Schultz

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