Reinvention of Australasian Biogeography

Biogeography, the study of the distribution of life on Earth, has undergone more conceptual changes, revolutions and turf wars than any other scientific fields. Australasian biogeographers are responsible for several of these great upheavals, including debates on cladistics, panbiogeography and the drowning of New Zealand, some of which have significantly shaped present-day studies. Australasian biogeography has been caught in a cycle of reinvention that has lasted for over 150 years. The biogeographic research making headlines today is merely a shadow of past practices, having barely advanced scientifically. Fundamental biogeographic questions raised by naturalists a century ago remain unanswered yet are as relevent today as they were then. Scientists still do not know whether Australia and New Zealand are natural biotic areas or if they are in fact artifical amalgamations of areas. The same question goes for all biotic areas in Australasia: are they real? Reinvention of Australasian Biogeography tells the story of the history of Australasian biogeography, enabling understanding of the cycle of reinvention and the means by which to break it, and paves the way for future biogeographical research. Features Presents the theory and foundations of biogeography, a contentious scientific field Explores the science of biogeography and the important role that it plays in the history and future of Australasia Examines the story of biogeography; the divisions, conflicts, disputes and what the future may hold .