What are bioregions? What is the importance of bioregions?

Question

What are bioregions?

What is the importance of bioregions?

Answer 1

A bioregion is a somewhat arbitrary section of the world where a specific environment exists and there are species living in that environment that take advantage of that environment, but would have difficulty living outside of that environment.

The Amazon rain forest is one example, as many of the species of animals there could not live in an environment free of the undergrowth of the jungle.  It is not just the temperature or weather, but the jungle as a whole that is specific to that region.

Another lesser known example is the bogs of North and South Carolina.  This is the only region in the world where the Venus Fly Trap grows naturally.  All attempts at transplanting this plant to other parts of the world have failed.  It can be grown as a houseplant or in a greenhouse by someone who aware of this plant's specific needs, but it will not flourish in the wild anywhere else in the world.

The importance is somewhat evident by the fact that there are plants and animals that could be useful for study, medicines, or even simple entertainment that could be lost forever if the bioregions where they exist naturally are destroyed.

On the other side of the coin is the tendancy to designate an area a "bioregion" for personal or political purposes when clearly all the species in the named region could easily migrate to other areas and be perfectly happy.  One example of this is the many areas in the United States that have been designated as undevelopable bioregions for bird species that have not even been proven to exist in the area.  This seems to happen a lot in Florida.  The area is off limits to developement until such time as a Wal-Mart, General Motors, or some other large tax base business wants to move in.  Then, it seems, the area was not really a bioregion after all.