Biogeography of Plants in Western Amazonia

[john grehan]

Guido Mathieu wrote:

>A given species will occur where environmental conditions fit with the needs
>of that species.

That is not correct. There are innumerable case of organisms being
introduced into areas where they formally did not occur and have since
thrived. This fact indicates that there is more than the ecology of the
present as a determinant of a distribution.

>When tectonic uplift change the habitat, the species will
>disappear.

Biogeographic studies indicate otherwise.

>When environmental conditions are sufficiently similar at 2000 m
>and at sea level, the species may be found at both places.

But whether it is the origin of this pattern lies with the environmental
conditions themselves or the history of the their topography is not
determined by the fact of similarity alone.

John Grehan