Biogeography of Plants in Western Amazonia

[Guido at]

Guido Mathieu wrote:

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

John Greham answered:

> That is not correct.
> There are innumerable case of organisms being
> introduced into areas where they formally did not occur and have since
> thrived.

Are both statements contradictory? As long as the environment fit
sufficiently with the needs of a species you can successfully introduce that
species anywhere (see the ex situ greenhouse collections). On the other hand
it would not be possible to introduce a rainforest epiphyte in a desert (to
put it extreme :-)) even when both locations would be related geologically.
The false positives or negatives in biogeographical data are for a great
deal the result of the environmental needs of a given species.

Guido Mathieu