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World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions

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For a more comprehensive list, seeList of codes used in the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions.
For the categories on Wikipedia that are derived from this scheme, seeWikipedia:WikiProject Plants/World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions.

TheWorld Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions(WGSRPD) is abiogeographicalsystem developed by the internationalBiodiversity Information Standards (TDWG)organization, formerly the International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases.[1]The WGSRPD standards, like other standards for data fields inbotanicaldatabases, were developed to promote "the wider and more effective dissemination of information about the world's heritage ofbiological organismsfor the benefit of the world at large ". The system provides clear definitions and codes for recordingplantdistributions at four scales or levels, from "botanical continents" down to parts of large countries. The codes may be referred to asTDWG geographical codes.Current users of the system include theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), theGermplasm Resources Information Network(GRIN), andPlants of the World Online(POWO).

Principles of organization[edit]

The scheme is one of a number developed by Biodiversity Information Standards particularly aimed attaxonomicdatabases.[2]The starting point was the "need for an agreed system of geographical units at approximately 'country' level and upwards for use in recording plant distributions".[1]The scheme represents a compromise between political and botanical divisions.[3]All boundaries either follow a political boundary (country boundary, province boundary, etc.), or coastlines.[1]The scheme also aims to follow botanical tradition, in terms of the distribution categories used in works like theFlora Europaea,Flora Malesiana,or Med-Checklist.[4]This approach occasionally leads to departures from political boundaries. Thus the scheme followsFlora Europaea[5]in placing the easternAegeanislands (such asLesbos,SamosandRhodes) in the West Asia region,[6]rather than in Europe where they belong politically as part of Greece.

Levels[edit]

The scheme defines geographic places at four scales or levels, from "botanical continents" down to parts of large countries:[7]

  1. Continental – nine botanical continents
  2. Regional – each botanical continent is divided into between two and ten subcontinental regions
  3. Area or "botanical country" – most regions are subdivided into units generally equating to a political country, but large countries may be split or outlying areas omitted
  4. "Basic recording units" – the lowest level is only used for very large countries, subdividing them into states or provinces on purely political grounds

Standardized codes are used to represent the units at each level. Numerical codes are used for Levels 1 and 2, alphabetic codes for Levels 3 and 4.

Levels 1 and 2 of the WGSRPD[8]
  • 1Europe
    • 10 Northern Europe
    • 11 Middle Europe
    • 12 Southwestern Europe
    • 13 Southeastern Europe
    • 14 Eastern Europe
  • 2Africa
    • 20 Northern Africa
    • 21Macaronesia
    • 22 West Tropical Africa
    • 23 West-Central Tropical Africa
    • 24 Northeast Tropical Africa
    • 25 East Tropical Africa
    • 26 South Tropical Africa
    • 27 Southern Africa
    • 28 Middle Atlantic Ocean
    • 29 Western Indian Ocean

Phytogeography[edit]

Main article:Phytogeography

For more botanically oriented classifications using phytogeography, the scheme's documentation endorses the use offloristic kingdoms,floristic regions,andfloristic provinces,as classified byArmen Takhtajan.[9]

Level 1: botanical continents[edit]

Botanical continents as defined by the WGSRPD

The WGSRPD defines nine botanical continents (Level 1), each assigned a single digit code from 1 (Europe) to 9 (Antarctica). Although it is said that "popular concepts of the continents of the world have been maintained, but with one or two slight modifications",[3]some of the botanical continents are notably different from the traditionalgeographical continents.In particular, Asia is divided into two botanical continents; 5 Australasia consists only ofAustraliaandNew Zealandand small outlying islands; most of the islands in thePacific Oceanare allocated to 6 Pacific; and the division of the Americas into 7 Northern America and 8 Southern America differs from the traditionalNorth AmericaandSouth America.[3]

1 Europe[edit]

The botanical continent of Europe is defined broadly in line withFlora Europaea[5]and with thetraditional geographical definition.To the north-west it includesIcelandandSvalbard(Spitsbergen). The southern boundary with Africa encloses most of the Mediterranean islands. The eastern boundary placesCrimeaandEuropean Russiain Europe, with the border defined by the administrative units.Novaya Zemlyais excluded from Europe. The south-eastern boundary excludes theCaucasusandTurkeyeast of theBosporus,as well as the EasternAegeanIslands andCyprus,which although geopolitically part of Europe are considered floristically part of Western Asia.[10]

2 Africa[edit]

The botanical continent of Africa corresponds closely to the usual geographical definition. It excludes theSinai Peninsula,politically a part ofEgypt,which is placed in region 34 Western Asia. To the west, it includes islands grouped asMacaronesia,comprising theAzores,Madeira,theCanary Islands,theSavage Islandsand theCape Verdeislands. To the east, it includesMadagascarand otherIndian Oceanislands out as far as the island ofRodrigues.[11]

3 Asia-Temperate[edit]

The geographical continent ofAsiais divided into two botanical continents, 3 Asia-Temperate and 4 Asia-Tropical. The reason for the division was described as largely for convenience.[3]Asia-Temperate borders Europe and Africa; the boundaries are described above. To the south-east, theIndian Subcontinentand the rest of Asia from region 41Indo-Chinasouthwards are placed in Asia-Tropical.[12]

4 Asia-Tropical[edit]

Asia-Tropicalforms the second part of the traditional geographical continent of Asia. Its western and northern boundaries are formed by the two regions 40 Indian Subcontinent and 41 Indo-China. The southern boundary separates Asia-Tropical fromAustralia.The south-eastern boundary was changed between the first edition of 1992 and the second edition of 2001. In the first edition, Asia-Tropical was divided into three regions: 40 Indian Subcontinent, 41 Indo-China and 42 Malesia. The eastern boundary of Malesia was placed between theBismarck Archipelagoand theSolomon Islands Archipelago,which were put into region 60 Southwest Pacific. It was subsequently argued that it made more "floristic sense" to link the Solomon Islands with the Bismarck Archipelago and the island ofNew Guinea.Accordingly, in the second edition, a new region 43Papuasiawas created within Asia-Tropical, comprising New Guinea,Near Oceania(the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomon Islands Archipelago), so that Asia-Tropical consists of four regions.[13]

5 Australasia[edit]

The botanical continent of Australasia, as defined by the WGSRPD, consists only ofAustraliaandNew Zealand,plus outlying islands. The name was described as having been "controversial", since it has been used to describe larger areas.[14]Other definitionsmay includeIndonesia,New Guineaand many Pacific islands, which the WGSRPD divides between 4 Asia-Tropical and 6 Pacific.

6 Pacific[edit]

The WGSRPD groups most islands with a nearby continental landmass, usually the closest but may also make a decision influenced by the floristic similarity (hence the placement of the Azores with Africa and not Europe). The exception is the islands of the central part of thePacific Ocean,which are placed in a separate botanical continent. The largest of these islands includeNew Caledonia,FijiandHawaii.[15]

7 Northern America[edit]

The WGSRPD divides the Americas into 7 Northern America and 8 Southern America rather than into the traditional continents ofNorth AmericaandSouth America.The boundary between Northern America and Southern America was changed from the first edition to the second edition. In the first edition, a south-eastern part ofMexicowas included in Southern America, the rest of Mexico being placed in Northern America. This followed the boundary of Mesoamerica inFlora Mesoamericana.However, it proved unpopular, especially with Mexican botanists, so in the second edition, all of Mexico is placed in Northern America, which thus consists of Mexico, thecontiguous United Statesplus Alaska, Canada, andGreenland,together with associated offshore islands.[16]

8 Southern America[edit]

As notedabove,the Americas are divided into 7 Northern America and 8 Southern America rather than into the traditional continents of North America and South America, with the precise boundary between the two having changed between the first and second editions of the WGSRPD. Southern America consists of theCaribbean,the WGSRPD definition ofCentral America(those countries south of Mexico and north ofColombia), and the traditional geographical continent of South America, together with some offshore islands, such as theGalapagos.[17]

9 Antarctic[edit]

The Antarctic botanical continent consists of continentalAntarctica,plus a number of Subantarctic Islands, including theFalkland Islands,South GeorgiaandTristan da Cunha.[18]

Level 2: subcontinental regions[edit]

The nine botanical continents (Level 1) are each divided into between two and ten Level 2 regions; see the table above. Each region is given a two digit code, the first digit being that of the Level 1 continent to which it belongs. Altogether, there are 52 regions.[8]

Many of the regions are geographical divisions of the continents, e.g. 12 Southwestern Europe, 34 Western Asia or 77 South-Central U.S.A. Others are whole countries within the continents, e.g. 36 China, 79 Mexico or 84 Brazil.[8]Some less well-known regions include:

Levels 3 and 4: areas and basic recording units[edit]

Levels 3 and 4 are identified by letter codes. Three letter codes are used for Level 3;[4]e.g. "NWG" stands forNew Guinea.[23]Where the Level 3 area is subdivided into Level 4 "basic recording units", a two letter code is appended;[24]thus "NWG-IJ" representsIrian Jaya,[25]theIndonesianpart of New Guinea. Where the Level 3 area is not subdivided, "OO" may be added to create a five letter code to show that the Level 4 unit is identical to the Level 3 area.[24]Thus "BIS" represents theBismarck Archipelagoat Level 3. This area is not subdivided, so "BIS-OO" can be used to represent it at Level 4.[22]As an example, the complete division of the Level 2 Papuasia region is shown below.

Example of WGSRPD Levels 3 & 4[22]

43 Papuasia

  • BIS Bismarck Archipelago
    • BIS-OO Bismarck Archipelago
  • NWG New Guinea
  • SOLSolomon Is.
    • SOL-NO North Solomons
    • SOL-SO South Solomons

Usage[edit]

Organizations and works using the scheme include theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN),[26]theGermplasm Resources Information Network(GRIN), and the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, which supportsPlants of the World Online,published byKew.[27]

Thus in the GRIN Taxonomy for Plants database, the distribution ofMagnolia grandiflorais given in terms of WGSRPD botanical continents and regions as:[28]

"Northern America
Southeastern U.S.A.
South-Central U.S.A. "

Below the Level 2 regions, the Level 3 areas in this case are US states, which are then listed.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Comprising Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia, and Western Asia.
  2. ^ComprisingNear Oceania,New Guinea,South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
  3. ^Comprising most ofMainland Southeast Asia,exceptPeninsular Malaysia.
  4. ^Comprising southernIsland Melanesia.
  5. ^Comprising Mexico and geopoliticalNorthern America.
  6. ^ComprisingAlaska,Greenland,andNorthern Canada.
  7. ^Comprising the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^abcBrummitt (2001),p. ix.
  2. ^Brummitt (2001),p. iii.
  3. ^abcdBrummitt (2001),p. xi.
  4. ^abBrummitt (2001),p. xiii.
  5. ^abTutin, T.G; Burges, N.A.; Chater, A.O.; Edmondson, J.R.; Heywood, V.H.; Moore, D.M.; Valentine, D.H.; Walters, S.M. & Webb, D.A., eds. (1993).Flora Europaea: Volume 1(2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. xxiii.ISBN978-0-521-41007-6.
  6. ^Brummitt (2001),p. 26.
  7. ^Brummitt (2001),pp. xi, 19.
  8. ^abcBrummitt (2001),p. 19.
  9. ^Brummitt (2001),p. v, citing A. Takhtajan (1986). Floristic Regions of the World.
  10. ^Brummitt (2001),p. 107.
  11. ^Brummitt (2001),p. 109.
  12. ^Brummitt (2001),pp. 104–105.
  13. ^Brummitt (2001),pp. 6, 104–105.
  14. ^Brummitt (2001),pp. xi–x.
  15. ^Brummitt (2001),pp. 45–46, 123.
  16. ^Brummitt (2001),pp. 7, 19, 125.
  17. ^Brummitt (2001),pp. 7, 49–52.
  18. ^Brummitt (2001),p. 52.
  19. ^Brummitt (2001),p. 37.
  20. ^Brummitt (2001),p. 42.
  21. ^Brummitt (2001),p. 43–44.
  22. ^abcBrummitt (2001),p. 44.
  23. ^Brummitt (2001),p. 32.
  24. ^abBrummitt (2001),p. xiv.
  25. ^Brummitt (2001),p. 58.
  26. ^"Who Is Using This Standard".Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG).Archived fromthe originalon 2015-07-13.Retrieved2015-08-02.
  27. ^"About the World Checklist of Vascular Plants".Plants of the World Online.Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.Retrieved2023-07-15.
  28. ^"Magnolia grandiflora".Germplasm Resources Information Network.Agricultural Research Service,United States Department of Agriculture.Retrieved2023-07-15.

Sources[edit]

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