Digital_Map_of_European_Ecological_Regions

The continent of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

comprises a large part of the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

ecozone, with many unique

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

s and

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

Biogeographically Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

, Europe is tied closely to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, commonly known as the

Euro-Siberian region The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The ...

. The

European Environmental Agency The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides independent information on the environment. Definition The European Environment Agency (EEA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) which provides i ...

(EEA) divides Europe into a total of eleven terrestrial biogeographical regions and seven regional seas. The agency has issued the Digital Map of European Ecological Regions (DMEER), and operates with a total of 70 ecoregions, of which 58 are within the

European continent Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the eas ...

. Some of these ecoregions are congruent with the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

's (WWF) ecoregions, and some are not.

List of ecoregions in Europe

Below is an exhaustive list of the

s of Europe as defined by the WWF.

Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These ...

Temperate coniferous forests Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial ecoregion, terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant ...

Taiga and Boreal forests Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North Ame ...

Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands are terrestrial biomes defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The predominant vegetation in these biomes consists of grass and/or shrubs. The climate is temperate and ranges from Semi-arid clima ...

Tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...

Caspian lowland desert The Caspian lowland desert ecoregion (WWF ID: PA1308) covers the north and southeast coasts of the Caspian Sea, including the deltas of the Volga River and Ural River in the northern region. While the region gets relatively low amounts of precipi ...

Global 200 ecoregions in Europe

Terrestrial

Terrestrial Global 200 ecoregions in Europe comprise three regions of Scandia alpine tundra and taiga, which is present in Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden: * PA0608

Scandinavian and Russian taiga The Scandinavian and Russian taiga is an ecoregion within the taiga and boreal forests biome as defined by the WWF classification (ecoregion PA0608). It is situated in Northern Europe between tundra in the north and temperate mixed forests in ...

* PA1106 Kola Peninsula tundra * PA1110 Scandinavian montane birch forest and grasslands Other Global 200 ecoregions: * PA1214

Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Mediterranean forests, woodlands and scrub is a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is generally characterized by dry summers and rainy winters, although in some areas rainfall may be uniform. Summers are typically hot in ...

Freshwater

Global 200 Large river delta ecoregions in Europe: * Volga River Delta (Kazakhstan, Russia) *

Danube delta The Danube Delta (, ; , ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. Occurring where the Danube, Danube River empties into the Black Sea, most of the Danube Delta lies in Romania ...

(Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine, Yugoslavia) Small river ecoregions: * Balkan rivers and streams (Albania, Bosnia and Herzogovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, Yugoslavia)

Marine

There are no marine Global 200 ecoregions in Europe.

Sources

* *

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=https://databasin.org/datasets/68635d7c77f1475f9b6c1d1dbe0a4c4c, title=Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World, website=Data Basin, publisher= Conservation Biology Institute, date=, accessdate=5 August 2019
Maps and basic data. * Environment of Europe

Ecoregions An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecology, ecological and Geography, geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of la ...

Ecoregions of Europe An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecology, ecological and Geography, geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of la ...

Natural history of Europe Palearctic ecoregions