Abstract
Attempts to regionalize world climates began in the early 1800s, based partly on natural landscapes. The first attempts were empirical, but better understanding of global atmospheric circulation led eventually to ‘genetic’ approaches, based on the mechanisms that generate different climate types. It was recognized early that climatic zones follow mainly from temperature, at least in lowlands, but the duration of wet and dry seasons also characterizes many climate types quite distinctly. This paper expands the familiar genetic climate classification of Walter to provide a simple, globally consistent, more complete classification that also recognizes subtypes and transitions explicitly, and facilitates understanding of world soil and vegetation types. This genetic approach is preferable to empirical systems, such as Köppen, because it:
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has fewer main types
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recognizes types tied more directly to dynamic mechanisms that cause different climate types
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has a more general and flexible set of subtype descriptors
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unifies some climatic concepts better
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matches natural vegetation and landscapes better, and
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is more flexible under changing global climatic conditions than are empirical limits.
Zonal climate types are easier to understand and to teach, since they are tied directly to atmospheric dynamics and reflect visible geographic regions and landscapes. The resulting global geographic framework also provides a basis for testing the validity of putatively general ecological models.
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Appendix: World Vegetation Regions Within a Zonal Framework, as Needed for Geographic Validation of Global Models
Appendix: World Vegetation Regions Within a Zonal Framework, as Needed for Geographic Validation of Global Models
Americas | Africa | Eurasia | Australia-NZ-Oceania-Antarctica | |
---|---|---|---|---|
I. Tropical Humid Forests (rainforest and seasonal EG forest) | Amazon Basin Atlantic Brazil Chocó to windward Central America Caribbean islands | Congo Basin Guinea coast Madagascar coast | Malay Peninsula windward S Asia East Indies Philippines | New Guinea and archipelagos Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia |
Subtropical | SE Brazil | Assam-N Myanmar | Montane Queensland | |
a. Dry Equatorial Scrub | S Caribbean | East Africa | ||
I-II. Semi-Evergreen Forests | Campeche-Yucatan Colombia-Venezuela Sub-Amazon Brazil | TRF periphery E Madagascar | Windward S Asia Eastern E Indies N Philippines? | (northern and coastal Queensland) |
Dry EG Forest | Inland SE Asia | |||
II. Tropical Wet/Dry Woods | ||||
Moist deciduous Forest | Cuba-Hispaniola (Yucatan) | E India- Vietnam eastern Java | ||
Dry Deciduous Forest/Woodland plus Thorn-Scrub | Meso-America, incl. Caribbean dry sides Venezuela -Colombia Caatingas Chaco | N Afr below savannas S-central Africa Leeward Madagascar | Interior Deccan India Interior SE Asia Leeward Sri Lanka Sumbawa-Timor Upland W Persia | N-interior Australian thorn-tree scrub |
Semi-EG Scrub/Woods | Cerrado | East Africa | N Austr sclerophyll | |
II-VII. Thorn-Steppe | Mexico-W Texas Argentine monte scrub | |||
II-III. Tropical Savanna | Mexico: Tamaulipas and central valley Cuba Venezuelan llanos and Caribbean Colombia | Sub-Saharan belts E Africa Interior southern Africa Madagascar | Hejaz thorn savanna N India- Pakistan | N and NE Australian grassy woodlands N Australian thorn savanna |
Palm Savannas | Llanos Mesopotamian Argentina | |||
Pine Savanna | Mexico Nicaragua | |||
Tropical Mountains | Montane TRF, cloud forest, subalpine scrub, páramo (I) or puna (II) | Montane TRF, cloud forest, subalpine ericaceous scrub, páramo | Semi-EG to laurophyll forest, mixed subalpine | Montane rainforest, cloud forest, páramo |
III. Subtropical Deserts | ||||
Semi-deserts with arborescents | Sonoran + Baja California | W Kalahari | ||
Mojave Desert | Interior Austr mulga | |||
Shrub Semi-Desert | Chihuahua Desert | Interior and west Australia | ||
Dwarf-Shrub Desert | Sahara Desert | Sinai-N Arabia Persian halophyte basins Thar Desert | ||
m. Fog-coast deserts with succulents | Atacama Desert | Namib Desert | ||
(no vegetation) | Atacama (inland) | Central Sahara | Rub al-Khali Arab-Iran- Pakistani rock desert | W-central Australia |
III-IV. Semi-Desert Steppe (shrubs/hard grass) | Central Chile | N Sahara margins | Syria-N Mesopotamia | |
IV Mediterranean Woods/Scrub | ||||
Sclerophyll Forest | California coast and foothills | Atlas Mtns | Mediterranean borderlands | SW + SE Australia (e.g. jarrah) |
Sclerophyll Scrub/Shrublands | Calif. chaparral + Ariz. encinal central Chile | Maghreb uplands Cape fynbos | Mediterranean maquis | SW + SE Australian kwongan |
Dwarf Shrublands | S California (coastal sage) | Maghreb Cape fynbos | Mediterranean garrigue, phrygana | |
c. Continental Scrub (mainly conifer) | Upland Great Basin (mtns: decid. chaparral) | Western Cape S Maghreb | Interior Turkey N Afghanistan | |
Mountains | Calif: montane Pinus, subalp conif, scrub Chile: mont mixed, subalp Araucaria, etc. | NAfr-EMed: Cedrus, alpine hard cushions Cape: Cupressaceae | Med: montane Pinus, subalpine conifer, alpine hard cushions | Australia: Cupressaceae + Eucalyptus |
IV-Vm Submediterranean Tall EG Forests | Calif. coast + Sa. Nevada central Chile ( Fitzroya) | Australia: SW (karri) and SE (Euc.regnans) | ||
V. Oceanic Forest (EG-BL) | NZ North Island | |||
Vm. Temperate Rainforests (tall broad-evergreen) | Valdivian Chile | W Tasmania ( Nothofagus ) NZ W coast (mixed) | ||
Coniferous | Coastal NW N America | Japan Alps, Yakushima (Norway, Alps) | ||
Vm-VI. Cool-Oceanic | S Chile to Ta.del Fuego (EG/decid Nothofagus) | New Zealand | ||
Ve. Warm-Temperate Forests | ||||
Laurophyll Forest | SE Brasil uplands (SE USA: topogenic) | S African montane Canarias montane | Across S China S Japan -Taiwan SE Asian mtns to E Himalaya | E and SE Australia, incl. mountains |
Semi-EG Sclerophyll Forest (mixed) | SE USA ( Quercus) Sa. Madre Oriental | Yunnan ? Himalaya? | E and SE Australia ( Eucalyptus) | |
Ve-IV. Submediterr. EG Forests (opposite rainfall seasonalities) | Knysna (S Africa) | Coastal Victoria ( Eucalyptus) | ||
VI. Temperate Forests Deciduous Forests | Eastern N America (NW USA: scattered) | Manchuria- Korea- Primorye-N Japan | ||
Cool-Temperate | S Andes- Ta.del Fuego | Europe: Scandinavia and Britain to Russia | ||
c. Low decid.woods | S-central USA | N China | ||
Warm-Temperate (deciduous) | Interior SE US | N Balkan-Caucasus-Hyrcanian N China and interior Japan | ||
VI-IV. Submediterranean Deciduous Woods | Interior California | S Europe: N Iberia, S France, Italy, S Balkan | ||
VI-VII. Forest-Steppe (summergreen) | Grove Belt (N America) Cross Timbers (S USA) | Eurasian belt: Roman-Ukr-China N China elm grasslands Hungarian Basin Iranian uplands | ||
VI-VIII. Mixed Forest (sub-boreal) | Great Lakes to NE USA and Maritime Canada | Fennoscandia-N Russia Manchuria- Dahuria | ||
VII. Temperate Grasslands (tall, mixed, short) | Great Plains Palouse (NW USA) | S African Veld (upland) | Russian-Ukrainian-Kazakh steppe Mongolian steppe | |
m. Tussock Grasslands | Pampa Patagonian steppe | NZ Canterbury Plain (interior Victoria) | ||
Montane Steppe | Anatolian plateau Azerbaijan-Iran Western China | |||
a. Cold-Winter Deserts (non-summer rain) | ||||
Tree Semi-Desert | Mid-Asian sand deserts | |||
Shrub Semi-Desert | Great Basin | Middle Asia Persia-Afghanistan | ||
Monsoonal (summer rain) | Gobi Desert Tarim Basin | |||
Cold High Plateau | Tibetan Plateau | |||
x. Cool-Maritime Semi-Desert | Patagonian semi-desert | |||
Temperate Mountains | ||||
(a) Humid | Montane mixed forest, subalp conif, alp tundra | Mont pine/ laurel, mixed, subalp conif, tundra | SE Australia: Eucalyptus | |
(b) Dry | NAm: montane Pinus, subalp conif, dry tundra | Montane Pinus, subalpine conif, dry steppe/ tundra | NZ: mont/subalp BL-EG, tundra | |
VIII. Boreal Forest | Canada– Alaska | Scandinavia-Russia- Siberia- Kamchatka | ||
c. Decid Larch Woods (ultracontinental) | Interior E-NE Siberia (+ Manchurian mtns) | |||
m. Deciduous Broadleaf Woods and Scrub (maritime) | Labrador-Newfoundland W and coastal Alaska Ta.del Fuego ( Nothofagus) | N Sweden-Kola peninsula Iceland Kurils-Sakhalin-Hokkaidō | ||
VIII-IX. Forest-Tundra (sparse conifers) | Across subpolar N America | Across subpolar Eurasia | ||
IX. Polar Tundra (low, upland) | N Canada– Alaska coastal Greenland | Across Arctic Eurasia | Antarctic peninsula | |
m. Maritime Tundra | W Alaska + Aleutians | Iceland Kuril-Komandr Isls. | Falklands (+ Isla Estados) S Georgia, S Orkneys, S Shetlands | |
Vm-IX. Everwet Oceanic Moors (EG) | Outer islands of southern Chile | Wet subantarctic islands (Macquarie, Kerguelen) | ||
IX-IXf. Polar Cold Deserts | N Canadian islands Coastal Greenland | Novaya Zemlya and Siberian Arctic islands | Antarctic peninsula and periphery |
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Box, E.O. (2016). World Bioclimatic Zonation. In: Box, E. (eds) Vegetation Structure and Function at Multiple Spatial, Temporal and Conceptual Scales. Geobotany Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21452-8_1
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