Abebe Getahun

Distribution of Birds in African: Biogeography and Origin of Birds Abebe Getahun

Biogeography is the study of the geographic distribution of organisms. Biogeographers seek to understand ecological processes (e.g. climatic stability and effect of area) that influence the distribution of living organisms over short periods of time and to uncover events occurring in the distant past (e.g. continental drift and evolution) which have resulted in the geographic distribution observed today. The Earth?s surface consists of a mosaic of rigid plates, each moving relative to adjacent plates. A large super-continent pangea split into smaller fragments about 200-300 million years ago. These then drifted apart to form the present arrangement of continents. The most important factors today that influence the life of birds, as well as of all other organisms, relate to human activities in general, and to habitat destruction and climate change in particular. Africa and its associated islands have over 1,300 Important Bird Areas for the conservation of bird populations.