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Earth's Bioregions

  • Writer: Shanti
    Shanti
  • 7 days ago
  • 9 min read

Explore the Earth through ecological regions

Shanti Plants - The Earth Provides

Panoramic natural landscape from a rocky mountain viewpoint, with sunlit forest, rolling hills, a mountain peak, offshore islands and calm ocean under soft golden light.
A view across connected forested landscapes, mountains, islands and ocean, reflecting the diversity and continuity of Earth’s terrestrial and marine bioregions.

Political borders tell us where countries, states and territories begin and end. Nature does not follow those same lines.


A bioregion is a large geographic area connected by patterns in climate, landforms, ecosystems, plants, animals and ecological history. Looking at the Earth through bioregions can help us understand how living systems connect across political boundaries and why resources, habitats and environmental conditions differ from one place to another.


The Earth's Resource Map uses bioregions as one part of its geographic framework. They help organise information about where resources occur, the environments they depend on and the regional context needed to understand them safely and responsibly.


Use this index to choose a terrestrial or ocean region and explore the records currently connected to it.


What This Index Covers


This index provides two broad ways to explore the Earth.


Terrestrial Bioregions

The terrestrial section uses the One Earth Bioregions Framework, which identifies 185 bioregions. These large ecological regions are built from groups of ecoregions and broader patterns in biomes, landforms and geography.


Each terrestrial bioregion has a short identifying code, such as AU9 — Queensland Tropical Rainforests & Savannas. The code provides a stable reference while the name gives a plain-language description of the region.


Ocean Bioregions

The ocean section uses broad marine geographic units derived from the Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW) framework.


MEOW divides the world's coastal and continental-shelf waters into 12 marine realms, 62 provinces and 232 ecoregions. For simple navigation within the Earth's Resource Map, the 62 province-level areas are presented here as Ocean Bioregions.


Terrestrial and ocean bioregions are therefore useful companion layers, but they are not identical levels within one single classification system.


Bioregions can also overlap ecological, cultural and political boundaries. Always use the individual resource record and its local information when making practical decisions.


Browse Resources

Browse the regions currently indexed below. Links will be added as reviewed resource records become available.


A region appearing in this index means that the geographic unit is known to the Earth's Resource Map. It does not mean that every species, resource, ecosystem, use or local condition within that region has already been documented.


Browse Terrestrial Bioregions


Antarctica

  • Continental Antarctica (AN1)

  • Antarctic Peninsula & Scotia Sea (AN2)

  • Subantarctic Indian Ocean Islands (AN3)

  • Subantarctic Antipodes Islands (AN4)


Afrotropics

  • Tristan Volcanic Islands (AT1)

  • South African Cape Shrublands & Mountain Forests (AT2)

  • Amsterdam-Saint Paul Islands (AT3)

  • Mascarene Tropical Forest Islands (AT4)

  • Seychelles & Comoros Tropical Islands (AT5)

  • Madagascar Island (AT6)

  • East African Coastal Forests (AT7)

  • Southeast African Subtropical Grasslands (AT8)

  • Greater Karoo & Kalahari Drylands (AT9)

  • Southwest African Coastal Drylands (AT10)

  • Greater African Subequatorial Savannas & Mixed Woodlands (AT11)

  • Victoria Basin & Albertine Rift Forests (AT12)

  • South Congolian Forest-Savannas & Coastal Scarp (AT13)

  • Central Congolian Tropical Forests (AT14)

  • North Congolian Lowland Forests (AT15)

  • Mandara Mountain & North Congolian Forest-Savannas (AT16)

  • Gulf of Guinea Coastal Forests & Mangroves (AT17)

  • St. Helena & Ascension Islands (AT18)

  • West African Coastal Forests & Savanna (AT19)

  • West Sudanian Savanna (AT20)

  • Lake Turkana-Sudd Grasslands, Bushlands & Forests (AT21)

  • South Red Sea & Gulf of Aden Coastal Drylands (AT22)

  • Sahel Acacia Savannas (AT23)

  • Cape Verde Islands (AT24)


Australasia

  • New Zealand (AU1)

  • Lord Howe & Norfolk Islands (AU2)

  • East Australian Temperate Forests & Mountain Shrublands (AU3)

  • East Australian Mediterranean Woodlands & Temperate Savannas (AU4)

  • South Australian Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands & Scrub (AU5)

  • West Australian Dry Coastal Shrublands (AU6)

  • Greater Australian Interior Desert & Shrublands (AU7)

  • North Australian Tropical Savannas (AU8)

  • Queensland Tropical Rainforests & Savannas (AU9)

  • Coral Sea & New Caledonia Islands (AU10)

  • Vanuatu Islands (AU11)

  • Solomon Islands (AU12)

  • New Guinea & Surrounding Islands (AU13)

  • Sulawesi & Maluku Islands (AU14)

  • Southeast Indonesian Dry Forest Islands (AU15)


Indomalaya

  • Central Indian Ocean Islands (IM1)

  • Indian Tropical Coastal Forests (IM2)

  • Indian Dry Deciduous Forests (IM3)

  • North Indomalayan Deserts & Scrub Forest (IM4)

  • Himalayan Mixed Forests & Grasslands (IM5)

  • North Indian Tropical Forests & Sundarbans (IM6)

  • Northern Deccan & Odisha Tropical Forests (IM7)

  • Greater Deccan-Sri Lankan Forests & Drylands (IM8)

  • Myanmar Coastal Rainforests & Andaman Sea Islands (IM9)

  • Arakan Mountains & Northern Triangle Forests (IM10)

  • Irrawaddy & North Indochina Mixed Forests (IM11)

  • Indochina Mixed Forests & Peatlands (IM12)

  • South China Subtropical Evergreen & Monsoon Forests (IM13)

  • Nansei Islands Subtropical Evergreen Forests (IM14)

  • Philippines & Sulu Sea Tropical Forests (IM15)

  • Borneo Tropical Forests & Sundaland Heath Forests (IM16)

  • Javan-Bali Tropical Rainforests (IM17)

  • Peninsular Malaysian & Sumatran Tropical Rainforests (IM18)


Nearctic

  • Greenland (NA1)

  • Canadian Tundra (NA2)

  • North Alaskan Tundra (NA3)

  • Greater Alaska Taiga & Tundra (NA4)

  • Far Northern Pacific Coast (NA5)

  • Greater Yukon (NA6)

  • Northwest Canadian Taiga, Lakes, & Wetlands (NA7)

  • Mid-Canada Boreal Plains & Foothill Forests (NA8)

  • Canadian Shield & Coastal Taiga-Forests (NA9)

  • Northeastern American Mixed Forests (NA10)

  • Northern Great Lakes Forests (NA11)

  • Northern Prairie & Aspen Forests (NA12)

  • Greater Rockies & Mountain Forests (NA13)

  • Northwest Intermountain Conifer Forests (NA14)

  • Pacific Northwest Coastal Forests (NA15)

  • Cascades Mountain Forests & Valleys (NA16)

  • Columbia Plateau & Blue Mountains (NA17)

  • Great Basin & Columbia Steppe (NA18)

  • Colorado Plateau & Mountain Forests (NA19)

  • Southern Prairie Mixed Grasslands (NA20)

  • Midwestern Tallgrass Prairie & Forest Transition (NA21)

  • Ozarks Mixed Forests (NA22)

  • Interior Plateau & Southern Great Lakes Forests (NA23)

  • Appalachia & Allegheny Interior Forests (NA24)

  • Southeast Savannas & Riparian Forests (NA25)

  • Bermuda (NA26)

  • Western Gulf Coastal Grasslands (NA27)

  • Southern Mixed Forests & Blackland Prairies (NA28)

  • Sierra Madre Forests & Mexican Drylands (NA29)

  • Baja California & Southern Deserts (NA30)

  • Greater California (NA31)


Neotropics

  • Chilean Mixed Forests (NT1)

  • Patagonia Steppe & Low Mountains (NT2)

  • Rio de la Plata Grasslands (NT3)

  • Chaco Grasslands (NT4)

  • Andean Mountain Grasslands (NT5)

  • Chilean Matorral Shrublands & Savanna (NT6)

  • Juan Fernández & Desventuradas Islands (NT7)

  • South American Coastal Deserts (NT8)

  • Galápagos Islands (NT9)

  • Ecuadorean Dry Coastal Forests & Flooded Grasslands (NT10)

  • Andean Mountain Forests & Valleys (NT11)

  • Pantanal Flooded Grasslands & Dry Forests (NT12)

  • Cerrado Savannas (NT13)

  • Brazilian Atlantic Moist Forests (NT14)

  • Brazilian Atlantic Dry Forests (NT15)

  • Amazon River Estuary (NT16)

  • Southern Amazonian Forests (NT17)

  • Western Amazonian Forests & Plains (NT18)

  • Central Amazonian Forests (NT19)

  • Northern Amazonian Forests (NT20)

  • Guianan Forests & Savanna (NT21)

  • Llanos & Dry Forests (NT22)

  • Venezuelan Coast (NT23)

  • Central American Isthmian & Colombian Coastal Forests (NT24)

  • Central American Mixed Forests (NT25)

  • Caribbean Islands (NT26)

  • Yucatan & Veracruz Mixed Forests (NT27)

  • Mexican Dry & Coniferous Forests (NT28)

  • Mexican Subtropical Islands (NT29)


Oceania

  • Salas y Gómez & Easter Islands (OC1)

  • Marquesas Tropical Islands (OC2)

  • Southeast Polynesian Islands (OC3)

  • Central Polynesian Islands (OC4)

  • Samoa & West Polynesian Tropical Islands (OC5)

  • Fiji & Tongan Tropical Islands (OC6)

  • East Micronesian Islands (OC7)

  • Palau & Caroline Tropical Islands (OC8)

  • Guam & Marianas Dry Tropical Islands (OC9)

  • Ogasawara Subtropical Islands (OC10)

  • Hawaii Tropical Islands (OC11)


Palearctic

  • Russian Arctic Desert Islands (PA1)

  • Iceland (PA2)

  • Scandinavian Birch & Coastal Conifer Forests (PA3)

  • Greater Eurasian Tundra (PA4)

  • East Eurasian Coastal Tundra (PA5)

  • Sea of Okhotsk Coastal Taiga, Meadows & Tundra (PA6)

  • Siberian Boreal Forests & Mountain Tundra (PA7)

  • Ural Mountains & West Eurasian Taiga Forests (PA8)

  • Great Britain, Ireland & Faroe Islands (PA9)

  • West European Coastal Mixed Forests (PA10)

  • Baltic Sea & Sarmatic Mixed Forests (PA11)

  • European Interior Mixed Forests (PA12)

  • Alps & Po Basin Mixed Forests (PA13)

  • Carpathian Mountain & Plains Mixed Forests (PA14)

  • Dinaric Mountains & Baltic Mixed Forests (PA15)

  • Pontic Steppe Grasslands (PA16)

  • Black Sea, Caucasus-Anatolian Mixed Forests & Steppe (PA17)

  • Aegean Sea & East Mediterranean Mixed Forests (PA18)

  • Adriatic Sea & Central Mediterranean Mixed Forests (PA19)

  • Balearic Sea & West Mediterranean Mixed Forests (PA20)

  • Azores Forest Islands (PA21)

  • Madeira Evergreen Island (PA22)

  • South Mediterranean Mixed Woodlands & Forests (PA23)

  • Northern Sahara Deserts, Savannas & Marshes (PA24)

  • Southern Sahara Deserts & Mountain Woodlands (PA25)

  • Red Sea, Arabian Deserts & Salt Marshes (PA26)

  • Zagros Mountain Forests & East Anatolian Steppe (PA27)

  • South Caspian Coastal & Mountain Mixed Forests (PA28)

  • Persian Deserts & Mountain Woodlands (PA29)

  • Afghan-Balochistan Drylands, Mountain Meadows & Conifer Forests (PA30)

  • Tian Shan-Pamir Grasslands, Mountain Steppe & Conifer Forests (PA31)

  • Central Asian Deserts & Riparian Woodlands (PA32)

  • Caspian Sea, Coastal Deserts & Kopet Dagh Mountain Woodlands (PA33)

  • Kazakh Forest Steppe & Grasslands (PA34)

  • Siberian Hemiboreal Forests & Steppe (PA35)

  • Sayan Mountain Conifer Forests, Alpine Meadows & Steppe (PA36)

  • Altai Mountain Forests, Grasslands & Desert Steppe (PA37)

  • Junggar Semi-Desert & Ermin Valley Steppe (PA38)

  • Taklimakan Desert & Lowland Deciduous Forests (PA39)

  • Greater Tibetan Plateau Alpine Meadows & Shrublands (PA40)

  • Tibetan-Pamir Alpine Steppes, Shrublands & Mountain Forests (PA41)

  • Ordos Plateau Steppe & Mountain Conifer Forests (PA42)

  • Greater Gobi Desert (PA43)

  • Mongolian Grasslands, Alpine Meadows & Forest Steppe (PA44)

  • Dzhagdy Mountain Conifer Forests (PA45)

  • Manchuria-Ussuri Mixed Forests & Meadow Steppes (PA46)

  • Japan Forest Islands (PA47)

  • Korean Peninsula Mixed Forests (PA48)

  • Loess Plateau & Huang He Plain Mixed Forests (PA49)

  • Chang Jiang Plain Evergreen Forests (PA50)

  • Sichuan Basin & Central Mountain Forests (PA51)

  • Guizhou & Yunnan Subtropical Forest Plateaus (PA52)

  • Hengduan Mountain Conifer Forests (PA53)



Browse Ocean Bioregions

These broad marine regions provide a starting point for exploring coastal and shelf environments. Marine ecosystems do not stop at mapped boundaries, and species may move between regions during feeding, breeding, migration or different stages of their life cycle.


For detailed environmental or practical information, continue to the relevant ocean bioregion, marine ecoregion and individual resource records.


Arctic

  • Arctic (AR1)


Temperate Northern Atlantic

  • Northern European Seas (TN1)

  • Lusitanian (TN2)

  • Mediterranean Sea (TN3)

  • Black Sea (TN4)

  • Cold Temperate Northwest Atlantic (TN5)

  • Warm Temperate Northwest Atlantic (TN6)


Temperate Northern Pacific

  • Cold Temperate Northwest Pacific (TP1)

  • Warm Temperate Northwest Pacific (TP2)

  • Cold Temperate Northeast Pacific (TP3)

  • Warm Temperate Northeast Pacific (TP4)


Tropical Atlantic

  • Tropical Northwestern Atlantic (TA1)

  • North Brazil Shelf (TA2)

  • Tropical Southwestern Atlantic (TA3)

  • St. Helena and Ascension Islands (TA4)

  • West African Transition (TA5)

  • Gulf of Guinea (TA6)


Western Indo-Pacific

  • Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (WI1)

  • Somali/Arabian (WI2)

  • Western Indian Ocean (WI3)

  • West and South Indian Shelf (WI4)

  • Central Indian Ocean Islands (WI5)

  • Bay of Bengal (WI6)

  • Andaman Sea (WI7)


Central Indo-Pacific

  • South China Sea (CI1)

  • Sunda Shelf (CI2)

  • Java Transitional (CI3)

  • South Kuroshio (CI4)

  • Tropical Northwestern Pacific (CI5)

  • Western Coral Triangle (CI6)

  • Eastern Coral Triangle (CI7)

  • Sahul Shelf (CI8)

  • Northeast Australian Shelf (CI9)

  • Northwest Australian Shelf (CI10)

  • Tropical Southwestern Pacific (CI11)

  • Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands (CI12)


Eastern Indo-Pacific

  • Hawaii (EI1)

  • Marshall, Gilbert, and Ellice Islands (EI2)

  • Central Polynesia (EI3)

  • Southeast Polynesia (EI4)

  • Marquesas (EI5)

  • Easter Island (EI6)


Tropical Eastern Pacific

  • Tropical East Pacific (TE1)

  • Galapagos (TE2)


Temperate South America

  • Warm Temperate Southeastern Pacific (TS1)

  • Juan Fernandez and Desventuradas (TS2)

  • Warm Temperate Southwestern Atlantic (TS3)

  • Magellanic (TS4)

  • Tristan-Gough (TS5)


Temperate Southern Africa

  • Benguela (TF1)

  • Agulhas (TF2)

  • Amsterdam-St Paul (TF3)


Temperate Australasia

  • Northern New Zealand (TU1)

  • Southern New Zealand (TU2)

  • East Central Australian Shelf (TU3)

  • Southeast Australian Shelf (TU4)

  • Southwest Australian Shelf (TU5)

  • Western Central Australian Shelf (TU6)


Southern Ocean

  • Subantarctic Islands (SO1)

  • Scotia Sea (SO2)

  • Continental High Antarctic (SO3)

  • Subantarctic New Zealand (SO4)

Read First

Before using regional records for identification, harvesting, cultivation, conservation or other practical decisions, read:


Supporting Read First guides will be linked here as they are published. Until then, use the coverage, evidence and safety guidance below.


Coverage and Evidence

The Earth's Resource Map is being built progressively.

A bioregion appearing in this index means that the geographic region is indexed. It does not mean that all knowledge about that region is complete, verified or suitable for practical use.


Coverage is shown openly using four levels:


Indexed — The region or resource is known to the system and can be connected to its identity, source and broad context. Details may still be incomplete.


Referenced — Traceable sources support some information, such as occurrence, description, ecology or possible uses. Practical guidance may still be incomplete.


Verified — Important stated claims have passed the required evidence, safety and conservation review for the context shown.


Localised and actionable — Verified information also includes the local context needed for practical guidance, such as occurrence, season, law, preparation or harvesting requirements, lookalikes, sustainability and regional review.


Evidence is assessed claim by claim. A reliable source supporting one fact does not automatically verify every statement about a species, resource or region.


Geographic boundaries are also tools for organising ecological information rather than hard barriers in nature. Species distributions, water systems, climate, migration and ecological relationships can cross mapped boundaries.

Never assume that advice verified in one bioregion automatically applies in another. Local laws, conservation status, culturally governed knowledge, environmental conditions, common names, lookalikes and safe practices can differ between places.


For identification, consumption, harvesting, handling or other higher-risk decisions, use the complete resource record, its evidence and safety information, and appropriate local or professional guidance. Never act solely from a visual match or an incomplete database record.


Where information is missing or uncertain, the Earth's Resource Map will show that gap rather than presenting incomplete knowledge as complete.

Last Reviewed

18 August 2026

This date records the review of this index page and its geographic framework. Individual bioregion, ecoregion and resource records may have different evidence, publication and review dates.


Continue Exploring


References

One Earth. (2023). One Earth Bioregions Framework. One Earth.


Spalding, M. D., Fox, H. E., Allen, G. R., Davidson, N., Ferdaña, Z. A., Finlayson, M., Halpern, B. S., Jorge, M. A., Lombana, A., Lourie, S. A., Martin, K. D., McManus, E., Molnar, J., Recchia, C. A., & Robertson, J. (2007). Marine ecoregions of the world: A bioregionalization of coastal and shelf areas. BioScience, 57(7), 573–583. https://doi.org/10.1641/B570707

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