Biogeography is a centuries-old discipline with roots in the work of early natural historians (like Charles Darwin) who travelled the globe documenting new species. Biogeographers seek to describe and explain the distribution of the world’s species across all taxonomic groups, from the largest continents to the smallest islands, from mountain tops to the deep ocean, from the poles to the tropics, and from the start of life on Earth to the modern day. As such, biogeography intersects with the disciplines of Ecology and Evolution. Biogeographers are central to understanding and forecasting changes to species distributions caused by environmental changes, both natural and anthropogenic, such as widespread vegetation clearance and shifts in climate.

Subjects in the Biogeography pathway explore the historical evolution of landscapes around the world; patterns in speciation and extinction among different taxonomic groups, continents and epochs; effects of people, including indigenous peoples, on species distributions; modern theories of species diversity; applications of biogeographical and ecological science to solve and manage environmental problems in a range of different types of ecosystems.

Recommended course structure

Pathways are designed to help students identify geography subjects focused on a specific theme. Pathways are not formal degrees or qualifications, rather they are recommended groupings of similar or related subjects that students may choose to enrol in if they wish to develop an expertise in a specific topic of interest, or to build a particular skill base for their preferred career path.