The goal of the Biogeographer, as for all scientists, is to eventually provide rules and scientific laws , arising from proven theories, that can account for such patterns in distributions over space and time. These rules provide a general framework of understanding of our environment that can subsequently be used for predictions about the consequences of human-alteration of the natural world. Hence, the goal of Biogeography is to provide baseline information about our environment which can be used to provide guidelines for development of policies to better manage our natural landscape. Biogeography is therefore an applied science , as is all Environmental Geography. Biogeography must draw upon principles formulated by other disciplines, such as ecology, climatology, soil science, botany, physiology, and behavioral sciences, and develop new principles by incorporating techniques and principles used in the Environmental Geography.
Populations are large groups of individuals.
Communities are assemblages of species of different populations that show a degree of cohesion and interdependence. Ecosystems are the interactions between the biotic and abiotic worlds within and between these communities. These concepts fall within the field known as Ecological Biogeography. Different observers conduct their analyses across different spatial and temporal scales. An ecosystem can, in fact, be a rotting log or the entire Earth.