The spectre of biogeographical regionalization

A biogeographical regionalization is a hierarchical system that categorizes geographical areas in terms of their biotas. I provide a general protocol to undertake biogeographical regionalizations, that consists of seven steps: (1) defining the study area; (2) assembling distributional data; (3) identifying natural areas; (4) discovering area relationships; (5) defining boundaries/transition zones; (6) regionalization and (7) area nomenclature. Natural biogeographical units are useful for people undertaking different types of analyses, like macroecologists, evolutionary biologists, systematists and conservationists. Biogeographical regionalizations may help biogeographers communicate more effectively between themselves and discover opportunities to work on common problems, contributing to the development of a truly integrative biogeography.