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Japan has significant diversity in flora. Of approximately 5,600 total vascular plant species, almost 40% are endemic. [1] This richness is due to the significant variation in latitude and altitude across the country, a diversity of climatic conditions due to monsoons, and multiple geohistorical incidences of connections with the mainland.
A map of Japan's major cities, main towns and selected smaller centers. Japan has a population of 126.3 million in 2019. [20] It is the eleventh-most populous country and the second-most populous island country in the world. [12] The population is clustered in urban areas along the coast, plains, and valleys. [15]
Japan is within the larger region of East Asia. For the purposes of this category, "Japan" is defined in accordance with the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions . That is, the geographic region is defined as including the following areas, typically defined by the political boundaries of its constituents:
Japan lies at the convergence of three terrestrial realms, the Palearctic, Indomalaya, and Oceania, and its flora and fauna combine elements from all three.The ecoregions that cover the main islands of Japan, Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, and Shikoku, along with the nearby islands, are considered part of the Palearctic realm.
The wildlife of Japan includes its flora, fauna, and natural habitats. The islands of Japan stretch a long distance from north to south and cover a wide range of climatic zones . This results in a high diversity [ 1 ] of wildlife despite Japan's isolation from the mainland of Asia .
The Hokkaidō deciduous forests ecoregion (WWF ID: PA0423) covers the northern and southern coasts of the island of Hokkaido, the northernmost of the main islands of Japan. The region sits in the transition zone between the colder subarctic forests to the north and the more temperate forests to the south.
The Honshū alpine conifer forests ecoregion covers 4,400 square miles (11,000 km 2) in the high-elevation mountains of central Honshū and the Oshima Peninsula of Hokkaido, Japan. It is a temperate coniferous forest ecoregion in the Palearctic realm .
The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurmann (1849). ). Prior to this, the two terms (vegetation and flora) were used indiscriminately, [4] [5] and still are in some co