Biogeographical regions of the European Union

The biogeographical regions of Europe as defined by the European Union, as of 2010

Biogeographical regions are a zone model in the biogeography of the European Union . They serve in particular to classify the Natura 2000 areas and the Smaragd network .

Basics

With the development of common nature protection goals within the EU on the basis of the Bern Convention of the Council of Europe (adoption 82/72 / EEC) and the establishment of the network of protected areas according to the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive  (92/43 / EEC) 1992, a Joint geographical classification of protected species (Annexes II, IV, V of the Habitats Directive) and habitats (habitat types , Annex I of the Habitats Directive) necessary. In particular, the extensive expansions after 1992 towards Eastern Europe had shown the different ecological conditions of the members. The emerald network , which will be set up from 1996 for the non-EU countries of the Council of Europe, also follows this scheme.

The originally five biogeographical regions, which were expanded to six after the accession of Sweden and Finland in 1995, were expanded by another three in 2006 with Bulgaria and Romania. As early as 2000, a “pan-European” version was written for the emerald network, which extends to the outermost borders of Europe in the Urals and also includes Asia Minor and the Caucasus , and identifies a total of eleven regions - two are not in the EU.
Since pure marine protected areas are now also designated as part of the Natura 2000 network, five adjacent marine regions also belong to the system.

The biogeographical regions form a basis for assessing an area's worth of protection:

“' Site of Community Importance ': an area which, in the biogeographical region (s) to which it belongs, makes a significant contribution to maintaining a natural habitat type in Annex I or a species in Annex II in a favorable conservation status or restore one and also contribute significantly to the coherence of the […] 'Natura 2000' network and / or to a significant extent to biological diversity in the biogeographical region. "

- Art. 1 definition of terms letter k FFH-RL 92/43 / EEC

List of biogeographical regions of the European Union

3rd column: *… area is falling apart; (*) ... only disintegrates in marine areas

Fl. … Land area of ​​the region in km², approximately

St. ... states that have a share in the region

Surname	Location characteristics		Fl. km²	St.
Alpine region	High mountain regions	*	780,000	28
Atlantic region	Coastal Northwest Europe	(*)	830,000	10
Black Sea Region	South coasts of the Black Sea	(*)	120,000	04th
Boreal region	Northern Europe		2,900,000	08th
Continental region	south-east central Europe	*	2,700,000	24
Macaronesian Region	Atlantic Islands: Canaries, Azores, Madeira	(*)	10,000	02
Mediterranean region	Southern Europe	(*)	1,200,000	15th
Pannonian region	Pannonian basin outside Austria		133,000	07th
Steppe region	Eurasian steppe , northern coasts of the Black and Caspian Seas		1,150,000	07th
Anatolian region	Central Asia Minor		450,000	03
Arctic region	Northern Europe, coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean	(*)	670,000	03

1. ↑ Macaronesian exactly: 10,372 km²

Terrestrial biogeographical regions in the EU member states

The following table provides information about which member states of the European Union have shares in which biogeographical regions and must accordingly prescribe Natura 2000 areas for the preservation of habitats and species of community importance in the respective biogeographical region.

EU member state		ALP	ATL	BLS	BORON	CON	MAC	MED	PAN	STE
Belgium	BE		■			■
Bulgaria	BG	■		■		■
Denmark	DK		■			■
Germany	DE	■	■			■
Estonia	EE				■
Finland	FI	■			■
France	FR	■	■			■		■
Greece	GR							■
Ireland	IE		■
Italy	IT	■				■		■
Croatia	MR	■						■
Latvia	LV				■
Lithuania	LT				■
Luxembourg	LU					■
Malta	MT							■
Netherlands	NL		■
Austria	AT	■				■
Poland	PL	■				■
Portugal	PT		■				■	■
Romania	RO	■		■		■			■	■
Sweden	SE	■			■	■
Slovakia	SK	■							■
Slovenia	SI	■				■
Spain	IT	■	■				■	■
Czech Republic	CZ					■			■
Hungary	HU								■
United Kingdom	UK		■					■
Cyprus	CY							■

ALP = Alpine Region (Terrestrial Alpine Region)
ATL = Atlantic Region (Terrestrial Atlantic Region)
BLS = Black Sea Region (Terrestrial Black Sea Region)
BOR = Boreal Region (Terrestrial Boreal Region)
CON = Continental Region (Terrestrial Continental Region)
MAC = Macaronesian Region (Terrestrial Macaronesian Region)
MED = Mediterranean Region (Terrestrial Mediterranean Region)
PAN = Pannonian Region (Terrestrial Pannonian Region)
STE = Steppe Region (Terrestrial Steppic Region)

literature

• European Environment Agency: Europe's biodiversity - biogeographical regions and seas . EEA Report No 1/2002 ( Downloads pdf , eea.europa.eu)

Maps:

• Biogeographical regions in Europe , eea.europa.eu → Data and Maps (written: Oct. 4, 2012; published: Oct. 22, 2012; further data )

Web links

• Natura 2000: Habitats Directive Sites according to Biogeographical Regions , ec.europa.eu? Environment (legal sources and materials)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ On the development of the system: European Topic Center on Biological Diversity / Center thematique europeen sur la diversite biologique: The indicative Map of European Biogeographical Regions: Methodology and development. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle – ETC / BD, Paris, February 2006. (pdf, eea.europa.eu).
   Compare also: Building the Natura 2000 network: 8. EU enlargement and the Nature Directives , ETC / BD, bd.eionet.europa.eu
2. ↑ Article 1 letter c number iii of Directive 92/43 / EEC (PDF) of the Council of May 21, 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild animals and plants.
3. ↑ Appendix Environment A. Nature protection point 2 letter a of Directive 2006/105 / EC (PDF) of the Council of November 20, 2006 for the adaptation of Directives 73/239 / EEC, 74/557 / EEC and 2002/83 / EC in the area Environment on the occasion of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Biogeographical regions in Europe ( Memento of the original dated August 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , eea.europa.eu? Data and Maps (written: Nov. 12, 2009; published: Aug. 25, 2009; last change: Nov. 29, 2012 - old version within the borders of the EU-27 )  
5. ↑ Map of the Biogeographical Regions and Marine regions used in Article 17 reporting .
6. ↑ European Topic Center on Biological Diversity (2010): Terrestrial Alpine Region - Reference List, December 2010, 15 pp. [PDF, engl.]
7. ↑ European Topic Center on Biological Diversity (2010): Terrestrial Atlantic Region - Reference List, December 2010, 9 pp. [PDF, engl.]
8. ↑ European Topic Center on Biological Diversity (2010): Terrestrial Black sea Region - Reference List, December 2010, 4 pp. [PDF, engl.]
9. ↑ European Topic Center on Biological Diversity (2010): Terrestrial Boreal Region - Reference List, December 2010, 7 pp. [PDF, engl.]
10. ↑ European Topic Center on Biological Diversity (2010): Terrestrial Continental Region - Reference List, December 2010, 18 pp. [PDF, engl.]
11. ↑ European Topic Center on Biological Diversity (2010): Terrestrial Macaronesian Region - Reference List, December 2010, 6 pp. [PDF, engl.]
12. ↑ European Topic Center on Biological Diversity (2010): Terrestrial Mediterranean Region - Reference List, December 2010, 15 pp. [PDF, engl.]
13. ↑ European Topic Center on Biological Diversity (2010): Terrestrial Pannonian Region - Reference List, December 2010, 7 pp. [PDF, engl.]
14. ↑ European Topic Center on Biological Diversity (2010): Terrestrial Steppic Region - Reference List, December 2010, 4 pp. [PDF, engl.]