| Description |
Classification of biota into meaningful geographical units, so-called biogeographical regions, is one of the main aims in the field of biogeography. Traditionally, main attention was paid to classifications at broad spatial scales, nevertheless, there are many studies which addressed delineation of biogeographical regions also at finer spatial scales, i.e. sub-regions, districts etc. within global biogeographical regions, within continents or even within smaller areas. This study attempts to develop the first statistical classification of the Czech Republic based on distribution of four groups of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians). At the fine spatial scale of the Czech Republic, results of biogeographical classifications based on assemblage distinctiveness often resemble rather landscape types than distinct regions, because clusters tent to disintegrate into spatially discontinuous patches. Such clusters thus may be hardly interpretable, which limits their usefulness. Therefore, I used spatially constrained clustering to classify the area of the country into spatially cohesive regions, which reflect regional differences in composition of faunal assemblages. Using this method, I delineated five zoogeographical regions of the Czech Republic (Hercynian mountain region, Carpathian region, Bohemian-Moravian hilly and highland region; Central Bohemian lowland and hilly region, Pannonian region). This classification reflects not only strong gradient in composition of faunal assemblages, which is related to altitude and climatic conditions, but also geographical gradient between eastern and western part of the country. These regions also reflect species distributions at broader scale of European continent. Presented classification, however, should not be perceived to be superior to whatever classification of the Czech Republic introduced before, because each of them is based on different principles and criteria.
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