Question

A programmer is making a database of animals

Answer 1

The WildFinder database contains presence/absence data for the world's terrestrial amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, by terrestrial ecoregion. Ecoregions are defined as "relatively large units of land that contain a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, with boundaries that approximate the original extent of the natural communities prior to major land use change" (Olson et al. 2001). The 825 terrestrial ecoregions are nested within fourteen biomes with similar major vegetation features (e.g., tropical moist forests, temperate grasslands) and within eight biogeographic realms with similar geography, fauna, and flora (e.g., Neotropical, Nearctic)