Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution and abundance of plants and animals over the planet. We can explain these distributions using a combination of historical (vicariance, dispersal, extinction) and ecological (climate, habitat, community, competition) factors. Zoology has a particular strength in the field of phylogeography, which uses DNA sequence data to test ideas about origins of species in relation to the geological, climatic and ecological history of New Zealand.