Concepts of Dispersal in Historical Biogeography

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Abstract
It is desirable to distinguish 2 separate phenomena, dispersion and dispersal. Dispersion would be defined as a property of individuals, the process by which an organism is able to spread from its place of origin to another locality. Dispersal would be defined as a property of taxa, the process by which a species or other group is able to spread from its previously established range to a different range. The range of a taxon is the result of vicariance, dispersion and dispersal. The original range of a taxon is established by vicariance at the time the taxon splits from its sister group and is maintained through time by dispersion; changes in that range can occur by dispersal. Of the 3 processes, vicariance and dispersion may be deemed primary, being intrinsically necessary for the origin and continued existence of any taxon, while dispersal may be deemed secondary, being only extrinsically necessary if changes in geography or ecology force (or allow) changes in the range of the taxon. [Examples of spiders are given.].

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