Pre-industrial man and other animal species are compared with respect to colonization cycles, i.e. the cycles of population expansion and contraction that provide the historical basis for instantaneous biological distribution patterns. Because every species is basically different from every other species, biogeography has developed a common framework for understanding such unlike distributions as those of giraffes, oak trees and man by seeking relations among key variables or processes relevant to any species. Like other species, man reproduces, dies, disperses, exploits environments of varying stability and productivity, adapts phenotypically and genetically, is subject to intraspecific competition and – still like other species – differs from other species in particular characteristics of each of these processes. These key ingredients for biogeographic analysis are discussed to inquire in what ways man is unique as a colonist.
