Through nine successful editions, and for over 45 years, Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach has provided a thorough and comprehensive exploration of the varied scientific disciplines and research that are essential to understanding the subject. The text, noted for its clear and engaging style of writing, has been praised for its solid background in historical biogeography and basic biology, that is enhanced and illuminated by discussions of current research.
This new edition incorporates the exciting changes of the recent years and presents a thoughtful exploration of the research and controversies that have transformed our understanding of the biogeography of the world. New themes and topics in this tenth edition include:
* Next generation genetic technologies and their use in historical biogeography, phylogeography and population genomics
* Biogeographical databases and biodiversity information systems, which are becoming increasingly important for biogeographical research
* An introduction to functional biogeography and its applications to community assembly, diversity gradients and the analysis of ecosystem functioning
* Updated case studies focusing on island biogeography, using the latest phylogenetic studies
Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach reveals how the patterns of life that we see today have been created by the two great Engines of the Planet: the Geological Engine, plate tectonics, which alters the conditions of life on the planet, and the Biological Engine, evolution, which responds to these changes by creating new forms and patterns of life.
Autorentext
C. Barry Cox was formerly Head of Biological Sciences, King's College, London, UK.
Richard J. Ladle is Titular Professor of Conservation Biogeography at the Federal University of Alagoas on the north-east coast of Brazil. He is also a Senior Research Associate at the School of Geography in Oxford University, as well as the director of Tamandua Environmental Consultants.
Peter D. Moore is Emeritus Reader in Ecology at King's College London. He has written extensively on ecology and global environmental change and was, for 35 years, Ecology Correspondent for the journal Nature.
Klappentext
Through nine successful editions, and for over 45 years, Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach has provided a thorough and comprehensive exploration of the varied scientific disciplines and research that are essential to understanding the subject. The text, noted for its clear and engaging style of writing, has been praised for its solid background in historical biogeography and basic biology, that is enhanced and illuminated by discussions of current research.
This new edition incorporates the exciting changes of the recent years and presents a thoughtful exploration of the research and controversies that have transformed our understanding of the biogeography of the world. New themes and topics in this tenth edition include:
- Next generation genetic technologies and their use in historical biogeography, phylogeography and population genomics
- Biogeographical databases and biodiversity information systems, which are becoming increasingly important for biogeographical research
- An introduction to functional biogeography and its applications to community assembly, diversity gradients and the analysis of ecosystem functioning
- Updated case studies focusing on island biogeography, using the latest phylogenetic studies
Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach reveals how the patterns of life that we see today have been created by the two great Engines of the Planet: the Geological Engine, plate tectonics, which alters the conditions of life on the planet, and the Biological Engine, evolution, which responds to these changes by creating new forms and patterns of life.
Inhalt
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xv
1 Introduction 1
Lessons from the Past 1
Ecological versus Historical Biogeography, and Plants versus Animals 4
Biogeography and Creation 5
The Distribution of Life Today 7
Evolution a Flawed and Dangerous Idea! 8
Enter Darwin and Wallace 10
World Maps the Biogeographical Regions of Plants and Animals 13
Getting Around the World 15
The Origins of Modern Historical Biogeography 20
The Development of Ecological Biogeography 23
Living Together 24
Marine Biogeography 27
Island Biogeography 28
Biogeography Today 30
Section I: The Challenge of Existing 37
2 Patterns of Distribution: Finding a Home 39
Limits of Distribution 42
The Niche 44
Overcoming the Barriers 45
Climatic Limits: The Palms 46
A Successful Family: The Daisies (Asteraceae) 48
Patterns Among Plovers 51
Magnolias: Evolutionary Relicts 55
The Strange Case of the Testate Amoeba 57
Climatic Relicts 58
Topographical Limits and Endemism 65
Physical Limits 67
Species Interactions: A Case of the Blues 73
Competition 75
Reducing Competition 76
Predators and Prey, Parasites and Hosts 79
Migration 83
Invasion 85
3 Communities and Ecosystems: Living Together 97
The Community 97
The Ecosystem 100
Ecosystems and Species Diversity 103
Biotic Assemblages on a Global Scale 108
Mountain Biomes 112
Global Patterns of Climate 116
Climate Diagrams 119
Modelling Biomes and Climate 122
4 Patterns of Biodiversity 127
Measuring Biodiversity: How Many Species are There? 128
Latitudinal Gradients of Diversity 132
Is Evolution Faster in the Tropics? 139
The Legacy of Glaciation 141
Latitude and Species Ranges 142
Diversity and Altitude 143
Biodiversity Hotspots 146
Diversity in Space and Time 148
The Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis 151
Dynamic Biodiversity and Neutral Theory 151
Section II: The Engines of The Planet 157
5 Plate Tectonics 159
The Evidence for Plate Tectonics 159
Changing Patterns of Continents 164
How Plate Tectonics Changes the World 164
Islands and Plate Tectonics 172
Terranes 174
6 Evolution, the Source of Novelty 179
The Origin of Novelty 179
From Populations to Species 180
Sympatry versus Allopatry 183
Defining the Species 188
Microevolution versus Macroevolution 189
Adaptive Radiations 189
Naming and Cataloguing the Living World 189
Charting the Course of Evolution 190
Morphology Gives Way to Molecules 193
Darwin's Finches Updated 194
Section III: Islands and Oceans 197
7 Life, Death and Evolution on Islands 199
Types of Island 200
Getting There: The Challenges of Arriving 200
Dying There: The Problems of Survival 202
Adapting and Evolving 203
The Hawaiian Islands 206
Integrating the Data: The Theory of Island Biogeography 214
Modifying the Theory 216
The General Dynamic Model for Oceanic Island Biogeography 219
Nestedness 221
Living Together: Incidence and Assembly Rules 221
Building an Ecosystem: The History of Rakata 223
8 Patterns in the Oceans 235
Zones in the Ocean and on the Sea Floor 237
Basic Biogeography of the Seas 240
The OpenSea Environment 240
The Ocean Floor 246
Th...