Biogeography : An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach

by Cox, C. Barry; Moore, Peter D.

• ISBN13: 9780865427785
• ISBN10: 086542778X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• More Book Details
• Purchase Benefits

Summary

The science of biogeography asks, and seeks to answer, many varied questions. Why are there so many different kinds of animals and plants? Why are some common and some rare? Why are some widely dispersed and others confined to very limited areas? Why are some habitats and parts of the world so much richer in species than others? How have these patterns of distribution and species richness evolved?The answers to these questions, in as far as they are known, are as diverse and varied as the questions themselves. To approach them it is necessary to understand global patterns of climate, as well as the physical barriers to dispersal presented by oceans, mountain chains and deserts. We need to know how species respond to the presence of competitors, predators and parasites, and how they react when their physical environment alters as climate changes and as continents break up and are set adrift. Most important of all, we need to appreciate the impact of our own species upon all others, placing new demands upon the adaptability of the living world.The questions asked by biogeography themselves evolve over time, and this new edition of a long-established text raises new questions concerned with such topics as global biodiversity, the roles of species in ecosystems, and the degree to which traditional biogeographical concepts can be applied to the extensive, but neglected, realms of the world's oceans. Marine biogeography is a new, but fast developing discipline, and is included here for the first time.The book is intended as the principal text for students taking courses in biogeography, as well as wider degree programmes in which the study of biogeography is important, such as geography, ecology, palaeobiology and evolution.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Introduction to biogeography	1	(9)
References	9	(1)
Biodiversity	10	(24)
How many species are there?	10	(4)
Gradients of diversity	14	(10)
Biodiversity hotspots	24	(2)
Diversity in time	26	(5)
Marine biodiversity	31	(1)
Summary	32	(1)
Further reading	32	(1)
References	32	(2)
Patterns of distribution	34	(38)
Limits of distribution	34	(2)
Overcoming the barriers	36	(2)
A successful family: the daisies (Asteraceae)	38	(3)
Patterns of dragonflies	41	(3)
Magnolias: evolutionary relicts	44	(1)
Climatic relicts	45	(4)
Endemic organisms	49	(2)
Physical limitations	51	(1)
Environmental gradients	52	(4)
Interaction of factors	56	(3)
Species interaction	59	(4)
Reducing competition	63	(4)
Predators and prey	67	(3)
Summary	70	(1)
Further reading	70	(1)
References	70	(2)
Communities and ecosystems	72	(23)
The community	72	(3)
The ecosystem	75	(2)
Ecosystems and biodiversity	77	(3)
Biotic assemblages on a global scale	80	(4)
Patterns of climate	84	(4)
Climate diagrams	88	(1)
Modelling biomes and climate	88	(4)
Biomes in a changing world	92	(1)
Summary	93	(1)
Further reading	93	(1)
References	93	(2)
The source of novelty	95	(17)
Natural selection	95	(1)
Darwin's theory and Darwin's finches	96	(4)
The controlling force within the organism	100	(1)
From populations to species	101	(2)
Barriers to interbreeding	103	(1)
Polyploids	104	(1)
Clines and `rules'	105	(1)
Competition for life	106	(1)
Controversies and evolutionary theory	107	(2)
Evolution and the human race(s)	109	(1)
Summary	110	(1)
Further reading	110	(1)
References	110	(2)
Patterns in the past	112	(24)
Plate tectonics	113	(2)
The evidence for past geographies	115	(3)
Changing patterns of continents	118	(1)
Early land life on the moving continents	119	(1)
One world---for a while	120	(4)
The early spread of mammals	124	(1)
The great Cretaceous extinction event	125	(2)
The rise of the flowering plants	127	(1)
Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic climate changes	128	(3)
Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic floral changes	131	(2)
Summary	133	(1)
Further reading	134	(1)
References	134	(2)
Patterns of life today	136	(25)
Mammals: the final patterns	137	(3)
The distribution of flowering plants today	140	(2)
Mammalian vs. flowering plant geography: comparisons and contrasts	142	(2)
Floral patterns in the Southern Hemisphere	144	(1)
The Old World tropics: Africa, India and South-East Asia	144	(4)
Madagascar	148	(1)
The Cape flora	148	(1)
Australia	149	(2)
Wallacea	151	(1)
New Zealand	152	(1)
South America	152	(3)
The Northern Hemisphere: Holarctic mammals and Boreal plants	155	(3)
Summary	158	(1)
Further reading	159	(1)
References	159	(2)
Interpreting the past	161	(14)
Phylogenetic biogeography	162	(1)
Cladistic biogeography	163	(1)
Panbiogeography	164	(3)
Phyletic tracks and patterns	167	(2)
Endemicity and history	169	(1)
Pleistocene problems	170	(2)
Centres of dispersal	172	(1)
Fossils and historical biogeography	172	(1)
Palaeobiogeography	173	(1)
Summary	173	(1)
Further reading	174	(1)
References	174	(1)
Ice and change	175	(22)
Climatic wiggles	176	(1)
Interglacials and interstadials	177	(5)
Biological changes in the Pleistocene	182	(1)
The last glacial	183	(9)
Causes of glaciation	192	(3)
Summary	195	(1)
Further reading	195	(1)
References	195	(2)
The making of today	197	(27)
The current interglacial: a false start	197	(3)
Forests on the move	200	(3)
The emergence of humans	203	(3)
Modern humans and the megafaunal extinctions	206	(1)
Domestication and agriculture	207	(7)
The dry lands	214	(1)
Changing sea levels	215	(2)
Time of warmth	217	(1)
Climatic deterioration	218	(2)
The environmental impact of early human cultures	220	(1)
Recorded history	221	(1)
Summary	221	(1)
Further reading	222	(1)
References	222	(2)
Projecting into the future	224	(14)
The changing climate	224	(3)
Nitrogen and sulphur overload	227	(2)
Biogeographical consequences of global change	229	(5)
Changing communities and biomes	234	(2)
Summary	236	(1)
Further reading	236	(1)
References	236	(2)
Drawing lines in the water	238	(24)
Introduction	238	(1)
Zones in the ocean and upon the sea floor	239	(2)
The basic biogeography of the seas	241	(1)
The open-sea realm	241	(10)
The history of the ocean basins	241	(2)
The dynamics of the ocean basins	243	(8)
The biogeography of hydrothermal vent faunas	251	(1)
The shallow-sea realm	251	(8)
Faunal breaks within the shelf faunas	252	(1)
Trans-oceanic links and barriers between shelf faunas	253	(1)
Latitudinal patterns in the shelf faunas	254	(1)
Coral reefs	255	(4)
Summary	259	(1)
Further reading	259	(1)
References	260	(2)
Life (and death) on islands	262	(29)
Types of island	262	(1)
Getting there: problems of access	263	(3)
Dying there: problems of survival	266	(1)
Integrating the data: The Theory of Island Biogeography	267	(2)
Second thoughts about the theory	269	(2)
The Theory of Island Biogeography and the design of nature reserves	271	(2)
Starting afresh: the story of Rakata	273	(6)
Evolving there: opportunities for adaptive radiation	279	(1)
The Hawiian Islands	280	(8)
Summary	288	(1)
Further reading	288	(1)
References	288	(3)
Index	291