Evolutionary Paleoecology: The Ecological Context of Macroevolutionary Change

by Allmon, Warren D.

• ISBN13: 9780231109949
• ISBN10: 0231109946
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: COLUMBIA UNIV PRESS

Summary

One of the most important questions we can ask about life is "Does ecology matter?" Most biologists and paleontologists are trained to answer "yes," but the exact mechanisms by which ecology matters in the context of patterns that play out over millions of years have never been entirely clear. This book examines these mechanisms and looks at how ancient environments affected evolution, focusing on long-term macroevolutionary changes as seen in the fossil record.Evolutionary paleoecology is not a new discipline. Beginning with Darwin, researchers have attempted to understand how the environment has affected evolutionary history. But as we learn more about these patterns, the search for a new synthetic view of the evolutionary process that integrates species evolution, ecology, and mass extinctions becomes ever more pressing. The present volume is a benchmark sampler of active research in this ever more active field.

Table of Contents

Dedication	vii
List of Contributors	ix
Evolutionary Paleoecology: The Maturation of a Discipline	1	(8)
Warren D. Allmon
David J. Bottjer
Scaling Is Everything: Brief Comments on Evolutionary Paleoecology	9	(6)
James W. Valentine
What's in a Name? Ecologic Entities and the Marine Paleoecologic Record	15	(20)
William Miller III
The Ecological Architecture of Major Events in the Phanerozoic History of Marine Invertebrate Life	35	(28)
David J. Bottjer
Mary L. Droser
Peter M. Sheehan
George R. McGhee Jr.
Stability in Ecological and Paleoecological Systems: Variability at Both Short and Long Timescales	63	(20)
Carol M. Tang
Applying Molecular Phylogeography to Test Paleoecological Hypotheses: A Case Study Involving Amblema plicata (Mollusca: Unionidae)	83	(22)
Bruce S. Lieberman
Nutrients and Evolution in the Marine Realm	105	(44)
Warren D. Allmon
Robert M. Ross
The Role of Ecological Interactions in the Evolution of Naticid Gastropods and Their Molluscan Prey	149	(22)
Patricia H. Kelley
Thor A. Hansen
Evolutionary Paleoecology of Caribbean Coral Reefs	171	(64)
Richard B. Aronson
William F. Precht
Rates and Processes of Terrestrial Nutrient Cycling in the Paleozoic: The World Before Beetles, Termites, and Flies	235	(50)
Anne Raymond
Paul Cutlip
Merrill Sweet
Ecological Sorting of Vascular Plant Classes During the Paleozoic Evolutionary Radiation	285	(52)
William A. DiMichele
William E. Stein
Richard M. Bateman
Author Index	337	(12)
Subject Index	349