Organised into four sections, this text discusses the organisation of the living world. Links Ecology, Biodiversity and Biogeography Bridges modern and conventional Ecology Builds sequentially from the concept and importance of species, through patterns of diversity to help consider global patterns of biogeography Uses real data sets to help train in essential skills INDICE: Preface xv .0.0.1 To students xvi .0.0.2 To instructors xvii .Acknowledgments xxi .Abbreviations xxiii .1 Introduction: Defining nature 1 .1.1 How little we know 1 .1.2 Pressing questions 2 .1.3 The hierarchy of nature 3 .1.4 Biodiversity 5 .1.5 Myths to bust 7 .1.6 Further reading 8 .1.6.1 Recommended reading 8 .PART I SPECIES .2 What is a species? 3 .2.1 The big question 3 .2.2 Species concepts 6 .2.2.1 Nominalistic species concepts 6 .2.2.2 Morphological species concepts 7 .2.2.3 Biological species concepts 8 .2.2.4 Phylogenetic species concepts 10 .2.2.5 Genetic species concepts 11 .2.3 Solving the riddle 15 .2.4 Coda: Species richness 16 .2.5 Conclusions 16 .2.5.1 Recommended reading 17 .2.5.2 Questions for the future 17 .3 The history of life 21 .3.1 The big question 21 .3.2 Sources of evidence 21 .3.2.1 The fossil record 21 .3.2.2 Molecular evidence 22 .3.3 A brief history of diversity 23 .3.4 Uneven diversity 29 .3.5 Conclusions 31 .3.5.1 Recommended reading 32 .3.5.2 Questions for the future 32 .4 How many species are there? 35 .4.1 The big question 35 .4.2 How can we not know? 36 .4.3 Discovery rates 37 .4.4 Scaling 40 .4.5 Sampling–based methods 41 .4.6 Other organisms 47 .4.7 Wrapping up 48 .4.8 Conclusions 50 .4.8.1 Recommended reading 50 .4.8.2 Questions for the future 50 .PART II DIVERSITY .5 Measuring diversity 57 .5.1 The big question 57 .5.2 Scales of diversity 58 .5.3 Species richness 58 .5.4 Believing in estimates 63 .5.5 A SAD story 65 .5.6 Diversity of species 67 .5.7 Other measures of diversity 71 .5.8 diversity 75 .5.9 Case study: the Binatang project 76 .5.10 Conclusions 80 .5.10.1 Recommended reading 80 .5.10.2 Questions for the future 80 .6 Niches 85 .6.1 The big question 85 .6.2 Historical background 86 .6.3 Back to basics 89 .6.4 Birth and death rates 90 .6.5 The ZNGI 95 .6.6 Impact vectors 98 .6.7 Supply points 98 .6.8 Coexistence 98 .6.9 The evidence 106 .6.10 Implications 112 .6.11 Conclusions 116 .6.11.1 Recommended reading 117 .6.11.2 Questions for the future 117 .7 Patterns in species richness 121 .7.1 The big question 121 .7.2 Area 121 .7.3 Local and regional species richness 124 .7.4 Local patterns in species richness 131 .7.5 Congruence 137 .7.6 Assembling a model 139 .7.7 Conclusions 139 .7.7.1 Recommended reading 140 .7.7.2 Questions for the future 141 .8 Drivers of diversity 147 .8.1 The big question 147 .8.2 Coexistence or co–occurrence? 148 .8.3 Energy and resources 148 .8.4 Diversity begets diversity 154 .8.4.1 Heterogeneity in space 154 .8.4.2 Heterogeneity in time 158 .8.5 Disturbance 160 .8.6 Top–down control 162 .8.7 Expanding our model 168 .8.8 Conclusions 169 .8.8.1 Recommended reading 169 .8.8.2 Questions for the future 169 .9 Does diversity matter? 175 .9.1 The big question 175 .9.2 Ecosystems 176 .9.3 What shape is the relationship? 178 .9.4 Field experiments 181 .9.5 A problem with peas 185 .9.6 Other measures of diversity 186 .9.7 Multifunctionality 188 .9.8 The real world 189 .9.9 The link between species richness and productivity 194 .9.10 Conclusions 194 .9.10.1 Recommended reading 195 .9.10.2 Questions for the future 196 .PART III COMMUNITIES .10 Organisation at the community scale 203 .10.1 The big question 203 .10.2 Definitions 204 .10.3 Communities in the field 205 .10.4 Quantitative approaches 206 .10.5 Community structure 210 .10.6 Food chains 213 .10.7 Food webs 216 .10.8 Complexity and stability 221 .10.9 Trophic cascades 222 .10.10 SAD again 225 .10.11 Complex systems 228 .10.12 Unified Neutral Theory 231 .10.13 Metabolic Theory of Ecology 234 .10.14 Conclusions 236 .10.14.1 Recommended reading 237 .10.14.2 Questions for the future 237 .11 Stability 245 .11.1 The big question 245 .11.2 Stable states 245 .11.3 Changing environments 249 .11.4 Hysteresis 253 .11.5 Predicting changes 256 .11.6 Coral reefs 257 .11.7 Shifting baselines 259 .11.8 Conclusions 263 .11.8.1 Recommended reading 264 .11.8.2 Questions for the future 265 .11.9 Coda: the seduction of Gaia 265 .12 Changes through time 273 .12.1 The big question 273 .12.2 Succession 274 .12.3 Succession and niche theory 275 .12.4 Examples of succession 279 .12.5 Disturbance 281 .12.6 Modelling succession 283 .12.7 Regeneration 286 .12.8 Plants and animals 287 .12.9 Case study: Mpala, Kenya 288 .12.10 Conclusions 290 .12.10.1 Recommended reading 291 .12.10.2 Questions for the future 291 .13 Changes through space 295 .13.1 The big question 295 .13.2 Community assembly 296 .13.2.1 Competitive exclusion 297 .13.2.2 Historical processes 300 .13.2.3 Habitat checkerboards 302 .13.2.4 Chance & contingency 302 .13.3 Metacommunities 304 .13.4 Dispersal limitation 313 .13.5 Combining environment and dispersal 318 .13.6 Conclusions 322 .13.6.1 Recommended reading 322 .13.6.2 Questions for the future 323 .PART IV BIOGEOGRAPHY .14 Global patterns of life 331 .14.1 The big question 331 .14.2 Biogeography 331 .14.3 Phytogeography 336 .14.4 Ecoregions 340 .14.5 Empirical approaches 341 .14.6 The oceans 345 .14.7 Fresh water 349 .14.8 Conclusions 349 .14.8.1 Recommended reading 350 .14.8.2 Questions for the future 350 .15 Regional species richness 355 .15.1 The big question 355 .15.2 Climate and productivity 357 .15.3 Other processes 360 .15.4 Scale and productivity 362 .15.5 Latitudinal gradients 367 .15.6 Centres of origin 369 .15.7 Regional Species–Area Relationships 370 .15.8 Confounding effects 371 .15.9 Conclusions 373 .15.9.1 Recommended reading 373 .15.9.2 Questions for the future 374 .16 Latitudinal gradients 381 .16.1 The big question 381 .16.2 Hypotheses 382 .16.3 Geographic Area 382 .16.4 Climatic stability 385 .16.5 Productivity 386 .16.6 Niche size 387 .16.7 Evolutionary speed 390 .16.8 Out of the tropics 393 .16.9 Conclusions 398 .16.9.1 Recommended reading 399 .16.9.2 Questions for the future 399 .17 Earth history 407 .17.1 The big question 407 .17.2 Geological history 408 .17.3 Continental drift 409 .17.4 Echoes of Pangæa 412 .17.5 Climatic effects 416 .17.6 Ice Ages 419 .17.7 Sea level 424 .17.8 Extinctions 425 .17.9 Conclusions 429 .17.9.1 Recommended reading 431 .17.9.2 Questions for the future 431 .18 Dispersal 437 .18.1 The big question 437 .18.2 Range expansion 438 .18.3 Mechanisms of dispersal 440 .18.4 Barriers 442 .18.5 Case studies 445 .18.5.1 New Zealand 445 .18.5.2 Madagascar 448 .18.6 Conclusions 454 .18.6.1 Recommended reading 455 .18.6.2 Questions for the future 455 .19 Life on islands 461 .19.1 The big question 461 .19.2 Types of island 462 .19.3 Island biotas 464 .19.4 Evolution of endemics 465 .19.5 Size changes 467 .19.6 Reproduction and dispersal 470 .19.7 Super–generalists 474 .19.8 Endemic communities 475 .19.9 Disharmony 475 .19.10 Assembly rules 477 .19.11 Island species richness 478 .19.12 The Equilibrim Model of Island Biogeography 481 .19.13 Testing the theory 485 .19.14 Conclusions 486 .19.14.1 Recommended reading 487 .19.14.2 Questions for the future 487 .20 Reinventing islands 493 .20.1 The big question 493 .20.2 A critique of EMIB 494 .20.3 Rival hypotheses 497 .20.4 Disturbance 498 .20.5 Relaxation 502 .20.6 Extinctions 504 .20.7 Invasions 505 .20.8 A new theory? 506 .20.9 Evolution 508 .20.10 Conclusions 515 .20.10.1 Recommended reading 515 .20.10.2 Questions for the future 516 .21 What is a natural system? 521 .21.1 The big question 521 .21.2 Lessons learnt 523 .21.2.1 Ecological processes are scale–dependent 523 .21.2.2 All interactions are nested 523 .21.2.3 There is no such thing as the balance of nature 524 .21.2.4 Everything is contingent 524 .21.3 Processes not systems 525 .A Diversity analysis case study: Butterfly conservation in the Rocky Mountains 527 .A.1 Software resources 528 .A.2 Calculations 529 .A.3 Synthesis 536 .A.4 Conclusions 537 .Glossary 541 .Index 547
- ISBN: 978-1-118-90588-3
- Editorial: Wiley–Blackwell
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 392
- Fecha Publicación: 15/04/2016
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés