Markus Eichhorn

Natural Systems

The Organisation of Life

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

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

Produktdetails

• Verlag: John Wiley & Sons / Wiley
• Seitenzahl: 392
• Erscheinungstermin: 2. Mai 2016
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 246mm x 191mm x 23mm
• Gewicht: 1066g
• ISBN-13: 9781118905883
• ISBN-10: 1118905881
• Artikelnr.: 43214462

Autorenporträt

Dr Markus Eichhorn, School of Biology, University of Nottingham, UK.

Inhaltsangabe

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