[PDF] Temporal Patterns And Mechanisms Of Biodiversity Across Scales In East Asia eBook

Author : David Gower
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 499 pages
File Size : 45,21 MB
Release : 2012-07-19
Category : Nature
ISBN : 1107001307

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Authoritative reviews and focused case studies on the history and future of the fauna and flora of Southeast Asia.

Author : Jaboury Ghazoul
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 534 pages
File Size : 13,13 MB
Release : 2023-04-10
Category : Nature
ISBN : 0198897065

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Rain forests represent the world's richest repository of terrestrial biodiversity, and play a major role in regulating the global climate. They support the livelihoods of a substantial proportion of the world's population and are the source of many internationally traded commodities. They remain (despite decades of conservation attention) increasingly vulnerable to degradation and clearance, with profound though often uncertain future costs to global society. Understanding the ecology of these diverse biomes, and peoples' dependencies on them, is fundamental to their future management and conservation. Tropical Rain Forest Ecology, Diversity, and Conservation introduces and explores what rain forests are, how they arose, what they contain, how they function, and how humans use and impact them. The book starts by introducing the variety of rain forest plants, fungi, microorganisms, and animals, emphasising the spectacular diversity that is the motivation for their conservation. The central chapters describe the origins of rain forest communities, the variety of rain forest formations, and their ecology and dynamics. The challenge of explaining the species richness of rain forest communities lies at the heart of ecological theory, and forms a common theme throughout. The book's final section considers historical and current interactions of humans and rain forests. It explores biodiversity conservation as well as livelihood security for the many communities that are dependent on rain forests - inextricable issues that represent urgent priorities for scientists, conservationists, and policy makers.

Author : Mark Lomolino
Publisher : Sinauer
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 36,35 MB
Release : 2017-03-29
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781605354729

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Biogeography, first published in 1983, is one of the most comprehensive text and general reference books in the natural sciences. The Fifth Edition builds on the strengths of previous editions to provide an insightful and integrative explanation of how geographic variation across terrestrial and marine environments has influenced the fundamental processes of immigration, extinction, and evolution to shape species distributions and nearly all patterns of biological diversity. It is an empirically and conceptually rich text that illustrates general patterns and processes using examples from a broad diversity of life forms, time periods and aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Its fundamental assertion is that patterns in biological diversity make little sense unless viewed within an explicit geographic context. Starting from principal patterns and fundamental principles, and assuming only a rudimentary knowledge of biology, geography, and Earth history, the text explains the relationships between geographic variation in biological diversity and the geological, ecological, and evolutionary processes that have produced them. The use of color illustrations, evaluated and optimized for colorblind readers, has transformed our abilities to illustrate key concepts and empirical patterns in the geography of nature. By providing a description of the historical development of biogeography, evolution and ecology, along with a comprehensive account of the principal patterns, fundamental principles and recent advances in each of these fields of science, our ultimate vision is for Biogeography to serve as the centerpiece of a one- or two-semester core course in biological diversity.

Author : Lindell Bromham
Publisher :
Page : 451 pages
File Size : 44,39 MB
Release : 2019-04-18
Category : Biodiversity
ISBN : 0199608717

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This book is a unique introduction to the fields of macroevolution and macroecology, taking an enquiry-led approach to exploring the evolution and distribution of biodiversity across time, space and lineages.The only introduction to macroevolution and macroecology to adopt an innovative enquiry-led, case study-based framework to encourage active learning and critical thinking, this book:Extends the study of evolutionary biology and ecology beyond the topics covered in typical undergraduate textsExplores the nature of scientific investigation by emphasising hypothesis testing and highlighting the range of analytical tools available to contemporary researchersEncourages active student-driven learning by using open questions and current debates to promote critical thinking, identify interesting and important problems, and demonstrate how to frame testable research hypothesesCombines these three skills--an understanding of macroevolutionary and macroecological principles and patterns, a grasp of hypothesis testing, and the ability to identify important questions--to allow students to look at the world with new eyes, and develop an understanding of why the biological world is as it is.

Author : Mark Vellend
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 247 pages
File Size : 29,17 MB
Release : 2016-08-23
Category : Science
ISBN : 1400883792

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A plethora of different theories, models, and concepts make up the field of community ecology. Amid this vast body of work, is it possible to build one general theory of ecological communities? What other scientific areas might serve as a guiding framework? As it turns out, the core focus of community ecology—understanding patterns of diversity and composition of biological variants across space and time—is shared by evolutionary biology and its very coherent conceptual framework, population genetics theory. The Theory of Ecological Communities takes this as a starting point to pull together community ecology's various perspectives into a more unified whole. Mark Vellend builds a theory of ecological communities based on four overarching processes: selection among species, drift, dispersal, and speciation. These are analogues of the four central processes in population genetics theory—selection within species, drift, gene flow, and mutation—and together they subsume almost all of the many dozens of more specific models built to describe the dynamics of communities of interacting species. The result is a theory that allows the effects of many low-level processes, such as competition, facilitation, predation, disturbance, stress, succession, colonization, and local extinction to be understood as the underpinnings of high-level processes with widely applicable consequences for ecological communities. Reframing the numerous existing ideas in community ecology, The Theory of Ecological Communities provides a new way for thinking about biological composition and diversity.

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 107 pages
File Size : 50,73 MB
Release : 2001-05-24
Category : Nature
ISBN : 0309072549

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Scientists have long sought to unravel the fundamental mysteries of the land, life, water, and air that surround us. But as the consequences of humanity's impact on the planet become increasingly evident, governments are realizing the critical importance of understanding these environmental systemsâ€"and investing billions of dollars in research to do so. To identify high-priority environmental science projects, Grand Challenges in Environmental Sciences explores the most important areas of research for the next generation. The book's goal is not to list the world's biggest environmental problems. Rather it is to determine areas of opportunity thatâ€"with a concerted investmentâ€"could yield significant new findings. Nominations for environmental science's "grand" challenges were solicited from thousands of scientists worldwide. Based on their responses, eight major areas of focus were identifiedâ€"areas that offer the potential for a major scientific breakthrough of practical importance to humankind, and that are feasible if given major new funding. The book further pinpoints four areas for immediate action and investment.

Author : Pushpam Kumar
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 454 pages
File Size : 19,63 MB
Release : 2012-12-20
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1136538801

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Human well-being relies critically on ecosystem services provided by nature. Examples include water and air quality regulation, nutrient cycling and decomposition, plant pollination and flood control, all of which are dependent on biodiversity. They are predominantly public goods with limited or no markets and do not command any price in the conventional economic system, so their loss is often not detected and continues unaddressed and unabated. This in turn not only impacts human well-being, but also seriously undermines the sustainability of the economic system. It is against this background that TEEB: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity project was set up in 2007 and led by the United Nations Environment Programme to provide a comprehensive global assessment of economic aspects of these issues. This book, written by a team of international experts, represents the scientific state of the art, providing a comprehensive assessment of the fundamental ecological and economic principles of measuring and valuing ecosystem services and biodiversity, and showing how these can be mainstreamed into public policies. This volume and subsequent TEEB outputs will provide the authoritative knowledge and guidance to drive forward the biodiversity conservation agenda for the next decade.

Author : De-Yuan Hong
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 491 pages
File Size : 36,84 MB
Release : 2015-04-23
Category : Science
ISBN : 1107070171

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A unique addition to the botanical literature, this book presents the flora of China in its astonishing diversity.