Natural Systems E-Book

Markus Eichhorn

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 874

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

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

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

To students

To instructors

References

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Chapter 1: Introduction: defining nature

1.1 How little we know

1.2 Pressing questions

1.3 The hierarchy of nature

1.4 Biodiversity

1.5 Myths to bust

1.6 Further information

References

Part I: Species

Chapter 2: What is a species?

2.1 The big question

2.2 Species concepts

2.3 Solving the riddle

2.4 Coda: Species richness

2.5 Conclusions

References

Chapter 3: The history of life

3.1 The big question

3.2 Sources of evidence

3.3 A brief history of diversity

3.4 Uneven diversity

3.5 Conclusions

References

Chapter 4: How many species are there?

4.1 The big question

4.2 How can we not know?

4.3 Discovery rates

4.4 Scaling

4.5 Sampling-based methods

4.6 Other organisms

4.7 Wrapping up

4.8 Conclusions

References

Part II: Diversity

Chapter 5: Measuring diversity

5.1 The big question

5.2 Scales of diversity

5.3 Species richness

5.4 Believing in estimates

5.5 A SAD story

5.6 Diversity of species

5.7 Other measures of diversity

5.8 diversity

5.9 Case study: The Binatang project

5.10 Conclusions

References

Chapter 6: Niches

6.1 The big question

6.2 Historical background

6.3 Back to basics

6.4 Birth and death rates

6.5 The ZNGI

6.6 Impact vectors

6.7 Supply points

6.8 Coexistence

6.9 The evidence

6.10 Implications

6.11 Conclusions

References

Chapter 7: Patterns in species richness

7.1 The big question

7.2 Area

7.3 Local and regional species richness

7.4 Local patterns in species richness

7.5 Congruence

7.6 Assembling a model

7.7 Conclusions

References

Chapter 8: Drivers of diversity

8.1 The big question

8.2 Coexistence or co-occurrence?

8.3 Energy and resources

8.4 Diversity begets diversity

8.5 Disturbance

8.6 Top-down control

8.7 Expanding our model

8.8 Conclusions

References

Chapter 9: Does diversity matter?

9.1 The big question

9.2 Ecosystems

9.3 What shape is the relationship?

9.4 Field experiments

9.5 Other measures of diversity

9.6 Multifunctionality

9.7 The real world

9.8 species richness and productivity

9.9 Conclusions

References

Part III: Communities

Chapter 10: Organisation at the community scale

10.1 The big question

10.2 Definitions

10.3 Communities in the field

10.4 Quantitative approaches

10.5 Community structure

10.6 Food chains

10.7 Food webs

10.8 Complexity and stability

10.9 Trophic cascades

10.10 SAD again

10.11 Complex systems

10.12 Unified neutral theory

10.13 Metabolic theory of ecology

10.14 Conclusions

References

Chapter 11: Stability

11.1 The big question

11.2 Stable states

11.3 Changing environments

11.4 Hysteresis

11.5 Predicting changes

11.6 Coral reefs

11.7 Shifting baselines

11.8 Conclusions

11.9 Coda: the seduction of Gaia

References

Chapter 12: Changes through time

12.1 The big question

12.2 Succession

12.3 Succession and niche theory

12.4 Examples of succession

12.5 Disturbance

12.6 Modelling succession

12.7 Regeneration

12.8 Plants and animals

12.9 Case study: Mpala, Kenya

12.10 Conclusions

References

Chapter 13: Changes through space

13.1 The big question

13.2 Community assembly

13.3 Metacommunities

13.4 Dispersal limitation

13.5 Combining environment and dispersal

13.6 Conclusions

References

Part IV: Biogeography

Chapter 14: Global patterns of life

14.1 The big question

14.2 Biogeography

14.3 Phytogeography

14.4 Ecoregions

14.5 Empirical approaches

14.6 The oceans

14.7 Fresh water

14.8 Conclusions

References

Chapter 15: Regional species richness

15.1 The big question

15.2 Climate and productivity

15.3 Other processes

15.4 Scale and productivity

15.5 Latitudinal gradients

15.6 Centres of origin

15.7 Regional species–area relationships

15.8 Confounding effects

15.9 Conclusions

References

Chapter 16: Latitudinal gradients

16.1 The big question

16.2 Hypotheses

16.3 Geographic area

16.4 Climatic stability

16.5 Productivity

16.6 Niche size

16.7 Evolutionary speed

16.8 Out of the tropics

16.9 Conclusions

References

Chapter 17: Earth history

17.1 The big question

17.2 Geological history

17.3 Continental drift

17.4 Echoes of Pangæa

17.5 Climatic effects

17.6 Ice ages

17.7 Sea level

17.8 Extinctions

17.9 Conclusions

References

Chapter 18: Dispersal

18.1 The big question

18.2 Range expansion

18.3 Mechanisms of dispersal

18.4 Barriers

18.5 Case studies

18.6 Conclusions

References

Chapter 19: Life on islands

19.1 The big question

19.2 Types of island

19.3 Island biotas

19.4 Evolution of endemics

19.5 Size changes

19.6 Reproduction and dispersal

19.7 Super-generalists

19.8 Endemic communities

19.9 Disharmony

19.10 Assembly rules

19.11 Island species richness

19.12 The equilibrium model of island biogeography

19.13 Testing the theory

19.14 Conclusions

References

Chapter 20: Reinventing islands

20.1 The big question

20.2 A critique of EMIB

20.3 Rival hypotheses

20.4 Disturbance

20.5 Relaxation

20.6 Extinctions

20.7 Invasions

20.8 A new theory?

20.9 Evolution

20.10 Conclusions

References

Chapter 21: What is a natural system?

21.1 The big question

21.2 Lessons learnt

21.3 Processes not systems

References

Appendix A: Diversity analysis case study: Butterfly conservation in the Rocky Mountains

A.1 Software resources

A.2 Calculations

A.3 Synthesis

A.4 Conclusions

References

Glossary

Index

End User License Agreement

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Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Preface

Begin Reading

List of Illustrations

Chapter 1: Introduction: defining nature

Figure 1.1 The hierarchical organisation of life on Earth. Components are linked by arrows where each level is a spatially-nested element of that above. Biomes are divided into ecoregions which are spread across the globe; likewise communities are made up of species which are not exclusive to any single community.

Chapter 2: What is a species?

Figure 2.1 Global lists of primate species published between 1965 and 2005.(

Source

: Isaac, Mallet and Mace (2004). Reproduced with permission from Elsevier.)

Figure 2.2 Breeding range of greenish warblers in Asia. Shades represent distinct subspecies, with gradations indicating change in morphology. The hatched area in central Siberia is the overlap zone between two distinct subspecies. Sampling sites are indicated by symbols corresponding to mitochondrial clades. (

Source

: Irwin et al. (2005). Reproduced with permission from American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

Figure 2.3 The Sundaland clouded leopard

Neofelis diardi

. (

Source

: WWF—Canon/Alain Compost. Reproduced with permission from Alain Compost.)

Figure 2.4 Provisional

Apanteles

wasp species within the morphological species

Apanteles leucostigmus

. Asterisks indicate wasps with more than one closely related host species. (

Source

: Smith et al. (2008). Reproduced with permission from the National Academy of Sciences, USA.)

Chapter 3: The history of life

Figure 3.1 Number of genera of marine invertebrates since the Cambrian, grouped into 11 My bands with 95% confidence intervals. Periods: Cm, Cambrian; O, Ordovician; S, Silurian; D, Devonian; C, Carboniferous; P, Permian; Tr, Triassic; J, Jurassic; K, Cretaceous; Pg, Paleogene; Ng, Neogene.

Figure 3.2 An artistic reconstruction of a Carboniferous rain forest dominated by lycopsids.