Author: Alain Pavé
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2010-07-03
Total Pages: 187
ISBN-13: 1441962441
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Chance is necessary for living systems – from the cell to organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems. It is at the heart of their evolution and diversity. Long considered contingent on other factors, chance both produces random events in the environment, and is the product of endogenous mechanisms - molecular as well as cellular, demographic and ecological. This is how living things have been able to diversify themselves and survive on the planet. Chance is not something to which Life has been subjected; it is quite simply necessary for Life. The endogenous mechanisms that bring it about are at once the products and the engines of evolution, and they also produce biodiversity. These internal mechanisms – veritable “biological roulettes” - are analogous to the mechanical devices that bring about “physical chance”. They can be modeled by analogous mathematical equations. This open the way of a global modeling of biodiversity dynamics, but we need also to gather quantitative data in both the laboratory setting as well as in the field. By examining biodiversity at all scales and all levels, this book seeks to evaluate the breadth of our knowledge on this topical subject, to propose an integrated look at living things, to assess the role of chance in its dynamics, in the evolutionary processes and also to imagine practical consequences on the management of living systems.
Author: J.A. Comiskey
Publisher: CRC Press
Published: 1998-11-15
Total Pages: 798
ISBN-13: 9781850709640
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This is the second of two high-level, data-rich volumes from the massive Smithsonian/MAB Biological Diversity Program documenting the latest findings on forest biodiversity. In original contributions, some three hundred scientists from over forty countries discuss socioeconomic aspects, ecological monitoring and assessment, forest dynamics, growth trends, dry forests, species richness of woody regeneration and of vascular plants, hurricane impact, tropical cloud forests, Landsat-TM satellite mapping, and quantitative ethnobotany. The book covers first the research and monitoring methodologies for the New World and then the results of individual research and integrated studies on all aspects of forest biodiversity in North and South America and the Caribbean.
Author: W. Douglas Robinson
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Published: 2022-01-20
Total Pages: 120
ISBN-13: 288974115X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: D. S. Hammond
Publisher: CABI
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 552
ISBN-13: 9781845930929
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The Guiana Shield is an ancient geological formation located in the northern part of South America, covering an area of one million square kilometres. Despite its hostile environment, it is home to many unusual and highly specialized plants and animals, which constitute a rich area of biodiversity. Chapters in this book include hydrology, nutrient cycling, forest phenology, insect-plant interactions, forest microclimate, plant distributions, forest dynamics and conservation and management of flora and fauna. It provides a comprehensive and detailed review of the ecology, biology and natural history of the forests of the area.
Author: Guillaume Odonne
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-10-11
Total Pages: 204
ISBN-13: 042959447X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This book presents some of the most recent tools, methods and concepts in historical ecology. It introduces students and researchers to state-of-the-art techniques and showcases a wide array of methods dedicated to understanding the history of tropical landscapes. The chapters cover the detection and characterisation of archaeological features, living organisms as witnesses of past human activities, ethnoecological knowledge of ancient anthropogenic landscapes and societal impacts of historical ecology. Whilst mainly based on Amazonian experiences, the contributions aim to strengthen synergies between disciplines and to propose solutions that can be applied elsewhere in the field.
Author: Nilton C. Cáceres
Publisher: Springer Nature
Published: 2023-06-30
Total Pages: 1648
ISBN-13: 3031084195
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This book focuses on the evolution, biogeography, systematics, taxonomy, and ecology of New World and Australasian marsupials, greatly expanding the current knowledge base. There are roughly 140 species of New World marsupials, of which the opossum is the best known. Thanks to recent research, there is now an increasing amount of understanding about their evolution, biogeography, systematics, ecology, and conservation in the Americas, especially in South America. There are also some 270 marsupial species in the Australasian region, many of which have been subject to research only in recent years. Based on this information and the authors’ extensive research, this book provides comprehensive insights into the world's marsupials. It will appeal to academics and specialized researchers, students of zoology, paleontology, evolutionary biology, ecology, physiology and conservation as well as interested non-experts.