Adams Species Richness

Patterns in the Diversity of Life
1. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-3-540-74278-4
Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 412 Seiten

Reihe: Environmental Sciences

This is a readable, informative and up-to-date account of the patterns and controls on biodiversity. The author describes major trends in species richness, along with uncertainties in current knowledge. The various possible explanations for past and present species patterns are discussed and explained in an even-handed and accessible way. The implications of global climate change and habitat loss are considered, along with current strategies for preserving what we have. This book examines the state of current understanding of species richness patterns and their explanations. As well as the present day world, it deals with diversification and extinction, in the conservation of species richness, and the difficulties of assessing how many species remain to be discovered. The scientifically compelling subject of vegetation-climate interaction is considered in depth. Written in an accessible style, the author offers an up-to-date, rigorous and yet eminently comprehensible overview of the ecology and biogeography of species richness. He departs from the often heavy approach of earlier texts, without sacrificing rigor and depth of information and analysis. Prefacing with the aims of the book, Chapter 1 opens with an explanation of latitudinal gradients, including a description of major features of the striking gradients in species richness, exceptions to the rule, explanations, major theories and field and experimental tests. The following chapter plumbs the depth of time, including the nature of the fossil record, broad timescale diversity patterns, ecosystem changes during mass extinctions and glaciations and their influence on species richness. Chapters 3 and 4 consider hotspots and local scale patterns in species richness while Chapter 5 looks at the limitations and uncertainties on current estimates of richness, the last frontiers of species diversity and the process of identifying new life forms. The last three chapters cover humans and extinctions in history and prehistory, current habitat and global change, including the greenhouse effect, and the race to preserve what we still have, including parks, gene banks and laws.

Assistant Professor in Ecology, Rutgers University, New Jersey. About 50 published papers in many different aspects of eology, including species richness, e.g. Adams and Woodward 1989, in Natur. Work on basis of latitudinal gradients, and influence of glacial history. Current work on Janzen-Connell hypothesis.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Adams, Jonathan

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Title Page;3
2;Copyright Page;4
3;Table of Contents;5
4;Dedication;12
5;Preface;13
6;List of figures;14
7;List of tables;17
8;List of abbreviations and acronyms;18
9;1 Local-scale patterns in species richness;19
9.1;1.1 Local-scale trends in species richness;19
9.2;1.2 What is species richness?;19
9.3;1.3 What is meant by "local" variations in species richness?;21
9.4;1.4 Local-scale patterns are most noticeable in organisms that don't move around much;22
9.5;1.5 A related and important question: How do species coexist anywhere?;22
9.6;1.6 Different scales of species richness, from local to geographical;32
9.7;1.7 A varied environment tends to allow more species in;34
9.8;1.8 Using models to validate the logic of the role of disturbance in allowing coexistence;39
9.9;1.9 Do humpback curves really occur along disturbance gradients?;41
9.10;1.10 Grime and Tilman: disturbance creates other sorts of opportunities for coexistence, and variation in levels of disturbance affects these opportunities;43
9.11;1.11 When strategies mix-the humpback curve with succession, after a disturbance;44
9.12;1.12 The "other" humpback curve: along gradients in nutrient levels;45
9.13;1.13 Species richness is a balancing act between the effects of disturbance and nutrients;51
9.14;1.14 Why hasn't a humpbacked diversity curve been found for animals?;53
9.15;1.15 A quite different explanation for humpbacked diversity curves in plants, in relation to soil fertility;55
9.16;1.16 "Poisoned" and "extreme" environments are usually poor in species;58
9.17;1.17 Mountain-scale patterns in species richness;59
9.18;1.18 Patterns of species richness with depth in the oceans;62
9.19;1.19 Some conclusions about local-scale patterns in species richness;63
10;2 The Holy Grail of ecology: Latitudinal gradients;65
10.1;2.1 Latitudinal trends;65
10.2;2.2 The discovery of latitudinal trends;66
10.3;2.3 Explaining latitudinal gradients;73
10.4;2.4 Non-equilibrium theories: species richness can just keep on rising;78
10.4.1;2.4.1 The effects of ice ages;78
10.4.2;2.4.2 "The tropics are more benign";82
10.4.2.1;2.4.2.1 Are the tropics only more "benign" because most groups evolved in a past warmer world?;84
10.4.2.2;2.4.2.2 Do species "fall into" the tropics?;86
10.4.2.3;2.4.2.3 The mid-domain effect: Is the latitudinal gradient just the sum of chance overlap of ranges?;93
10.4.2.4;2.4.2.4 Are species originating more easily and more often at lower latitudes?;95
10.4.3;2.4.3 A general test of the disequilibrium theories: Has the build-up of species richness continued over time?;97
10.5;2.5 Equilibrium theories: there is a lid on species richness that is higher in the low latitudes;99
10.5.1;2.5.1 The tropics are just bigger;99
10.5.2;2.5.2 More energy, more food in warmer climates: the "speciesenergy hypothesis";99
10.5.3;2.5.3 More strongly seasonal environments mean less chance of occupying a narrow, specialized niche;103
10.5.4;2.5.4 More specialized enemies of plants mean more species can exist side by side at lower latitudes (the Janzen-Connell hypothesis);105
10.5.5;2.5.5 The latitudinal gradient is produced by a balance between growth and disturbance;110
10.6;2.6 The pros and cons of the various theories for latitudinal gradients;112
11;3 Deep time and mass extinctions;114
11.1;3.1 The depth of time;114
11.2;3.2 Species richness can change on a range of time scales;115
11.3;3.3 Sampling the past: the fossil record and species richness;115
11.4;3.4 The broadest scale picture of biological richness, since the beginning of life on Earth;117
11.5;3.5 What caused the sudden initial increase in diversity 540 Myr ago?;122
11.5.1;3.5.1 What could have caused the explosion of animal life after 600 Myr ago?;123
11.5.2;3.5.2 Is the Cambrian Explosion just an effect of better preservation?;124
11.6;3.6 How many species have ever existed?;125
11.7;3.7 Background extinction;127
11.7.1;3.7.1 The causes of background extinction;127
11.8;3.8 Mass extinctions;130
11.9;3.9 The main mass extinctions;130
11.10;3.10 The end-Permian mass extinction;131
11.11;3.11 The end-Cretaceous mass extinction;133
11.12;3.12 The end-Ordovician mass extinction;134
11.13;3.13 Other mass extinctions;135
11.14;3.14 Mass extinctions affected species inhabiting many different environments;135
11.15;3.15 The causes of mass extinctions;136
11.16;3.16 Were mass extinctions sudden, or gradual?;136
11.17;3.17 The paradigm shift towards acceptance of sudden mass extinctions;138
11.18;3.18 There is evidence for dramatic environmental upheaval during mass extinctions;139
11.19;3.19 Global collapse of ecosystems is associated with the "Biggest Two" mass extinctions;139
11.20;3.20 Death of vegetation;141
11.21;3.21 Empty seas;143
11.22;3.22 Carbon-12 shifts in the oceans and what they might mean;143
11.23;3.23 The Strangelove Ocean;144
11.24;3.24 Sudden temperature swings;145
11.25;3.25 The aftermath of mass extinctions: disaster taxa;147
11.26;3.26 Causes of mass extinctions;148
11.27;3.27 Did meteorite impacts bring about mass extinctions? The end-Cretaceous impact;149
11.28;3.28 Did a meteorite cause the end-Permian extinction?;153
11.29;3.29 Other possible impact events at times of mass extinction;154
11.30;3.30 Volcanic eruptions as a cause of mass extinctions;154
11.31;3.31 Stagnant, burping oceans as a cause of mass extinctions;156
11.32;3.32 The end-Paleocene extinction in the deep sea;159
11.33;3.33 Mass extinctions and ice ages;161
11.34;3.34 Is there a cycle of mass extinctions?;162
11.35;3.35 Diversification and recovery;163
11.36;3.36 "Dead clades walking";164
11.37;3.37 The role of luck in the history of life;165
11.38;3.38 Beyond the mass extinctions: The story of tropical rainforest diversity;166
11.39;3.39 The Quaternary ice ages;169
11.40;3.40 The ice ages and diversity in temperate-zone forests;173
11.41;3.41 Ice ages may create as well as destroy temperate species;179
11.42;3.42 What ice ages did to tropical rainforest diversity;180
12;4 Hotspots and coldspots;184
12.1;4.1 Geographical patchiness in species richness;184
12.2;4.2 Hotspots;184
12.3;4.3 Some examples of hotspots in species richness;185
12.3.1;4.3.1 The big lakes of eastern Africa;185
12.3.2;4.3.2 The western Cape of South Africa;187
12.3.3;4.3.3 Lake Baikal in Siberia;188
12.3.4;4.3.4 The mallee scrub of southwestern Australia;189
12.3.5;4.3.5 The western edge of Amazonia;189
12.4;4.4 What causes hotspots?;194
12.4.1;4.4.1 The stable environments hypothesis;194
12.4.2;4.4.2 The story of the Cape hotspot;195
12.4.3;4.4.3 The story of Baikal;196
12.4.4;4.4.4 The story of the African Rift Valley lakes;197
12.4.5;4.4.5 The story of the southwest Australian mallee;199
12.4.6;4.4.6 The story of the Amazon hotspots;199
12.5;4.5 Some conclusions: how important is long-term stability for hotspots?;201
12.6;4.6 Peculiarities of local ecology: Are these what it takes to set off a hotspot?;201
12.6.1;4.6.1 What is peculiar about the Cape?;202
12.6.2;4.6.2 What is special about the cichlids in African lakes?;203
12.6.3;4.6.3 What could be peculiar about the western and central Amazonian forest hotspots?;204
12.7;4.7 Do hotspots have more room for species, or have they just been given and retained more species?;207
12.8;4.8 Coldspots;207
12.9;4.9 Explanations for why diversity coldspots occur;208
12.9.1;4.9.1 Island coldspots;208
12.9.2;4.9.2 Island biogeography on land and in lakes;213
12.9.3;4.9.3 Some experimental tests of MacArthur and Wilson's hypothesis;214
12.10;4.10 The peninsula effect;216
12.11;4.11 Bursts of speciation on islands;217
12.12;4.12 Coldspots made through glacial extinctions;218
13;5 The march of Cain: Humans as a destroyer of species;222
13.1;5.1 The human species;222
13.2;5.2 Humans and the extinction of other humans;223
13.3;5.3 The secrets of our success over other human species;227
13.4;5.4 Survival of species diversity during the Quaternary;228
13.5;5.5 Yet mammals and birds have suffered a great wave of extinctions;231
13.6;5.6 Africa, 150,000 years ago;231
13.7;5.7 Australia, 45,000 years ago;232
13.8;5.8 A second wave of extinction: the Americas and Eurasia;233
13.9;5.9 Did climate change cause the extinctions on continents between 45,000 and 10,000 years ago?;235
13.9.1;5.9.1 An Australian drought;236
13.9.2;5.9.2 A thaw, then a freeze;236
13.10;5.10 Coincidence of extinctions with human arrival-did the humans do it?;242
13.10.1;5.10.1 When exactly did humans arrive?;242
13.10.2;5.10.2 A "blitzkrieg" on animals in the Americas and Australia?;243
13.10.2.1;5.10.2.1 Putting the overkill hypothesis to the test for North America;245
13.10.2.2;5.10.2.2 The plausibility of overkill in South and Central America;246
13.10.3;5.10.3 Modeling humans driving Quaternary megafauna extinct;247
13.10.4;5.10.4 Problems in the dating: Did Australian animals really die out just as humans arrived?;250
13.10.5;5.10.5 An explanation for the delay in Europe and the Americas: A "double-whammy" combination of climate change and over-hunting?;251
13.10.6;5.10.6 Smaller animals tended to survive;253
13.10.7;5.10.7 Fire-setting by humans in the Australian extinctions?;254
13.10.8;5.10.8 Or was it a disease? Or meteorites?;255
13.11;5.11 The wave of extinction spreads to islands;256
13.11.1;5.11.1 The last mammoths: Wrangel and St. Paul Island;256
13.11.2;5.11.2 Mediterranean islands;257
13.11.3;5.11.3 Madagascar: lemurs and elephant birds;258
13.11.4;5.11.4 Several thousand islands: the story of the Pacific;259
13.11.5;5.11.5 New Zealand and the moas;261
13.11.6;5.11.6 The Hawaiian islands and their birds;262
13.11.7;5.11.7 Mauritius and the dodo;263
13.11.8;5.11.8 St. Helena and its daisy trees;264
13.11.9;5.11.9 Guam and its ground-nesting birds;265
13.12;5.12 Why were island species so susceptible to extinction?;266
13.13;5.13 Back to the mainland;267
13.13.1;5.13.1 The great auk;268
13.13.2;5.13.2 The passenger pigeon;269
13.13.3;5.13.3 The Carolina parakeet;270
13.13.4;5.13.4 The thylacine;271
13.13.5;5.13.5 Yangtze River dolphin;272
13.13.6;5.13.6 Cichlids in African lakes;272
13.14;5.14 Current extinction, seen and unseen;273
14;6 Knowing what is out there;276
14.1;6.1 Nature's current totals;276
14.2;6.2 Identifying new life forms-taxonomy and its challenges;279
14.3;6.3 The stages in discovery of a new species;280
14.3.1;6.3.1 Collection;281
14.3.2;6.3.2 Identification;281
14.3.3;6.3.3 Description and naming;282
14.4;6.4 The uncertainties in current estimates of species richness;283
14.5;6.5 The deep oceans: a big unknown;287
14.6;6.6 Other tricks for estimating unknown species richness;288
14.7;6.7 A bounty of nematodes?;289
14.8;6.8 A plethora of mites?;289
14.9;6.9 Estimating the unknown species richness of tropical insects;290
14.10;6.10 So, how many types of arthropods are there?;294
14.11;6.11 Cryptic diversity;294
14.12;6.12 False species diversity: species complexes;296
14.13;6.13 The hidden world of microbial diversity;297
14.14;6.14 Nature still yields surprises;299
14.15;6.15 The shadowy world of cryptozoology;299
14.16;6.16 The twilight world of species richness;302
15;7 The current threats;304
15.1;7.1 The greenhouse effect and extinctions;305
15.2;7.2 Species ranges changing under global warming;307
15.2.1;7.2.1 Clues from the past;312
15.2.2;7.2.2 Polar environments under global warming;313
15.3;7.3 Mountains under climate change;314
15.4;7.4 Coral reefs;315
15.5;7.5 Global warming in the longer term;317
15.6;7.6 Direct CO2 fertilization effects on plants;318
15.7;7.7 The "other" direct CO2 effect, acidification of the oceans;324
15.8;7.8 Introduced species;327
15.8.1;7.8.1 Argentine ants and the fynbos;329
15.9;7.9 The amphibian decline;329
15.10;7.10 Tree diseases;331
15.11;7.11 Habitat clearance;333
16;8 Holding on to what is left;340
16.1;8.1 Conserving habitat;340
16.2;8.2 International biosphere reserves and world heritage sites;343
16.3;8.3 Uncertainties about species richness: a problem for conservation;344
16.4;8.4 Minimum viable population size;345
16.5;8.5 Metapopulations: a complication to minimum viable population sizes;350
16.5.1;8.5.1 The shapes and sizes of reserves;350
16.6;8.6 How much do nature reserves lose? Relaxation extinction;354
16.7;8.7 Active management of reserves;358
16.8;8.8 Maintaining reserves in a changeable climate;360
16.9;8.9 Aiding plant migration-planting;361
16.10;8.10 Taxonomy as the arbiter of fate;363
16.11;8.11 Botanic gardens and zoos;364
16.12;8.12 Botanic gardens;366
16.13;8.13 Seed and embryo banks;368
16.14;8.14 In vitro storage of plant genetic material;370
16.15;8.15 Rescue through genetic engineering and breeding, against introduced pests and diseases;371
16.16;8.16 Back from the dead: Can we regain animals that have already gone extinct?;374
16.17;8.17 Warning labels: alerting governments and the public of a species in trouble;376
16.18;8.18 Laws;377
16.19;8.19 Where we stand now;379
17;References;381
18;Index;395