Despite acknowledgment that loss of living diversity is an international biological crisis, the ecological causes and consequences of extinction have not yet been widely addressed. In honor of Edward O. Wilson, winner of the 1993 International Prize for Biology, an international group of distinguished biologists bring ecological, evolutionary, and management perspectives to the issue of biodiversity. The roles of ecosystem processes, community structure and population dynamics are considered in this book. The goal, as Wilson writes in his introduction, is "to assemble concepts that unite the disciplines of systematics and ecology, and in so doing to create a sound scientific basis for the future management of biodiversity."

InhaltsangabeI. Ecological Causes of Biodiversity.- 1. Biogeographic Patterns of Avian Diversity in Australia.- 2. The Role of Architecture in Enhancing Plant Species Diversity.- 3. Species Coexistence and Abundance: Patterns and Processes.- II. Evolutionary Causes of Biodiversity.- 4. Extinction and the Evolutionary Process.- 5. Diversity and Evolution of Symbiotic Interactions.- 6. Global Diversification of Termites Driven by the Evolution of Symbiosis and Sociality.- III. Biodiversity and Ecological Complexity.- 7. Plant-Mediated Interactions Between Herbivorous Insects.- 8. Herbivore-Induced Plant Volatiles with Multifunctional Effects in Ecosystems: A Complex Pattern of Biotic Interactions.- 9. How a Butterfly Copes with the Problem of Biological Diversity.- IV. Biodiversity and Ecological Function.- 10. Successional Development, Energetics, and Diversity in Planktonic Communities.- 11. Food Web Structure and Biodiversity in Lake Ecosystems.- 12. The Role of Species in Ecosystems: Aspects of Ecological Complexity and Biological Diversity.- V. Management for Biodiversity Conservation.- 13. Sources and Management of Biodiversity in the Russian Far East.- 14. Singapore: A Case Study for Tropical Rain Forest Fragmentation and Biodiversity Loss.- 15. Management of Biodiversity in Aquatic Ecosystems: Dynamic Aspects of Habitat Complexity in Stream Ecosystems.- Conclusion.- 16. Biodiversity: Interfacing Populations and Ecosystems.

Contents: Introduction (by E. Wilson).- Ecological Causes of Biodiversity.- Evolutionary Causes of Biodiversity.- Biodiversity and Ecological Complexity.- Biodiversity and Ecological Function.- Management for Biodiversity Conservation.- Conclusion (by S. Levin)

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