Evolutionary Biology

by Max K. Hecht

The first volume of Evolutionary Biology was published ten years ago. Since that time ten volumes and one supplement have appeared. The contents of all these volumes are listed in the back of the current issue. As stated in earlier prefaces, we are continuing the focus of this series on critical reviews, commentaries, original papers, and controversies in evolu? tionary biology. It is our aim to publish papers primarily of greater length than normally published by society journals and quarterlies. We therefore invite colleagues to submit chapters that fall within the focus and standards of Evolutionary Biology. The Editors vii Contents 1. Evolution of Species Diversity in Land Communities R. H. Whittaker Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Concepts and Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I Observations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Birds . . '" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Interpretation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Birds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '" . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Plants and Their Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Desert Lizards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Equilibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Succession and Climax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Component Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Islands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Major Taxa in Geological Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Biosphere Diversity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 2. Randomness, Time Scales, and the Evolution of Biological Communities M. Levandowsky and B. S. White Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Thresholds and Time Scales in Systems Dominated by a Few Species. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Auto-Oscillation of a Laboratory Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Periodical Cicadas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Spruce Budworm Outbreaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Spatial Structure: Red Tides and Plankton Patchiness. . . . . . . . . 83 ix x Contents Many-Species Systems: Stability, Succession, and Hierarchic Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Kinds of Stability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Examples: Field Experiments with Natural Communities . . . . . . 103 Effects of Randomness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Equilibrium Point Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306354101
• ISBN13: 9780306354106
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 486 Pages