Biodiversity and Earth History

Biodiversity and Earth History PDF Author: Jens Boenigk
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3662463946
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
This uniquely interdisciplinary textbook explores the exciting and complex relationship between Earth’s geological history and the biodiversity of life. Its innovative design provides a seamless learning experience, clarifying major concepts step by step with detailed textual explanations complemented by detailed figures, diagrams and vibrant pictures. Thanks to its layout, the respective concepts can be studied individually, as part of the broader framework of each chapter, or as they relate to the book as a whole. It provides in-depth coverage of: - Earth’s formation and subsequent geological history, including patterns of climate change and atmospheric evolution; - The early stages of life, from microbial ‘primordial soup’ theories to the fossil record’s most valuable contributions; - Mechanisms of mutual influence between living organisms and the environment: how life changed Earth’s history whilst, at the same time, environmental pressures continue to shape the evolution of species; - Basic ideas in biodiversity studies: species concepts, measurement techniques, and global distribution patterns; - Biological systematics, from their historical origins in Greek philosophy and Biblical stories to Darwinian evolution by natural selection, and to phylogenetics based on cutting-edge molecular techniques. This book’s four major sections offer a fresh cross-disciplinary overview of biodiversity and the Earth’s history. Among many other concepts, they reveal the massive diversity of eukaryotes, explain the geological processes behind fossilisation, and provide an eye-opening account of the relatively short period of human evolution in the context of Earth’s 4.6 billion-year history. Employing a combination of proven didactic tools, the book is simultaneously a reading reference, illustrated guide, and encyclopaedia of organismal biology and geology. It is aimed at school- and university-level students, as well as members of the public fascinated by the intricate interrelationship of living organisms and their environment.

Biodiversity and Earth History

Biodiversity and Earth History PDF Author: Jens Boenigk
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3662463946
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Get Book

Book Description
This uniquely interdisciplinary textbook explores the exciting and complex relationship between Earth’s geological history and the biodiversity of life. Its innovative design provides a seamless learning experience, clarifying major concepts step by step with detailed textual explanations complemented by detailed figures, diagrams and vibrant pictures. Thanks to its layout, the respective concepts can be studied individually, as part of the broader framework of each chapter, or as they relate to the book as a whole. It provides in-depth coverage of: - Earth’s formation and subsequent geological history, including patterns of climate change and atmospheric evolution; - The early stages of life, from microbial ‘primordial soup’ theories to the fossil record’s most valuable contributions; - Mechanisms of mutual influence between living organisms and the environment: how life changed Earth’s history whilst, at the same time, environmental pressures continue to shape the evolution of species; - Basic ideas in biodiversity studies: species concepts, measurement techniques, and global distribution patterns; - Biological systematics, from their historical origins in Greek philosophy and Biblical stories to Darwinian evolution by natural selection, and to phylogenetics based on cutting-edge molecular techniques. This book’s four major sections offer a fresh cross-disciplinary overview of biodiversity and the Earth’s history. Among many other concepts, they reveal the massive diversity of eukaryotes, explain the geological processes behind fossilisation, and provide an eye-opening account of the relatively short period of human evolution in the context of Earth’s 4.6 billion-year history. Employing a combination of proven didactic tools, the book is simultaneously a reading reference, illustrated guide, and encyclopaedia of organismal biology and geology. It is aimed at school- and university-level students, as well as members of the public fascinated by the intricate interrelationship of living organisms and their environment.

Tree of Life

Tree of Life PDF Author: Rochelle Strauss
Publisher: Kids Can Press Ltd
ISBN: 1554539617
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description
A dazzling and stunningly illustrated introduction to the diversity of life on our planet.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity PDF Author: Laura Perdew
Publisher: Build It Yourself
ISBN: 9781619307513
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
It's a big world out there, and it's populated with millions of different species of plants, animals, and microorganisms! Biodiversity: Explore the Diversity of Life on Earth with Science Activities for Kids introduces middle school readers to the evolution of life on Earth, beginning with the first single-celled organisms that emerged 3.8 billion years ago to the complex multi-celled organisms that exist today and make up the tree of life. Science-minded, hands-on experiments make this a book a fully immersive learning experience!

Life on earth : an encyclopedia of biodiversity, ecology, and evolution. 1. A - G

Life on earth : an encyclopedia of biodiversity, ecology, and evolution. 1. A - G PDF Author: Niles Eldredge
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biodiversity
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Biodiversity and Evolution

Biodiversity and Evolution PDF Author: Philippe Grandcolas
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 008102567X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description
Biodiversity and Evolution includes chapters devoted to the evolution and biodiversity of organisms at the molecular level, based on the study of natural collections from the Museum of Natural History. The book starts with an epistemological and historical introduction and ends with a critical overview of the Anthropocene epoch. Explores the study of natural collections of the Museum of Natural History Examines evolution and biodiversity at the molecular level Features an introduction focusing on epistemology and history Provides a critical overview

World Atlas of Biodiversity

World Atlas of Biodiversity PDF Author: Brian Groombridge
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520236684
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Global biological diversity, ecosystem diversity.

Eden's Endemics

Eden's Endemics PDF Author: Elizabeth Callaway
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813944589
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
In the past thirty years biodiversity has become one of the central organizing principles through which we understand the nonhuman environment. Its deceptively simple definition as the variation among living organisms masks its status as a hotly contested term both within the sciences and more broadly. In Eden’s Endemics, Elizabeth Callaway looks to cultural objects—novels, memoirs, databases, visualizations, and poetry— that depict many species at once to consider the question of how we narrate organisms in their multiplicity. Touching on topics ranging from seed banks to science fiction to bird-watching, Callaway argues that there is no set, generally accepted way to measure biodiversity. Westerners tend to conceptualize it according to one or more of an array of tropes rooted in colonial history such as the Lost Eden, Noah’s Ark, and Tree-of-Life imagery. These conceptualizations affect what kinds of biodiversities are prioritized for protection. While using biodiversity as a way to talk about the world aims to highlight what is most valued in nature, it can produce narratives that reinforce certain power differentials—with real-life consequences for conservation projects. Thus the choices made when portraying biodiversity impact what is visible, what is visceral, and what is unquestioned common sense about the patterns of life on Earth.

The Biodiversity Crisis

The Biodiversity Crisis PDF Author: Michael J. Novacek
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781565845701
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
Leading experts explain the fastest mass extinction in Earth's history in an illustrated companion to the American Museum of Natural History's new permanent exhibit. 60 photos. Illustrations.

Complexity

Complexity PDF Author: William C. Burger
Publisher: Prometheus Books
ISBN: 1633881946
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
This very readable overview of natural history explores the dynamics that have made our planet so rich in biodiversity over time and supported the rise and dominance of our own species. Tracing the arc of evolutionary history, biologist William C. Burger shows that cooperation and symbiosis have played a critical role in the ever increasing complexity of life on earth. Life may have started from the evolution of cooperating organic molecules, which outpaced their noncooperating neighbors. A prime example of symbiosis was the early incorporation of mitochondria into the eukaryotic cell (through a process called “endosymbiosis”). This event gave these cells a powerful new source of energy. Later, cooperation was again key when millions to trillions of individual eukaryotic cells eventually came together to build the unitary structures of large plants and animals. And cooperation between individuals of the same species resulted in complex animal societies, such as ant colonies and bee hives. Turning to our own species, the author argues that our ability to cooperate, along with incessant inter-group conflict, has driven the advancement of cultures, the elaboration of our technologies, and made us the most “invasive” species on the planet. But our very success has now become a huge problem, as our world dominion threatens the future of the biosphere and confronts us with a very uncertain future. Thought-provoking and full of fascinating detail, this eloquently told story of life on earth and our place within it presents a grand perspective and raises many important questions.

Protecting Life on Earth

Protecting Life on Earth PDF Author: Michael P. Marchetti
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520264320
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
"An excellent introduction to the science and policy of conservation biology for anyone interested in becoming better informed about today's pressing environmental challenges." Wayne P. Sousa, University of California, Berkeley --