Foundations of Paleoecology

Foundations of Paleoecology PDF Author: S. Kathleen Lyons
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022661834X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 787

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Book Description
Approximately 99% of all life that has ever existed is extinct. Fortunately, these long dead species have left traces of their lives and interactions with other species in the rock record that paleoecologists use to understand how species and ecosystems have changed over time. This record of past life allows us to study the dynamic nature of the Earth and gives context to current and future ecological challenges. This book brings together forty-four classic papers published between 1924 and 1999 that trace the origins and development of paleoecology. The articles cross taxonomic groups, habitat types, geographic areas, and time and have made substantial contributions to our knowledge of the evolution of life. Encompassing the full breadth of paleoecology, the book is divided into six parts: community and ecosystem dynamics, community reconstruction, diversity dynamics, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, species interaction, and taphonomy. Each paper is also introduced by a contemporary expert who gives context and explains its importance to ongoing paleoecological research. A comprehensive introduction to the field, Foundations of Paleoecology will be an essential reference for new students and established paleoecologists alike.

Foundations of Paleoecology

Foundations of Paleoecology PDF Author: S. Kathleen Lyons
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022661834X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 787

Get Book Here

Book Description
Approximately 99% of all life that has ever existed is extinct. Fortunately, these long dead species have left traces of their lives and interactions with other species in the rock record that paleoecologists use to understand how species and ecosystems have changed over time. This record of past life allows us to study the dynamic nature of the Earth and gives context to current and future ecological challenges. This book brings together forty-four classic papers published between 1924 and 1999 that trace the origins and development of paleoecology. The articles cross taxonomic groups, habitat types, geographic areas, and time and have made substantial contributions to our knowledge of the evolution of life. Encompassing the full breadth of paleoecology, the book is divided into six parts: community and ecosystem dynamics, community reconstruction, diversity dynamics, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, species interaction, and taphonomy. Each paper is also introduced by a contemporary expert who gives context and explains its importance to ongoing paleoecological research. A comprehensive introduction to the field, Foundations of Paleoecology will be an essential reference for new students and established paleoecologists alike.

Paleoecology

Paleoecology PDF Author: David J. Bottjer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118455819
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Paleoecology is a discipline that uses evidence from fossils to provide an understanding of ancient environments and the ecological history of life through geological time. This text covers the fundamental approaches that have provided the foundation for present paleoecological understanding, and outlines new research areas in paleoecology for managing future environmental and ecological change. Topics include the use of actualism in paleoecology, development of paleoecological models for paleoenvironmental reconstruction, taphonomy and exceptional fossil preservation, evolutionary paleoecology and ecological change through time, and conservation paleoecology. Data from studies of invertebrates, vertebrates, plants and microfossils, with added emphasis on bioturbation and microbial sedimentary structures, are discussed. Examples from marine and terrestrial environments are covered, with a particular focus on periods of great ecological change, such as the Precambrian-Cambrian transition and intervals of mass extinction. Readership: This book is designed for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students in the earth and biological sciences, as well as researchers and applied scientists in a range of related disciplines.

Foundations of Paleoecology

Foundations of Paleoecology PDF Author: S. Kathleen Lyons
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226618203
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Approximately 99% of all life that has ever existed is extinct. Fortunately, these long dead species have left traces of their lives and interactions with other species in the rock record that paleoecologists use to understand how species and ecosystems have changed over time. This record of past life allows us to study the dynamic nature of the Earth and gives context to current and future ecological challenges. This book brings together forty-four classic papers published between 1924 and 1999 that trace the origins and development of paleoecology. The articles cross taxonomic groups, habitat types, geographic areas, and time and have made substantial contributions to our knowledge of the evolution of life. Encompassing the full breadth of paleoecology, the book is divided into six parts: community and ecosystem dynamics, community reconstruction, diversity dynamics, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, species interaction, and taphonomy. Each paper is also introduced by a contemporary expert who gives context and explains its importance to ongoing paleoecological research. A comprehensive introduction to the field, Foundations of Paleoecology will be an essential reference for new students and established paleoecologists alike.

Treatise on Marine Ecology and Paleoecology

Treatise on Marine Ecology and Paleoecology PDF Author: Joel W. Iledgpeth and Harry S. Ladd
Publisher: Geological Society of America
ISBN: 0813710677
Category : Bibliography
Languages : en
Pages : 2468

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Book Description


Paleoecology of Beringia

Paleoecology of Beringia PDF Author: David M. Hopkins
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 1483273407
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 503

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Book Description
Paleoecology of Beringia is the product of a symposium organized by its editors, sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and held at the foundation's conference center in Burg Wartenstein, Austria, 8-17 June 1979. The focus of this volume is on the paradox central to all studies of the unglaciated Arctic during the last Ice Age: that vertebrate fossils indicate that from 45,000 to 11,000 years BP an environment considerably more diverse and productive than the present one existed, whereas the botanical record, where it is not silent, supports a far more conservative appraisal of the region's ability to sustain any but the sparsest forms of plant and animal life. The volume is organized into seven parts. Part 1 focuses on the paleogeography of the Beringia. The studies in Part 2 explore the ancient vegatation. Part 3 deals with the steppe-tundra concept and its application in Beringia. Part 4 examines the paleoclimate while Part 5 is devoted to the biology of surviving relatives of the Pleistocene ungulates. Part 6 takes up the presence of man in ancient Beringia. Part 7 assesses the paleoecology of Beringia during the last 40,000 years

Fossils in the Making

Fossils in the Making PDF Author: Anna K. Behrensmeyer
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226041530
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
One of the first interdisciplinary discussions of taphonomy (the study of how fossil assemblages are formed) and paleoecology (the reconstruction of ancient ecosystems), this volume helped establish these relatively new disciplines. It was originally published as part of the influential Prehistoric Archeology and Ecology series. "Taphonomy is plainly here to stay, and this book makes a first class introduction to its range and appeal."—Anthony Smith, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews

Quaternary Palaeoecology

Quaternary Palaeoecology PDF Author: Harry John Betteley Birks
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781930665569
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Quaternary Palaeoecology, first published in 1980, discusses the methods and approaches by which Quaternary environments can be reconstructed from the fossil and sedimentary record. This knowledge is of great value as the Quaternary was a time of rapid ecological change, culminating in the present pattern and diversity of ecosystems. It is possible not only to relate these changes to fluctuating climates but also to infer what Man's early influence may have been. The authors describe how past flora and fauna can be reconstructed and how the numbers of fossils can be used to reconstruct past plant and animal populations and communities, and past environments. John Birks has researched in a variety of fields within Quaternary palaeoecology, including pollen analysis and vegetation history, environmental change, past climate reconstruction, and palaeolimnology. Since the 1980s he has introduced and developed numerical methods and quantitative approaches into palaeoecology and palaeolimnology. Besides research in Norway and the UK, he has also worked on palaeoecological problems in Svalbard, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Minnesota, and the Yukon. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals and has published widely on many aspects of Quaternary palaeoecology. He is currently Professor of Quantitative Palaeoecology at the University of Bergen, Norway, and University College London, UK. Hilary Birks researches on palaeoecology and past climates primarily through the use of plant macrofossil analysis. She took up the study of plant macrofossils in Minnesota, USA in 1970, where she investigated the modern representation of plants in lake sediments by their fruits and seeds, and also worked on the palaeolimnological record of recent eutrophication and late-glacial palaeoecology. Since then she has extended her macrofossil studies to the late-glacial of Scotland and western Norway, the full-glacial of Beringia (Alaska) and recent changes in North African lakes brought about by human activities. She is Professor of Palaeoecology at the University of Bergen, Norway and teaches palaeoecology at the University of Bergen and University College London, UK.

Conservation Paleobiology

Conservation Paleobiology PDF Author: Gregory P. Dietl
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022650686X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
In conservation, perhaps no better example exists of the past informing the present than the return of the California condor to the Vermilion Cliffs of Arizona. Extinct in the region for nearly one hundred years, condors were successfully reintroduced starting in the 1990s in an effort informed by the fossil record—condor skeletal remains had been found in the area’s late-Pleistocene cave deposits. The potential benefits of applying such data to conservation initiatives are unquestionably great, yet integrating the relevant disciplines has proven challenging. Conservation Paleobiology gathers a remarkable array of scientists—from Jeremy B. C. Jackson to Geerat J. Vermeij—to provide an authoritative overview of how paleobiology can inform both the management of threatened species and larger conservation decisions. Studying endangered species is difficult. They are by definition rare, some exist only in captivity, and for those still in their native habitats any experimentation can potentially have a negative effect on survival. Moreover, a lack of long-term data makes it challenging to anticipate biotic responses to environmental conditions that are outside of our immediate experience. But in the fossil and prefossil records—from natural accumulations such as reefs, shell beds, and caves to human-made deposits like kitchen middens and archaeological sites—enlightening parallels to the Anthropocene can be found that might serve as a primer for present-day predicaments. Offering both deep-time and near-time perspectives and exploring a range of ecological and evolutionary dynamics and taxa from terrestrial as well as aquatic habitats, Conservation Paleobiology is a sterling demonstration of how the past can be used to manage for the future, giving new hope for the creation and implementation of successful conservation programs.

Rereading the Fossil Record

Rereading the Fossil Record PDF Author: David Sepkoski
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022627294X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 441

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Book Description
Rereading the Fossil Record presents the first-ever historical account of the origin, rise, and importance of paleobiology, from the mid-nineteenth century to the late 1980s. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, David Sepkoski shows how the movement was conceived and promoted by a small but influential group of paleontologists and examines the intellectual, disciplinary, and political dynamics involved in the ascendency of paleobiology. By tracing the role of computer technology, large databases, and quantitative analytical methods in the emergence of paleobiology, this book also offers insight into the growing prominence and centrality of data-driven approaches in recent science.

Methods in Paleoecology

Methods in Paleoecology PDF Author: Darin A. Croft
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319942654
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
This volume focuses on the reconstruction of past ecosystems and provides a comprehensive review of current techniques and their application in exemplar studies. The 18 chapters address a wide variety of topics that span vertebrate paleobiology and paleoecology (body mass, postcranial functional morphology, evolutionary dental morphology, microwear and mesowear, ecomorphology, mammal community structure analysis), contextual paleoenvironmental studies (paleosols and sedimentology, ichnofossils, pollen, phytoliths, plant macrofossils), and special techniques (bone microstructure, biomineral isotopes, inorganic isotopes, 3-D morphometrics, and ecometric modeling). A final chapter discusses how to integrate results of these studies with taphonomic data in order to more accurately characterize an ancient ecosystem. Current investigators, advanced undergraduates, and graduate students interested in the field of paleoecology will find this book immensely useful. The length and structure of the volume also makes it suitable for teaching a college-level course on reconstructing Cenozoic ecosystems.