Island Life, Or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras

Island Life, Or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras PDF Author: Alfred Russel Wallace
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biogeography
Languages : en
Pages : 560

Get Book Here

Book Description
Wallace's Island Life is one of the foundation works of zoogeography. It focused on the detailed problems of animal dispersal and speciation. Like Darwin, Wallace classified islands as either oceanic (no previous connection to a land mass) or continental (previously connected to a land mass). He considered the means by which each class of island might become colonized, the types of animals most likely to perform the necessary migrations, and the conditions-such as major climactic or geologic change-under which the migrations might have been made. Wallace was the first to use the new knowledge of Pleistocene ice ages to explain certain phenomena of animal distribution, and in Island Life he speculated about the possible causes of glaciation. He was one of the few 19th-century scientists to realize that astronomical causes alone would not suffice, but had to be combined with a corresponding elevation in the northern land mass -- Abe books website.

Island Life, Or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras

Island Life, Or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras PDF Author: Alfred Russel Wallace
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biogeography
Languages : en
Pages : 560

Get Book Here

Book Description
Wallace's Island Life is one of the foundation works of zoogeography. It focused on the detailed problems of animal dispersal and speciation. Like Darwin, Wallace classified islands as either oceanic (no previous connection to a land mass) or continental (previously connected to a land mass). He considered the means by which each class of island might become colonized, the types of animals most likely to perform the necessary migrations, and the conditions-such as major climactic or geologic change-under which the migrations might have been made. Wallace was the first to use the new knowledge of Pleistocene ice ages to explain certain phenomena of animal distribution, and in Island Life he speculated about the possible causes of glaciation. He was one of the few 19th-century scientists to realize that astronomical causes alone would not suffice, but had to be combined with a corresponding elevation in the northern land mass -- Abe books website.

Hawaii, the Islands of Life

Hawaii, the Islands of Life PDF Author: Gavan Daws
Publisher: Signature Publishing Group & Panache Partners
ISBN: 9780943823010
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book Here

Book Description


Islands of Life

Islands of Life PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Drilling platforms
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Get Book Here

Book Description


Islands of Abandonment

Islands of Abandonment PDF Author: Cal Flyn
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1984878204
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Get Book Here

Book Description
A beautiful, lyrical exploration of the places where nature is flourishing in our absence "[Flyn] captures the dread, sadness, and wonder of beholding the results of humanity's destructive impulse, and she arrives at a new appreciation of life, 'all the stranger and more valuable for its resilence.'" --The New Yorker Some of the only truly feral cattle in the world wander a long-abandoned island off the northernmost tip of Scotland. A variety of wildlife not seen in many lifetimes has rebounded on the irradiated grounds of Chernobyl. A lush forest supports thousands of species that are extinct or endangered everywhere else on earth in the Korean peninsula's narrow DMZ. Cal Flyn, an investigative journalist, exceptional nature writer, and promising new literary voice visits the eeriest and most desolate places on Earth that due to war, disaster, disease, or economic decay, have been abandoned by humans. What she finds every time is an "island" of teeming new life: nature has rushed in to fill the void faster and more thoroughly than even the most hopeful projections of scientists. Islands of Abandonment is a tour through these new ecosystems, in all their glory, as sites of unexpected environmental significance, where the natural world has reasserted its wild power and promise. And while it doesn't let us off the hook for addressing environmental degradation and climate change, it is a case that hope is far from lost, and it is ultimately a story of redemption: the most polluted spots on Earth can be rehabilitated through ecological processes and, in fact, they already are.

Islands in the Cosmos

Islands in the Cosmos PDF Author: Dale A. Russell
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253023912
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 481

Get Book Here

Book Description
How is it that we came to be here? The search for answers to that question has preoccupied humans for millennia. Scientists have sought clues in the genes of living things, in the physical environments of Earth from mountaintops to the depths of the ocean, in the chemistry of this world and those nearby, in the tiniest particles of matter, and in the deepest reaches of space. In Islands of the Cosmos, Dale A. Russell traces a path from the dawn of the universe to speculations about our future on this planet. He centers his story on the physical and biological processes in evolution, which interact to favor more successful, and eliminate less successful, forms of life. Marvelously, these processes reveal latent possibilities in life's basic structure, and propel a major evolutionary theme: the increasing proficiency of biological function. It remains to be seen whether the human form can survive the dynamic processes that brought it into existence. Yet the emergence of the ability to acquire knowledge from experience, to optimize behavior, to conceptualize, to distinguish "good" from "bad" behavior all hint at an evolutionary outcome that science is only beginning to understand.

Plant Life of a Desert Archipelago

Plant Life of a Desert Archipelago PDF Author: Richard Stephen Felger
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816599416
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 623

Get Book Here

Book Description
The desert islands of the Gulf of California are among the world's best-preserved archipelagos. The diverse and unique flora, from the cardón forests of Cholludo to the agave-dominated slopes of San Esteban remain much as they were centuries ago, when the Comcaac (Seri people) were the only human presence in the region. Almost 400 plant species exist here, with each island manifesting a unique composition of vegetation and flora. For thousands of years, climatic and biological forces have sculpted a set of unparalleled desert worlds. Plant Life of a Desert Archipelago is the first in-depth coverage of the plants on islands in the Gulf of California found in between the coasts of Baja California and Sonora. The work is the culmination of decades of study by botanist Richard Felger and recent investigations by Benjamin Wilder, in collaboration with Sr. Humberto Romero-Morales, one of the most knowledgeable Seris concerning the region's flora. Their collective effort weaves together careful and accurate botanical science with the rich cultural and stunning physical setting of this island realm. The researchers surveyed, collected, and studied thousands of plants—seen here in meticulous illustrations and stunning color photographs—providing the most precise species accounts of the islands ever made. To access remote parts of the islands the authors worked directly with the Comcaac, an indigenous community who have lived off marine and terrestrial life in this coastal desert region for centuries. Invaluable information regarding indigenous names and distributions are an intrinsic part of this work. The flora descriptions are extraordinarily detailed and painstakingly crafted for field biologists. Conservationists, students, and others who are interested in learning about the natural wealth of the Gulf of California, desert regions, or islands in general are sure to be captivated by this rich and fascinating volume.

A St. Lawrence Summer

A St. Lawrence Summer PDF Author: Helen Cardamone
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781006728617
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
Those who have been blessed enough to spend time among the St. Lawrence River's Thousand Islands know its breathtaking beauty and will forever speak of their adventure. You'll read about a family's weekend water skiing, swimming, boating, and best of all, being at peace. These colorful illustrations and playful words will allow you to relive old memories and be inspired to create new ones.

Life in the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Life in the Republic of the Marshall Islands PDF Author: Anono Lieom Loeak
Publisher: [email protected]
ISBN: 9789820203648
Category : Marshall Islands
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A joint publication with the USP Centre in Majuro, this book recounts peopleOs experiences and reflections on life in their country. Among the accounts are chapters dealing with specific legends and traditions, memories of growing up in the Marshals, and more contemporary issues such as off-island adoption and the ongoing struggle of Rongelap survivors."--Publisher's description.

Death in the Family

Death in the Family PDF Author: Tessa Wegert
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 0593097890
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book Here

Book Description
A storm-struck island. A blood-soaked bed. A missing man. In this captivating mystery that's perfect for fans of Knives Out, Senior Investigator Shana Merchant discovers that murder is a family affair. Thirteen months ago, former NYPD detective Shana Merchant barely survived being abducted by a serial killer. Now hoping to leave grisly murder cases behind, she's taken a job in her fiancé's sleepy hometown in the Thousand Islands region of Upstate New York. But as a nor'easter bears down on her new territory, Shana and fellow investigator Tim Wellington receive a call about a man missing on a private island. Shana and Tim travel to the isolated island owned by the wealthy Sinclair family to question the witnesses. They arrive to find blood on the scene and a house full of Sinclair family and friends on edge. While Tim guesses they're dealing with a runaway case, Shana is convinced that they have a murder on their hands. As the gale intensifies outside, she starts conducting interviews and discovers the Sinclairs and their guests are crawling with dark and dangerous secrets. Trapped on the island by the raging storm with only Tim whose reliability is thrown into question, the increasingly restless suspects, and her own trauma-fueled flashbacks for company, Shana will have to trust the one person her abduction destroyed her faith in--herself. But time is ticking down, because if Shana's right, a killer is in their midst and as the pressure mounts, so do the odds that they'll strike again.

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Island of the Blue Dolphins PDF Author: Scott O'Dell
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0395069629
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 195

Get Book Here

Book Description
Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches. Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply. More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana's quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.