The Evolutionary Ecology of Invasive Species

The Evolutionary Ecology of Invasive Species PDF Author: Johannes Le Roux
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0128183780
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The Evolutionary Ecology of Invasive Species offers new insights into the mechanisms that underlie rapid evolution in these species. The book provides a comprehensive overview of achievements in the field during the boom of information over the past two decades and includes discussions of possible future directions for the study of evolution in invasive species. Written by an international expert in invasion ecology, population genetics, and evolutionary biology, the book explores the roles of preadaptation, phenotypic plasticity, selection, and stochastic processes in driving rapid evolution. The book draws insights from a wide spectrum of invasive microbes, plants, and animals, covering many of the planet's biogeographic regions and discusses the evolutionary consequences for native species in response to biological invasions. A valuable resource to researchers and students in evolutionary biology, invasive species biology, and global change biology, this text suggests future research directions related to the evolutionary biology, impacts, and management of invasive species. Highlights the most recent advances and developments in using evolutionary principles to study and manage invasive species Offers new and often overlooked insights in processes that govern rapid evolution Discusses key stages of population demography that underlie rapid evolutionary change in invasive species, including their introduction, naturalisation, and dispersal

The Evolutionary Ecology of Invasive Species

The Evolutionary Ecology of Invasive Species PDF Author: Johannes Le Roux
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0128183780
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Evolutionary Ecology of Invasive Species offers new insights into the mechanisms that underlie rapid evolution in these species. The book provides a comprehensive overview of achievements in the field during the boom of information over the past two decades and includes discussions of possible future directions for the study of evolution in invasive species. Written by an international expert in invasion ecology, population genetics, and evolutionary biology, the book explores the roles of preadaptation, phenotypic plasticity, selection, and stochastic processes in driving rapid evolution. The book draws insights from a wide spectrum of invasive microbes, plants, and animals, covering many of the planet's biogeographic regions and discusses the evolutionary consequences for native species in response to biological invasions. A valuable resource to researchers and students in evolutionary biology, invasive species biology, and global change biology, this text suggests future research directions related to the evolutionary biology, impacts, and management of invasive species. Highlights the most recent advances and developments in using evolutionary principles to study and manage invasive species Offers new and often overlooked insights in processes that govern rapid evolution Discusses key stages of population demography that underlie rapid evolutionary change in invasive species, including their introduction, naturalisation, and dispersal

Cognitive Ecology

Cognitive Ecology PDF Author: Reuven Dukas
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226169332
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 430

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Book Description
Cognitive Ecology lays the foundations for a field of study that integrates theory and data from evolutionary ecology and cognitive science to investigate how animal interactions with natural habitats shape cognitive systems, and how constraints imposed on nervous systems limit or bias animal behavior. Using critical literature reviews and theoretical models, the contributors provide new insights and raise novel questions about the adaptive design of specific brain capacities and about optimal behavior subject to the computational capabilities of brains.

Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology

Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology PDF Author: Leslie Real
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226705972
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
The first book-length exploration of behavioral mechanisms in evolutionary ecology, this ambitious volume illuminates long-standing questions about cause-and-effect relations between an animal's behavior and its environment. By focusing on biological mechanisms—the sum of an animal's cognitive, neural, developmental, and hormonal processes—leading researchers demonstrate how the integrated study of animal physiology, cognitive processes, and social interaction can yield an enriched understanding of behavior. With studies of species ranging from insects to primates, the contributors examine how various animals identify and use environmental resources and deal with ecological constraints, as well as the roles of learning, communication, and cognitive aspects of social interaction in behavioral evolution. Taken together, the chapters demonstrate how the study of internal mechanistic foundations of behavior in relation to their ecological and evolutionary contexts and outcomes provides valuable insight into such behaviors as predation, mating, and dispersal. Behavioral Mechanisms in Evolutionary Ecology shows how a mechanistic approach unites various levels of biological organization to provide a broader understanding of the biological bases of behavioral evolution.

Alien Species and Evolution

Alien Species and Evolution PDF Author: George W. Cox
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1597268356
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
In Alien Species and Evolution, biologist George W. Cox reviews and synthesizes emerging information on the evolutionary changes that occur in plants, animals, and microbial organisms when they colonize new geographical areas, and on the evolutionary responses of the native species with which alien species interact. The book is broad in scope, exploring information across a wide variety of taxonomic groups, trophic levels, and geographic areas. It examines theoretical topics related to rapid evolutionary change and supports the emerging concept that species introduced to new physical and biotic environments are particularly prone to rapid evolution. The author draws on examples from all parts of the world and all major ecosystem types, and the variety of examples used gives considerable insight into the patterns of evolution that are likely to result from the massive introduction of species to new geographic regions that is currently occurring around the globe. Alien Species and Evolution is the only state-of-the-art review and synthesis available of this critically important topic, and is an essential work for anyone concerned with the new science of invasion biology or the threats posed by invasive species.

The Living Elephants

The Living Elephants PDF Author: Raman Sukumar
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198026730
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 495

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Book Description
The Living Elephants is the authoritative resource for information on both Asian and African elephants. From the ancient origins of the proboscideans to the present-day crisis of the living elephants, this volume synthesizes the behavior, ecology and conservation of elephants, while covering also the history of human interactions with elephants, all within the theoretical framework of evolutionary biology. The book begins with a survey of the 60-million year evolutionary history of the proboscideans emphasizing the role of climate and vegetation change in giving rise to a bewildering array of species, but also discussing the possible role of humans in the late Pleistocene extinction of mastodonts and mammoths. The latest information on the molecular genetics of African and Asian elephants and its taxonomic implications are then presented. The rise of the elephant culture in Asia, and its early demise in Africa are traced along with an original interpretation of this unique animal-human relationship. The book then moves on to the social life of elephants as it relates to reproductive strategies of males and females, development of behavior in young, communication, ranging patterns, and societal organization. The foraging strategies of elephants, their impact on the vegetation and landscape are then discussed. The dynamics of elephant populations in relation to hunting for ivory and their population viability are described with the aid of mathematical models. A detailed account of elephant-human interactions includes a treatment of crop depredation by elephants in relation to their natural ecology, manslaughter by elephants, habitat manipulation by humans, and a history of the ivory trade and poaching in the two continents. The ecological information is brought together in the final chapter to formulate a set of pragmatic recommendations for the long-term conservation of elephants. The broadest treatment of the subject yet undertaken, by one of the leading workers in the field, Raman Sukumar, the book promises to bring the understanding of elephants to a new level. It should be of interest not only to biologists but also a broader audience including field ecologists, wildlife administrators, historians, conservationists and all those interested in elephants and their future.

Ecology of Social Evolution

Ecology of Social Evolution PDF Author: Judith Korb
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540759573
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
The time is ripe to investigate similarities and differences in the course of social evolution in different animals. This book brings together renowned researchers working on sociality in different animals to deal with the key questions of sociobiology. For the first time, they compile the evidence for the importance of ecological factors in the evolution of social life, ranging from invertebrate to vertebrate social systems, and evaluate its importance versus that of relatedness.

Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites

Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites PDF Author: Robert Poulin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400840805
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
Parasites have evolved independently in numerous animal lineages, and they now make up a considerable proportion of the biodiversity of life. Not only do they impact humans and other animals in fundamental ways, but in recent years they have become a powerful model system for the study of ecology and evolution, with practical applications in disease prevention. Here, in a thoroughly revised and updated edition of his influential earlier work, Robert Poulin provides an evolutionary ecologist's view of the biology of parasites. He sets forth a comprehensive synthesis of parasite evolutionary ecology, integrating information across scales from the features of individual parasites to the dynamics of parasite populations and the structuring of parasite communities. Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites presents an evolutionary framework for the study of parasite biology, combining theory with empirical examples for a broader understanding of why parasites are as they are and do what they do. An up-to-date synthesis of the field, the book is an ideal teaching tool for advanced courses on the subject. Pointing toward promising directions and setting a research agenda, it will also be an invaluable reference for researchers who seek to extend our knowledge of parasite ecology and evolution.

Conceptual Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Ecology

Conceptual Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Ecology PDF Author: Laurence Mueller
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128160144
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
Although biologists recognize evolutionary ecology by name, many only have a limited understanding of its conceptual roots and historical development. Conceptual Breakthroughs in Evolutionary Ecology fills that knowledge gap in a thought-provoking and readable format. Written by a world-renowned evolutionary ecologist, this book embodies a unique blend of expertise in combining theory and experiment, population genetics and ecology. Following an easily-accessible structure, this book encapsulates and chronologizes the history behind evolutionary ecology. It also focuses on the integration of age-structure and density-dependent selection into an understanding of life-history evolution. - Covers over 60 seminal breakthroughs and paradigm shifts in the field of evolutionary biology and ecology - Modular format permits ready access to each described subject - Historical overview of a field whose concepts are central to all of biology and relevant to a broad audience of biologists, science historians, and philosophers of science

The Evolutionary Ecology of Animals

The Evolutionary Ecology of Animals PDF Author: S. S. Shvarts
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1468480979
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
While translating this book, I was in close communication with the author, S. S. Shvarts (Schwarz), who read and commented on the entire translated manuscript. In particular, any ambiguities as to the identity of organisms described only by common names in the original text were removed, because the author kindly supplied the Latin names in all such cases. Com mon names are retained in the translation, but the Latin names are also added where needed. Some of the terminology used in the Russian is a transliteration from English words employed now more by European workers than Americans. I have defined these terms or noted their more common equivalents used in current American literature where it seemed useful in the text. A final chapter, "Recent Work on the Evolutionary Ecology of Ani mals," is presented as Appendix II to the translation of the original text. I have written this chapter in order to update the material presented in the original edition published in 1969. The chapter discusses important recent contributions relevant to the subject matter presented by Shvarts. I would like to thank W. Z. Lidicker, Jr., and Y. B. Linhart for reading this final chapter and providing very helpful suggestions and comments. I am particularly grateful to the author, S. S. Shvarts, for his careful reading of the translated manuscript.

Animal Ecology

Animal Ecology PDF Author: Charles Sutherland Elton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Animal ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description