Climate Change, Ecology and Systematics

A detailed examination of the ongoing impact of climate change on the ecology and diversity of life on earth.

Trevor R. Hodkinson (Edited by), Michael B. Jones (Edited by), Stephen Waldren (Edited by), John A. N. Parnell (Edited by)

9780521766098, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 April 2011

544 pages, 90 b/w illus. 13 tables
25.3 x 19.5 x 2.9 cm, 1.5 kg

'The volume will be an invaluable contribution to anyone studying climate change effects on the living world … truly enjoyed reading it. Its unique contribution is to explicitly provide links between systematics and climate change. As such, it will please natural historians and researchers working in natural history museums and botanical gardens. However, its breath of coverage makes it useful for a much wider range of readers, including students, academics, and practitioners.' Miguel B. Araujo, The Quarterly Review of Biology

Climate change has shaped life in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Understanding the interactions between climate and biodiversity is a complex challenge to science. With contributions from 60 key researchers, this book examines the ongoing impact of climate change on the ecology and diversity of life on earth. It discusses the latest research within the fields of ecology and systematics, highlighting the increasing integration of their approaches and methods. Topics covered include the influence of climate change on evolutionary and ecological processes such as adaptation, migration, speciation and extinction, and the role of these processes in determining the diversity and biogeographic distribution of species and their populations. This book ultimately illustrates the necessity for global conservation actions to mitigate the effects of climate change in a world that is already undergoing a biodiversity crisis of unprecedented scale.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Integrating ecology and systematics in climate change research T. R. Hodkinson
2. Climate modelling and deep time climate change R. Caballero and P. Lynch
3. The perils of addressing long term challenges in a short term world: making descriptive taxonomy predictive R. M. Bateman
Part II. Adaptation, Speciation and Extinction: 4. Global climate and extinction: evidence from the fossil record P. J. Mayhew
5. Long term fluctuations in atmospheric CO2 concentration influence plant speciation rate J. C. McElwain, K. K. Willis and K. J. Niklas
6. Wood anatomy and climate change P. Baas and E. A. Wheeler
7. Savanna biome evolution, climate change and the ecological expansion of C4 grasses Y. Bouchenak-Khelladi and T. R. Hodkinson
8. Climate warming results in phenotypic and evolutionary changes in spring events: a mini review A. Donnelly, A. Caffarra, E. Diskin, C. T. Kelleher, A. Pletsers, H. Proctor, R. Stirnemann, M. B. Jones, J. O'Halloran, B. F. O'Neill, J. Peñuelas and T. Sparks
9. Terrestrial green algae: systematics, biogeography and expected responses to climate change F. Rindi
Part III. Biogeography, Migration and Ecological Niche Modelling: 10. Biodiversity informatics for climate change studies A. Culham and C. Yesson
11. Climate envelope models in systematics and evolutionary research: theory and practice D. Rödder, S. Schmidtlein, S. Schick and S. Lötters
12. Biogeography of cyclamen: an application of phyloclimatic modelling C. Yesson and A. Culham
13. Cenozoic climate changes and the demise of Tethyan laurel forests: lessons for the future from an integrative reconstruction of the past F. Rodríguez-Sánchez and J. Arroyo
14. The impact of climate change on the origin and future of East African rain forest trees L. W. Chatrou, J. J. Wieringa and T. L. P. Couvreur
15. Hybridisation, introgression and climate change: a case study for the tree genus Fraxinus (Oleaceae) M. Thomasset, J. F. Fernández-Manjarrés, G. C. Douglas, N. Frascaria-Lacoste and T. R. Hodkinson
Part IV. Conservation: 16. Assessing the effectiveness of a protected area network in the face of climatic change B. Huntley, D. G. Hole and S. G. Willis
17. Documenting plant species in a changing climate: a case study from Arabia M. Hall and A. G. Miller
18. A critical appraisal of the meaning and diagnosability of cryptic evolutionary diversity, and its implications for conservation in the face of climate change J. Bernardo
19. Climate change and Cyperaceae D. A. Simpson, C. Yesson, A. Culham, C. A. Couch and A. M. Muasya
20. An interdisciplinary review of climate change trends and uncertainties: lichen biodiversity, arctic alpine ecosystems and habitat loss C. J. Ellis and R. Yahr
21. Climate change and oceanic mountain vegetation: a case study of the montane heath and associated plant communities in western Irish mountains R. L. Hodd and M. J. Sheehy Skeffington.

Subject Areas: Applied ecology [RNC], Meteorology & climatology [RBP], Taxonomy & systematics [PSAB]