Extreme Environmental Change and Evolution

Broad overview of how environmental stress affects the rate of evolutionary change.

Ary A. Hoffmann (Author), Peter A. Parsons (Author)

9780521446594, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 10 July 1997

272 pages, 71 b/w illus. 16 tables
22.8 x 15.4 x 1.6 cm, 0.4 kg

'… useful as a source of examples of instances where the environment had an effect on the distribution and evolution of a species.' Jacob C. Koella, Trends in Ecology and Evolution

Most natural populations intermittently experience extremely stressful conditions. This book discusses how such conditions can cause periods of intense selection, increasing both phenotypic and genetic variation, and allowing organisms with novel characteristics to be first generated and then established in the population. The authors argue that stressful conditions can have a major impact on the environment, backing up their arguments with evidence from the fossil record. They suggest further that, as a consequence, periods of stress must be taken into consideration when long term conservation strategies are planned, particularly as stressful conditions are becoming increasingly prevalent as a result of human activities. This broad overview will be of great interest to students and researchers in the field of evolutionary biology, genetics, ecology, palaeontology and conservation biology.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Variation under extreme environments
3. Natural selection in extreme environments
4. Limits to adaptation
5. Evolutionary outcomes: comparative and optimality approaches
6. Extinction, diversification and evolutionary rates
7. Conservation and future environmental change
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Meteorology & climatology [RBP], Evolution [PSAJ]