Scaling Biodiversity

Leading experts in ecology present new, innovative, views on quantitative patterns of biological diversity.

David Storch (Edited by), Pablo Marquet (Edited by), James Brown (Edited by)

9780521699372, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 July 2007

500 pages, 124 b/w illus. 8 colour illus. 16 tables
25 x 17.5 x 2.5 cm, 0.976 kg

"Overall, I recommend the book because of its breadth of coverage of a complex and sprawling literature. The better pieces in the volume are also motivational and provide good fuel for research projects. The topics challenge us all to think about how to be more holistic in thinking about spatial (and temporal) patterns of biodiversity."
Marcel Holyoak, Ecology

We know that there are tens of millions of plant and animal species, but we do not know enough to be able to describe the patterns and processes that characterise the distribution of species in space, time and taxonomic groups. Given that in practical terms it is impossible to expect to be able to document biodiversity with any degree of completeness other approaches must be used. Scaling rules offer one possible framework, and this book offers a synthesis of the ways in which scaling theory can be applied to the analysis of biodiversity. Scaling Biodiversity presents new views on quantitative patterns of the biological diversity on earth and the processes responsible for them. Written by a team of leading experts in ecology who present their most recent and innovative views, readers will be provided with what is the state of art in current ecology and biodiversity science.

Preface Geoffrey West, Murray Gell-Mann and James H. Brown
Foreword Lord Robert May
1. Introduction: scaling biodiversity - what is the problem David Storch, Pablo B. Marquet, James H. Brown
Part I. Spatial Scaling of Species Richness and Distribution: 2. Species-area curves and the geometry of nature Michael W. Palmer
3. The distribution of species: occupancy, scale, and rarity Fangliang He and Rick Condit
4. Species distribution patterns, diversity scaling and testing for fractals in Southern African birds Jack J. Lennon, William E. Kunin, Stephen Hartley and Kevin J. Gaston
5. Geometry of species distribution: random clustering and scale invariance Arno?t ?izling and David Storch
6. Toward a mechanistic basis for a unified theory of spatial structure in ecological communities at multiple spatial scales John Harte
Part II. Alternative Measures of Biodiversity: Taxonomy, Phylogeny and Turnover: 7. Spatial scaling of microbial biodiversity Jessica Green and Brendan J. M. Bohannan
8. The importance of phylogenetic structure in biodiversity studies Jérôme Chave, Guillem Chust and Christophe Thébaud
9. Hierarchical analysis of beta-diversity using wavelets Timothy H. Keitt, Naiara Sardinha-Pinto and Evan Economo
10. The scaling of spatial turnover: pruning the thicket Kevin J. Gaston, Karl L. Evans and Jack J. Lennon
Part III. Species-Energy Relationship and the Latitudinal Biodiversity Gradient: 11. Climate and diversity: the role of history Andrew Clarke
12. Inverse latitudinal trends in species diversity Pavel Kindlmann, Iva Schödelbauerová and Anthony F. G. Dixon
13. Regional- to global patterns of biodiversity, and what they have to say about mechanisms David J. Currie
14. The role of temperature in the origin and maintenance of biodiversity Andrew P. Allen, James H. Brown and Jamie F. Gillooly
15. Scaling species richness and distribution: uniting the species-area and species-energy relationships David Storch, Arno?t L. ?izling and Kevin J. Gaston
Part IV. Processes, Perspectives and Syntheses: 16. Spatiotemporal scaling of species richness: patterns, processes, and implications Ethan P. White
17. Scaling biodiversity under neutrality Luís Borda-de-Água, Stephen P. Hubbell and Fangliang He
18. General patterns in plant invasions: a family of quasi-neutral models Tomá? Herben
19. Extinction and population scaling William E. Kunin
20. Survival of species in patchy landscapes: percolation in space and time Beata Oborny, György Szabó and Géza Meszéna
21. Biodiversity power laws Pablo A. Marquet, Sebastian R. Abades and Fabio A. Labra.

Subject Areas: Biodiversity [RNCB], Applied ecology [RNC]