Speciation and Patterns of Diversity

Brings together viewpoints from leading ecologists and evolutionary biologists to discuss how speciation affects patterns of biological diversity.

Roger Butlin (Edited by), Jon Bridle (Edited by), Dolph Schluter (Edited by)

9780521709637, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 22 January 2009

346 pages, 22 b/w illus.
24.7 x 17.5 x 1.8 cm, 0.7 kg

'The volume has the potential to stimulate large numbers of interdisciplinary collaborations and new research projects.' Basic and Applied Ecology

Bringing together the viewpoints of leading ecologists concerned with the processes that generate patterns of diversity, and evolutionary biologists who focus on mechanisms of speciation, this book opens up discussion in order to broaden understanding of how speciation affects patterns of biological diversity, especially the uneven distribution of diversity across time, space and taxa studied by macroecologists. The contributors discuss questions such as: Are species equivalent units, providing meaningful measures of diversity? To what extent do mechanisms of speciation affect the functional nature and distribution of species diversity? How can speciation rates be measured using molecular phylogenies or data from the fossil record? What are the factors that explain variation in rates? Written for graduate students and academic researchers, the book promotes a more complete understanding of the interaction between mechanisms and rates of speciation and these patterns in biological diversity.

1. Introduction: Speciation and patterns of diversity Roger K. Butlin, Jon R. Bridle and Dolph Schluter
2. On the arbitrary identification of real species Jody Hey
3. The evolutionary nature of diversification in sexuals and asexuals Timothy G. Barraclough, Diego Fontaneto, Elisabeth A. Herniou and Claudia Ricci
4. The poverty of the protists Graham Bell
5. Theory, community assembly, diversity and evolution in the microbial world Thomas P. Curtis, Nigel C. Wallbridge and William T. Sloan
6. Patterns of biodiversity and limits to adaptation in time and space Jon R. Bridle, Jitka Polechova and Timothy H. Vines
7. Dynamic patterns of adaptive radiation: evolution of mating preferences Sergey Gavrilets and Aaron Vose
8. Niche dimensionality and ecological speciation Patrik Nosil and Luke Harmon
9. Progressive levels of trait divergence along a 'speciation transect' in the Lake Victoria cichlid fish Pundamilia Ole Seehausen
10. Rapid speciation, hybridization and adaptive radiation in the Heliconius melpomene group James Mallet
11. Investigating ecological speciation Daniel J. Funk
12. Biotic interactions and speciation in the tropics Douglas W. Schemske
13. Ecological influences on the temporal pattern of speciation Albert B. Phillimore and Trevor D. Price
14. Speciation, extinction, and diversity Robert E. Ricklefs
15. Temporal patterns in diversification rates Andy Purvis, C. David L. Orme, Nicola H. Toomey and Paul N. Pearson
16. Speciation and extinction in the fossil record of North American mammals John Alroy.

Subject Areas: Conservation of wildlife & habitats [RNKH], Applied ecology [RNC]