United States
£ GBP
Since the first edition of Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean published in 2005, there has been an immense amount of new and fascinating work on the history, ecology, and evolution of the Mediterranean flora. During this time, human impacts have continued to increase dramatically, significantly influencing both the ecology and evolution of the region's biota. This timely and comprehensive update of the original text integrates a diverse and scattered literature to produce a synthetic account of Mediterranean plant evolutionary ecology. It maintains the accessible style of its previous version whilst incorporating recent work in a new structural framework. This is not a traditional "plant science" book per se, but a novel integration of history, ecology, biogeography, and evolution, all set in the context of a dramatically increasing human footprint. There is a particular emphasis on the role of human activities as an ecological factor and their subsequent impact on plant evolution. Conversely, it demonstrates how an understanding of the evolutionary ecology of the region's flora can be used to provide insights into its future conservation and management.
Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean is aimed at all those who are interested in the biology of the Mediterranean region, whether it is taxonomy, ecology, evolution, conservation policy and management, or the regional history of its biodiversity in general. It will be of relevance and use to all graduate students and researchers of Mediterranean-type ecosystem ecology and geography, as well as professional ecologists, evolutionary biologists, conservation biologists, and environmental practitioners requiring a concise, authoritative overview of the topic.
New to this Edition:
- All chapters heavily revised and updated to reflect the enormous amount of new work on Mediterranean flora since 2005.
- Complete reworking of the first edition content plus new chapters devoted to diversification and endemism, conservation and climate change, and future perspectives.
Prelude
1: A Mediterranean history
2: The ecology and biogeography of endemism
3: The evolution of endemic plants
4: The evolution of a cultural heritage
5: Plant traits and ecological dynamics
6: Plant reproduction: ecological interactions, evolutionary change
7: Conservation in the crossroads of history
8: One of five
9: Science and nature in a changing Mediterranean world
John D. Thompson is a research director with the CNRS at the Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE) in Montpellier, France where he works on the ecology, adaptation, and conservation of Mediterranean plant biodiversity. He is President of the scientific commission for the Mercantour National Park, President of the National Parks Scientific Commission for the French National Biodiversity Agency, and member of the scientific commissions of the Mediterranean Botanical Conservancy (France) and the Calanques National Park.
Review of the first edition:
"Students and researchers of plant evolution, especially those working in Mediterranean-climate regions, will find it indispensable as a reliable reference book."
– Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 21 No.5 May 2006.
