The Biology of Biodiversity

About this book

Understanding of the biodiversity of plants, animals, and humans remains incomplete, but new multidisciplinary approaches - phylogenetic, ecological, molecular developmental, and genetic - have revealed essential underlying aspects of the science. These and other breakthroughs are presented in the papers collected here from scientists at the forefront of biodiversity research.

Contents

Contents: Part 1. Species Diversity and Phylogeny: The Origin of Reproductive Isolation: Biological Mechanisms of Genetic Incompatibility (K. Sawamura).- A Molecular Perspective on the Conservation of Diversity (C. Moritz).- Molecular Phylogeny and Adaptive Radiation in East African Cichlid Fishes (M. Nishida).- Molecular Evolution and Adaptive Radiation in the Hawaiian Lobelioids (T.J. Givnish).- Molecular Taxonomy of Morphologically Simple Ferns (N. Murakami).- Phylogenetic Analyses of Large Data Sets: Alternative Approaches with Examples from the Angiosperms (E. Soltis).- Part 2. Ecological Biodiversity: The Theory and Practice of the Science of Biodiversity. A Personal Assessment (Otto T. Solbrig).- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Processes: Achievements and Future Directions (J.H. Lawton).- Creeping "Fruitless Falls": Reproductive Failure in Heterostylous Plants in Fragmented Landscapes (I. Washitani).- Population Persistence and Community Diversity in a Naturally Patchy Landscape: Plants on Serpentine Soils (S. Harrison).- Mechanisms That Sustain the Most Species Rich Plant Communities: the Balance between Chance and Determinism (P.S. Ashton).- Functional Differentiation and Positive Feedbacks Enhancing Plant Biodiversity (T. Kohyama).- Part 3. Development and Evolution: Hox Genes and the Diversity of Arthropod Body Plants (M. Akam).- Developmental Mechanisms Underlying the Origin and Evolution of Chordates (N. Satoh).- Leaf Development in Vascular Plants (N.R. Sinha).- Evolution of Reproductive Organs in Vascular Plants (M. Hasebe).- Part 4. Genetic Biodiversity: Genetic Diversity of Color Vision in Primates (W.H. Li).- Avian Evolution during the Pleistocene (R.M. Zink).- Genetic Diversity of Human Populations in East Asia (K. Omoto).- Human Diversity and Its History (H. Harpending).

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