Why Does the World Stay Green? Nutrition and Survival of Plant-Eaters

About this book

Nearly every form of life has the capacity to multiply and increase at a really astonishing, indeed frightening rate. Think of plagues of locusts or mice. Clearly, for the vast majority of animals this does not happen, otherwise they would swamp the world and destroy all the plants. So why doesn't it happen, and why does the world stay green? The theory explored in this book contends that animals are not controlled through predation, but, because they cannot obtain enough of the food they have to reproduce and grow. "Why Does the World Stay Green?" explains how this comes about in nature and describes some of the many fascinating ways in which animals have evolved to cope with this usually chronic shortage of an essential resource. The author, Tom White, has been a strong influence for the last 40 years on the ecological community, presenting confronting and at times controversial theories on the limiting role that nitrogen plays in the evolution of life. "Why Does the World Stay Green?" reveals this fascinating and important ecological theory.

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