Extinctions and Invasions

Extinctions and Invasions PDF Author: Terence Patrick O'Connor
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781905119318
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Book Description
Eight thousand years ago, when the sea cut Britain off from the rest of the Continent, the island's fauna was very different: most of the animals familiar to us today were not present, whilst others, now extinct, were abundant. Over the course of millennia humans have manipulated Britain's fauna. For reasons of fear, suspicion, desire, or simply inadvertently, certain species were brought to extinction. In their place new animals were introduced: some transported purposefully by invading populations, others sent as royal gifts from far off lands, whilst several species arrived as stowaways. The story of each is fascinating, telling of the changing and multi-layered relationship between humans and animals. Drawing on new research in the fields of archaeology, ecology and history, this book examines how human society, culture, diet, lifestyles and even whole landscapes were fundamentally shaped by the animal extinctions and introductions that occurred in Britain since the last Ice Age. In its 22 chapters a wide range of mammal, bird, firsh, snail and insect species are considered. All of the chapters include new and original research presented by authors who are acknowledged experts on their specific topic. Extinctions and Invasions advances our understanding of Britain's natural history whilst dispelling the myths that have become established in both popular and academic literature. It is written in a style accessible to the general reader, whilst providing the depth of research needed by academic researchers. Extinctions and Invastions provides a valuable single source of information for archaeologists, natural historians and conservation biologists, as well as interested laypeople.

When the Invasion of Land Failed

When the Invasion of Land Failed PDF Author: George R. McGhee Jr.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231536364
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Book Description
The invasion of land by ocean-dwelling plants and animals was one of the most revolutionary events in the evolution of life on Earth, yet the animal invasion almost failed—twice—because of the twin mass extinctions of the Late Devonian Epoch. Some 359 to 375 million years ago, these catastrophic events dealt our ancestors a blow that almost drove them back into the sea. If those extinctions had been just a bit more severe, spiders and insects—instead of vertebrates—might have become the ecologically dominant forms of animal life on land. This book examines the profound evolutionary consequences of the Late Devonian extinctions and the various theories proposed to explain their occurrence. Only one group of four-limbed vertebrates exists on Earth, while other tetrapod-like fishes are extinct. This gap is why the idea of "fish with feet" seems so peculiar to us, yet such animals were once a vital part of our world, and if the Devonian extinctions had not happened, members of these species, like the famous Acanthostega and Ichthyostega, might have continued to live in our rivers and lakes. Synthesizing decades of research and including a wealth of new discoveries, this accessible, comprehensive text explores the causes of the Devonian extinctions, the reasons vertebrates were so severely affected, and the potential evolution of the modern world if the extinctions had never taken place.

In the Light of Evolution

In the Light of Evolution PDF Author: National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309444225
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 433

Book Description
Biodiversity-the genetic variety of life-is an exuberant product of the evolutionary past, a vast human-supportive resource (aesthetic, intellectual, and material) of the present, and a rich legacy to cherish and preserve for the future. Two urgent challenges, and opportunities, for 21st-century science are to gain deeper insights into the evolutionary processes that foster biotic diversity, and to translate that understanding into workable solutions for the regional and global crises that biodiversity currently faces. A grasp of evolutionary principles and processes is important in other societal arenas as well, such as education, medicine, sociology, and other applied fields including agriculture, pharmacology, and biotechnology. The ramifications of evolutionary thought also extend into learned realms traditionally reserved for philosophy and religion. The central goal of the In the Light of Evolution (ILE) series is to promote the evolutionary sciences through state-of-the-art colloquia-in the series of Arthur M. Sackler colloquia sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences-and their published proceedings. Each installment explores evolutionary perspectives on a particular biological topic that is scientifically intriguing but also has special relevance to contemporary societal issues or challenges. This tenth and final edition of the In the Light of Evolution series focuses on recent developments in phylogeographic research and their relevance to past accomplishments and future research directions.

Extinction, Fixation, and Invasion in an Ecological Niche

Extinction, Fixation, and Invasion in an Ecological Niche PDF Author: MattheW Anthony Badali
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
The competitive exclusion principle postulates that due to abiotic constraints, resource usage, inter-species interactions, and other factors, ecosystems can be divided into ecological niches, with each niche supporting only one species in steady state. Seemingly in conflict with this principle, remarkable biodiversity exists in biomes such as the human microbiome, the ocean surface, and every speck of soil. Despite their importance in human health and conservation biology, the long term dynamics, diversity, and stability of communities of multiple interacting species that occupy similar niches are still not fully understood. Biodiversity decreases as species go extinct and increases as new species establish themselves, and both extinction and invasion are moderated by interactions with other species. Classically, the theory of niches describes biodiversity, as relatively static. More recently popular, neutral theory models biodiversity as a balance of successive extinctions and invasions. Stochastic fluctuations allow mathematical models, like the neutral Moran model, to exhibit extinction. Stochasticity also connects neutral and niche theories, with Moran dynamics being one limit of a Lotka-Volterra model. The extinction times in the neutral and niche limits are qualitatively different, indicative respectively of exclusion and coexistence of two species, yet the transition between these limits has not been fully investigated. I identify the nature of the transition by calculating the mean extinction time with an arbitrarily accurate technique, discovering that competing species can coexist unless their ecological niches entirely overlap, which implies that extinction and loss of biodiversity is less common than predicted by neutral models. Biodiversity is also maintained by new species entering the system, a process I represent with a single invader in the Lotka-Volterra model and repeated immigrants into the Moran model. I demonstrate that greater niche overlap leads to longer invasion times, and less likelihood of success of an invasion attempt. With the Moran model I find the critical immigration rate at which immigrants are likely to maintain their presence in the system.

The Ecology of Animals

The Ecology of Animals PDF Author: Charles Sutherland Elton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Animal ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Book Description

When the Invasion of Land Failed

When the Invasion of Land Failed PDF Author: George R. McGhee, Jr.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231160569
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Book Description
The invasion of land by ocean-dwelling plants and animals was one of the most revolutionary events in the evolution of life on Earth, yet the animal invasion almost failed—twice—because of the twin mass extinctions of the Late Devonian Epoch. Some 359 to 375 million years ago, these catastrophic events dealt our ancestors a blow that almost drove them back into the sea. If those extinctions had been just a bit more severe, spiders and insects might have become the ecologically dominant forms of animal life on land. This book examines the profound evolutionary consequences of the Late Devonian extinctions, which shaped the composition of the modern terrestrial ecosystem. Only one group of four-limbed vertebrates now live on Earth while other tetrapod-like fishes are extinct. This gap is why the idea of “fish with feet” seems so peculiar yet these animals were once a vital part of our world.

The Invaders

The Invaders PDF Author: Pat Shipman
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674736761
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Book Description
A Times Higher Education Book of the Week Approximately 200,000 years ago, as modern humans began to radiate out from their evolutionary birthplace in Africa, Neanderthals were already thriving in Europe—descendants of a much earlier migration of the African genus Homo. But when modern humans eventually made their way to Europe 45,000 years ago, Neanderthals suddenly vanished. Ever since the first Neanderthal bones were identified in 1856, scientists have been vexed by the question, why did modern humans survive while their closest known relatives went extinct? “Shipman admits that scientists have yet to find genetic evidence that would prove her theory. Time will tell if she’s right. For now, read this book for an engagingly comprehensive overview of the rapidly evolving understanding of our own origins.” —Toby Lester, Wall Street Journal “Are humans the ultimate invasive species? So contends anthropologist Pat Shipman—and Neanderthals, she opines, were among our first victims. The relationship between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis is laid out cleanly, along with genetic and other evidence. Shipman posits provocatively that the deciding factor in the triumph of our ancestors was the domestication of wolves.” —Daniel Cressey, Nature

BUILDING FRAMEWORKS FOR UNDERSTANDING INVASIONS AND EXTINCTIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY SCIENCE

BUILDING FRAMEWORKS FOR UNDERSTANDING INVASIONS AND EXTINCTIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY SCIENCE PDF Author: Nicholas Huron
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Scientists have long been interested in mechanisms that increase and decrease biodiversity on Earth and the effects they have on organisms' interactions and functions. Global biodiversity loss is now outstripping accumulation and far exceeds expected background levels and has drawn comparisons to previous mass extinctions. The ongoing Holocene-Anthropocene extinctions differ from prior biodiversity loss, because humans have been directly implicated as major drivers of current loss-overexploitation, habitat modification and destruction, climate variability, spread of pathogens, and invasion by exotic species. Biodiversity change and especially loss can alter ecological assemblages irreversibly, which consequently can change the direction and magnitude of key ecosystem functions that organisms, including humans, rely on. Therefore, it is increasingly important to develop methods for quantifying and understanding phenomena linked to biodiversity change. In my dissertation, I develop methods to: (1) assess risk of a global-scale invasion of a pest species, (2) predict host associations for a generalist pest species, and (3) develop models to understand extinction dynamics within a clade of conservation interest. In my first chapter, I developed a framework and used it to assess a rapidly spreading regional U.S. grape pest, the spotted lanternfly planthopper (Lycorma delicatula; SLF), to spread and disrupt the global wine market. I found that SLF invasion potentials are aligned globally because important viticultural regions with suitable environments for SLF also heavily trade with invaded U.S. states. For my second chapter, I estimated host plant associations for SLF with phylogenetic imputation and predicted SLF host associations for the U.S. Many known and predicted high association host species are found in the uninvaded Midwest, Southeast, and West Coast as well as the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, where SLF is present. Should SLF spread further, these regions are likely to experience impacts to resident trees. For my third chapter, I proposed a method for detecting three non-random extinction models and used the imperiled Caribbean lizard genus Leiocephalus as a case study to test it. Past extinctions showed directional loss of larger Leiocephalus species. However, future predicted extinctions are random for body size but show stabilizing extinction of species with either smaller or larger limb and tail lengths. Shifting extinction for Leiocephalus may occur because of changing pressures that now include anthropogenic habitat loss. Altogether, these studies attest to the value of developing and evaluating approaches to describe biodiversity dynamics in the Anthropocene.

Species Invasions

Species Invasions PDF Author: Dov F. Sax
Publisher: Sinauer Associates Incorporated
ISBN: 9780878938216
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 495

Book Description
"The study of species invasions to date has focused mainly on applied aspects. This book explores the potential of invasive species studies to offer insights into fundamental research issues in ecology, evolution, conservation biology, and biogeography. Contributed chapters by provide a framework applicable to general ecological studies"--Provided by publisher.
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