Book contents
- Global Resources and the Environment
- Reviews
- Global Resources and the Environment
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Figure Credits
- Part I Introduction, Dynamic Systems, and Change
- Part II People
- Part III Climates
- Part IV Landforms
- Part V Biodiversity
- 13 Biodiversity: Individual Species
- 14 Biodiversity: Communities and Landscapes
- 15 Robust and Threatened Communities and Species
- 16 Managing Biodiversity
- Part VI Water
- Part VII Agriculture
- Part VIII Energy
- Part IX Minerals
- Part X Forests
- Part XI Perspective
- Book part
- Index
- Plate Section
- References
15 - Robust and Threatened Communities and Species
from Part V - Biodiversity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2018
Book contents
- Global Resources and the Environment
- Reviews
- Global Resources and the Environment
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Figure Credits
- Part I Introduction, Dynamic Systems, and Change
- Part II People
- Part III Climates
- Part IV Landforms
- Part V Biodiversity
- 13 Biodiversity: Individual Species
- 14 Biodiversity: Communities and Landscapes
- 15 Robust and Threatened Communities and Species
- 16 Managing Biodiversity
- Part VI Water
- Part VII Agriculture
- Part VIII Energy
- Part IX Minerals
- Part X Forests
- Part XI Perspective
- Book part
- Index
- Plate Section
- References
Summary
The Earth’s terrestrial vegetation can be divided into five “floristic realms” that contain genetically different plants on animals because of past isolations of continents. The floristic realms are different sizes and contain different species numbers. Species introductions between floristic realms can lead to extinctions, especially of the smaller, weaker realm. Protecting all habitats--closed/open forests, grasslands, and deserts/tundra each occupy nearly one third world’s land. Forests seem to contain more country-endemic, endangered species than other land covers. Urban and agriculture areas occupy about fourteen percent and would not be expected to support much biodiversity. Tropical rainforest contains (estimate) the most plant and animal species, with decreasing numbers in the temperate, desert, and polar ecoregions. Species concentrations are highest in a few, small places in the world; and “biodiversity hotspots”—areas of high species extinction concerns—are distributed slightly differently. Birds and flowering plants seem to be the most threatened. Species are distribution unevenly, with some being concentrated in one part of a continent and others elsewhere.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Global Resources and the Environment , pp. 236 - 250Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018
References
Hunter, M. L. Jr. Coping with Ignorance: The Coarse-Filter Strategy for Maintaining Biodiversity. Kohm, K. A., editor. (Island Press, 1991).Google Scholar
Hunter, M. L., Jacobson, G. L., Webb, T.. Paleoecology and the Coarse‐Filter Approach to Maintaining Biological Diversity. Conservation Biology. 1988;2(4):375–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
The Nature Conservancy. Natural Heritage Program Operations Manual. (The Nature Conservancy, 1982).Google Scholar
Walter, H., Breckle, S.-W.. Walter’s Vegetation of the Earth: The Ecological Systems of the Geo-Biosphere. (Springer, 2002).Google Scholar
Snelder, T. H., Biggs, B. J.. Multiscale River Environment Classification for Water Resources Management. (Wiley Online Library, 2002 [Accessed May 21, 2017]). Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1752-1688.2002.tb04344.x/abstract.Google Scholar
Bailey, R. G.. Delineation of Ecosystem Regions. Environmental Management. 1983;7:365–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, H.. Vegetation of the Earth in Relation to Climate and the Eco-Physiological Conditions. (English Universities Press, 1973).Google Scholar
Flannery, T.. The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples. (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001).Google Scholar
Flannery, T.. The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People. (Grove Press, 2002).Google Scholar
Wade, L.. Monkey Ancestors Rafted across the Sea to North America. Science. 2016 (April 20, 2016).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jansa, S. A., Barker, F. K., Voss, R. S.. The Early Diversification History of Didelphid Marsupials: A Window into South America’s “Splendid Isolation.” Evolution. 2014;68(3):684–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simpson, G. G.. Splendid Isolation: The Curious History of South American Mammals. (Yale University Press, 1980).Google Scholar
Huston, M. A.. Biological Diversity: The Coexistence of Species. (Cambridge University Press, 1994).Google Scholar
Davis, M. B.. Late-Glacial Climate in Northern United States: A Comparison of New England and the Great Lakes Region, in Cushing, E. J., Wright, H. E., editors, Proceedings of the VII Congress of the International Association for Quaternary Research. 7. (Yale University Press, 1967), pp. 11–43.Google Scholar
McCormack, J. E., Huang, H., Knowles, L. L., et al. Encyclopedia of Islands. 2009;4:841-3.Google Scholar
White, C.. Revolution on the Range: The Rise of a New Ranch in the American West. (Island Press, 2012).Google Scholar
Lee, X., Goulden, M. L., Hollinger, D. Y., et al. Observed Increase in Local Cooling Effect of Deforestation at Higher Latitudes. Nature. 2011;479(7373):384–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
UN FAO. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000: Main Report. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2001).Google Scholar
UN FAO. State of the World’s Forests 2011. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2011).Google Scholar
Tallis, J. H.. Plant Community History: Long-Term Changes in Plant Distribution and Diversity. (Chapman and Hall, 1991).Google Scholar
Aselmann, I., Crutzen, P.. Global Distribution of Natural Freshwater Wetlands and Rice Paddies, Their Net Primary Productivity, Seasonality and Possible Methane Emissions. Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry. 1989;8(4):307–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prigent, C., Papa, F., Aires, F., et al. Changes in Land Surface Water Dynamics since the 1990s and Relation to Population Pressure. Geophysical Research Letters. 2012;39(8).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UN FAO. FAOSTAT: Download Data. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2009 [Accessed 2012 September 16, 2012]). Available from: http://faostat3.fao.org/download/.Google Scholar
Liu, Z., He, C., Zhou, Y., Wu, J.. How Much of the World’s Land Has Been Urbanized, Really? A Hierarchical Framework for Avoiding Confusion. Landscape Ecology. 2014;29(5):763–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UN FAO. FLUDE: The Forest Land Use Data Explorer. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2015 [Accessed May 25, 2016]). Available from: www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/explore-data/en/.Google Scholar
Perlin, J.. A Forest Journey: The Story of Wood and Civilization. (The Countryman Press, 2005).Google Scholar
Fickle, J. E.. Green Gold: Alabama’s Forests and Forest Industries. (University of Alabama Press, 2014).Google Scholar
Mann, C. C.. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. (Vintage Books, 2005).Google Scholar
Savage, H. Jr. Lost Heritage: Wilderness America through the Eyes of Seven Pre-Audubon Naturalists. (William Morrow, 1970).Google Scholar
Myers, N., Mittermeier, R. A., Mittermeier, C. G., Da Fonseca, G. A., Kent, J.. Biodiversity Hotspots for Conservation Priorities. Nature. 2000;403(6772):853–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Willis, K. J., Araújo, M. B., Bennett, K. D., et al. How Can a Knowledge of the Past Help to Conserve the Future? Biodiversity Conservation and the Relevance of Long-Term Ecological Studies. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2007;362(1478):175–87.Google ScholarPubMed
Mittermeier, R., Gil, R., Hoffman, M., et al. Hotspots Revisited: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions. (University of Chicago Press, 2005).Google Scholar
Zeydanli, U.. Mapping Areas for Species Protection in Turkey. Personal Communication, based on a Seminar Presentation. Dr. Zeydanli was a Fulbright Senior Fellow to Yale University, from Ankara, Turkey. (Global Institute of Sustainable Forestry, Yale University, 2016).Google Scholar
International Union for Conservation of Nature. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2016–3. 2016 (Accessed February 28, 2016). Available from: www.iucnredlist.org.Google Scholar
Grenyer, R., Orme, C. D. L., Jackson, S. F., et al. Global Distribution and Conservation of Rare and Threatened Vertebrates. Nature. 2006;444(7115):93–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed