Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations and units
- Chapter 1 The tropical environment and climate
- Chapter 2 Dry, hot deserts and environmental factors
- Chapter 3 Grasslands and primary production
- Chapter 4 Savanna and population dynamics
- Chapter 5 Lakes, energy flow and biogeochemical cycling
- Chapter 6 Rivers, floodplains and estuaries
- Chapter 7 Wetlands and succession
- Chapter 8 Tropical rain forests and biodiversity
- Chapter 9 Mountains, zonation and community gradients
- Chapter 10 Mangroves, seagrasses and decomposition
- Chapter 11 Coral reefs and community ecology
- Chapter 12 Islands, archipelagos, biogeography and evolutionary ecology
- Chapter 13 Cities and human ecology
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- References
Chapter 12 - Islands, archipelagos, biogeography and evolutionary ecology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Abbreviations and units
- Chapter 1 The tropical environment and climate
- Chapter 2 Dry, hot deserts and environmental factors
- Chapter 3 Grasslands and primary production
- Chapter 4 Savanna and population dynamics
- Chapter 5 Lakes, energy flow and biogeochemical cycling
- Chapter 6 Rivers, floodplains and estuaries
- Chapter 7 Wetlands and succession
- Chapter 8 Tropical rain forests and biodiversity
- Chapter 9 Mountains, zonation and community gradients
- Chapter 10 Mangroves, seagrasses and decomposition
- Chapter 11 Coral reefs and community ecology
- Chapter 12 Islands, archipelagos, biogeography and evolutionary ecology
- Chapter 13 Cities and human ecology
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- References
Summary
The ecological theatre and the evolutionary play.
(BOOK TITLE, HUTCHINSON 1965)The evolutionary exuberance of some island clades is impressive.
(LOSOS AND RICKLEFS 2009)Island biogeography theory has profoundly influenced the study of biogeography, ecology, and even evolution, and has also had enormous impact on conservation biology.
(LAURANCE 2010)Geographically, islands are defined as areas of land surrounded by water. This results in a degree of biological isolation – it is difficult for terrestrial organisms to colonise small islands which lie far from a large land mass. Other habitats of similar types may also be isolated from each other. Mountain tops form ‘islands in the air’ surrounded by a ‘sea’ of lowland which may form, for some species, a barrier as difficult to cross as an expanse of sea is for many terrestrial organisms. Similarly, lakes are watery ‘islands’ surrounded by land, and movement of aquatic species from one lake to another is hindered by this land barrier. Organisms that inhabit patchy habitats, such as rotting logs or dung, also face the challenge of moving from one isolated habitat to another. Rotting logs and dung piles are special islands in that the resources they provide to the organisms that colonise them dwindle with time and, therefore, these are not only isolated habitats, but also temporary.
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- Information
- Tropical Ecosystems and Ecological Concepts , pp. 395 - 426Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012