Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Studying change
- 3 Key concepts in plant evolution
- 4 The origin and extent of human-influenced ecosystems
- 5 Consequences of human influences on the biosphere
- 6 Categories
- 7 Investigating microevolution in plants in anthropogenic ecosystems
- 8 Plant microevolution in managed grassland ecosystems
- 9 Harvesting crops: arable and forestry
- 10 Pollution and microevolutionary change
- 11 Introduced plants
- 12 Endangered species: investigating the extinction process at the population level
- 13 Hybridisation and speciation in anthropogenically influenced ecosystems
- 14 Ex situ conservation
- 15 In situ conservation: within and outside reserves
- 16 Creative conservation through restoration and reintroduction
- 17 Reserves in the landscape
- 18 Climate change
- 19 Microevolution and climate change
- 20 The implications of climate change for the theory and practice of conservation
- 21 Overview
- References
- Index
21 - Overview
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Studying change
- 3 Key concepts in plant evolution
- 4 The origin and extent of human-influenced ecosystems
- 5 Consequences of human influences on the biosphere
- 6 Categories
- 7 Investigating microevolution in plants in anthropogenic ecosystems
- 8 Plant microevolution in managed grassland ecosystems
- 9 Harvesting crops: arable and forestry
- 10 Pollution and microevolutionary change
- 11 Introduced plants
- 12 Endangered species: investigating the extinction process at the population level
- 13 Hybridisation and speciation in anthropogenically influenced ecosystems
- 14 Ex situ conservation
- 15 In situ conservation: within and outside reserves
- 16 Creative conservation through restoration and reintroduction
- 17 Reserves in the landscape
- 18 Climate change
- 19 Microevolution and climate change
- 20 The implications of climate change for the theory and practice of conservation
- 21 Overview
- References
- Index
Summary
Microevolution and conservation: Darwin's insights
Darwin provided not only the major element of our present understandings of microevolution through his theory of natural selection, but also key insights into particular issues relevant to the themes of this book – the nature of species, the co-evolutionary relationships between species, the evolution of humankind, the insights into domestication processes, the vulnerability of rare species, the impact of invasive species, and the evolutionary responses to climate change etc. Also, in his approach to testing hypotheses, Darwin was a major figure in the development of experimentation. For all these contributions, and many others not mentioned here, there is cause to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species in 2009.
Cultural landscapes
Historically, the initial influence of humans on the biosphere was likely to have been very small, but, as populations migrated across the world and increased in numbers, humankind has become a major, indeed decisive, force, influencing all the world's ecosystems. In the future, human impact is certain to increase, as population growth is predicted to increase dramatically.
There has been a complex transition from a ‘natural world’, in which humans played an insignificant role, to a world of cultural landscapes, where human activities dominate. Archaeologists are discovering that areas of apparent wilderness have been subjected to major human impacts in the past. In addition, such areas are increasingly being influenced by human activities.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009