Peter H. Raven - Böcker

It has long been recognized that plants and animals profoundly affect one another’s characteristics during the course of evolution. However, the importance of coevolution as a dynamic process involving such diverse factors as chemical communication, population structure and dynamics, energetics, and the evolution, structure, and functioning of ecosystems has been widely recognized for a comparatively short time. Coevolution represents a point of view about the structure of nature that only began to be fully explored in the late twentieth century. The papers presented here herald its emergence as an important and promising field of biological research.Coevolution of Animals and Plants is the first book to focus on the dynamic aspects of animal-plant coevolution. It covers, as broadly as possible, all the ways in which plants interact with animals. Thus, it includes discussions of leaf-feeding animals and their impact on plant evolution as well as of predator-prey relationships involving the seeds of angiosperms. Several papers deal with the most familiar aspect of mutualistic plant-animal interactions-pollination relationships. The interactions of orchids and bees, ants and plants, and butterflies and plants are discussed. One article provides a fascinating example of more indirect relationships centered around the role of carotenoids, which are produced by plants but play a fundamental part in the visual systems of both plants and animals.Coevolution of Animals and Plants provides a general conceptual framework for studies on animal-plant interaction. The papers are written from a theoretical, rather than a speculative, standpoint, stressing patterns that can be applied in a broader sense to relationships within ecosystems.Contributors to the volume include Paul Feeny, Miriam Rothschild, Christopher Smith, Brian Hocking, Lawrence Gilbert, Calaway Dodson, Herbert Baker, Bernd Heinrich, Doyle McKey, and Gordon Frankie.

What is the origin of the universe?  How did life appear on Earth and why was much of that life destroyed at various times in Earth's history?  In this book four noted scientists—physicist Alan H. Guth, astronomer George Wetherill, biologist Lynn Margulis, and paeleobiologist David Raup— propose answers to these questions, discussing the newest developments in some exciting areas of current research."Comprises four excellent essays. . . . The authors of this book seek to elucidate the remote, unusual events that most influenced the history of the cosmos and the earth. They describe alternative models and the evidence on which these models are based."—Laurie R. Godfrey, Science Books and Films"For a scientist who specializes in cosmology and earth history, this book is a worthwhile documentation of the opinions of four very different scientists."—G. Ledyard Stebbins, BioScience"Beginning with a tracing of the universe back to its beginnings, this fascinating little book presents the current state of knowledge and recent theories relating to the origins of the universe, our earth and life on earth. The last chapter explores extinction in our geologic past. Written by distinguished scientists, all papers attempt to establish patterns that may characterize other planets as well as our own."—New Technical Books

From earliest times, human beings have noticed patterns in nature: night and day, tides and lunar cycles, the changing seasons, plant succession, and animal migration. While recognizing patterns conferred great survival advantage, we are now in danger from our own success in multiplying our numbers and altering those patterns for our own purposes. It is imperative that we engage again with the patterns of nature, but this time, with awareness of our impact as a species. How will burgeoning human populations affect the health of ecosystems? Is loss of species simply a regrettable byproduct of human expansion? Or is the planet passing into a new epoch in just a few human generations? Nature and Human Society presents a wide-ranging exploration of these and other fundamental questions about our relationship with the environment. This book features findings, insights, and informed speculations from key figures in the field: E.O. Wilson, Thomas Lovejoy, Peter H. Raven, Gretchen Daily, David Suzuki, Norman Myers, Paul Erlich, Michael Bean, and many others.This volume explores the accelerated extinction of species and what we stand to lose--medicines, energy sources, crop pollination and pest control, the ability of water and soil to renew itself through biological processes, aesthetic and recreational benefits--and how these losses may be felt locally and acutely. What are the specific threats to biodiversity? The book explores human population growth, the homogenization of biota as a result in tourism and trade, and other factors, including the social influences of law, religious belief, and public education. Do we have the tools to protect biodiversity? The book looks at molecular genetics, satellite data, tools borrowed from medicine, and other scientific techniques to firm up our grasp of important processes in biology and earth science, including the "new" science of conservation biology. Nature and Human Society helps us renew our understanding and appreciation for natural patterns, with surprising details about microorganisms, nematodes, and other overlooked forms of life: their numbers, pervasiveness, and importance to the health of the soil, water, and air and to a host of human endeavors.This book will be of value to anyone who believes that the world's gross natural product is as important as the world's gross national product.

The late Navjot Sodhi conceived this book as a way of bringing to the forefront of our conservation planning for the tropics the views of people who were actually working and living there.  In its 31 chapters, 55 authors present their views on the conservation problems they face and how they deal with them.  Effective long term conservation in the tropics requires the full participation of local people, organizations and governments. The human population of tropical countries is expected to grow by more than 2.5 billion people over the next several decades, with expectations of increased consumption levels growing even more rapidly than population levels; clearly there will be a need for more trained conservationists and biologists.  Significant levels of local involvement are essential to conservation success, with the rights of local people fully recognized, protected and fostered by governmental and international assistance.  Overarching conservation plans are necessary, but cannot in themselves lead to success.    The individual experiences presented in the pages of this book will provide useful models that may serve to build better and more sustainable lives for the people who live in the tropics and lead to the continued survival of as many species and functioning ecosystems as possible.

Environment, Tenth Edition helps students understand the connection between the core concepts of the Environmental Science and their daily lives. The 10th edition enhanced e-text features a rich, interactive collection of current case studies and in-text examples, which provides students with the tools to understand, apply, and think critically about environmental science. It also provides instructors with powerful tools to assess individual students progresses well as the class as a whole.

It is agreed by most scientists that there is a real possibility of mankind's being plunged into crisis around the middle of the twenty-first century because of insufficient crop production to support the explosively increasing world popula­ tion and because of serious pollution of the global environment. Plants should play the major role in alleviating this crisis. Consequently, plant science will become of crucial importance in the next century. The application of plant science to crop improvement and the pro­ duction of plants resistant to environmental pollution will be achieved through complete understanding of the basic functions of plants. Fun­ damental understanding of individual species and the evolution of plants is also important. The Botanical Society of Japan, which was established in 1882, decided to publish a series of special issues of the Botanical Magazine, Tokyo (now the Journal of Plant Research). The aim of this series was to present overviews of recent advances in various fields of plant sciences. As a result, The Botanical Society of Japan published Controlling Factors in Plant Development in 1978, Regulation of Photosynthetic Processes in 1991, and Cellular and Molecular Bio­ logy in Plant Cell Cultures in 1993. The contributions to these high-quality special issues were written by leading international scientists in each field, and these publications had a great impact worldwide.