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498 BLUMEA VOL. 35,No. 2, 1991 Review R. HENGEVELD: Dynamic Biogeography. Cambridge Studies in Ecology. Cam- bridge University Press, 1990, xiv + 249 pp., illus. Hardcover. Price£30.00(US$ 54.50). ISBN 0-521-38058-8. ‘Dynamic Biogeography’ is an attemptto give biogeography itsownplace be- tween otherbiological disciplines. Hengeveld defines dynamic biogeography as an analysis and understanding ofspatial biological phenomena in termsofpast and present factors and processes. Species ranges are dynamic structures varying with changing environmentalconditions. Thebookis arranged from broadscale to finescalepatterns andprocesses, from classifications to detailedmodelsofspecies ranges. Although this bookis written from an ecological point of view, the author stresses the idea that biogeography shouldnotberestrictedtoe.g. ecological or historicalprocesses. Forthe herbarium systematistitwill beoftenimpossible towork withthe large datacollectionsneces- sary forstatistical descriptions, however. Thebookis dividedintofourparts: Part I Patternsofconcordance,in whiche.g.biogeographical classifications, pro- cedureslikesimilarity coefficientsand clustertechniques andmethodology are discussed. Part II Geographical trendsinspecies richness andbiological traits. Part III Areography: theanalysis ofspecies ranges. Herestatistical analysis isnec- essary. Part IV Species rangesandpatternsofconcordance. Heretheauthortriestoexplain thelarge scalepatterns(partI)withtheprocesses describedinpart II. The book also contains achapter in which theauthorexpresses his hope that in futurebiogeographers andecologists will accept theideathat they are workingonthe samesubject. Eachofthethreefirstparts hasasummaryandis followedby a conclusion.This, together withmany illustrating examples, make atheoreticalbook likethepresent one interestingtoread. J.Ridder-Numan
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