Analytical Biogeography: An Integrated Approach to the Study of Animal and Plant Distributions

578 Pages·1990·16.966 MB·English

by  A. A. Myers, P. S. Giller (auth.), Alan A. Myers, Paul S. Giller (eds.)

Analytical
Biogeography
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE STUDY
OF ANIMAL AND PLANT DISTRIBUTIONS
--Analytical-
Biogeography
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE STUDY
OF ANIMAL AND PLANT DISTRIBUTIONS
Edited by
A.A. MYERS
and
P.S. GILLER
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
First edition 1988
Reprinted as a paperback 1990
© 1988 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Chapman aud Hali in 1988
Typeset in Palatino 10/12 pt by Acorn Bookwork, Salisbury, Wiltshire
ISBN 978-0-412-40050-6
AII rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval system of
any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder and
the publisher, application for which shall be made to the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Analytical Biogeography
1. Biogeography
I. Myers, A. A. (Alan Arthur), 1942-
II. Giller P.S. (Paul Stanley), 1955-
574.9
ISBN 978-0-412-40050-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Analytical biogeography : an integrated approach to the study of animal
and plant distributions 1e ditors, A.A. Myers and P.S. Giller.
p. cm.
Bibliography: p.
lncludes index.
ISBN 978-0-412-40050-6 ISBN 978-94-009-0435-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-009-0435-4
1. Biogeography. l. Myers, Alan A. IL Giller, Paul S.
QH84.A531988
574.9-dc19 88-307
CIP
Contents
CONTRIBUTORS ix
PREFACE xi
PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION xiv
PART I BIOGEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVES
1 PROCESS, PATTERN AND SCALE IN BIOGEOGRAPHY
A.A. Myers and P.S. Giller
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Processes 4
1.3 Pattern analysis 5
1.4 Scale 10
PART II BIOGEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS
Introduction A.A. Myers and P.S. Giller 15
2 BIOGEOGRAPHIC PATTERNS: A PERCEPTUAL
OVERVIEW
B.R. Rosen
2.1 Introduction 23
2.2 Patterns 24
2.3 Approaches to biogeography 28
2.4 Aims of biogeography: a question of levels 31
2.5 Pure biogeography: the biogeographical system 36
2.6 Levels, and their implications for historical patterns 52
2.7 Summary and conclusions 53
3 SPECIES DIVERSITY
J.H. Brown
3.1 Introduction 57
3.2 Definition and measurement 58
3.3 The patterns 60
3.4 Hypotheses 68
3.5 Evaluation of hypotheses 72
3.6 Conclusions 88
vi Contents
4 RELATIONSHIP OF SPECIES NUMBER TO AREA,
DISTANCE AND OTHER VARIABLES
M. Williamson
4.1 Introduction 91
4.2 Description of the phenomena 92
4.3 Explanation of the species-area effect 99
4.4 The nature of environmental heterogeneity 106
4.5 The effect of other variables on the species-area
relationship 110
4.6 Consequences of the species-area effect 114
5 ENDEMISM: A BOT ANI CAL PERSPECTIVE
f. Major
5.1 Introduction 117
5.2 Biogeographical significance 118
5.3 A measure of endemism 120
5.4 Extent of and ecological variation in endemism 122
5.5 Endemism from various viewpoints 133
5.6 Endemism in contemporary biogeography 145
5.7 The future 146
PART III BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN BIOGEOGRAPHY
Introduction A.A. Myers and P.S. Giller 149
6 ADAPTATION
P.A. Parsons
6.1 What is adaptation? 165
6.2 Species' distributions 167
6.3 Comparisons among species 170
6.4 Mole rats-a transition to the genetic level 173
6.5 Variation within species 175
6.6 Adaptation and stressful environments 180
6.7 Conclusion 183
6.8 Summary 184
7 SPECIATION
N.H. Barton
7.1 Introduction 185
7.2 The nature of species 185
7.3 Modes of speciation 192
7.4 Biogeography and speciation 214
7.5 Conclusions 218
Contents vii
8 EXTINCTION
L. G. Marshall
8.1 Introduction 219
8.2 Diversity 221
8.3 Turnover 224
8.4 Biases affecting extinction patterns 231
8.5 Extinction patterns 234
8.6 Extinction susceptibility 240
8.7 Extinction causes and processes 241
8.8 Conclusions 250
9 ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS
T. W. Schoener
9.1 Introduction 255
9.2 Background 256
9.3 Community characteristics 269
9.4 Species' characteristics 284
9.5 Complementarities in species' distributions and
abundances: bridging the community and individual-
species approaches 288
9.6 Conclusion 295
PART IV BIOGEOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTION
Introduction A.A. Myers and P.S. Giller 301
10 REFUGIA
J.D. Lynch
10.1 Introduction 311
10.2 The Pleistocene rain forest refugia hypothesis 314
10.3 Testing strategies 324
10.4 Conclusions 341
11 PHYLOGENETIC BIOGEOGRAPHY
L.Z. Brundin
11.1 Introduction 343
11.2 Phylogenetic biogeography 348
11.3 Vicariance biogeography 348
11.4 Dispersal biogeography 356
11.5 Significance of fossils to biogeographic hypothesis 366
11.6 Conclusions 368
viii Contents
12 CLADISTIC BIOGEOGRAPHY
C.]. Humphries, P. Y. Ladiges, M. Roos and M. Zandee
12.1 Introduction 371
12.2 Cladistics and biogeography 372
12.3 Applications of cladistics to biogeography 377
12.4 Cladistic biogeography 394
12.5 Conclusions 404
13 PANBIOGEOGRAPHY: METHOD AND SYNTHESIS IN
BIOGEOGRAPHY
R. Craw
13.1 Space-time and biogeography: philosophical
considerations 405
13.2 Panbiogeography and phylogeny 407
13.3 Spatial analysis in biogeography 409
13.4 Dispersal, vicariance and panbiogeographic models of
Southern Hemisphere and New Zealand biogeography:
a comparison 417
13.5 Conclusions 434
14 FROM FOSSILS TO EARTH HISTORY: APPLIED
HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY
B.R. Rosen
14.1 Relevant parts of the biogeographical system and
overview of methods 437
14.2 Constraints 441
14.3 Methods based on distributional change 449
14.4 Methods based on originations 469
14.5 Discussion 473
14.6 Conclusions 478
15 EXPERIMENTAL ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY
A. Schoener
15.1 Introduction 483
15.2 An equilibrium theory 487
15.3 Implications of island biogeography theory 506
15.4 Summary 511
REFERENCES 513
INDEX 569
Contributors
Nick Barton Department of Genetics and Biometry, University College
London,London,UK
Jim Brown Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albu
querque, New Mexico, USA
Lars Brundin Sektionen for Entomologi Naturhistoriska, Riksmuseet,
Stockholm, Sweden
Robin Craw Entomology Division, DSIR, Auckland, New Zealand
Paul Giller Department of Zoology, University College, Cork, Ireland
Chris Humphries Department of Botany, British Museum, (Natural
History), London, UK
Pauline Ladiges Botany School, University of Melbourne, Parkville,
Victoria, Australia
John Lynch School of Life Sciences, The University of Nebraska, Lin
coln, Nebraska, USA
Jack Major Department of Botany, University of California, Davis,
California, USA
Larry Marshall Institute of Human Origins, Berkeley, California, USA
Alan Myers Department of Zoology, University College, Cork, Ireland
Peter Parsons Department of Genetics and Human Variation, LaTrobe
University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
Marco Roos Vakgroep Bijzondere Plantkunde, Rijksuniversiteit,
Utrecht, The Netherlands
Brian Rosen Department of Palaeontology, British Museum, (Natural
History), London, UK
Amy Schoener Institute of Environmental Studies, University of
Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
Thomas Schoener Department of Zoology, University of California,
Davis, California, USA
Mark Williamson Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK
Rino Zandee Institute of Theoretical Biology, University of Leiden, The
Netherlands
Preface
Biogeography may be defined simply as the study of the geographical
distribution of organisms, but this simple defmition hides the great
complexity of the subject. Biogeography transcends classical subject
areas and involves a range of scientific disciplines that includes geogra
phy, geology and biology. Not surprisingly, therefore, it means rather
different things to different people. Historically, the study of biogeogra
phy has been concentrated into compartments at separate points along a
spatio-temporal gradient. At one end of the gradient, ecological
biogeography is concerned with ecological processes occurring over short
temporal and small spatial scales, whilst at the other end, historical
biogeography is concerned with evolutionary processes over millions of
years on a large, often global scale. Between these end points lies a third
major compartment concerned with the profound effects of Pleistocene
glaciations and how these have affected the distribution of recent
organisms. Within each of these compartments along the scale gradient,
a large number of theories, hypotheses and models have been proposed
in an attempt to explain the present and past biotic distribution
patterns. To a large extent, these compartments of the subject have been
non-interactive, which is understandable from the different interests
and backgrounds of the various researchers. Nevertheless, the distribu
tions of organisms across the globe cannot be fully understood without a
knowledge of the full spectrum of ecological and historical processes.
There are no degrees in biogeography and today' s biogeographers are
primarily born out of some other discipline. As a subject, biogeography
is not generally introduced to students until third level, and even then it
is rarely taught in its own right but included as a component of a 'unit'
within classical subject areas. This is largely reflected in the increasing
number of books that have appeared in recent years under the title of
Biogeography. They range from biological or ecological primers for
geographers, through limited scope works on ecology, dispersal
biogeography or vicariance biogeography to (a very few) well structured
reviews of the field.
The present volume originated from our own feelings of despair at the
lack of available texts which attempted to draw attention to major areas
of controversy, highlight areas of possible agreement and synthesis and
integrate, in an unbiased way, the multitudinous branches of the