Biogeography, Time and Place: Distributions, Barriers and Islands (Topics in Geobiology) (Topics in Geobiology)

Biogeography considers the distribution of biological units over a wide range of scales. The units range from genotypes, populations and species to families and higher taxa. Processes can be local, such as the isolation on islands due to sea-level fluctuations, or large-scale tectonic processes that separates continents and creates oceans. In all processes time is an important factor and by combining data on recent patterns with paleontological data the understanding of the distribution of extant taxa can be improved. This volume focuses on speciation due to isolation in island-like settings, and the evolution of large-scale diversity as the result of origination, maintenance and extinction.

Carbon and carbon dioxide always played an important role in the geobiosphere that is part of the Earth’s outer shell and surface environment. The book’s eleven chapters cover the fundamentals of the biogeochemical behavior of carbon near the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, minerals, waters, air-sea exchange, and inorganic and biological processes fractionating the carbon isotopes, and its role in the evolution of inorganic and biogenic sediments, ocean water, the coupling to nutrient nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, and the future of the carbon cycle in the Anthropocene.

This book is mainly a reference text for Earth and environmental scientists; it presents an overview of the origins and behavior of the carbon cycle and atmospheric carbon dioxide, and the human effects on them. The book can also be used for a one-semester course at an intermediate to advanced level addressing the behavior of the carbon and related cycles.

By thoroughly researching the fundamental principles of the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, Mackenzie and Lerman have been able to illustrate with clarity the profound impact of humans, as a biogeological agent, are having on the global carbon cycle. Never before has there been a more pressing need to understand the intricacies of the geobiosphere with respect to the cycling of planetary carbon, and this text provides the most thoroughly researched, authoritative, and definite text of the global carbon cycle that exists to date. This book is a contemporary appraisal of knowledge on the global carbon cycle and should become the standard scientific reference manual for all those involved in the fight against climate change. It is difficult to think of a more important book for one of the greatest issues facing humanity in the 21st century. Review published in J. Environm. Qual. 36: 1546 (2007, by Dr. Jeffrey P. Obbard, Division of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, Tropical Marine Science Inst. National Univ. of Singapore

Mackenzie and Lerman's book is the culmination of two splendid careers dedicated to understanding the carbon cycle. It’s everything you always wanted to know about carbon biogeochemistry past, present, and future. Lee R. Kump, Dept. of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, USA

Majestic in scope; this text builds from fundamentals to front-line research, showing the pivotal role of the carbon cycle in earth system science. Rob Raiswell, University of Leeds, UK

Using skills honed from decades of leadership in the field, Mackenzie and Lerman ably guide us along the pathways of carbon cycling in Earth’s outer layers. This is an essential journey for anyone interested in the origin and evolution of life and its fate under human influence. Tim Lyons, University of California, Riverside, USA

This book presents the multidisciplinary results of an extensive underwater excavation in north Florida which yields the most complete results of interactions between early Paleoindians and late Pleisene megafauna, especially Mammut americanum (American Mastodon), in a rich environmental context in eastern North America. It provides fundamental insights into two urgent issues: "The Peopling of the Americas"; and "The Extinction of the Megafauna". The authors describe and illustrate their unique methods of precise underwater excavations. They show how these techniques allowed them to collect a diversity of zoological, botanical and cultural material with outstanding organic preservation. This wealth of prehistoric evidence was recovered during twenty years of delving into an ancient sinkhole in the bottom of the Aucilla River. The nearly continuous sequence of fine-grained sediments, with an abundance of carbon dates, place the climatic and environmental history of this area in a global context of late glacial climatic cycles. The deepest strata produce clear evidence that the first Floridians lived and hunted here some 14,000 years ago, indicating that this southeastern culture preceded classic Clovis culture in western North America. Clever studies of stable isotopes tell that the Mastodons migrated north out of Florida into glacial terrain during the winter and spring and their digesta, which also contain steroids and epithelial cells, display a rich summer diet. The last section of the book provides a wealth of new evidence from the early Holocene about the flora and climate and how early Archaic people subsisted after the megafauna became extinct. An excellent color photo section expresses the unique setting and adventure of this project, extensively supported by National Geographic Society. "A monument of interdisciplinary scientific analysis and reporting, and absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in the early human settlement of the Americas." David G. Anderson, Department of Anthropology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA. "An excellent array of interdisciplinary studies conducted at an important site offering new and exciting clues on the origins of the First Americans" Dr. Stanford, Department of Archeology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA Global Disjunctions And Flying Insects / Rienk De Jong And Cees Van Achterberg -- Zoogeography Of Freshwater Invertebrates Of Southeast Asia, With Special Reference To Odonata / Jan Van Tol And Dirk Gassmann -- Distribution And Speciation Of Megapodes (megapodiidae) And Subsequent Development Of Their Breeding Behaviour / René W.r.j. Dekker -- The Influence Of Land Barriers On The Evolution Of Pontoniine Shrimps (crustacea, Decapoda) Living In Association With Molluscs And Solitary Ascidians / Charles H.j.m. Fransen -- Delineation Of The Indo-malayan Centre Of Maximum Marine Biodiversity : The Coral Triangle / Bert W. Hoeksema -- Fauna Development Of Larger Benthic Foraminifera In The Cenozoic Of Southeast Asia / Willem Renema -- The Role Of Spain In The Development Of The Reef Brachiopod Faunas During The Carboniferous / Cor F. Winkler Prins -- Contrasting Patterns And Mechanisms Of Extinction During The Eocene-oligocene Transition In Jamaica / Stephen K. Donovan, Roger W. Portell, And Daryl P. Domning -- Long-lived Lake Molluscs As Island Faunas : A Bivalve Perspective / Frank P. Wesselingh -- Patterns In Insular Evolution Of Mammals : A Key To Island Palaeogeography / John De Vos, Lars W. Van Den Hoek Ostende, And Gert D. Van Den Bergh -- Islands From A Snail's Perspective / E. Gittenberger -- Morphological And Genetical Differentiation Of Lizards (podarcis Bocagei And P. Hispanica) In The Ria De Arosa Archipelago (galicia, Spain) Resulting From Vicariance And Occasional Dispersal / J.w. Arntzen And P. Sá-sousa. Edited By Willem Renema. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The Neoproterozoic Era (1000–542 million years ago) is a geological period of dramatic climatic change and important evolutionary innovations. Repeated glaciations of unusual magnitude occurred throughout this tumultuous interval, and various eukaryotic clades independently achieved multicellularity, becoming more complex, abundant, and diverse at its termination. Animals made their first debut in the Neoproterozoic too. The intricate interaction among these geological and biological events is a centrepiece of Earth system history, and has been the focus of geobiological investigations in recent decades. The purpose of this volume is to present a sample of views and visions among some of the growing numbers of Neoproterozoic workers. The contributions represent a cross section of recent insights into the field of Neoproterozoic geobiology. Chapter One by Porter gives an up-- date review of Proterozoic heterotrophic eukaryotes, including fungi and various protists. Heterotrophs are key players in Phanerozoic ecosystems; indeed, most Phanerozoic paleontologists work on fossil heterotrophs. However, the fossil record of Proterozoic heterotrophs is extremely meagre. The Neoproterozoic Era (1000-542 million years ago) has become a major focus of geobiological investigations because it is a geological period characterized by dramatic climatic change and important evolutionary innovations. Repeated glaciations of unusual magnitude occurred throughout this tumultuous interval, and various eukaryotic clades independently achieved multicellularity, becoming more complex, abundant, and diverse at its termination. Animals made their first debut in the Neoproterozoic too. This volume presents a sample of views and visions among some of the growing numbers of Neoproterozoic workers. It includes a set of multidisciplinary reviews on the Neoproterozoic fossil record (animals, algae, acritarchs, protists, and trace fossils), evolutionary developmental biology of animals, molecular clock estimates of phylogenetic divergences, and Neoproterozoic chemostratigraphy and sedimentary geology. These topics are of continuing interest to geoscientists and bioscientists who are intrigued by the deep history of the Earth and its inhabitants

This book presents the multidisciplinary results of an extensive underwater excavation in north Florida. This yielded the most complete results of interactions between early Paleoindians and late Pleisene megafauna, in a rich environmental context in eastern North America. The data provides fundamental insights into "the Peopling of the Americas" and "The Extinction of the Megafauna". An excellent color photo section expresses the uniqueness of this project.

This book offers exchanges between the fields of paleontology and zoology as patterns of biodiversity have long attracted the attention of both biologists and paleontologists. It covers the development of isolated island faunas, paleogeography and zoomorphology. The book shows that patterns are not always what they seem if looked at without a spatial or temporal reference. Presents the multidisciplinary results of underwater excavation in north Florida which yields the results of interactions between early Paleoindians and late Pleistocene megafauna. This book provides fundamental insights into two urgent issues: "The Peopling of the Americas"; and "The Extinction of the Megafauna." This volume presents a sample of views and visions among some of the growing numbers of Neoproterozoic workers. It includes a set of multidisciplinary reviews on the Neoproterozoic fossil record, evolutionary developmental biology of animals, and molecular clock estimates of phylogenetic divergences. The book covers the fundamentals of the biogeochemical behavior of carbon near the Earth’s surface. It presents an overview of the origins and behavior of the carbon cycle and atmospheric carbon dioxide, and the human effects on them.