Biotic crises in ecological and evolutionary time : [proceedings of the Third Annual Spring Systematics Symposium ... held at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, May 10, 1980

Biotic Crises in Ecological and Evolutionary Time emerged from the third Field Museum Spring Systematic Symposium held in May 1980. The symposium attempted to explore the nature and effects of crisis over as wide a range of temporal and spatial scales as possible. To this end, contributions were included from such diverse fields as astronomy, paleobiology, ecology, and anthropology. The kinds of crises considered ranged from events in the cosmological history of the universe all the way to the effects of a single introduced species on a present-day living community. The book begins by providing a definition of ""crisis"" and a general discussion of methods and approaches to the study of crises. The subsequent chapters present studies on topics such as the physical mechanisms underlying the cosmological framework in which life evolved; physical disturbance in the life of plants; the impact of species introductions; and evolutionary aspects of pre- and post-interchange fossil land mammal faunas in South America. Content: Academic Press Rapid Manuscript Reproduction , Page ii Front Matter , Page iii Copyright , Page iv CONTRIBUTORS , Page vii PREFACE , Page ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS , Page xi , M.H.N. INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS A CRISIS? , Pages 1-12 , David M. Raup THE ASTROPHYSICAL FRAMEWORK OF LIFE , Pages 13-37 , David N. Schramm PHYSICAL DISTURBANCE IN THE LIFE OF PLANTS , Pages 39-52 , Hugh M. Raup COMMUNITY EFFECTS OF INTRODUCED SPECIES , Pages 53-81 , Daniel Simberloff THE PRE-PHANEROZOIC BIOSPHERE - THREE BILLION YEARS OF CRISES AND OPPORTUNITIES , Pages 83-102 , Stanley M. Awramik CLIMATIC OSCILLATIONS IN THE BIOSPHERE , Pages 103-131 , Alfred G. Fischer THE GREAT AMERICAN INTERCHANGE – AN INVASION INDUCED CRISIS FOR SOUTH AMERICAN MAMMALS , Pages 133-229 , Larry G. Marshall LIVING WITH CRISES: HUMAN PERCEPTION OF PROCESS AND TIME , Pages 231-267 , Michael E. Moseley, Robert A. Feldman, Charles R. Ortloff LISTENING TO A SYMPOSIUM - A SUMMARY AND PROSPECTUS , Pages 269-288 , Lawrence B. Slobodkin AUTHOR INDEX , Pages 289-292 SUBJECT INDEX , Pages 293-301