Plant Geography of Chile Plant and Vegetation

The first and so far only Plant Geography of Chile was written about 100 years ago, since when many things have changed: plants have been renamed and reclassified; taxonomy and systematics have experienced deep changes as have biology, geography, and biogeography. The time is therefore ripe for a new look at Chile’s plants and their distribution. Focusing on three key issues – botany/systematics, geography and biogeographical analysis – this book presents a thoroughly updated synthesis both of Chilean plant geography and of the different approaches to studying it. Because of its range – from the neotropics to the temperate sub-Antarctic – Chile’s flora provides a critical insight into evolutionary patterns, particularly in relation to the distribution along the latitudinal profiles and the global geographical relationships of the country’s genera. The consequences of these relations for the evolution of the Chilean Flora are discussed. This book will provide a valuable resource for both graduate students and researchers in botany, plant taxonomy and systematics, biogeography, evolutionary biology and plant conservation. Front Matter....Pages i-xxi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Extravagant Physical Geography of Chile....Pages 3-45 Getting Geobotanical Knowledge....Pages 47-84 Front Matter....Pages 85-85 Geographical Relations of the Chilean Flora....Pages 87-128 Biogeographic Regionalization....Pages 129-150 Front Matter....Pages 151-151 Pacific Offshore Chile....Pages 153-179 Islands on the Continent: Conservation Biogeography in Changing Ecosystems....Pages 181-194 Front Matter....Pages 195-195 Cactaceae, a Weird Family and Postmodern Evolution....Pages 197-220 Asteraceae, Chile’s Richest Family....Pages 221-247 Nothofagus, Key Genus in Plant Geography....Pages 249-266 Front Matter....Pages 267-267 All the Possible Worlds of Biogeography....Pages 269-291 Epilogue: The Juan Fernández Islands and the Long-Distance Dispersal of Utopia....Pages 293-294 Back Matter....Pages 295-343 By Andres Moreira-muñoz. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.