EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book Amphibian and Reptile Road Ecology

Download or read book Amphibian and Reptile Road Ecology written by Cheryl S. Brehme and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2024-05-21 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roads may threaten the persistence of wildlife populations by acting as barriers to movement and/or sources of increased mortality across the landscape. Amphibians and reptiles have been identified as being particularly susceptible to negative road impacts. Many species migrate annually among habitats to support basic life history requirements such as breeding, development, foraging, and overwintering. For these species, individuals may need to successfully cross roads multiple times each year for the population to persist. Many are slow-moving and freeze in the presence of danger, making it almost impossible for them to avoid oncoming vehicles. Although there are a plethora of road mortality location and count data, the effects of road mortality on the long-term viability of amphibian and reptile populations and metapopulations are mostly unknown due to a lack of information on their abundance, vital rates, behavior, and spatial and temporal dynamics.

Book The Natterjack Toad

Download or read book The Natterjack Toad written by Trevor John Clark Beebee and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Book Atlante degli anfibi e dei rettili d Italia

Download or read book Atlante degli anfibi e dei rettili d Italia written by Roberto Sindaco and published by Edizioni Polistampa. This book was released on 2006 with total page 802 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Atlas of Italian Amphibians and Reptiles presents the distribution, ecology and conservation status of the 37 species of amphibians and the 50 species of reptiles found in Italy. A 10x10 km UTM grid map is supplied for each species, on the basis of more than 70.000 records contributed by 900 collaborators during the Societas Herpetologica Italica survey project, started in 1994. Entries, illustrated with photos, are subdivided into the following headings: taxonomy, general distribution, comments on the distribution map, habitat, altitudinal distribution, annual activity cycle, reproduction and status of the Italian populations. General sections on biogeography, history of herpetology in Italy, paleoherpetology and herpetological fauna of the small Italian islands are also included. Italian and English text.

Book Amphibian Evolution

    Book Details:
  • Author : Rainer R. Schoch
  • Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
  • Release : 2014-03-19
  • ISBN : 1118759133
  • Pages : 564 pages

Download or read book Amphibian Evolution written by Rainer R. Schoch and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-03-19 with total page 564 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the first vertebrates to conquer land and their long journey to become fully independent from the water. It traces the origin of tetrapod features and tries to explain how and why they transformed into organs that permit life on land. Although the major frame of the topic lies in the past 370 million years and necessarily deals with many fossils, it is far from restricted to paleontology. The aim is to achieve a comprehensive picture of amphibian evolution. It focuses on major questions in current paleobiology: how diverse were the early tetrapods? In which environments did they live, and how did they come to be preserved? What do we know about the soft body of extinct amphibians, and what does that tell us about the evolution of crucial organs during the transition to land? How did early amphibians develop and grow, and which were the major factors of their evolution? The Topics in Paleobiology Series is published in collaboration with the Palaeontological Association, and is edited by Professor Mike Benton, University of Bristol. Books in the series provide a summary of the current state of knowledge, a trusted route into the primary literature, and will act as pointers for future directions for research. As well as volumes on individual groups, the series will also deal with topics that have a cross-cutting relevance, such as the evolution of significant ecosystems, particular key times and events in the history of life, climate change, and the application of a new techniques such as molecular palaeontology. The books are written by leading international experts and will be pitched at a level suitable for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers in both the paleontological and biological sciences.

Book Migration of Organisms

    Book Details:
  • Author : Ashraf M.T. Elewa
  • Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
  • Release : 2005-12-14
  • ISBN : 3540266046
  • Pages : 339 pages

Download or read book Migration of Organisms written by Ashraf M.T. Elewa and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2005-12-14 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do some animals migrate? How does migration affect the gene pool? This book discusses these questions and more, in light of the high evolutionary costs and risks of mass movement. The editor presents a collection of topics explaining the migration of organisms through many examples of different groups of marine and non-marine organisms, from micro-invertebrates to large mammals.

Book Animals and Temperature

    Book Details:
  • Author : Ian A. Johnston
  • Publisher : Cambridge University Press
  • Release : 2008-02-14
  • ISBN : 9780521050616
  • Pages : 436 pages

Download or read book Animals and Temperature written by Ian A. Johnston and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-02-14 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Organisms are continually challenged to regulate and maintain functional capacities as their thermal environment changes. Adjustment to temperature change is evident both phenotypically in individual organisms and genotypically in the evolution of species. This volume addresses thermal adaptation by bringing together many of the leading researchers in thermal biology, with backgrounds spanning the disciplines of molecular biology, cell biology, physiology, zoology, ecology and evolutionary biology. The responses of many species to temperature are discussed in depth, through the molecular, cellular, organismal, population, and ecosystem levels. This text stands as an important contribution to the study of temperature adaptation.

Book Phylogeography of Southern European Refugia

Download or read book Phylogeography of Southern European Refugia written by Steven Weiss and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-06-04 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides the first synthesis of the remarkable diversity, evolutionary complexity, and conservation importance of the flora and fauna in the Mediterranean region, with emphasis on the three major peninsular refugia. The book highlights biodiversity importance in Southern Europe for European biota conservation, and includes chapters from authorities in phylogeography: John Avise, Remy Petit, Ettore Randi.

Book Genetic Management of Fragmented Animal and Plant Populations

Download or read book Genetic Management of Fragmented Animal and Plant Populations written by Richard Frankham and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the greatest unmet challenges in conservation biology is the genetic management of fragmented populations of threatened animal and plant species. More than a million small, isolated, population fragments of threatened species are likely suffering inbreeding depression and loss of evolutionary potential, resulting in elevated extinction risks. Although these effects can often be reversed by re-establishing gene flow between population fragments, managers very rarely do this. On the contrary, genetic methods are used mainly to document genetic differentiation among populations, with most studies concluding that genetically differentiated populations should be managed separately, thereby isolating them yet further and dooming many to eventual extinction Many small population fragments are going extinct principally for genetic reasons. Although the rapidly advancing field of molecular genetics is continually providing new tools to measure the extent of population fragmentation and its genetic consequences, adequate guidance on how to use these data for effective conservation is still lacking. This accessible, authoritative text is aimed at senior undergraduate and graduate students interested in conservation biology, conservation genetics, and wildlife management. It will also be of particular relevance to conservation practitioners and natural resource managers, as well as a broader academic audience of conservation biologists and evolutionary ecologists.

Book Extinction in Our Times

    Book Details:
  • Author : James P. Collins
  • Publisher : Oxford University Press
  • Release : 2009-07-07
  • ISBN : 0199717885
  • Pages : 296 pages

Download or read book Extinction in Our Times written by James P. Collins and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-07 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over 350 million years, thousands of species of amphibians have lived on earth, but since the 1990s they have been disappearing at an alarming rate, in many cases quite suddenly and mysteriously. What is causing these extinctions? What role do human actions play in them? What do they tell us about the overall state of biodiversity on the planet? In Extinction in Our Times, James Collins and Martha Crump explore these pressing questions and many others as they document the first modern extinction event across an entire vertebrate class, using global examples that range from the Sierra Nevada of California to the rainforests of Costa Rica and the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. Joining scientific rigor and vivid storytelling, this book is the first to use amphibian decline as a lens through which to see more clearly the larger story of climate change, conservation of biodiversity, and a host of profoundly important ecological, evolutionary, ethical, philosophical, and sociological issues.

Book Evolutionary Conservation Genetics

Download or read book Evolutionary Conservation Genetics written by Jacob Höglund and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2009-03-19 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conservation genetics focuses on understanding the role and requirement of genetic variation for population persistence. However, considerable debate now surrounds the role of genetic factors (as opposed to non-genetic factors such as habitat destruction etc.) in population extinction, and a comprehensive synthesis is now timely. Can extinction be explained by habitat destruction alone or is lack of genetic variation a part of the explanation? The book thoroughly reviews the arguments for a role of genetics in the present biodiversity crisis. It describes the methods used to study genetic variation in endangered species and examines the influence of genetic variation in the extinction of species. To date, conservation genetics has predominantly utilized neutral genetic markers e.g. microsatellites. However, with the recent advances in molecular genetics and genomics it will soon be possible to study 'direct gene action', following the fate of genetic variation at the level of DNA, through expression, to proteins in order to determine how such phenotypes fare in populations of free living organisms. Evolutionary Conservation Genetics explores these exciting avenues of future research potential, integrating ecological quantitative genetics with the new genome science. It is now more important than ever that we ask relevant questions about the evolutionary fate of endangered populations throughout the globe and incorporate our knowledge of evolutionary processes and the distribution of genetic diversity into effective conservation planning and action.

Book Fundamentals of Biogeography

Download or read book Fundamentals of Biogeography written by Richard John Huggett and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-08-02 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fundamentals of Biogeography presents an accessible, engaging and comprehensive introduction to biogeography, explaining the ecology, geography, history and conservation of animals and plants. Starting with an outline of how species arise, disperse, diversify and become extinct, the book examines: how environmental factors (climate, substrate, topography, and disturbance) influence animals and plants; investigates how populations grow, interact and survive; how communities form and change; and explores the connections between biogeography and conservation. The second edition has been extensively revised and expanded throughout to cover new topics and revisit themes from the first edition in more depth. Illustrated throughout with informative diagrams and attractive photos and including guides to further reading, chapter summaries and an extensive glossary of key terms, Fundamentals of Biogeography clearly explains key concepts in the history, geography and ecology of life systems. In doing so, it tackles some of the most topical and controversial environmental and ethical concerns including species over-exploitation, the impacts of global warming, habitat fragmentation, biodiversity loss and ecosystem restoration.

Book Biodiversity Hotspots

    Book Details:
  • Author : Frank E. Zachos
  • Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
  • Release : 2011-09-15
  • ISBN : 3642209920
  • Pages : 550 pages

Download or read book Biodiversity Hotspots written by Frank E. Zachos and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-09-15 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biodiversity and its conservation are among the main global topics in science and politics and perhaps the major challenge for the present and coming generations. This book written by international experts from different disciplines comprises general chapters on diversity and its measurement, human impacts on biodiversity hotspots on a global scale, human diversity itself and various geographic regions exhibiting high levels of diversity. The areas covered range from genetics and taxonomy to evolutionary biology, biogeography and the social sciences. In addition to the classic hotspots in the tropics, the book also highlights various other ecosystems harbouring unique species communities including coral reefs and the Southern Ocean. The approach taken considers, but is not limited to, the original hotspot definition sensu stricto and presents a chapter introducing the 35th hotspot, the forests of East Australia. While, due to a bias in data availability, the majority of contributions on particular taxa deal with vertebrates and plants, some also deal with the less-studied invertebrates. This book will be essential reading for anyone involved with biodiversity, particularly researchers and practitioners in the fields of conservation biology, ecology and evolution.

Book Tadpoles

    Book Details:
  • Author : Roy W. McDiarmid
  • Publisher : University of Chicago Press
  • Release : 1999-11
  • ISBN : 9780226557625
  • Pages : 476 pages

Download or read book Tadpoles written by Roy W. McDiarmid and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1999-11 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our own juvenile stage, many of us received our wide-eyed introduction to the wonders of nature by watching the metamorphosis of swimming tadpoles into leaping frogs and toads. The recent alarming declines in amphibian populations worldwide and the suitability of amphibians for use in answering research questions in disciplines as diverse as molecular systematics, animal behavior, and evolutionary biology have focused enormous attention on tadpoles. Despite this popular and scientific interest, relatively little is known about these fascinating creatures. In this indispensable reference, leading experts on tadpole biology relate what we currently know about tadpoles and what we might learn from them in the future. Tadpoles provides detailed summaries of tadpole morphology, development, behavior, ecology, and environmental physiology; explores the evolutionary consequences of the tadpole stage; synthesizes available information on their biodiversity; and presents a standardized terminology and an exhaustive literature review of tadpole biology.

Book Polyploidy and Genome Evolution

Download or read book Polyploidy and Genome Evolution written by Pamela Soltis and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-10-03 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Polyploidy – whole-genome duplication (WGD) – is a fundamental driver of biodiversity with significant consequences for genome structure, organization, and evolution. Once considered a speciation process common only in plants, polyploidy is now recognized to have played a major role in the structure, gene content, and evolution of most eukaryotic genomes. In fact, the diversity of eukaryotes seems closely tied to multiple WGDs. Polyploidy generates new genomic interactions – initially resulting in “genomic and transcriptomic shock” – that must be resolved in a new polyploid lineage. This process essentially acts as a “reset” button, resulting in genomic changes that may ultimately promote adaptive speciation. This book brings together for the first time the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of polyploid genome evolution with syntheses of the patterns and processes of genome evolution in diverse polyploid groups. Because polyploidy is most common and best studied in plants, the book emphasizes plant models, but recent studies of vertebrates and fungi are providing fresh perspectives on factors that allow polyploid speciation and shape polyploid genomes. The emerging paradigm is that polyploidy – through alterations in genome structure and gene regulation – generates genetic and phenotypic novelty that manifests itself at the chromosomal, physiological, and organismal levels, with long-term ecological and evolutionary consequences.

Book Networks of Invasion  A Synthesis of Concepts

Download or read book Networks of Invasion A Synthesis of Concepts written by and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2017-01-19 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Networks of Invasion bridges a conceptual gap between ecological network studies and invasion biology studies. This book contains chapters detailing pressing concerns regarding invasive species in food webs, but also extends the idea of networks of invasion to other systems, such as mutualistic networks or even the human microbiome. Chapters describe the tools, models, and empirical methods adapted for tackling invasions in ecological networks. Contains chapters detailing pressing concerns regarding invasive species in food webs Deals with topical and important reviews on the physiology, populations, and communities of plants and animals