| |
| |
| Preface | |
| |
| |
| Abbreviations and units | |
| |
| |
| |
| The tropical environment and climate | |
| |
| |
| |
| The tropics | |
| |
| |
| |
| Tropical and temperate environments | |
| |
| |
| |
| Tropical climates | |
| |
| |
| |
| Global climate change | |
| |
| |
| |
| Biogeographical regions | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Dry, hot deserts and environmental factors | |
| |
| |
| |
| Tropical deserts | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Sahara Desert and arid zones of northern Africa | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Namib Desert | |
| |
| |
| |
| Australian deserts | |
| |
| |
| |
| Environmental factors | |
| |
| |
| |
| Water" | |
| |
| |
| |
| Limiting factors and Liebig's law | |
| |
| |
| |
| Temperature | |
| |
| |
| |
| Salinity | |
| |
| |
| |
| Soils and nutrients | |
| |
| |
| |
| Environmental factors and plant and animal distributions | |
| |
| |
| |
| Desertification or land degradation? | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Grasslands and primary production | |
| |
| |
| |
| Grass structure and biology | |
| |
| |
| |
| Neotropical grasslands | |
| |
| |
| |
| Light as an energy source | |
| |
| |
| |
| Carbon dioxide uptake by plants | |
| |
| |
| |
| Photosynthesis | |
| |
| |
| |
| Photorespiration | |
| |
| |
| |
| Photosynthetic strategies | |
| |
| |
| |
| Respiration | |
| |
| |
| |
| Environmental factors and photosynthesis | |
| |
| |
| |
| Primary production | |
| |
| |
| |
| Assessment of grassland primary production | |
| |
| |
| |
| Effects of rainfall, grazing and fire on grass growth | |
| |
| |
| |
| Primary production rates in terrestrial biomes | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Savanna and population dynamics | |
| |
| |
| |
| Fire and savanna vegetation | |
| |
| |
| |
| Savannas of the world | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Serengeti | |
| |
| |
| |
| Savanna plants and heterogeneity | |
| |
| |
| |
| Animal population dynamics in the Serengeti | |
| |
| |
| |
| Herbivores and herbivory | |
| |
| |
| |
| Principles of population growth | |
| |
| |
| |
| Factors determining population density | |
| |
| |
| |
| Density-dependent mortality factors | |
| |
| |
| |
| Competition theory and the competitive exclusion principle | |
| |
| |
| |
| Predation | |
| |
| |
| |
| Density-independent mortality factors | |
| |
| |
| |
| Reproductive strategies and population growth | |
| |
| |
| |
| Population age structure and life tables | |
| |
| |
| |
| Key factor analysis | |
| |
| |
| |
| Conservation of African wildlife | |
| |
| |
| |
| Ecosystem dynamics and ecological models | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Lakes, energy flow and biogeochemical cycling | |
| |
| |
| |
| Thermal stratification | |
| |
| |
| |
| Pelagic zone production | |
| |
| |
| |
| Littoral zone producers and primary production | |
| |
| |
| |
| The catchment area concept | |
| |
| |
| |
| Aquatic consumers | |
| |
| |
| |
| The biota of tropical and temperate lakes: a comparison | |
| |
| |
| |
| Food chains and energy flow | |
| |
| |
| |
| Food chain energetics | |
| |
| |
| |
| Trophic levels | |
| |
| |
| |
| Limited length of food chains | |
| |
| |
| |
| Food chain efficiencies | |
| |
| |
| |
| Food web dynamics and trophic cascades | |
| |
| |
| |
| Biogeochemical cycles | |
| |
| |
| |
| Quantitative aspects of nutrient supply and cycling | |
| |
| |
| |
| Eutrophication | |
| |
| |
| |
| Aquatic resource management | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Rivers, floodplains and estuaries: the river continuum and flood-pulse concepts | |
| |
| |
| |
| Nile River | |
| |
| |
| |
| Purari River | |
| |
| |
| |
| Amazon River | |
| |
| |
| |
| Ecological concepts | |
| |
| |
| |
| Estuaries | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Sudd-communities of Lake Naivasha | |
| |
| |
| |
| Rooted emergent swamps of Lake Chilwa | |
| |
| |
| |
| Freshwater herbaceous wetlands: structure and function | |
| |
| |
| |
| Swamp forests | |
| |
| |
| |
| Wetland succession | |
| |
| |
| |
| Ecological succession | |
| |
| |
| |
| Community development and assembly | |
| |
| |
| |
| Wetland loss and conservation | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Tropical rain forests and biodiversity | |
| |
| |
| |
| How many species exist? | |
| |
| |
| |
| Biogeography of rainforests | |
| |
| |
| |
| Vegetation structure of tropical rain forests | |
| |
| |
| |
| Phenology and reproduction of tropical forest trees | |
| |
| |
| |
| Life-form concept of plants | |
| |
| |
| |
| Rain-forest animals | |
| |
| |
| |
| Convergent evolution | |
| |
| |
| |
| Plant-animal interactions | |
| |
| |
| |
| Co-evolution | |
| |
| |
| |
| Productivity and nutrient cycling in forests | |
| |
| |
| |
| Micro-climates and resource acquisition | |
| |
| |
| |
| Biological diversity | |
| |
| |
| |
| Why are rain forests so diverse? | |
| |
| |
| |
| Latitudinal gradients and species diversity | |
| |
| |
| |
| Gap theory | |
| |
| |
| |
| Processes maintaining local diversity | |
| |
| |
| |
| Tropical deciduous forests and ecotones | |
| |
| |
| |
| Low-diversity tropical rain forests | |
| |
| |
| |
| Deforestation | |
| |
| |
| |
| Rain-forest conservation and restoration | |
| |
| |
| |
| Biodiversity conservation | |
| |
| |
| |
| Mountains, zonation and community gradients | |
| |
| |
| |
| Environmental factors and altitude | |
| |
| |
| |
| Zonation on tropical mountains | |
| |
| |
| |
| Vegetation zonation on Mount Wilhelm, Papua New Guinea | |
| |
| |
| |
| Zonation in the Andes | |
| |
| |
| |
| Plant and animal ecophysiology: examples from Mount Kenya | |
| |
| |
| |
| Mountain zonation | |
| |
| |
| |
| Variation in plant and animal communities | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Mangroves, seagrasses and decomposition | |
| |
| |
| |
| Mangrove biogeography | |
| |
| |
| |
| Mangroves of New Guinea | |
| |
| |
| |
| Ecological adaptations of mangroves | |
| |
| |
| |
| Mangrove animals | |
| |
| |
| |
| Mangrove productivity | |
| |
| |
| |
| Seagrasses | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coastal vegetation and organic matter export | |
| |
| |
| |
| Decomposition | |
| |
| |
| |
| Decomposition rates and environmental factors | |
| |
| |
| |
| Detritus food chains | |
| |
| |
| |
| Decomposition in other tropical systems | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coastal zone management | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coral reefs and community ecology | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coral reef communities | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coral biology | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coral reefs | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coral reef algae | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coral reef animals | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coral reef biogeography and biodiversity | |
| |
| |
| |
| Community ecology | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coral reef communities and phase shifts | |
| |
| |
| |
| Coral reef management and conservation | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Islands, archipelagos, biogeography and evolutionary ecology | |
| |
| |
| |
| Krakatau | |
| |
| |
| |
| Dispersal | |
| |
| |
| |
| Colonisation and community assembly | |
| |
| |
| |
| Island biogeography | |
| |
| |
| |
| Natural selection and evolution | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Galapagos Archipelago | |
| |
| |
| |
| Speciation | |
| |
| |
| |
| The Hawaiian Archipelago | |
| |
| |
| |
| Extinction | |
| |
| |
| |
| Exotic species on islands | |
| |
| |
| |
| Community ecology and evolution | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| |
| Cities and human ecology | |
| |
| |
| |
| Tropical cities | |
| |
| |
| |
| Evolution of human societies | |
| |
| |
| |
| World population growth | |
| |
| |
| |
| Food production | |
| |
| |
| |
| Industrialisation, natural resource use and pollution | |
| |
| |
| |
| Human population growth: consequences and solutions | |
| |
| |
| |
| Sustainable development | |
| |
| |
| |
| Conclusions | |
| |
| |
| Summary | |
| |
| |
| Glossary | |
| |
| |
| References | |
| |
| |
| Index | |