Why do we find polar bears only in the Arctic and penguins only in the Antarctic? Why do oceanic islands often have many types of birds but no large native mammals? As Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace travelled across distant lands studying the wildlife they both noticed that the distribution of plants and animals formed striking patterns - patterns that held strong clues to the past of the planet. The study of the spatial distribution of living things is known as biogeography. It is a field that could be said to have begun with Darwin and Wallace. In this lively book, Denis McCarthy tells the story of biogeography, from the 19th century to its growth into a major field of interdisciplinary research in the present day. It is a story that encompasses two great, insightful theories that were to provide the explanations to the strange patterns of life across the world - evolution, and plate tectonics. We find animals and plants where we do because, over time, the continents have moved, separating and coalescing in a long, slow dance; because sea levels have risen, cutting off one bit of land from another, and fallen, creating land bridges; because new and barren volcanic islands have risen up from the sea; and because animals and plants vary greatly in their ability to travel, and separation has caused the formation of new species. The story of biogeography is the story of how life has responded and has in turn altered the ever changing Earth. It is a narrative that includes many fascinating tales - of pygmy mammoths and elephant birds; of changing landscapes; of radical ideas by bold young scientists first dismissed and later, with vastly growing evidence, widely accepted. The story is not yet done: there are still questions to be answered and biogeography is a lively area of research and debate. But our view of the planet has been changed profoundly by biogeography and its related fields: the emerging understanding is of a deeply interconnected system in which life and physical forces interact dynamically in space and time.

Remote sensing is becoming an increasingly important tool for agriculturalists, ecologists, and land managers for the study of Earth's agricultural and natural vegetation, and can be applied to further our understanding of key environmental issues, including climate change and ecosystem management.
This timely introduction offers an accessible yet rigorous treatment of the basics of remote sensing at all scales, illustrating its practical application to the study of vegetation. Despite a quantitative approach, the advanced mathematics and complex models common in modern remote sensing literature is demystified through clear explanations that emphasise the key underlying principles, and the core physical aspects are explained in the biological context of vegetation and its adaptation to its specific environment.
Various techniques and instruments are addressed, making this a valuable source of reference, and the advantages and disadvantages of these are further illustrated through worked examples and case studies.
DT Rigorous physical and mathematical principles presented in a way readily understood by those without a strong mathematical background
DT Boxes throughout summarize key information and concepts
DT The student is directed to carefully chosen further reading articles, allowing them to explore key topics in more detail
Online Resource Centre
The Online Resource Centre to accompany Remote Sensing of Vegetation features:
For Students:
DT Links to useful websites
For lecturers:
DT Figures from the book in electronic format, ready to download

Though biogeography may be simply defined--the study of the geographic distributions of organisms--the subject itself is extraordinarily complex, involving a range of scientific disciplines and a bewildering diversity of approaches. For convenience, biogeographers have recognized two research traditions: ecological biogeography and historical biogeography.

This book makes sense of the profound revolution that historical biogeography has undergone in the last two decades, and of the resulting confusion over its foundations, basic concepts, methods, and relationships to other disciplines of comparative biology. Using case studies, the authors explain and illustrate the fundamentals and the most frequently used methods of this discipline. They show the reader how to tell when a historical biogeographic approach is called for, how to decide what kind of data to collect, how to choose the best method for the problem at hand, how to perform the necessary calculations, how to choose and apply a computer program, and how to interpret results.

Energy is the only universal currency. One of its many forms must be transformed into another in order for stars to shine, planets to rotate, living things to grow, and civilizations to evolve. Recognition of this universality was one of the great achievements of nineteenth-century science, yet even today there is little literature that tries to view the world broadly through the prism of energy.In this highly original book, ecologist Vaclav Smil takes the principle of universality seriously, presenting a comprehensive and integrated survey of all the forms of energy that shape our world, from the sun to the human body, from bread to microchips. Written in a scientifically sophisticated yet accessible style, Energies consists of eighty-two short essays organized under six headings: Sun and Earth, Plants and Animals, People and Food, Preindustrial Societies, Fossil-Fueled Civilization, and Motion and Information. Each essay explains the science of the energy form as well as its implications for the functioning of the universe, life, or human society. Cross-links and summary diagrams allow easy comparisons among the various levels and flows of energy.

Louisiana's Chenier Plain is a 2,200-square-mile region of marshes and oak-covered ridges (cheniers) that stretches along the Gulf of Mexico from Sabine Lake to Vermilion Bay. Its inhabitants, some 6,000 people of Cajun and other ancestries, retain strong economic and cultural ties to the land and its teeming wildlife. They call it paradise...but it is a vulnerable paradise. In this multifaceted study, Gay Gomez explores the interaction of the land, people, and wildlife of the Chenier Plain, revealing both the uniqueness of the region and the challenges it faces.

After describing the geography and history of the Chenier Plain, Gomez turns to the lifeways of its people. Drawing on their words and stories, she tells how the chenier dwellers combine modern occupations with traditional pursuits such as alligator and waterfowl hunting, fur trapping, and fishing. She shows how these traditions of wildlife use provide both economic incentives for conservation and a source of personal and place identity. This portrait of a "working wetland" reveals how wildlife use and appreciation can give rise to a stewardship that balances biological, economic, and cultural concerns in species and habitat protection.

From the ridgetops of the north to the Pinelands of the south, New Jersey's natural areas display an astonishing variety of plant life. This book--a completely revised edition of the classic Vegetation of New Jersey--enables readers to understand why the vegetation of New Jersey is what it is today and what it may become. The book portrays New Jersey as an ecosystem--its geology, topography and soil, climate, plant-plant and plant-animal relationships, and the human impact on the environment. The authors describe in detail the twelve types of plant habitats distinguished in New Jersey and suggest places to observe good examples of them. The book is amply illustrated with photographs of plant communities and individual species and maps. The appendixes provide a cross-reference between the common and scientific names of native plants of New Jersey, and hints for plant identification. Scientifically accurate yet written in a lively style, Plant Communities of New Jersey belongs on the bookshelf of every New Jerseyan who cares about the environment. Beryl Robichaud Collins has authored or coauthored seven books, including Vegetation of New Jersey and Protecting the New Jersey Pinelands, both with Rutgers University Press. She has served as senior vice president at McGraw-Hill and as a research associate in the Rutgers Institute of Coastal and Environmental Studies and member of the Graduate Faculty in the Rutgers Ecology Program. Karl H. Anderson is director of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Rancocas Nature Center in Mt. Holly. He has written extensively about New Jersey's natural history, including a checklist of New Jersey plants; and has led hundreds of botanical field trips throughout the Garden State.

Texas Range Plants offers a handy and attractive identification guide for the soil conservationist, range ecologist, amateur botanist, land appraiser, college or high school student, 4-H member or leader, and rangeland manager. The book describes and illustrates the 140 grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees that are economically important on Texas rangelands because of their important forage characteristics, poisonous attributes, or "weedy" or aggressive nature. Each plant is described in detail, in both technical and lay terminology, and depicted with a line drawing that clearly shows the plant's gross morphology and the characteristics necessary for identification. Latin and common names, habitat, longevity, season, origin, value to wildlife and livestock, and growth characteristics are listed for each plant. In addition, any poisonous properties are included, along with items of special interest and folklore about the plants. Additional illustrations detailing various types of plant parts and characteristics and a complete glossary to the technical terminology make this book a valuable learning tool for the interested lay person and the student of botany alike. Stephan L. Hatch is professor of grass systematics and curator of the S. M. Tracy Herbarium, Texas A&M University.Jennifer Pluhar, who lives in Canyon Texas, is a range management consultant, with interests in cattle feeding and livestock investments, and a 4-H leader who has worked extensively with 4-H and FFA youth plant-identification teams. Hatch and Pluhar are in charge of the University Plant Identification Contest at the annual meetings of the international Society for Range Management.

Animal population ecology comprises the study of variations, regulation, and interactions of animal populations. This book discusses the fundamental notions and findings of animal populations on which most of the ecological studies are based. In particular, the author selects the logistic law of population growth, the nature of competition, sociality as an antithesis of competition, the mechanism underlying the regulation of populations, predator-prey interaction processes, and interactions among closely related species competing over essential resources. These are the notions that are considered to be well-established facts or principles and are regularly taught at ecology classes or introduced in standard textbooks. However, the author demonstrates that these notions are still inadequately understood, or even misunderstood, creating myths that would misguide ecologists in carrying out their studies. He delves deeply into those notions to reveal their real nature and draws a road map to the future development of ecology.

Using cases of plant migration documented by both historical and fossil evidence, Jonathan D. Sauer provides a landmark assessment of what is presently known, and not merely assumed, about the process.

Since the publication of the first edition more than thirty years ago, The Flora of Alberta has become the standard guide for naturalists, botanists, and all those interested in the wildlife of the province. It provides an inventory of 1775 known vascular plant species- ferns, conifers, and flowering plants - that are native to Alberta, or if non-native, that have become established and grow wild int he province. All are grouped according to genus and family, with descriptions of species, genera, and families.

Keys are provided to allow for the identification of all the known species, along with information on habitats in which species generally occur. The text for each species includes the chromosome number and indicates the geographical distribution in North America.

Also included are 1158 provincial distribution maps, showing the locations of native species, and two specially prepared maps of the province - one indicating the distribution of major soil groups, the other distribution of major vegetation types.

In the years since its initial publication The Flora of Alberta has been revised, updated, and considerably expanded while retaining the original format and purpose that have made it indispensable to a wide range of readers.

Geoarchaeology is traditionally concerned with reconstructing the environmental aspects of past societies using the methods of the earth sciences. The field has been steadily enriched by scholars from a diversity of disciplines and much has happened as the importance of global perspectives on environmental change has emerged. Carlos Cordova, provides a fully up-to-date account of geoarchaeology that reflects the important changes that have occurred in the past four decades. Innovative features include: the development of the human-ecological approach and the impact of technology on this approach; how the diversity of disciplines contributes to archaeological questions; frontiers of archaeology in the deep past, particularly the Anthropocene; the geoarchaeology of the contemporary past; the emerging field of ethno-geoarchaeology; the role of geoarchaeology in global environmental crises and climate change.

Not Good Enough for Canada investigates the development of Canadian immigration policy with respect to persons with a disease or disability throughout the twentieth century. With an emphasis on social history, this book examines the way the state operates through legislation to achieve its goals of self-preservation even when such legislation contradicts state commitments to equality rights. Looking at the ways federal politicians, mainstream media, and the judicial system have perceived persons with disabilities, specifically immigrant applicants with disabilities, this book reveals how Canadian immigration policy has systematically omitted any reference to this group, rendering them socially invisible.

Animals have played a fundamental role in shaping human history, and the study of their remains from archaeological sites - zooarchaeology - has gradually been emerging as a powerful discipline and crucible for forging an understanding of our past. The Oxford Handbook of Zooarchaeology offers a cutting-edge compendium of zooarchaeology the world over that transcends environmental, economic, and social approaches, seeking instead to provide a holistic view of the roles played by animals in past human cultures. Incisive chapters written by leading scholars in the field incorporate case studies from across five continents, from Iceland to New Zealand and from Japan to Egypt and Ecuador, providing a sense of the dynamism of the discipline, the many approaches and methods adopted by different schools and traditions, and an idea of the huge range of interactions that have occurred between people and animals throughout the world and its history. Adaptations of human-animal relationships in environments as varied as the Arctic, temperate forests, deserts, the tropics, and the sea are discussed, while studies of hunter-gatherers, farmers, herders, fishermen, and even traders and urban dwellers highlight the importance that animals have had in all forms of human societies. With an introduction that clearly contextualizes the current practice of zooarchaeology in relation to both its history and the challenges and opportunities that can be expected for the future, and a methodological glossary illuminating the way in which zooarchaeologists approach the study of their material, this Handbook will be invaluable not only for specialists in the field, but for anybody who has an interest in our past and the role that animals have played in forging it.

Graph theory can be applied to ecological questions in many ways, and more insights can be gained by expanding the range of graph theoretical concepts applied to a specific system. But how do you know which methods might be used? And what do you do with the graph once it has been obtained? This book provides a broad introduction to the application of graph theory in different ecological systems, providing practical guidance for researchers in ecology and related fields. Readers are guided through the creation of an appropriate graph for the system being studied, including the application of spatial, spatio-temporal, and more abstract structural process graphs. Simple figures accompany the explanations to add clarity, and a broad range of ecological phenomena from many ecological systems are covered. This is the ideal book for graduate students and researchers looking to apply graph theoretical methods in their work.

Why have island ecosystems always suffered such high rates of extinction ? In our age, with all the world's landscapes, from Tasmania to the Amazon to Yellowstone, now being carved into islandlike fragments by human activity, the implications of this question are more urgent than ever. Over the past eight years, David Quammen has followed the threads of island biogeography on a globe-encircling journey of discovery. 'Not since Gerald Durrell's books 30 years ago have I encountered such writing about the natural World. The witty, pithy, modest prose and the clever interweaving of science and storytelling are of a quality unrivalled in the field' Matt Ridley, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH. 'Quammen's heroic, demanding book is a monument to scholarly rigour and scientific accuracy. Scientists are raving about it in the States, yet the lay reader too will be borne along by his engaging intelligence, his good-natured mix of learning and humour.' Alexander Frater, OBSERVER. 'This book is vital.' John Fowles, SUNDAY TIMES.

In this innovative, wide-ranging synthesis of anthropology and biogeography, Alexander Harcourt tells how and why our species came to be distributed around the world. He explains our current understanding of human origins, tells how climate determined our spread, and describes the barriers that delayed and directed migrating people. He explores the rich and complex ways in which our anatomy, physiology, cultural diversity, and population density vary from region to region in the areas we inhabit. The book closes with chapters on how human cultures have affected each other's geographic distributions, how non-human species have influenced human distribution, and how humans have reduced the ranges of many other species while increasing the ranges of others. Throughout, Harcourt compares what we understand of human biogeography to non-human primate biogeography.

Many historians and political scientists argue that ties between Canada and Latin America have been weak and intermittent because of lack of mutual interest and common objectives. Has this record of diverging paths changed as Canada has attempted to expand its economic and diplomatic ties with the region? Has Canada become an imperialist power? Canada's Past and Future in Latin America investigates the historical origins of and more recent developments in Canadian foreign policy in the region. It offers a detailed evaluation of the Harper and Trudeau governments' approaches to Latin America, touching on political diplomacy, bilateral development cooperation, and civil society initiatives. Leading scholars of Canada-Latin America relations offer insights from unique perspectives on a range of issues, such as the impact of Canadian mining investment, security relations, democracy promotion, and the changing nature of Latin American migration to Canada. Drawing on archival research, field interviews, and primary sources, Canada's Past and Future in Latin America advances our understanding of Canadian engagement with the region and evaluates options for building stronger ties in the future.

Being a Scientist is a comprehensive introduction to the many aspects of scientific life beyond the classroom and laboratory. Written with undergraduate science majors in mind, the book covers ethics, the philosophical bases of scientific methods, library research, reading, peer review, creativity, proposal and paper writing, and oral and poster presentations. In contrast to other texts in the field, which often take a simple prescriptive approach to these topics, Being a Scientist connects them to the historical and philosophical roots of modern science, as well as the common experiences of all people. Written in a conversational style, the book makes use of metaphor, historical anecdote, and hypothetical research about everyday household questions. This approach helps undergraduates learn basic research skills without being too intimidated by the advanced concepts, vocabulary, and methods which are encountered in looking at the current scientific literature. Being a Scientist is a textbook for a semester-long course devoted to teaching research and communication skills to undergraduate science majors, but it can be adapted for use in summer research experiences, capstone research courses, and other courses throughout the undergraduate curriculum.

This book takes a non-technical approach in covering the evolution of South American mammalian fauna throughout geological history, and discusses how South America has changed due to mammalian invasions. Unlike other works on the subject, this book attempts to answer several crucial questions that often go unmentioned together in one cohesive monograph. What was the fauna like before the American interchange? What were the origins of the now-extinct groups when northern species arrived and out-competed them? How did the modern mammalian fauna come into being with such disparate animal groups? This information is given from a historical perspective throughout the book's 15 chapters, and is presented in an easily graspable fashion by mostly avoiding technical language. The book is written for academics, scientists and scholars engaged in paleontology, zoology and evolutionary biology, but may also appeal to a larger audience of general readers interested in mammalian evolution. The book begins with an introduction, describing the tools necessary to interpret the evolutionary history of South American mammals in geological terms and some of the early people who helped found South American mammalian paleontology. Chapter 2 describes the Mesozoic first mammals of Gondwana and what we are learning about them, dominant before the K/T extinction event. Then chapters 3 through 8 cover the Cenozoic, or "Age of Mammals", highlighting the major mammalian groups of South America that replaced the earlier mammals of Gondwana. These groups include the marsupials, native ungulates, the xenarthrans (armadillos, anteaters, sloths), the caviomorphs (rodents), and the platyrrhine monkeys. Chapters 9 and 10 address the Antarctic La Meseta fossils and the Colombian La Venta fossil faunal assemblages. Chapter 11 discusses the neotropical mammals that invaded the Caribbean Islands, and illustrates the influence South America has had on adjacent faunas. Chapter 12 describes the origin of the Amazon River and the role it has played in the evolution of the mammals and other flora and fauna. Chapter 13 tells the story of the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI), and chapter 14 follows this up with a discussion of the Pleistocene mammal communities and their eventual extinction. Chapter 15 concludes the text by discussing the modern mammals of South America, and how despite the extensive Pleistocene extinctions there is still a lot of mammalian diversity in South America.

Bringing together results from over 30 years of research on the Juan Fernandez Archipelago off the coast of Chile, this book offers comprehensive coverage of the plants of these special islands. Despite its remote setting in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, the Juan Fernandez Archipelago is in many ways an ideal place to ask and attempt to answer basic questions regarding the evolution of vascular plants in an oceanic island environment. By building upon a firm taxonomic base for the flora, a new level of understanding regarding evolution, biogeography, and conservation of the plants is presented. This book is an extensive investigation of the origin and evolution of the flora of an oceanic archipelago, and it serves as a valuable resource for researchers and scholars of island biology as well as for conservation biologists worldwide.