Part of the worldwide biodiversity program DIVERSITAS, the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA) assesses the biological richness of high-elevation biota. GMBA's focus includes the uppermost forest regions or their substitute rangeland vegetation, the treeline ecotone, and the alpine and nival belts. Providing more than description, the GMBA explains the causes of biological richness and how diversity changes over time. Because biodiversity changes often result from human land use, part of the GMBA agenda is the assessment of land use impacts. These assessments are critical in low-latitude regions, where land use pressure on upland biota is the greatest. The chapters of Land Use Change and Mountain Biodiversity derive from a peer-review process that followed presentations offered at two GMBA workshops, one in Tanzania and the other in Bolivia. More than 50 researchers actively participated in these events, discussing information from all major mountain regions, with a particular focus on the Andes and on African mountains.

Thanks to advances in electronic archiving of biodiversity data and the digitization of climate and other geophysical data, a new era in biogeography, functional ecology, and evolutionary ecology has begun. In Data Mining for Global Trends in Mountain Biodiversity, Christian Korner, Eva M. Spehn, and a team of experts from the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment of DIVERSITAS explore two of the hottest subjects in science and technology: biodiversity and data mining. They demonstrate how to harness the scientific power of biological databases for furthering ecological and evolutionary theory. Expert contributors address two aspects of the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment. They cover how to link biodiversity data with geophysical data and how to use biodiversity data to substantiate evolutionary and ecological theory. The text provides different methodological approaches and examples of successful mining of geo-referenced data in mountain regions on various scales. It includes: Elevational and latitudinal gradients in plant diversity E-mining trends in diversity of Lepidoptera, beetles, and birds Niche modeling to explain past trends and predict future trends in mountain biodiversity Sharing biodiversity data with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Using electronic databases opens ways to manage biodiversity in a sustainable fashion, test evolutionary and ecological theories, and measure the impact of climate change on various species and its effect on conservation efforts. The information and examples presented in this book can stimulate the creative use of archive data to answer old questions with new tools, and advance knowledge and understanding of mountain biodiversity worldwide. The book highlights the benefits of and the continuing need for an increase in the amount and quality of georeferenced data provided online in order to meet the challenges of global change.

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing at an alarming rate. As global levels of CO2 increase, changes in climate, the size of polar ice-caps, and consequent changes in shorelines are anticipated. Just as important are the responses of communities of plants and animals to these dramatic changes.;This book focuses upon responses of population and communities, as well as the resulting evolutionary responses to elevated carbon dioxide levels. An international team of researchers has been assembled to explore three important impacts of elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations.;In the first section, populations are the focus because they are composed of many individual organisms and each has a slightly different genetic response to CO2. The second part of the book is devoted to community level responses. And the third segment of the book concerns the ways in which different sorts of organisms interact in CO2 rich circumstances.;A final section is devoted to theory, modelling, and concepts. By laying the scientific foundation for future studies of the continuing impact of carbon dioxide, this volume will help replace the hyperbole of anticipated impact with the