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Notes de lecture et comptes rendus
Comptes rendus

Island Biogeography; ecology, evolution, and conservation

Robert J. WHITTAKER and José María FERNÁNDEZ‑PALACIOS, (2006), Oxford University Press, 416 p.
Morteza DJAMALI
p. 111
Bibliographical reference

Robert J. WHITTAKER and José María FERNÁNDEZ‑PALACIOS, (2006), Island Biogeography, ecology, evolution, and conservation, Oxford University Press, 416 p.

Full text

1The “Island Biogeography; ecology, evolution, and conservation” is an excellent textbook for the island biology. After a brief chapter “The natural laboratory paradigm”, in which the structure of the book is described, the second chapter gives a comprehensive description of the physical characteristics of the islands; their origin, formation, geological evolution, and natural physical disturbances. In chapter 3, the status of the global biodiversity distribution on the Earth’s islands is shortly presented with a more detailed account on the island endemism. Theoretical bases of island biogeography and ecology including the development of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography and community dynamics are accounted through the next three chapters. Evolutionary processes in the island biogeography are then described in the second part of the book (chapters 7 to 9). Probably the most important feature of the book which differentiates it from several other books on island biogeography is the Part IV comprising three chapters dealing with the conservation issues in the insular environments. These elegantly written well-illustrated chapters demonstrate how the science of island biogeography can be used to biological conservation of these environments. The impact of human activities on the island biodiversity is also well treated in a whole chapter (11). However, it seems that no enough attention has been given to the usefulness of palaeoecological investigations in understanding the role of human activities on the ecosystems and biodiversity of islands and the importance of these data in conservation measures (see Willis et al., 2010).

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Bibliography

WILLIS K.J., BAILEY R.M., BHAGWAT S.A., BIRKS H.J.B., (2010), Biodiversity baselines, thresholds and resilience: testing predictions and assumptions using palaeoecological data, TREE 25, 583-591.

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References

Bibliographical reference

Morteza DJAMALI, Island Biogeography; ecology, evolution, and conservation Méditerranée, 121 | 2013, 111.

Electronic reference

Morteza DJAMALI, Island Biogeography; ecology, evolution, and conservation Méditerranée [Online], 121 | 2013, Online since 31 October 2014, connection on 29 March 2024. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/mediterranee/6942; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/mediterranee.6942

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About the author

Morteza DJAMALI

Université d’Aix-Marseille, Institut méditerranéen d’écologie

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Copyright

The text and other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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