Plant-animal interactions

Description

Home to an infinite variety of biological ecosystems, the ecology of the tropics represents a wellspring of vital, yet largely untapped data for scientists specializing in temperate regions. Bridging the separate spheres of research long characterizing temperate and tropical ecological science, Plant-Animal Interactions: Evolutionary Ecology in Tropical and Temperate Regions captures the essence of the galvanizing and broad-based attention now given to the once mysterious tropics. An outgrowth of an international symposium on Evolutionary Ecology of Tropical Herbivores held at UNICAMP, Brazil, this unique collaborative effort from leading scientists worldwide is the first comparative analysis of the existing ecological systems of temperate and tropical regions.^ In-depth and timely, the text's manifold analyses includes a discussion of: Tropical and temperate comparisons Mutualistic relationships between plants and animals Antagonistic relationships between plants and animals Plant-butterfly interactions Specificity in plant utilization Community patterns in natural and agricultural systems With explicit detail, the text then unravels the many rich and varied themes underlying and controlling plant-animal interactions in the tropical and temperate regions. These include herbivore attack and plant defense, community patterns on latitudinal gradients, the linkage between species richness, population abundances, and body sizes in insect communities, composition of ant-plant symbioses, the effects of increased nitrogen fixation and carbon dioxide on herbivores, changes in plant communities as vertebrate herbivores become rare or absent, and issues that bear on the viability of the ecology of the tropic and temperate regions.^ Particularly instructive are the unique and varied approaches to research problems used by the various contributors, making the text, in part, a valuable handbook of current field methods. Amply illustrated with 150 detailed graphics, the text provides a fascinating visual tour of the flora and fauna described. Extensive citations to the primary literature are also included. Ecologists, entomologists, evolutionary biologists, agricultural scientists, and graduate-level students will find that Plant-Animal Interactions provides them with innovative research tools and timely data. This fascinating work represents not simply a bold expedition into the lush primeval terrain of the tropics but into the new landscape--bridging all latitudes--of ecological science tomorrow.

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