Roger Cousens, Calvin Dytham, and Richard Law
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199299126
- eISBN:
- 9780191715006
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299126.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
Ecologists, both practical and theoretical, now appreciate that to understand biological systems they must consider the spatial dimension. Consequently, dispersal has become one of the hottest topics ...
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Ecologists, both practical and theoretical, now appreciate that to understand biological systems they must consider the spatial dimension. Consequently, dispersal has become one of the hottest topics in plant ecology. However, in the midst of so much research output on dispersal, there is a need for a stock-take to determine the needs of future research: what has been achieved to date, where do current studies fit in, and what still needs to be determined? What are the implications of dispersal for those engaged in managing plant populations and communities? This is the first book for many years to present a synthesis of research on dispersal and its implications for plant population dynamics. The book consists of three sections: Section A reviews information on the biological and environmental processes that determine the path of an individual dispersing propagule, usually a seed, and the theory that has been developed to predict these trajectories; Section B discusses the distributions of seeds resulting from dispersal from an entire plant, theoretical research predicting the shapes of these distributions and design issues for future dispersal studies; Section C explores the implications of dispersal for expansion of populations, structure within existing populations and communities, and the evolution of dispersal traits.Less
Ecologists, both practical and theoretical, now appreciate that to understand biological systems they must consider the spatial dimension. Consequently, dispersal has become one of the hottest topics in plant ecology. However, in the midst of so much research output on dispersal, there is a need for a stock-take to determine the needs of future research: what has been achieved to date, where do current studies fit in, and what still needs to be determined? What are the implications of dispersal for those engaged in managing plant populations and communities? This is the first book for many years to present a synthesis of research on dispersal and its implications for plant population dynamics. The book consists of three sections: Section A reviews information on the biological and environmental processes that determine the path of an individual dispersing propagule, usually a seed, and the theory that has been developed to predict these trajectories; Section B discusses the distributions of seeds resulting from dispersal from an entire plant, theoretical research predicting the shapes of these distributions and design issues for future dispersal studies; Section C explores the implications of dispersal for expansion of populations, structure within existing populations and communities, and the evolution of dispersal traits.
Jacob Höglund
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199214211
- eISBN:
- 9780191706660
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214211.003.0004
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter reviews the genetic consequences of environmental change. These changes are often so rapid that contemporary populations are often not found in genetic equilibrium. Furthermore, ...
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This chapter reviews the genetic consequences of environmental change. These changes are often so rapid that contemporary populations are often not found in genetic equilibrium. Furthermore, human-induced habitat fragmentation often results in a complex mosaic of remaining populations that differ in size and connectivity. A number of tools have been developed to detect population structure, gene flow, and evolution in such complex situations. The chapter provides evidence of rapid evolutionary responses in many organisms to changes in the environment. Such changes may be induced by a multitude of factors, including habitat loss and fragmentation, hindrances to dispersal and hence gene flow, climatic changes, and introduction of invasive species.Less
This chapter reviews the genetic consequences of environmental change. These changes are often so rapid that contemporary populations are often not found in genetic equilibrium. Furthermore, human-induced habitat fragmentation often results in a complex mosaic of remaining populations that differ in size and connectivity. A number of tools have been developed to detect population structure, gene flow, and evolution in such complex situations. The chapter provides evidence of rapid evolutionary responses in many organisms to changes in the environment. Such changes may be induced by a multitude of factors, including habitat loss and fragmentation, hindrances to dispersal and hence gene flow, climatic changes, and introduction of invasive species.
Asher D. Cutter
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198838944
- eISBN:
- 9780191874826
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198838944.003.0007
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics, Biochemistry / Molecular Biology
Chapter 7, “Natural selection and demography as causes of molecular non-randomness,” outlines the predictable molecular evolutionary patterns that arise when the Neutral Theory has its assumptions ...
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Chapter 7, “Natural selection and demography as causes of molecular non-randomness,” outlines the predictable molecular evolutionary patterns that arise when the Neutral Theory has its assumptions violated. It summarizes predictions about genetic variation, the shape of genealogies, and the accumulation of divergence between lineages when natural selection and non-standard demographic scenarios occur in populations. This chapter provides an overview of the general, qualitative impacts on molecular population genetic data by positive selection, purifying selection, and balancing selection, as well as by demographic population growth, contraction, and subdivision. It covers the concepts of selective sweeps, genetic hitchhiking, and background selection, placed in a heuristic context of skews in polymorphism, genealogies, the site frequency spectrum, and distinct metrics of divergence. This chapter also summarizes the consequences of genetic linkage to sex chromosomes and plastid genomes. This overview builds up intuition about selection, demography, and genome organization as important molecular population genetic factors that motivate further analysis with quantitative tests of neutrality.Less
Chapter 7, “Natural selection and demography as causes of molecular non-randomness,” outlines the predictable molecular evolutionary patterns that arise when the Neutral Theory has its assumptions violated. It summarizes predictions about genetic variation, the shape of genealogies, and the accumulation of divergence between lineages when natural selection and non-standard demographic scenarios occur in populations. This chapter provides an overview of the general, qualitative impacts on molecular population genetic data by positive selection, purifying selection, and balancing selection, as well as by demographic population growth, contraction, and subdivision. It covers the concepts of selective sweeps, genetic hitchhiking, and background selection, placed in a heuristic context of skews in polymorphism, genealogies, the site frequency spectrum, and distinct metrics of divergence. This chapter also summarizes the consequences of genetic linkage to sex chromosomes and plastid genomes. This overview builds up intuition about selection, demography, and genome organization as important molecular population genetic factors that motivate further analysis with quantitative tests of neutrality.
Robert Cribb, Helen Gilbert, and Helen Tiffin
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824837143
- eISBN:
- 9780824869779
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824837143.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
Arguably the most humanlike of all the great apes, particularly in intelligence and behavior, the orangutan has been cherished, used, and abused ever since it was first brought to the attention of ...
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Arguably the most humanlike of all the great apes, particularly in intelligence and behavior, the orangutan has been cherished, used, and abused ever since it was first brought to the attention of Europeans in the seventeenth century. The red ape has engaged the interest of scientists, philosophers, artists, and the public at large. One reason for such a long-term engagement with a being found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is that, like its fellow great apes, the orangutan stands on that most uncomfortable dividing line between human and animal, existing, for us, on what has been called “the dangerous edge of the garden of nature.” Beginning with the scientific discovery of the red ape more than three hundred years ago, this book goes on to examine the ways in which its human attributes have been both recognized and denied in science, philosophy, travel literature, popular science, literature, theatre, museums, and film. It offers analysis of the origin of the name “orangutan,” traces how the ape has been recruited to arguments on topics as diverse as slavery and rape, and outlines the history of attempts to save the animal from extinction. Today, while human populations increase exponentially, that of the orangutan is in dangerous decline. The remaining “wild men of Borneo” are under increasing threat from mining interests, logging, human population expansion, and the widespread destruction of forests.Less
Arguably the most humanlike of all the great apes, particularly in intelligence and behavior, the orangutan has been cherished, used, and abused ever since it was first brought to the attention of Europeans in the seventeenth century. The red ape has engaged the interest of scientists, philosophers, artists, and the public at large. One reason for such a long-term engagement with a being found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is that, like its fellow great apes, the orangutan stands on that most uncomfortable dividing line between human and animal, existing, for us, on what has been called “the dangerous edge of the garden of nature.” Beginning with the scientific discovery of the red ape more than three hundred years ago, this book goes on to examine the ways in which its human attributes have been both recognized and denied in science, philosophy, travel literature, popular science, literature, theatre, museums, and film. It offers analysis of the origin of the name “orangutan,” traces how the ape has been recruited to arguments on topics as diverse as slavery and rape, and outlines the history of attempts to save the animal from extinction. Today, while human populations increase exponentially, that of the orangutan is in dangerous decline. The remaining “wild men of Borneo” are under increasing threat from mining interests, logging, human population expansion, and the widespread destruction of forests.
Tim Dyson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198829058
- eISBN:
- 9780191867484
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198829058.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, South and East Asia, Economic History
This chapter addresses the period from the end of the Mauryan Empire to c.1000 CE. There is very little evidence for the period. Nevertheless, people probably continued to migrate into river valleys ...
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This chapter addresses the period from the end of the Mauryan Empire to c.1000 CE. There is very little evidence for the period. Nevertheless, people probably continued to migrate into river valleys and exploit new land. As a result, populations in different parts of the subcontinent increased—albeit usually very slowly and irregularly. In the north, Indo-Aryan influences continued to grow. Further south, kingdoms like those of the Pallavas and Cholas were crucial to the process of ‘Indianization’ which, from about the second century CE, affected areas of south-east Asia. It seems unlikely that India’s people were badly affected by the so-called ‘Plague of Justinian’ which affected parts of the Middle East and southern Europe during the sixth century. The chapter considers evidence collected around 640 CE by the Chinese visitor Hsuan Tsang and suggests that it is consistent with a total population of anywhere between 30 and 85 million.Less
This chapter addresses the period from the end of the Mauryan Empire to c.1000 CE. There is very little evidence for the period. Nevertheless, people probably continued to migrate into river valleys and exploit new land. As a result, populations in different parts of the subcontinent increased—albeit usually very slowly and irregularly. In the north, Indo-Aryan influences continued to grow. Further south, kingdoms like those of the Pallavas and Cholas were crucial to the process of ‘Indianization’ which, from about the second century CE, affected areas of south-east Asia. It seems unlikely that India’s people were badly affected by the so-called ‘Plague of Justinian’ which affected parts of the Middle East and southern Europe during the sixth century. The chapter considers evidence collected around 640 CE by the Chinese visitor Hsuan Tsang and suggests that it is consistent with a total population of anywhere between 30 and 85 million.
