Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation

Hawksworth, David L.; Bull, Alan T.

Despite their enormous bulk and complexity of architecture, plants make up only around a quarter of a million of the 8 million or so species on Earth. The major components of biodiversity, instead, are the smaller, largely unseen, silent majority of invertebrates – most of which are arthropods. Vertebrates, a mere blip on the biotic horizon, are elevated in importance in the bigger scheme of things only by the human psyche.

This collection of more than 30 peer-reviewed papers focuses on the diversity and conservation of arthropods, whose species inhabit virtually every recess and plane – and feature somewhere in virtually every food web – on the planet. Highlighting issues ranging from large-scale disturbance to local management, and from spatial heterogeneity to temporal patterns, these papers reflect some of the most exciting new research taking place today – and in some of the most biodiverse corners of the planet.

Details

Published by: Springer

Publication Date: 2010-11-18

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9789048173099

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-5204-0

Dimensions: 240cm x160cm

Pages: 525