Biogeography And Ecology In South America

With 'Biogeography and Ecology in South America' as the general theme, a total of twenty-nine contributions by thirty authors is offered here in two volumes, being volumes 18 and 19 of the Monographiae Biologicae. Most of these discussions deal with decidedly specialist themes and the editors have been particularly concerned to ensure that the authors enjoyed the greatest possible freedom in the preparation of their work in order that different points of view and interpretations, together with some questions of controversy, may be clarified. This also applies, of course, to the several chapters in which general themes (geographical substance, climate, geology, vegetation, amongst others) are discussed. Since the amount of material available is too great to enable one to aspire to a presentation of the complete biogeographical and ecological picture, this procedure seems expedient. However, these two volumes could well be regarded as being a preparatory work for just such a complete description. Each of the separate technical contributions refers to the continent as a whole, in order to characterise it as such from the viewpoint of the specialist. For this reason it was necessary to forgo special discussions of particular regions or types of landscape, although South America of all places is remarkably rich in unique regional phenom ena, the altiplano of Peru and Bolivia, the relict forests of Fray Jorge, the shrub formations of Tierra del Fuego, the lakes of the High Andes, for example.

With 'Biogeography and Ecology in South America' as the general theme, a total of twenty-nine contributions by thirty authors is offered here in two volumes, being volumes 18 and 19 of the Monographiae Biologicae. Most of these discussions deal with decidedly specialist themes and the editors have been particularly concerned to ensure that the authors enjoyed the greatest possible freedom in the preparation of their work in order that different points of view and interpretations, together with some questions of controversy, may be clarified. This also applies, of course, to the several chapters in which general themes (geographical substance, climate, geology, vegetation, amongst others) are discussed. Since the amount of material available is too great to enable one to aspire to a presentation of the complete biogeographical and ecological picture, this procedure seems expedient. However, these two volumes could well be regarded as being a preparatory work for just such a complete description. Each of the separate technical contributions refers to the continent as a whole, in order to characterise it as such from the viewpoint of the specialist. For this reason it was necessary to forgo special discussions of particular regions or types of landscape, although South America of all places is remarkably rich in unique regional phenom- ena, the altiplano of Peru and Bolivia, the relict forests of Fray Jorge, the shrub formations of Tierra del Fuego, the lakes of the High Andes, for example.

Latin America is a megadiverse territory hosting several hotspots of plant diversity and many types of forest biomes, ecosystems and climate types, from tropical rainforest to semi-arid woodlands. This combination of diverse forests and climates generates multiple responses to ecological changes affecting the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. Recently, there have been major efforts to improve our understanding of such impacts on ecosystems processes. However, there is a dearth of studies focused on Latin-American forest ecosystems that could provide novel insights into the patterns and mechanisms of ecological processes in response to environmental stress. The abundance of “New World” tree species with dendrochronological potential constitutes an ideal opportunity to improve the ecological state of knowledge regarding these diverse forest types, which are often threatened by several impacts such as logging or conversion to agricultural lands. Thus, detailed information on the dendroecology of these species will improve our understanding of forests in the face of global change. Accordingly, this book identifies numerous relevant ecological processes and scales, ranging from tree species to populations and communities, and from both dendrochronological and dendroecological perspectives. It offers a valuable reference guide for the exploration of long-term ecological interactions between trees and their environmental conditions, and will foster further research and international projects on the continent and elsewhere.

This book analyzes different facets of anuran amphibian distribution in South America. We integrate alternative biological metrics employing cutting-edge methods to understand the dynamic processes underlying species distribution patterns. By using the modern biogeographic toolbox, we explore how richness gradients, phylogenetic diversity, functional diversity, and range size/endemism distribution of amphibians vary along the continent. Moreover, we present a robust proposal for priority areas for conservation of anurans in South America that maximizes representativeness of distinct biodiversity facets.

The aim of this book is to systematize and discuss population genetic studies of freshwater fish in a region that harbors the greatest diversity of species among all inland water ecosystems. This volume explores the genetic evaluation for a number of orders, families and species of Neotropical fishes, and provides an overview on genetic resources and diversity and their relationships with fish domestication, breeding, and food production.