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Many organisms have evolved the ability to enter into and revive from a dormant state. They can survive for long periods in this state (often even months to years), yet can become responsive again within minutes or hours. This is often, but not necessarily, associated with desiccation. Preserving one’s body and reviving it in future generations is a dream of mankind. To date, however, we have failed to learn how cells, tissues or entire organisms can be made dormant or be effectively revived at ambient temperatures. In this book studies on organisms, ranging from aquatic cyanobacteria that produce akinetes to hibernating mammals, are presented, and reveal common but also divergent physiological and molecular pathways for surviving in a dormant form or for tolerating harsh environments. Attempting to learn the functions associated with dormancy and how they are regulated is one of the great future challenges. Its relevance to the preservation of cells and tissues is one of the key concerns of this book.
Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Cladocera, Tatranska Lomnicá, Czechoslovakia, September 13-20, 1989
In recent years, scientists have realized that evolution can occur on timescales much shorter than the 'long lapse of ages' emphasized by Darwin - in fact, evolutionary change is occurring all around us all the time. This work provides an authoritative and accessible introduction to eco-evolutionary dynamics, a cutting-edge new field that seeks to unify evolution and ecology into a common conceptual framework focusing on rapid and dynamic environmental and evolutionary change.
Freshwater Biodiversity is a much underestimated component of global biodiversity, both in its diversity and in its potential to act as models for fundamental research in evolutionary biology and ecosystem studies. Freshwater organisms also reflect quality of water bodies and can thus be used to monitor changes in ecosystem health. The present book comprises a unique collection of primary research papers spanning a wide range of topics in aquatic biodiversity studies, and including a first global assessment of specific diversity of freshwater animals. The book also presents a section on the interaction between scientists and science policy managers. A target opinion paper lists priorities in aquatic biodiversity research for the next decade and several reactions from distinguished scientists discuss the relevance of these items from different points of view: fundamental ecology, taxonomy and systematics, needs of developing countries, present-day biodiversity policy at European and at global scales. It is believed that such a platform for the interaction between science and science policy is an absolute necessity for the efficient use of research budgets in the future.
Sex is the queen of problems in evolutionary biology. Generations of researchers have investigated one of the last remaining evolutionary paradoxes: why sex exists at all. Given that sexual reproduction is costly from an evolutionary point of view, one could wonder why not all animals and plants reproduce asexually. Dozens of contemporary hypotheses attempt to explain the prevalence of sex and its advantages and predict the early extinction of fully asexual lineages. The major theme of this book is: what is the fate of animal and plant groups in which sex is lost? Initial chapters discuss theory behind asexual life: what major disadvantages do asexual groups have to face, what are the geneti...
Ponds are an exceptional freshwater resource around the world and represent thirty percent of the global surface area of standing water. Furthermore, the millions of ponds which exist exhibit a particularly high biodiversity and have a high potential for ecosystem functions and services. Despite these impressive features, ponds face many threats from a variety of human activities and receive little or no protection under European and national legislation. Consequently, there is an urgent need to protect, consolidate and increase the pond resource in Europe. In order to achieve these objectives, the European Pond Conservation Network (EPCN) was launched 2004 in Geneva. Its aim is to promote t...
Conservation and biodiversity of protists The conservation of biodiversity is not just an issue of plants and vertebrates. It is the scarcely visible invertebrates and myriads of other microscopic organisms that are crucial to the maintenance of ecological processes on which all larger organisms and the composition of the atmosphere ultimately depend. Biodiversity and Conservation endeavours to take an holistic view of biodiversity, and when the opportunity arises to issue collections of papers dealing with too-often neglected groups of organisms. The protists, essentially eukaryotes that cannot be classi?ed in the kingdoms of animals, fungi, or plants, include some of the lea- known groups ...
Community ecology has undergone a transformation in recent years, from a discipline largely focused on processes occurring within a local area to a discipline encompassing a much richer domain of study, including the linkages between communities separated in space (metacommunity dynamics), niche and neutral theory, the interplay between ecology and evolution (eco-evolutionary dynamics), and the influence of historical and regional processes in shaping patterns of biodiversity. To fully understand these new developments, however, students continue to need a strong foundation in the study of species interactions and how these interactions are assembled into food webs and other ecological netwo...