Biogeography, Fourth Edition

Biogeography, first published in 1983, is one of the most comprehensive text and general reference books in the field. The Fourth Edition builds on the strengths of previous editions, combining evolutionary and ecological perspectives to show how Earth history, contemporary environments, and evolutionary and ecological processes have shaped species distributions and nearly all patterns of biodiversity. It is an empirically and conceptually rich text that illustrates general patterns and processes using examples from a diversity of plants and animals across the Earth s aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Biogeography, Fourth Edition is written as a primary text for undergraduate and graduate courses, and is also an invaluable reference for biogeographers, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and conservation biologists. Starting from simple facts and principles and assuming only a rudimentary knowledge of biology, geography, and Earth history, the text explains the relationships between geographic variation in biodiversity and the geological, ecological, and evolutionary processes that have produced them. Written in an engaging style, Biogeography emphasizes the interplay between unifying concepts and presents evidence that supports or challenges these concepts. The use of color illustrations (new to this edition), evaluated and optimized for colorblind readers as well, has transformed our abilities to illustrate key concepts and empirical patterns in the geography of nature. The addition of the distinguished plant ecologist and biogeographer Robert J. Whittaker to our team of authors has substantially enhanced the balance and depth of coverage of classical foundations, empirical case studies, and frontiers of biogeography.