E-Book Overview
All living things on earth—from individual species to entire ecosystems—have evolved through time, and evolution is the acknowledged framework of modern biology. Yet many areas of biology have moved from a focus on evolution to much narrower perspectives.
Daniel R. Brooks and Deborah A. McLennan argue that it is impossible to comprehend the nature of life on earth unless evolution—the history of organisms—is restored to a central position in research. They demonstrate how the phylogenetic approach can be integrated with ecological and behavioral studies to produce a richer and more complete picture of evolution. Clearly setting out the conceptual, methodological, and empirical foundations of their research program, Brooks and McLennan show how scientists can use it to unravel the evolutionary history of virtually any characteristic of any living thing, from behaviors to ecosystems. They illustrate and test their approach with examples drawn from a wide variety of species and habitats.
The Nature of Diversity provides a powerful new tool for understanding, documenting, and preserving the world's biodiversity. It is an essential book for biologists working in evolution, ecology, behavior, conservation, and systematics. The argument in The Nature of Diversity greatly expands upon and refines the arguments made in the authors' previous book Phylogeny, Ecology, and Behavior.
E-Book Content
The Nature of Diversity
The Nature of Diversity An Evolutionary Voyage of Discovery
Daniel R. Brooks Deborah A. McLennan
The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London
D A N I E L R . B R O O K S is professor in the Department of Zoology at the University of Toronto. He is coauthor, with E. O. Wiley, of Evolution as Entropy: Toward a Unified Theory of Biology, and, with Deborah A. McLennan, of Phylogeny, Ecology, and Behavior: A Research Program in Comparative Biology and Parascript: Parasites and the Language of Evolution. D E B O R A H A . M C L E N N A N is associate professor in the Department of Zoology at the University of Toronto. She is coauthor, with Daniel R. Brooks, of Phylogeny, Ecology, and Behavior: A Research Program in Comparative Biology and Parascript: Parasites and the Language of Evolution. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London 䉷 2002 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2002 Printed in the United States of America 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN: 0-226-07589-3 (cloth) ISBN: 0-226-07590-7 (paper) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication-Data Brooks, D. R. (Daniel R.), 1951– The nature of diversity : an evolutionary voyage of discovery / Daniel R. Brooks, Deborah A. McLennan. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-226-07589-3 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 0-226-07590-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Biological diversity. 2. Phylogeny. 3. Adaptation (Biology) I. McLennan, Deborah A. II. Title. QH541.15.B56 B76 2002 576.8⬘8—dc21 2001053860 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
[T]here are two factors: namely, the nature of the organism and the nature of the conditions. The former seems to be much more the important, for nearly similar variations sometimes arise under, as far as we can judge, dissimilar conditions; and, on the other hand, dissimilar variations arise under conditions which appear to be nearly uniform. Darwin 1872:32
Contents
Preface 1. Voyage of Discovery 2. Tools for the Voyage
ix 1 23
3. Species: Exploring the Entities
100
4. Historical Biogeography: Exploring Space
173
5. Functions: Exploring Options
253