Island Biogeography : Ecology, Evolution and Conservation [Paperback]

Robert J. Whittaker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198500203 | ISBN-13: 978-0198500209 | Publication Date: February 18, 1999

Work on evolution on islands has a long-established biogeographical pedigree, stretching back to the work of Darwin and Wallace. Research generated ideas, theories, and models which have played a central role in the development of mainstream ecology, evolutionary biology, and biogeography.
Island Biogeography is a new textbook, aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduate students. This is the first comprehensive book to be written on the topic since 1981. It provides a much needed synthesis of recent development across the discipline, linking current theoretical debates with applied island ecology. Some themes that the book covers include: the nature and formation of island environments, island ecological theories concerning species numbers, species assembly, and composition, and an assessment of the human impact on island biodiversity.
Written by an author who has been researching and teaching biogeography for many years, Island Biogeography is wide-ranging, authoritative, and accessible to students from across geography and the life sciences. This is the first truly modern textbook on a fascinating and important subject in evolution and ecology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book balances individuality and theory well. A thorough and even-handed account of island theory is given, providing many new insights, and it also provides a mine of stimulating facts about island life. It is sure to emerge as the standard text for university teaching of island issues."--Trends in Ecology & Evolution

"Robert Whittaker's Island Biogeography delivers a sweeping lesson in island ecology enhanced by the author's long-term involvement in the research on Krakatau."--Nature

"The last decade or more has witnessed renewed interest in the flora and fauna of oceanic islands, no doubt due in part to the growing awareness that the plant and animal life of these miniature worlds is extremely fragile. There is growing appreciation that species extinctions in island ecosystems result in the loss of some of the most remarkable products of the evolutionary process. Also, there seems to be a renewed appreciation for what Charles Darwin, Alfred Russell Wallace, and Ernst Mayr recognized, namely that islands are natural laboratories for studying evolution. The book by Whittaker is very timely because it fills the need for a general discussion of topics ranging from the formation of islands to the conservation of biodiversity on islands. ... The book would be an excellent text for any general course or seminar on island biology, and could serve as an introduction for those pursuing particular island topics in greater depth."--Plant Systematics and Evolution

About the Author

Robert Whittaker is in the School of Geography at University of Oxford.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198500203
• ISBN-13: 978-0198500209
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,758,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, well-organised and highly-readable, August 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Island Biogeography : Ecology, Evolution and Conservation (Paperback)

This book is an excellent and much-needed textbook of Island Biogeography. The approach taken by Dr. Whittaker blends detail and overview, and the book is well-organised, informative and interesting. He says at the beginning of the book that he hopes to "provide access for students of differing backgrounds and disciplines to the full array of island biogeographical themes and issues." I think this book does just that.

The book starts by stressing the importance of islands as arenas for the study of the natural world: 'natural laboratories' in which the complexity of nature may be simplified, enabling the development and testing of theories of general importance. Dr. Whittaker then moves from the general and long-term (beginning with the physical and biological properties of islands themselves) to the more specific and shorter-term (including island evolution, species richness and endemism, and island theories). He finishes by applying the theories and insights gained from work on islands to present-day conservation issues.

There is sufficient detail to give the reader a fair understanding of the issues addressed, but never so much that the text gets dull or bogged. Throughout, the book is well-referenced, with appropriate and informative references, and provides plenty of encouragement for the reader to delve further into the literature. Considerable clarity is achieved, even when discussing complicated and contentious issues, and on many occasions Dr. Whittaker demonstrates his considerable ability to be insightful and pertinent. He maintains a fair and balanced outlook, even when he addresses opinions and authors that oppose his own work. There is also an air of pragmatism to his arguments that others would do well to emulate. This is borne out, for instance, in his treatment of the SLOSS (single large or several small nature reserves) debate, and in the way he manages to reconcile a number of dichotomies in the literature by noting that various apparently-conflicting theories actually represent different points along continua. As might be expected from the background of the author, Chapters 7 and 8, which deal with island ecological theory, are particularly impressive: erudite and authoritative, while still being interesting and highly readable. These chapters deal with areas in which Dr. Whittaker is well known for his professional contribution (in which he has published papers of considerable international repute).

Overall, I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in island biogeography. Written primarily as a textbook for undergraduate students, it will provide very sound reading for students encountering the subject for the first time. It will be all the more useful for the fact that (to my knowledge), there is no other textbook written within the last 20 years that covers an equivalent subject area. But it will also interest experts in the field, who may well learn something from it, as well as finding it a useful reference for related literature. It will be a good addition to any science-related library, as well as to the personal collections of students of relevant subjects.