Vegetation of Southern Africa

Vegetation of Southern Africa
Author: R. M. Cowling
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 656
Release: 1997
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521548014

Comprehensive illustrated guide to plant science and ecology of southern African vegetation.

Biogeography and Plate Tectonics

Biogeography and Plate Tectonics
Author: J.C. Briggs
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 217
Release: 1987-08-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0080868517

One needs to look at only a small portion of the enormous literature on plate tectonics published in the last 15 years to realize that there are many differences between the various reconstructions that have been presented. It becomes obvious that, although there is a general agreement about the presence of an assembly of continents (a Pangaea) in the early Mesozoic, there is considerable disagreement among earth scientists as to the configurement of the assembly and the manner and timing of the subsequent dispersal. While the revolution in geophysics was taking place, systematic work in paleontology and neontology was being carried out. This book is an attempt to incorporate the biological evidence into the theory of plate tectonics.The author traces the changing relationships among the various biogeographic regions and demonstrates how such changes may often be correlated with the gradual geographic alteration of the earth's surface. He analyses recent information about the distribution of widespread groups of terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates, invertebrates and plants, and discusses the biogeographical effects of the movement of oceanic plates.It is particularly important to obtain dependable information about certain critical times in the history of continental relationships. We need to know when the terrestrial parts of the earth were broken apart and when they were joined together. The present investigation makes it clear that we cannot depend entirely on evidence from plate tectonics nor will purely biological evidence suffice. This book thus provides much of interest to systematists working on contemporary groups of plants and animals, paleontologists, evolutionary biologists, and professors teaching courses in biogeography.

The Baobabs: Pachycauls of Africa, Madagascar and Australia

The Baobabs: Pachycauls of Africa, Madagascar and Australia
Author: G.E. Wickens
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 535
Release: 2008-03-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402064314

This is the only comprehensive account of all eight species in the genus Adansonia. It describes the historical background from the late Roman period to the present. It covers the extraordinary variety of economic uses of baobabs. There are also appendices on vernacular names, gazetteer, economics, nutrition and forest mensuration. This book fills a gap in the botanical literature. It deals with a genus that has fascinated and intrigued scientists and lay persons for centuries.

African Biodiversity

African Biodiversity
Author: Bernhard A. Huber
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 444
Release: 2007-04-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0387243208

In May 2004, the Alexander Koenig Zoological Research Museum hosted the Fifth International Symposium on Tropical Biology. This series was established at the ZFMK in the early 1980s, and has variably focused on systematics and ecology of tropical organisms, with an emphasis on Africa. Previous volumes are those edited by Schuchmann (1985), Peters and Hutterer (1990), Ulrich (1997), and Rheinwald (2000). The symposium in 2004 was organized by the Entomology Department under the direction of Michael Schmitt. The intention was to focus on Africa rather than on a particular taxon, and to highlight biodiversity at all levels ranging from molecules to ecosystems. This focus was timely partly because of the currently running BIOTA Africa programmes (BIOdiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa). BIOTA is an interdisciplinary research project focusing on sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in Africa (http://www.biote-africa.de). Session titles were Biogeography and Speciation Processes, Phylogenetic Patterns and Systematics, Diversity Declines and Conservation, and Applied Biodiversity Informatics. Each session was opened by an invited speaker, and all together 77 lectures and 59 posters were presented. There were over 200 participants and it was gratifying to us to meet colleagues from 26 nations, including Russia, Ukraine, Japan, USA, and ten African countries. We thank all participants for their valuable contributions.

How to live and survive in Zambezian open forest (Miombo ecoregion)

How to live and survive in Zambezian open forest (Miombo ecoregion)
Author: Françoise Malaisse
Publisher: Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2010
Genre: Diet
ISBN: 9782870161067

In the Miombo ecoregion (2,865,000 km² or 9.1% of Africa), the Zambezian open forest constitutes the main vegetation unit. It extends to no less than eight countries, from Burundi in the North to South Africa in the South, and from Angola in the West to Mozambique in the East. The austral part of Africa's open forests falls within the Zambezian Regional Center of Endemism outlined by White in 1983. This book focuses mainly on the wetter Zambezian Miombo woodlands. Also patches of mosaic Zambezian dry evergreen forests and small areas of grasslands on Kalahari sands are incorporated in the study. The aim of this book is to gather together the amazing local environment knowledge of Zambezian open forests peoples in order to permit an easier improvement of their well-being. This research has been developed in an ethnoecological way of thinking. Indeed, the synergy arising from putting together local knowledge and updated ecological research provides huge information on ecosystem management, including biodiversity aspects. Ethnoecology is an emergent field that focuses on local peoples' perception and management of complex and co-evolved relationships between the cultural, ecological, and economic components of anthropogenic and natural ecosystems. In the present book, the Zambezian wild edible products are treated according to fourteen items (from fungi, plants and honey, to beverages and salt, through mammals, birds, fish, insects and other animals). Some other comments concern agriculture and ethnoecology. All together more than a thousand edible products are involved; their ecology, their phenology, as well as their nutritional values are presented and discussed. The iconography is supported by a CD with 387 color photographs. The earlier French version of 1997 has been reviewed and enlarged, taking into account recent progress of knowledge. An important bibliography is presented.

The Pantanal of Mato Grosso (Brazil)

The Pantanal of Mato Grosso (Brazil)
Author: F.D. Por
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 142
Release: 1995-07-31
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780792334811

Until now there has never been a monograph devoted to the Pantanal, the world's largest wetland. The subject has received scant attention in the international literature, so a number of scattered Portuguese papers are reviewed for an English-language readership. The book presents a broad treatment of the Pantanal, ranging from geology to flora, fauna, and the human presence. The publication of this book is most timely, and will be of crucial importance in decisions affecting the ambitious project for a second South American inland Waterway.

Nouragues

Nouragues
Author: F. Bongers
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 451
Release: 2013-06-29
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9401598215

Nouragues is a tropical forest research station in French Guiana. It was established in 1986 for research on natural mechanisms of forest regeneration. Since then a lot of research has been done on this and related topics. This book provides an overview of the main research results, and focuses on plant communities, vertebrate communities and evolutionary ecology, frugivory and seed dispersal, and forest dynamics and recruitment. The appendices give (annoted) checklists of plants, birds, mammals, herpetofauna and fishes found in the same area.

Inland Waters of Southern Africa: An Ecological Perspective

Inland Waters of Southern Africa: An Ecological Perspective
Author: B.R. Allanson
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 461
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400923821

Limnology - the study of inland waters - had its genesis in Europe about the turn of the century. The studies of Fore1 on Lake Geneva were of seminal value at this time. It prospered under the early guidance of Thienemann, Naumann and Wesenberg-Lund in Europe and, soon transplanted, of Birge and Juday in North America (to name just a few early spirits). Now, liminology is a respectable scientific discipline taught at many universities, and limnologists are recognized as important contributors to our understanding of how this fragile spaceship functions. All this acknowledged, it must also be acknowledged that limnology is not yet a globally comprehensive science. To be sure, much is known about globally applicable processes, and the structural elements of aquatic ecosystems worldwide, but limnological emphases, interests and concerns remain essentially European and North American in balance. Much is known about lakes and rivers in less than one fifth of the world's land area (northern temperature regions); rather little is known about inland waters elsewhere.