The Structure and Dynamics of Geographic

No species occurs everywhere. Indeed, the majority are absent from most places, and where they do occur they are usually quite rare. Gaston discusses the structure of these distributions - the structure of the geographic ranges of species. Gaston is particularly concerned with the factors that determine the limits to a species' geographic range, how the sizes of those ranges vary, and patterns in that variation. Also considered are the distribution of individuals amongst those sites where a species does occur and what determines that distribution, and some of the practical implications of all these. Both in a pure and applied context, ecologists need a broader perspective on their subject matter than has historically prevailed. This book provides one such perspective. A must have book for any researchers and graduate students studying macroecology, biogeography and conservation biology.

Kevin J. Gaston is Professor of Biodiversity and Conservation, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield.

Introduction	p. 1
The case of the green-backed heron	p. 1
Areography	p. 3
Necessity	p. 9
Opportunity	p. 12
This book	p. 17
Range edges	p. 20
Introduction	p. 20
Abiotic and biotic factors	p. 25
Physical barriers	p. 25
Climate	p. 27
Coincidence with climatic conditions	p. 27
Changes in climatic conditions	p. 30
Other evidence	p. 33
Killing individuals	p. 34
Limiting reproduction and life cycles	p. 36
The role of climate	p. 38
Other abiotic factors and habitat	p. 40
Interspecific interactions--consumers	p. 41
Interspecific interactions--competitors	p. 44
Interspecific interactions--the consumed	p. 49
Multiple factors	p. 51
Population dynamics	p. 53
Single populations	p. 53
Multiple populations	p. 56
Genetics	p. 58
In conclusion	p. 64
Range size	p. 66
Introduction	p. 66
Extents of occurrence and areas of occupancy	p. 72
Which range?	p. 75
Species-range size distributions	p. 76
Speciation	p. 81
Range dynamics	p. 84
Extinction	p. 90
Patterns in range size variation	p. 94
Taxonomic group	p. 94
Terrestrial versus marine systems	p. 97
Biogeographic region	p. 98
Latitude	p. 99
Longitude	p. 105
Trophic group	p. 105
Body size	p. 106
Dispersal ability	p. 113
Abundance	p. 114
Genetic variation	p. 121
In conclusion	p. 123
Abundance structure	p. 125
Introduction	p. 125
Intraspecific abundance distributions	p. 126
Intraspecific abundance-range size relationships	p. 132
Environmental gradients and response curves	p. 139
Abundance profiles	p. 142
Patterns	p. 142
Mechanisms	p. 153
Optimum response surface models	p. 153
Local demographic models	p. 155
In conclusion	p. 164
Implications	p. 167
Introduction	p. 167
Range contractions and extinctions	p. 167
Niche and contagion models	p. 174
Protected areas	p. 178
Climate change	p. 180
Aliens	p. 186
Reintroductions	p. 189
Final words	p. 189
Notes	p. 191
References	p. 195
Index	p. 259
Table of Contents provided by Rittenhouse. All Rights Reserved.

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The Structure and Dynamics of Geographic Ranges

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