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Foundations of Tropical Forest Biology

Classic Papers with Commentaries

Foundations of Tropical Forest Biology presents a timely collection of pioneering work in the study of these diverse and fascinating ecosystems. Modeled on the highly successful Foundations of Ecology, this book consists of facsimiles of papers chosen by world experts in tropical biology as the "classics" in the field. The papers are organized into sections on related topics, each introduced with a discussion of their role in triggering subsequent research. Topics covered include ecological and evolutionary perspectives on the origins of tropical diversity; plant-animal interactions; patterns of species diversity and distribution of arthropods, vertebrates, and plants; forest dynamics and ecosystem ecology; conservation biology; and tropical forest management.

Foundations of Tropical Forest Biology makes essential works in the development of tropical biology available in a convenient form to both senior scholars interested in the roots of their discipline and to students encountering the field for the first time, as well as to everyone concerned with tropical conservation.

862 pages | 20 halftones, 169 line drawings | 6-1/2 x 9-1/2 | © 2002

Published in association with the Association for Tropical Biology

Biological Sciences: Botany, Conservation, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, Tropical Biology and Conservation

History of Science

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction
Robin L. Chazdon

Part One
Tropical Naturalists of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries
Robin L. Chazdon and the Earl of Cranbrook

1
A. von Humboldt and A. Bonpland (1814-21)
Excerpts from Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, during the Years 1799-1804

2
H. W. Bates (1864)
Excerpt from The Naturalist on the River Amazons

3
T. Belt (1874)
Excerpt from The Naturalist in Nicaragua

4
A. R. Wallace (1895)
Excerpt from Natural Selection and Tropical Nature

5
A. F. W. Schimper ([1898] 1903)
Excerpt from Plant-Geography upon a Physiological Basis

Part Two
What Shaped Tropical Biotas As We See Them Today?
T. C. Whitmore

6
T. van der Hammen (1974)
The Pleistocene Changes of Vegetation and Climate in Tropical South America

7
J. Haffer (1969)
Speciation in Amazonian Forest Birds

8
P. H. Raven and D. I. Axelrod (1974)
Excerpts from Angiosperm Biogeography and Past Continental Movements

9
F. G. Stehli and S. D. Webb (1985)
A Kaleidoscope of Plates, Faunal and Floral Dispersals, and Sea Level Changes

Part Three
Ecological and Evolutionary Perspectives on the Origins of Tropical Diversity
Douglas W. Schemske

10
T. Dobzhansky (1950)
Evolution in the Tropics

11
A. G. Fischer (1960)
Latitudinal Variations in Organic Diversity

12
A. A. Fedorov (1966)
The Structure of the Tropical Rain Forest and Speciation in the Humid Tropics

13
E. R. Pianka (1966)
Latitudinal Gradients in Species Diversity: A Review of Concepts

14
D. H. Janzen (1967)
Why Mountain Passes are Higher in the Tropics

15
R. H. MacArthur (1969)
Patterns of Communities in the Tropics

16
J. H. Connell (1978)
Diversity in Tropical Rain Forests and Coral Reefs

Part Four
Plant-Animal Interactions and Community Structure
Bette A. Loiselle and Rodolfo Dirzo

17
D. H. Janzen (1970)
Herbivores and the Number of Tree Species in Tropical Forests

18
P. D. Coley (1980)
Effects of Leaf Age and Plant Life History Patterns on Herbivory

19
L. van der Pijl (1972)
Excerpt from Principles of Dispersal in Higher Plants

20
F. G. Stiles (1975)
Ecology, Flowering Phenology, and Hummingbird Pollination of some Costa Rican Heliconia Species

Part Five
Coevolution
Robert J. Marquis and Rodolfo Dirzo

21
H. W. Bates (1862)
Contributions to an Insect Fauna of the Amazon Valley. Lepidoptera: Heliconidae

22
T. Belt (1874)
Excerpt from The Naturalist in Nicaragua

23
J. Galil and D. Eisikowitch (1968)
On the Pollination Ecology of Ficus sycomorus in East Africa

24
C. H. Dodson, R. L. Dressler, H. G. Hills, R. M. Adams, and N. H. Williams (1969)
Biologically Active Compounds in Orchid Fragrances

25
D. W. Snow (1971)
Evolutionary Aspects of Fruit-Eating by Birds

Part Six
Case Studies of Arthropod Diversity and Distribution
Scott E. Miller, Vojtech Novotny, and Yves Basset

26
E. O. Wilson (1958)
Patchy Distributions of Ant Species in New Guinea Rain Forests

27
A. J. Haddow, P. S. Corbet, and J. D. Gillett (1961)
Entomological Studies from a High Tower in Mpanga Forest, Uganda

28
T. L. Erwin (1982)
Tropical Forests: Their Richness in Coleoptera and Other Arthropod Species

Part Seven
Terrestrial Vertebrate Diversity
B. A. Loiselle, R. W. Sussman, and the Earl of Cranbrook

29
J. L. Harrison (1962)
Excerpts from The Distribution of Feeding Habits among Animals in a Tropical Rain Forest

30
J. H. Crook and J. S. Gartlan (1966)
Evolution of Primate Societies

31
M. P. L. Fogden (1972)
Excerpt from The Seasonality and Population Dynamics of Equatorial Forest Birds in Sarawak

32
M. L. Crump (1974)
Reproductive Strategies in a Tropical Anuran Community

33
J. Terborgh (1977)
Bird Species Diversity on an Andean Elevational Gradient

34
A. Gautier-Hion (1978)
Food Niches and Coexistence in Sympatric Primates in Gabon

Part Eight
Floristic Composition and Species Richness
Robin L. Chazdon and Julie S. Denslow

35
A. Aubréville (1938)
Regeneration Patterns in the Closed Forest of Ivory Coast

36
P. W. Richards (1952)
Composition of Primary Rain Forest (II)

37
J. M. Pires, T. Dobzhansky, and G. A. Black (1953)
An Estimate of the Number of Species of Trees in an Amazonian Forest Community

38
P. S. Ashton (1964)
Excerpts from Ecological Studies in the Mixed Dipterocarp Forests of Brunei State

Part Nine
Forest Dynamics and Regeneration
David F. R. P. Burslem and M. D. Swaine

39
W. J. Eggeling (1947)
Excerpt from Observations on the Ecology of the Budongo Rain Forest, Uganda

40
C. G. G. J. van Steenis (1958)
Rejuvenation as a Factor for Judging the Status of Vegetation Types: The Biological Nomad Theory

41
G. Budowski (1965)
Distribution of Tropical American Rain Forest Species in the Light of Successional Processes

42
L. J. Webb, J. G. Tracey, and W. T. Williams (1972)
Regeneration and Pattern in the Subtropical Rain Forest

43
T. C. Whitmore (1974)
Excerpts from Change with Time and the Role of Cyclones in Tropical Rain Forest on Kolombangara, Solomon Islands

Part Ten
Ecosystem Ecology in the Tropics
Julie S. Denslow and Robin L. Chazdon

44
P. H. Nye and D. J. Greenland (1960)
Excerpt from The Soil under Shifting Cultiva

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