Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean: Insights for conservation. 2nd edition

Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean: Insights for conservation – 2nd revised edition.

Since the first edition of this book published in 2005, there has been an immense amount of new and fascinating work on the history, ecology, and evolution of the Mediterranean flora. During this time, human impacts have continued to increase dramatically, significantly influencing both the ecology and evolution of the region’s biota.

This timely and comprehensive update of the original text integrates a diverse and scattered literature to produce a synthetic account of Mediterranean plant evolutionary ecology. It maintains the accessible style of its previous version whilst incorporating recent work in a new structural framework. This is not a traditional “plant science” book per se, but a novel integration of history, ecology, biogeography, and evolution, all set in the context of a dramatically increasing human footprint. There is a particular emphasis on the role of human activities as an ecological factor and their subsequent impact on plant evolution. Conversely, it demonstrates how an understanding of the evolutionary ecology of the region’s flora can be used to provide insights into its future conservation and management.

Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean is aimed at all those who are interested in the biology of the Mediterranean region, whether it is taxonomy, ecology, evolution, conservation policy and management, or the regional history of its biodiversity in general. It will be of relevance and use to all graduate students and researchers of Mediterranean-type ecosystem ecology and geography, as well as professional ecologists, evolutionary biologists, conservation biologists, and environmental practitioners requiring a concise, authoritative overview of the topic.

Contents:

Prelude
1: A Mediterranean history
2: The ecology and biogeography of endemism
3: The evolution of endemic plants
4: The evolution of a cultural heritage
5: Plant traits and ecological dynamics
6: Plant reproduction: ecological interactions, evolutionary change
7: Conservation in the crossroads of history
8: One of five
9: Science and nature in a changing Mediterranean world

Author Biography: John D. Thompson is a research director with the CNRS at the Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE) in Montpellier, France where he works on the ecology, adaptation, and conservation of Mediterranean plant biodiversity. He is President of the scientific commission for the Mercantour National Park, President of the National Parks Scientific Commission for the French National Biodiversity Agency, and member of the scientific commissions of the Mediterranean Botanical Conservancy (France) and the Calanques National Park.