Biogeography: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #647

by Mark V. Lomolino

Biogeography is the study of geographic variation in all characteristics of life - ranging from genetic, morphological and behavioural variation among regional populations of a species, to geographic trends in diversity of entire communities across our planet's sufrace. From the ancient hunters and gatherers to the earliest naturalists, Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and scientists today, the search for patterns in life has provided insights that provedinvaluable for understanding the natural world. And many, if not most, of the compelling kaleidoscope of patterns in biological diversity make little sense unless placed in an explicit geographic context.The Very Short Introduction explains the historical development of the field of biogeography, its fundamental tenets, principles and tools, and the invaluable insights it provides for understanding the diversity of life in the natural world. As Mark Lomolino shows, key questions such as where species occur, how they vary from place to place, where their ancestors occurred, and how they spread across the globe, are essential for us to develop effective strategies for conserving thegreat menagerie of life across our planet.ABOUT THE Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Science, Biology, Nonfiction, Geography, Audiobook

144 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2020

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an easy subject to summarize to say the least. The author, a specialist, did an okay job outlining the major concepts, theories and examples of this rather descriptive field of biology. Still, patterns emerge and generalizations can be made, as the theory of island biogeography so aptly illustrates. Fascinating case studies of adaptive radiation in various places such as Hawaii and Madagascar help fill in the non-theoretical parts of the book, while it concluded with the tracing of our own dispersal from Africa into the rest of the world and the tragic local extinctions that came with that.

Strangely, the examples of unique biota found in South America and discussion of the Wallace line were not included, which were glaring omissions.

[Mary Bellamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authors of books like this have a difficult job. They want the book to be accessible to the general reader but also accurate. Lomolino chose accuracy over accessibility a few times but overall did well. All graphics are black and white in this format but there were times when color could have made the graphics much easier to understand. But these books are what they are and it was an interesting book.

[Emil O. W. Kirkegaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good. I was looking for stuff on animals and their adaptation to climate stuff. It delivers but in an unexpected way.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book nicely introduces the relationship of living things to location around planet Earth. The writing style is unnecessarily clunky in places (the author is yet another academic who writes like an academic and needs to read some books on plain language writing) but not the worst I've read. Oddly, Lomolino mentions E.O. Wilson's "biophilia" hypothesis (the supposed human love for living things, more or less) alongside extensive documentation of humankind's opposite actions, beginning with the increasingly well-evidenced Stone Age exterminations of megafaunal species in every location that humans reached in ecologically significant numbers. And of course modern humans are not to be outdone in that regard, with our global-scale obliteration of entire ecosystems and of the Earth's habitable climate. So while "we" may feel some affinity toward living things, not many humans let that get in the way of a fossil-fueled good time. (Nature will come to collect the bill in a few decades.)

One point Lomolina doesn't explore is what would happen to all those rats, goats, pigs, etc. that humans have dumped on islands around the world, and invasive fish introduced to lakes, if humans were to just disappear. Presumably in the absence of further human meddling, all those introduced species would begin evolving in isolation from each other, thus potentially confusing any future alien scientist who studies Earth's biodiversity five million years from now. He, she, or it would have to wonder how every island ended up with its own distinct radiation of rat species, some probably evolving to gigantic sizes.

It's a VSI so it can barely scratch the surface, but I would like to have seen a page about the remarkable fish living in the upper reaches of the Bramaputra River, where it goes by the name Yarlung Tsangpo River (in English; the locals have their own languages). Not many fish can reach those headwaters currently by swimming up the mighty Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon (and jumping up the waterfalls and rapids), so the fish up there in the Himalayas have evolved in isolation for some time. The ones that are there naturally, anyway. Getting to the Galápagos was much easier in Darwin's time, so he figured out evolution there. But he might have been similarly inspired by Himalayan fish, had they been somehow accessible.

[James Neish · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick and easy read but informative nonetheless. The scope is pretty broad (which is the point) thus a good starting point for those looking to better understand the indivisible link between geography and biodiversity. An additional section highlighting some of the key unanswered questions relevant today would have been useful.

[Arend · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating topic, but hampered by many adjectives, jargon, and repetition. I’d hoped for a clearer understanding of the actual questions driving this discipline. The format of VSI didn’t help: world maps at this size in B&W are difficult to interpret.

[Navaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful summary which provides key concepts and themes to the study of biogeography. The case studies also provide excellent and intriguing overview of these concepts

[Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a solid introduction.

[Ali Mousavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to get start in the subject

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on Audible as it was included in my membership. Only 4 hours or so. I really enjoyed the overview it provided. 5/5 stars

[Miss Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book which provides a solid overview of biogeography and incorporates details on real-world examples.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like the author and almost put down the book after the first chapter. The first chapter, a history of his discipline, is not great, but, when he stops trying to write the history of Biogeography, something he is not great at, and gets into Biogeography itself, he does better.

[Ann Bickle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too advanced for me. I did understand a little!

[Hunter Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting topic. I enjoyed it and very quick read.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting, but not as much as I'd hoped. Other authors in the series added more life to their scientific domains, while this one felt like the author was falling short in that.

[Garreth Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I continue to be impressed by the lives of the great men of science's past discussed in this book but found a lot of the book outside of my interest. The final chapter on human biogeography contains important info. worth returning to.