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Beeby & Brennan: First Ecology - Ecological Principles and Environmental Issues 3e

14. Biodiversity and ecological function

Measuring biodiversity

Case study 14a - Counting species and counting genes as effective ecological measures of biodiversity

  1. Section 9.1 - counting the number of species and the species-area relationship

  2. Section 5.1 - species richness in the Mediterranean communities

  3. Section 9.3 - latitudinal gradients in species richness

  4. Box 9.1 - the problems of measuring biodiversity

  5. Section 9.4 - models of complexity and ecological stability in species-rich and species-poor communities

  6. Case study 9 - an example of using taxonomic distance in assessing diversity


Loss of biodiversity and its ecological impact

Case study 14b - Ecological function and the biodiversity of the soil

  1. Box 6.3 - the variety of organisms comprising the decomposer community

  2. Section 9.4 - the significance of diversity: functional redundancy and models of stability in species-rich and species-poor communities

  3. Section 5.4 - species loss in the Mediterranean Basin

  4. Box 7.1 - the role of decomposer organisms in the development of a soil profile

  5. Section 6.5 - soil degradation and erosion


Invasive species and biodiversity loss

Case study 14c - The impact of introduced exotic species on biodiversity

  1. Section 4.5 - introduced species as pests

  2. Section 4.2 - the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) as a disruptive introduction in the Mediterranean and South Africa

  3. Section 4.3 - competitive exclusion following interspecific competition between introduced and native species of gecko in Hawai'i

  4. Box 4.6 - the impact of the invasive alga Caulerpa on the Mediterranean Sea

  5. Box 3.5 - the role of introduced species in the near extinction of the Café Marron plant

  6. Section 5.3 - Carpobrotus as an invasive alien of Mediterranean coastal dunes

  7. Box 5.2 - Eucalyptus as an invasive introduction in Mediterranean forests