Historical Biogeography: An Introduction

Though biogeography may be simply defined--the study of the geographic distributions of organisms--the subject itself is extraordinarily complex, involving a range of scientific disciplines and a bewildering diversity of approaches. For convenience, biogeographers have recognized two research traditions: ecological biogeography and historical biogeography.

This book makes sense of the profound revolution that historical biogeography has undergone in the last two decades, and of the resulting confusion over its foundations, basic concepts, methods, and relationships to other disciplines of comparative biology. Using case studies, the authors explain and illustrate the fundamentals and the most frequently used methods of this discipline. They show the reader how to tell when a historical biogeographic approach is called for, how to decide what kind of data to collect, how to choose the best method for the problem at hand, how to perform the necessary calculations, how to choose and apply a computer program, and how to interpret results.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-239) and index.

Though biogeography may be simply defined--the study of the geographic distributions of organisms--the subject itself is extraordinarily complex, involving a range of scientific disciplines and a bewildering diversity of approaches. For convenience, biogeographers have recognized two research traditions: ecological biogeography and historical biogeography.< /p>

Jorge V. Crisci is Director of the Laboratory of Systematics and Evolutionary Biology at the Museum of Natural Sciences of La Plata, Argentina.Liliana Katinas is Assistant Professor of Botany and Biogeography at La Plata National University, Argentina.Paula Posadas is Assistant Professor of Taxonomy and Biogeography at Patagonia National University, Argentina.

Introduction: What Is Historical Biogeography?

Part I: Methods in Historical Biogeography

1. Defining Distribution Areas and Areas of Endemism

2. Center of Origin and Dispersal

3. Phylogenetic Biogeography

4. Ancestral Areas

5. Panbiogeography

6. Cladistic Biogeography

7. Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity

8. Event-Based Methods

9. Phylogeography

10. Experimental Biogeography

11. A Comparison of Methods: The Case of the Southern Beeches

Part II: Topics in Historical Biogeography

12. Molecular Phylogenies in Biogeography

13. Biodiversity and Conservation Evaluations

14. Species Introduction

Conclusion: A Conceptual Framework for the Future

Appendix A: Phylogeny

Appendix B: Software in Historical Biogeography

Glossary

Works Cited

Index