Synopses & Reviews
A major thrust of scientific concern in recent years has been the problems of documenting and conserving biodiversity and the establishment of systems of sustainable development. We do not even know approximately how many species in different groups of living organisms share the planet with us! The major aim of this volume is to review the practical application of species concepts and appropriate technologies for as wide a diversity as possible of living organisms.
Review
`...Evidently, no modern biologist can afford to miss this book!' Crustaceana, 71:3 (1998)
Table of Contents
Practical approaches to species concepts for living organisms. Viral species. Towards a practical species concept for cultivable bacteria. Species in practice: exploring uncultured prokaryote diversity in natural samples. Species problems in eukaryotic algae: a modern perspective. The species concept in lichens. Fungal species in practice: identifying species units in fungi. Practical aspects of the species concept in plants. Cultivated plant diversity and taxonomy. Species of marine invertebrates: a comparison of the biological and phylogenetic species concepts. Nematode species: concepts and identification strategies exemplified by the Longidoridae, Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae. Species in insect herbivores and parasitoids - sibling species, host races and biotypes. The species concept in blood-sucking vectors of human diseases. Recognition of parthenogenetic insect species. The species in terrestrial non-insect invertebrates (earthworms, arachnids, myriapods, woodlice and snails). Species concepts in systematics and conservation biology - an ornithological viewpoint. The species in mammals. The ideal species concept - and why we can't get it. A hierarchy of species concepts: the denouement in the saga of the species problem. Index.