bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Extinction and neglect: same or different?
Authors: Bisiach Edoardo
Published: November 2023

I will start with two concise, albeit imperfect, definitions for the benefit of those who are not familiar with neurological jargon. The term ‘extinction’ refers to a phenomenon discovered by Loeb in 1884 (see Loeb 1885): a stimulus addressed to an area which projects to a disordered component of the central nervous system may, in some instances, be adequately perceived if single, whereas it is not perceived in conditions of double simultaneous stimulation, that is when it is given in association with a concurrent stimulus addressed to unimpaired neural structures. The term ‘unilateral neglect’ describes the amazing behaviour shown by many individuals suffering from a unilateral brain lesion. Severely affected patients behave as if the side of egocentric space contralateral to the lesion had never existed (see Bisiach and Vallar 1988 for a recent review).
The hippocampal cognitive map and navigational strategies
Authors: O’Keefe John
Published: November 2023

In 1978, Nadel and I identified a set of spatial behaviours which, following Tolman, we suggested would require the existence of an allocentric mapping system (O’Keefe and Nadel 1978). In particular, we emphasized exploration of a novel environment, detection of changes (especially spatial alterations) of a familiar environment, navigation to a goal from different starting locations (in particular when these required movement in different directions), and detour behaviour – the adoption of a novel path when the usual route is blocked or otherwise unavailable. We suggested several properties of the mapping system, detailed evidence that the hippocampus was an important region of the brain involved in it, and sketched some ideas of how the map might be built from the known anatomy and physiology of this part of the limbic system. In particular, we emphasized the fact that the new information could be incorporated into the mapping system on the basis of single experiences, and that the motivation for originally constructing, and subsequently modifying, these spatial representations was not based on biological needs or desires but on the cognitive motivation of curiosity.
Interaction of multiple representations of space in the brain
Authors: Arbib Michael A
Published: November 2023

My concern in this presentation is with the space of everyday action. The representation of this quotidian space in the brain is not one absolute space, but rather a patchwork of approximate spaces (partial representations) that link sensation to action. I mean ‘partial’ and ‘approximate’ in two senses: a representation will be partial because it represents only one small sample of space (that within reaching distance, that within sight, the features of an object relevant to grasping it, or more abstract ‘allocentric’ or cognitive representations), and it will be approximate in that it will be based on an incomplete sample of sensory date and may be of limited accuracy and reliability. I will suggest that our behaviour is mediated by the interaction of these partial representations: both through their integration to map ever larger portions of the territory relevant to behaviour, and through their mutual calibration to yield a shared representation more reliable than that obtainable by any one alone with its limited sample of sensory data.
Conservation in a variable environment: the optimal size of reserves
Authors: Wright S J
Published: November 2023

Populations protected by nature reserves remain vulnerable to natural extinction. Possible causes include natural catastrophes, long-term environmental change and, for small populations, random fluctuations with occasional periods of infrequent births or too frequent deaths. The problem posed by extinction in nature reserves has attracted biologists from many disciplines (Soulé and Wilcox 1980; Shaffer 1981; and see Chapter 10 in this volume). Biogeographers, in particular, have extrapolated from their experience with patchy and insular habitats to propose design guidelines to minimize extinctions in nature reserves.
The Fourier transform
Authors: Hastings Harold M
Published: November 2023

Chapter 4 introduced the use of Fourier transform techniques in the calculation of fractal exponents. This chapter describes the mathematical details. The Fourier transform of a time series shows how that series is built up from simple periodic functions. Similarly, the Fourier transform of spatial data describes spatial periodicity. We shall show that the Fourier coefficients associated with Brownian and fractal processes satisfy power law scaling rules corresponding to the scaling rules which characterize their self-similar behaviour. The scaling rules of the Fourier coefficients are easily used to calculate the corresponding fractal exponents. Conversely, the most common class of random fractal curves and surfaces, the Mandelbrot–Weierstrass fractals (Berry and Lewis 1980; Mandelbrot 1982), is constructed by applying the inverse Fourier transform to appropriately scaled ‘Fourier coefficients’ with random phases. This construction builds up complex patterns from waves upon waves, recalling an intuitive picture of the surface of the ocean.
Modelling spatial and temporal patterns
Authors: Hastings Harold M
Published: November 2023

The organization of this chapter follows these steps, beginning with a summary of fractal exponents in Section 6.2 and a review of linear regression in Section 6.3. Fractal behaviour can be at least partially tested by evaluating the goodness of fit in linear regression: both visually and with the use of the coefficient of correlation. Simulation methods can also be used; see Section 6.4. However, there are other useful tests and important deviations from fractal behaviour. These are discussed in Sections 6.5 and 6.6.
Case studies: pattern and process in vegetative ecosystems
Authors: Hastings Harold M
Published: November 2023

10.1 Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to show how fractal geometry might be used to measure important aspects of complex vegetation patterns, to identify scales and scaling behaviour, and to describe the underlying dynamics which gave rise to these patterns.
Programs
Authors: Hastings Harold M
Published: November 2023

We conclude this book on ‘fractals for users’ with illustrative ready-to-use programs for the construction of regular and random fractals, and fractal analysis of patterns and time series. These programs were used in the previous chapters, and are written in Turbo Pascal to make them readily accessible to all.
The basic model: statics
Authors: Anderson Roy M , May Robert M
Published: November 2023

The origins of mathematical studies of the population dynamics of host-helminth parasite systems lie in the literature concerned with theoretical ecology. In 1934 Kostitzin published a seminal paper which described a deterministic model of the flow of hosts among a series of classes denoting different infection statuses, defined by the number of parasites harboured (Kostitzin 1934). The model consisted of an infinite series of differential equations and contained many rate parameters denoting host and parasite reproduction and survival. His formulation took account both of the influence of these rate parameters on the distribution of parasite numbers per host and, concomitantly, of the effect of this distribution on the dynamical properties of the interactions of the two species. The major contribution of this work was the recognition that the classical epidemic models, which treated the host population as consisting of a few discrete classes (such as susceptibles, infected, and immunes), were inappropriate descriptions of associations in which the pathology induced by infection, the fecundity and mortality of the host and parasite, and the host responses generated by infection, all typically depend on the number or burden of parasites harboured by an individual host.
Interactions between cestodes and their vertebrate hosts
Authors: Eckert J
Published: November 2023

Cestodes or tapeworms, important endoparasites of man and vertebrate animals, are enigmatic organisms. Their origin is lost in antiquity and presumably occurred some 500 to 600 million years ago, in Cambrian times (Stunkard 1983). One of the pioneers of research on cestodes, Professor J. G. Baer, stated that ‘tapeworms are by far the most highly specialized parasites known and although their origin from some distant platy helminthic stock is obvious, all traces of any direct affinities have disappeared’ (Baer 1951).
An evolutionary perspective: using the comparative method
Authors: Harvey Paul H , Read Andrew F , John Jeremy L , Gregory, Richard D , Keymer Anne E
Published: November 2023

G. Evelyn Hutchinson and Robert MacArthur had come to dominate community ecology throughout North America (e.g. Cody and Diamond 1975). Simple models were matched against patterns observed in natural communities. MacArthur’s models frequently concerned the influence of competition, with the consequence that, in the minds of many, interspecific competition had an all-pervading influence on community structure; other factors, including parasitism, were largely ignored. A backlash gained momentum in the late 1970s and was essentially complete by 1983. It was led by Simberloff and others from Florida State University and, although it may have seemed almost destructive to many at the time because it did not attempt to assess the role of additional factors influencing community structure, it was founded on good scientific practice. The patterns observed in natural communities might be explained by competition, but did they require it? The trick was to build a statistical null model that incorporated the effects of all processes known to be operating except competition, and then to test it against the data (Harvey et al. 1983; Strong et al. 1984). Community ecologists learned much from that period, but perhaps the most important lesson was that building appropriate null models is an extremely difficult exercise. Yet if we are to make sense of the pattern of nature, such models will be always necessary.
Rational taxonomy and the natural system as exemplified by segmentation and phyllotaxis
Authors: *Ho Mae-wan , Saunderst† Peter T
Published: November 2023

Since Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, the idea of descent with modification came to dominate systematics, and so the study of morphology became subjugated to the reconstruction of phylogenies. Reinstating the organism in the theory of evolution leads to a project in rational taxonomy, which attempts to classify biological forms on the basis of transformations on a given dynamical structure.
Null or minimal models
Authors: Patterson Colin
Published: November 2023

The problem with models in phylogenetic inference is one of regress or circularity. Sound models demand either some knowledge of phylogeny, or assumptions about it. If knowledge is claimed, how was that knowledge gained? If assumptions are held to be merely provisional or approximate, how will they be tested by phylogenies that depend on them? I am therefore interested in methods that demand either no model at all, or the most minimal. In morphological systematics I accept the argument that ontogeny provides a sufficient model, generalized as the observation that absence is more general than presence. Criticisms of the ontogenetic criterion are reviewed. In molecular systematics ontogeny fails, and I explore the models, and the knowledge claims behind them, that may be necessary in deriving phylogenies (rooted cladograms) from alignments. I argue that efficient models are dictated by properties of the data, not by assumptions about or knowledge of phylogeny.
Assessing extinction rates
Authors: May Robert M , Lawton John H , Stork Nigel E
Published: November 2023

In this opening chapter, we review what we see as some of the major themes, and major questions, which emerge from the data presented in the subsequent chapters, all of which are empirically-oriented. We also sketch the essential elements of three different theoretical approaches to estimating likely future rates of extinction. The first, and by far the most familiar, uses species-area relations in combination with current or projected rates of tropical deforestation. The second method provides a very rough estimate, based on the current rates at which species in better-studied groups (specifically, birds, mammals, and palm trees) are ‘climbing the ladder’ of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources’ (IUCN) categories of threat, from ‘vulnerable’ to ‘endangered’ to ‘probably extinct’ to certified extinction. The third method is a new one, presented here in Chapter 13 by Georgina Mace; it uses the estimated probabilities of extinction, as functions of time, which underpin the IUCN categories of threat for individual species. In reviewing these three approaches, which give surprisingly concordant answers, we emphasize the many uncertainties and other problems associated with them. We also discuss the discrepancies between rates of documented extinction over the past century or so, and the roughly hundredfold higher rates of projected future extinctions.
Classification of threatened species and its role in conservation planning
Authors: Mace Georgina M
Published: November 2023

Over the next several decades, actions will need to be taken towards preserving the many species now facing extinction. Unfortunately, this will be done in the context of enormous ignorance about most of those species, with limited resources, and with continuing developments that contribute to species’ extinction. In this chapter, I review the role that categorizing species according to their perceived risk of extinction can play, and outline some of the practical advantages and disadvantages of this approach. In particular, I shall focus on the fact that categorizing risk levels is only a first step. Deciding what to do next and developing rational methods for setting priorities will be just as important, and presents additional challenges.
Wandering toward the edge of adaptability: adjustments of Andean people to change
Authors: Thomas R Brooke
Published: November 2023

In spite of an insistence on objectivity, science is inevitably embedded in and moulded by the societal issues of its time. Such issues can influence underlying assumptions, problem selection, research funding, and most importantly interpretation as carefully researched results arc brought forth to support broader processes. Because claims of adaptiveness and adaptability entail the complex weighing of benefits and costs of responses over multiple adaptive domains, such interpretation is particularly amenable to ideological bias. This is amply illustrated in a historical review of changing perspectives on the degree and manner in which Andean peoples have adjusted to high altitude. Of interest are the divergent interpretations formulated from a commonly accepted data base, and how these nodes of contention serve to advance further inquiry. Below is a brief summary following Cueto’s (1989) excellent review on this subject (see also Cueto 1988).
Introduction: pair bonds and partnerships
Authors: Black Jeffrey M
Published: November 2023

The study of monogamy in birds has been turned on its head. This happened when we learned that sex is often not exclusive to pair bond members. The realization, which is still growing, came when molecular techniques for identifying parentage were included with studies of individual life histories. Many journals continue to provide further examples of socially monogamous birds where ‘female choice of a breeding partner is to a large extent uncoupled from her choice of genes for her offspring’ (Lifjeld et al. 1993). In this book we deal with this change in perception by redefining monogamy and its study, and asking what the social partnership is worth to the individual when sexual activity may not be restricted to the pair bond and when parents may be caring for someone else’s offspring (Chapters 2, 3, and 18). Several stimulating hypotheses were tabled between the late 1960s and early 1980s to explain how monogamy came about in the animal kingdom (e.g. Lack 1968; Kleiman 1977; Wittenberger 1981; Gowaty and Mock 1985) and they have been scrutinized by some outstanding studies of monogamous birds that maintain pair bonds during single breeding seasons (e.g. Greenlaw and Post 1985; Arcese 1989; Veiga 1992). In this book we extend the study by asking how and why the ultimate variety of social monogamy, pair bonds that persist for several breeding seasons, is maintained (Chapters 4-17 and 19). The study is one of mate choice, mate fidelity, and divorce following in the wake of the review by Rowley (1983).
Mate fidelity and divorce in ptarmigan: polygyny avoidance on the tundra
Authors: Hannon Susan , Martin Kathy
Published: November 2023

Ptarmigan are small, primarily herbivorous grouse that breed in alpine or circumpolar arctic tundra during the short summer season. Although strongly territorial during the breeding season, they spend the winter in large sex-segregated flocks sometimes numbering in the thousands. The sexes appear similar in their white winter plumage but during summer they have sexually dimorphic breeding plumages and vocalizations. Monogamy is the norm for all species, but up to 20% of males may be polygynous in any year. Pairs are together in spring and summer for 2-4 months, spend the winter apart, and if both members of the pair survive, usually reunite the next spring. The duration of the pair bond and the extent of male parental care vary among species, but in all species the male accompanies the female during the prelaying and laying periods and appears to provide vigilance against predators while she forages.
Monogamy and sperm competition in birds
Authors: Birkhead T R , Moller A P
Published: November 2023

Monogamy in birds comprises two individuals of the opposite sex remaining together for the duration of one or more breeding events. Until recently monogamy was also assumed to imply an exclusive mating relationship between two individuals (Wittenberger and Wilson 1980), but recent behavioural and molecular studies (reviewed in Birkhead and M0ller 1992) have shattered the illusion of sexual fidelity: in the majority of species extra-pair copulations and fertilizations outside the pair bond occur routinely. The consequences of this are far reaching, and include effects on fundamentally important life history traits, such as the extent of male parental care (Birkhead and M0ller 1992; M0ller and Birkhead 1993). The more immediate consequence in the present context is the need to distinguish between social and sexual monogamy (Gowaty 1985). In this book social monogamy is defined as partners remaining together and sexual monogamy as the absence of extra-pair paternity, but not necessarily the absence of extra-pair copulations. When a female is inseminated by two or more males during a single breeding episode the result is sperm competition (Parker 1970, 1984).
A Hydropolitical History of the Nile, Jordan and Euphrates River Basins
Authors: Wolf Aaron T
Published: November 2023

In 1876, John Wesley Powell, the leader of the first organized expedition down the Colorado River, submitted his Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States to Congress. Among his observations on U.S. settlement policies in the deserts of the Southwest, was his belief, as described by Marc Reisner (1986), that state boundaries were often nonsensical ... In the We.st, where the one thing that really mattered was water, states should logically be formed around watersheds ... To divide the West any other way was to sow the future with rivalries, jealousies, and bitter squabbles whose fruits would contribute solely to the nourishment of lawyers.
Mutation Detection
Authors: Cotton Richard G H
Published: November 2023

Cancer and the mechanisms of its development are receiving increasing research interest. New genes are being isolated almost daily, Fundamental to those studies is the ability to detect mutations. Mutation detection is time consuming and expensive and thus should be undertaken with a thorough knowledge of the alternative methods. This book aims to critically review the field, refer to methodology and protocols, and give illustrative examples as well as put the whole emerging field in context, including ethical considerations.
Parasite-mediated natural selection
Authors: Goater Cameron P , Holmes John C
Published: November 2023

The great evolutionist John Haldane apparently once demonstrated to a meeting of the Royal Society that he was immune to the bite of bed bugs, as was his father (it is unclear exactly how he did this!). Perhaps anecdotal observations such as this provided the impetus for his 1949 publication Disease and Evolution. This paper initiated the idea that parasites (specifically diseases of humans) could act as significant selective agents on their hosts. In it he put forth a number of novel ideas regarding the consequences of parasite-mediated natural selection: parasites could mediate competitive interactions between hosts, they could produce and maintain rare host genotypes, and they could even drive host speciation. He was also the first to suggest that malaria was important in maintaining polymorphism of haemoglobin. Each of these ideas has become a focus of research into the biology of parasite-host interactions.
Parasitism and the evolution of host life history
Authors: Meller Anders Pape
Published: November 2023

Life history theory assumes that reproduction is costly and competes with other activities of the individual (Roff 1992; Stearns 1992). An individual cannot simultaneously maximize all life history traits, because energy is a limiting resource. All organisms must successfully maintain their ordinary body functions to survive to the next breeding event, and only excess resources can be channelled into reproduction. Current reproductive decisions are traded against future reproduction during the same or subsequent reproductive events (Williams 1966a, b; Roff 1992; Stearns 1992). The decrease in future reproduction as caused by current reproductive activities represents a cost of reproduction, and the negative relationship between current and future reproduction gives rise to a reproductive trade-off.
Community ecology of parasites and free-living animals
Authors: Simberloff Daniel , Moore Janice
Published: November 2023

The two key foci of ecological research on free-living communities have been what determines the number of species in a community, and the existence, or lack thereof, of deterministic ‘assembly rules’ governing which species can co-exist in one community. These two concerns intersect in the proposition that communities of different sizes conform to a ‘nested subset’ pattern of composition (references in Simberloff and Martin 1991). The suggestion that assembly rules exist reflects one venerable view of commu nities, that they are organized sets of species, co-adapted and co-evolved to produce highly integrated entities—in the limit, holistic ‘superorgaoisms’ (references in Simberl off 1980). The opposite, ‘individualistic’ conception, that a community consists of species with similar physical requirements that happen to have colonized the same site, and that the interactions among these species are neither styli7ed nor important enough to affect greatly the species composition, is equally venerable (references in Simberloff 1980). The holistic view suggests that assembly rules exist; the individualistic view suggests they do not. These opposing conceptions of free-Jiving communities are mirrored in opposing conceptions of parasite communities of birds and other vertebrate hosts (references in Simberloff 1990).
Host-parasite co-spedation: history, principles, and prospects
Authors: Hoberg Eric P , Brooks Daniel R , Siegel-Causey Douglas
Published: November 2023

Study of the intimate evolutionary associations between hosts and parasites, including the possibility of shared histories between parasites and their hosts birds, is as old as modem evolutionary thought. On 7 November 1844 Charles Darwin wrote to Henry Denny.
Avian brood parasitism
Authors: Payne Robert B
Published: November 2023

Avian brood parasitism is the association between a bird (the parasite) that lays its eggs in the nests of another (the foster or host species), thus gaining the care of the foster parent. The young brood parasite takes the food that the foster parents bring for their own young, often at a cost of the survival of the foster brood (Payne 1977a).
Tapeworm quadrilles
Authors: Hoffmann Roald
Published: November 2023

It is surprising, therefore, to find that Roald Hoffmann describes himself as an anti-reductionist. He and his collaborator, Robert B. Woodward, did after all win the Nobel prize for applying quantum mechanics to chemistry. It is also surprising, though perhaps it shouldn’t be, that a distinguished chemist is also an established poet. Hoffmann’s two volumes of verse, both published in the past few years, have received considerable acclaim.
Mass Extinctions and Their Aftermath
Authors: Hallam A , Wignall P B
Published: November 2023

Why do mass extinctions occur? The demise of the dinosaurs has been discussed exhaustively, but has never been out into the context of other extinction events. This is the first systematic review of the mass extinctions of all organisms, plant and animal, terrestrial and marine, that have occurred in the history of life. This includes the major crisis 250 million years ago which nearly wiped out all life on Earth. By examining current paleontological, geological, and sedimentological evidence of environmental changes, the cases for explanations based on climate change, marine regressions, asteroid or comet impact, anoxia, and volcanic eruptions are all critically evaluated.
Kin recognition in social wasps
Authors: Gamboa George J
Published: November 2023

During the past 15 years, a substantial literature has documented that a diversity of hymenopterans have the ability to recognize their conspecific nestmates (Fletcher and Michener 1987; Hepper 1991). Typically, colony members accept nestmates but exclude non-nestmates. Almost all studies of nestmate or kin recognition in social insects have concentrated on documenting recognition ability or investigating the mechanisms subserving recognition. As a result, there is a relatively good understanding of recognition ability and the proximate basis of recognition for several groups of social insects, including social wasps of the genus Polistes.
The evolution of eusociality, including a review of the social status of Ropalidia marginata
Authors: Gadagkar Raghavendra
Published: November 2023

Social insects, especially bees and wasps exhibit such a bewildering variety of social organizations that we would be quite lost without a sound classification and some technical terms with universally accepted definitions. A system of classification that is built along lines of progressively varying degrees of social organization and sophistication would be even more attractive. Michener (1969) has presented just such a system of classification that has been so popularized by Wilson (1971) that it has now the added virtue of being nearly universally acceptable.
Wasps make nests: nests make conditions
Authors: Hansell Michael H
Published: November 2023

I am always struck by the unselfconscious way in which the words natural history are used by researchers of social insects. This approach to biology has come to be regarded by some as unfashionable and rather equated with stamp collecting. This view probably gained currency with the great expansion of molecular biology, a discipline in which generalizable concepts have developed from the discovery of similarities between organisms rather than attempting to see order in their differences.
Synapomorphies and plesiomorphies in higher classification of mollusca
Authors: Salvini-Plawen Luitfried V , Steiner Gerhard
Published: November 2023

As is well-known, the Mollusca are in appearance, anatomy, ecology and physiology a highly diverse group (see Fig. 2.1), for which the phylogenetic pathways and higher classification have been controversal since the very beginning of comparative investigation. However, some principal relationships with respect to the anagenetic sequence and the organizational levels appear to have been generally accepted (Fig. 2.1).
Phylogenetic position of Sipuncula, Mollusca and the progenetic Aplacophora
Authors: Scheltema AmÉLie H
Published: November 2023

Five hypotheses that consider the relationship and evolution of molluscs in general and Aplacophora in particular have recently been proposed (Scheltema, 1993). These hypotheses are: (1) the Sipuncula are the sister taxon of Mollusca; (2) the two aplacophoran taxa, the Neomeniomorpha (Solenogasters) and Chaetodermomorpha (Caudofoveata) are monophyletic and share a common neomenioid-like ancestor; (3) the Aplacophora and Polyplacophora are sister taxa and form the clade Aculifera; (4) Aculifera are the sister group of the remaining extant molluscs, the Conchifera; and (5) the Aplacophora are progenetic Aculifera (Fig. 3.1).
Origin of aculifera and problems of monophyly of higher taxa in molluscs
Authors: Ivanov Dmitry L
Published: November 2023

Since the composition and primary structure of the phylum Mollusca was finally determined in the 1920’s, the principal reconstructions of higher systems of molluscs have been made mainly at the level between phylum and class or class and family. The class level was the most stable. During the last fifty years, there were only two attempts to revise the composition of the phylum at the class level, which led to alterations in taxonomic structure of the phylum.
Molluscan sperm ultrastructure: correlation with taxonomic units within the gastropoda, cephalopoda and bivalvia
Authors: Healy John M
Published: November 2023

Increasingly it is becoming apparent that comparative ultrastructural studies of sperm and spermiogenesis shed new light onto previously unresolved taxonomic and phylogenetic problems in many animal groups (Wirth, 1984; Jamieson, 1987, 1991). The utility of this work rests on the fact that sperm morphology is conservative for many taxa, and is therefore a good or at least very useful indicator of relationships. For this reason, the ‘naturalness’ of taxa can, in many cases, be assessed through correlation with sperm features. In relation to the Mollusca, a number of recent papers have dealt with the taxonomic and/or phylogenetic potential of sperm ultrastructure in the Gastropoda (Melone et al., 1980; Giusti, 1971; Giusti and Selmi, 1982a,b; Giusti et al., 1992; Kohnert and Storch, 1984a,b; Koike, 1985; Healy, 1982-1989a, 1990a-c,1991, 1993a,b; Healy and Willan, 1984, 1991a,b; Jamieson et al., 1991; Hodgson and Bernard, 1988; Hodgson and Foster, 1992; Hodgson and Chia, 1993), the Cephalopoda (Healy, 1989b, 1990d,e, 1993), the Bivalvia (Gharagozlou Van Ginneken and Pochon-Masson, 1971; Kubo, 1977; Popham, 1979; Healy, 1989c; Hodgson and Bernard, 1986; Hodgson et al., 1990) and the Polyplacophora (Hodgson et al., 1988; Buckland-Nicks et al., 1990). Useful morphological data have also been forthcoming from sperm studies dealing largely with functional aspects of molluscan gamete development and functional biology (e.g. Anderson and Personne, 1976; Hylander and Summers, 1977; Lewis et al., 1980; Buckland-Nicks et al., 1982, and many other papers -see references).
Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

Other names: Garza Cabecinegra in Spanish; Héron mélanocéphale in French; Schwarzhalsreiher in German. Ardea melanocephala Anon. Vigors and Children, 1826, in Denham and Clapperton’s Travels, Vol. 2, App. xxi, p. 20 1: near Lake Chad. The Black-headed Heron is a medium, black, grey, and white heron commonly found in the grasslands of Africa.
White-bellied Heron Ardea insignis
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

Other names: Imperial Heron, Great White-bellied Heron in English; Garza Ventriblanca in Spanish; Héron impérial in French; Kaiserreiher in German Baifu lu in Chinese. Ardea insignis Hume 1878, ‘Stray Feathers’ vi, p. 470: Sikkim terai, Bhutan duars. The White-bellied Heron is a very large, brownish- grey heron. It is the second largest living species of heron.
Purple Heron Ardea purpurea
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

The Goliath Heron is a unique heron due to its large size and its dependency on very large fish. It has a suite of adaptations to accommodate this role. Its large bill can handle large fish. It legs, relatively long even for its great size, allow it to access deeper water where the large fish are. Its solitary habits likely are required to access this scarce resource. Catching large fish is neither frequent nor efficient, and handling becomes even more problematical. However, its low-key foraging technique conserves energy.
Pied Heron Egretta picata
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

Other names: Pied Egret, Allied Egret, White- headed Egret ( juvenile) in English; Garceta Pie in Spanish; Aigrette pie in French; Elsterreiher in German. Ardea (Herodias) picata Gould, 1845. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, p. 62: Port Essington, Northern Territory. The Pied Heron is a small black and white heron, with black head and head plumes, white neck and black body. ADULT: The Pied Heron typically has a uniquely black face and crown that forms a crest with elongated black plumes.
Black Heron Egretta ardesiaca
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

The typical habitats of this species, namely reed beds in extensive shallow inundation zones and temporary rainfall basins, are a not uncommon situation on many African river systems. So why this species, which has some ability to move about, has such a restricted distribution is unclear. Further study of the breeding and feeding biology of this species relative to water fluctuations and specific nesting habitat requirements is needed. The apparent low nesting success and vulnerability to predators need to be bet- ter understood in order to assess their true impact.
Tricoloured Heron Egretta tricolor
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

Africa, and July–August in west Africa. The Black Heron nests in trees over water. It can also nest on bushes and in reed beds. It nests in single-and mixed- species colonies of herons, ibis, and cormorants.Typically there are 50–100 Black Heron nests in a colony. However, in Africa, a few nests may occur within a larger colony or it may form huge colonies, for example a colony of 10 000 pairs of Black Herons was reported from Madagascar in 1950.The nest is a solid structure of twigs in tree nests, placed 1–6 m above water.
Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

However, it just as typically forages on damp grass- lands. It defends all-purpose breeding and feeding territories during nesting but is less aggressive outside the nesting season. Much can be learned from this species about flexibility among solitary herons. Other names: Blue Heron, Blue Gaulin in English; Garceta azul, Garza azul, Garza blanca, Garza pinta, in Spanish; Aigrette bleue, Petit héron bleu, Crabier bleu, Crabier noir, Aigrette bleue, Petit Héron Bleu in French; Blauriher in German; Garça-azul, Garça- morena in Portuguese.
Chinese Egret Egretta eulophotes
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

The Little Egret is a species characterized by its flexibility, which permits a diversity of ecological strategies across its large range. Among populations currently identified as Little Egrets there is considerable variation in bill, leg, and plumage, some of which have ecological implications. Coastal populations tend to have shorter legs and stockier bills, probably to feed on harder prey. In dimorphic populations, the ratios of colour forms differ geographically, probably as a response to slightly differing selective pressures in different habitat conditions.
Rufous-bellied Heron Ardeola rufiventris
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

ponds, streams and ditches. Having trees and bushes nearby appears to be important for escape. Its distinctive seasonal plumage change and migration pattern between Africa and Madagascar are unique to the species.The African part of its annual cycle is particularly mysterious. Other names: Garcilla Ventrirroja in Spanish; Héron à ventre roux in French; Rotbauchreiher in German. Ardea rufiventris Sundevall, 1851. Of. K. Vet. Akad. Forh., Stockholm, for 1850, p. 110: ‘Caffaria superior’ Mooi River, Potchefstroom, Transvaal, South Africa.
Eurasian Bittern Botaurus stellaris
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

The North American Bittern is a solitary bird of dense emergent marshes. It feeds and breeds in isolation, in defended territories deep in the marsh thicket. It feeds by Walking carefully and very slowly, working its way through the vegetation, particularly near the edges of tall vegetation. It Stands for long periods and transitions to Walking extremely slowly. It hunts its prey, primarily fish and insects, with great patience. Its Boom call claims its territory and advertises its personal presence.
Dwarf Bittern Ixobrychus sturmii
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

This is not a well-understood heron, despite being relatively easy to observe. It feeds in rice fields and other open herbaceous wetlands by Walking slowly stalking prey, taking invertebrates and relatively large fish. It has a substantial repertoire of behaviours to use in locating and capturing prey and can also make use of a variety of habitats, especially agricultural situations. Much remains to be learned.
Zigzag Heron Zebrilus undulatus
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

Other names: Vermiculated Heron in English; Avetigre Enana, Garza Cebira in Spanish; Socof- ziguezague in Portuguese; Onoré zigzag in French; Zickzackreiher in German. The Zigzag Heron is a small, short-tailed, black- crested, cryptically coloured dark heron of dense South American forests. ADULT: The Zigzag Heron’s head and neck are mottled grey with a black crest forming a prominent mane, giving the bird a thick-headed appear- ance (Davis et al. 1980). The bill is relatively short and dark. It may be all black, but it may also have a black or grey upper bill and horn or yellow lower bill.
Melanism
Authors: Majerus Michael E N
Published: November 2023

Melanism: Evolution in Action describes investigations into a ubiquitous biological phenomenon, the existence of dark, or melanic, forms of many species of mammals, insects, and some plants. Melanism is a particularly exciting phenomenon in terms of our understanding of evolution. Unlike many other polymorphisms, the rise of a melanic population within a species is a visible alteration. Not only this, but melanism may sometimes occur dramatically quickly compared to other evolutionary change. Examples of melanism include one of the most famous illustrations of Darwinian natural selection, the peppered moth. This book, the first written on melanism since 1973, gives a lucid and up-to-date appraisal of the subject. The book is divided into ten chapters. The first four chapters place melanism into its historical and scientific context, with illustrations of its occurrence, and physical and genetic properties. Chapters 5-9 look in more detail at melanism in moths and ladybirds, explaining the diversity of evolutionary reasons for melanism, and the complexities underlying this apparently simple phenomenon. The final chapter shows how the study of melanism has contibuted to our understanding of biological evolution as a whole. Written in an engaging and readable style, by an author whose enthusiasm and depth of knowledge is apparent throughout, this book will be welcomed by all students and researchers in the fields of evolution, ecology, entomology, and genetics. It will also be of relevance to professional and amateur entomologists and lepidopterists alike.
Genealogies and geography
Authors: Barton N H , Wilson I
Published: November 2023

Any set of homologous genes can be traced back to a single common ancestor, and so their evolutionary relationship can be described by a genealogy, such as that shown in Fig. 3.1a. With asexual reproduction, every gene has the same ancestry. For example, since human mitochondrial DNA is inherited maternally. there is no opportunity for recombination, and o all mitochondria must trace back to one maternal ancestor. By contrast. sexual reproduction allows recombination, so that different genes, or even different segments of the same gene, have different genealogies (Fig. 3.lb). The ancestral lineages of each gene might coincide, so that even in a sexual population, one individual might by chance contribute the entire future ancestry (top of Fig. 3.1 b). In the more distant past. all segments of the genome presumably trace back to one ancestral gene, via successive duplications. Here, however, we will be concerned with the immediate genealogy, and what this tells us about current evolutionary processes. The discordant genealogies generated by recombination allow natural selection to select efficiently on individual loci, and also give us very much more information about the whole population. However, it makes it difficult (if not impossible) to estimate the whole set of genealogies that give the relationships between genomes, and greatly complicates the inferences that can be made from that set. In this chapter we analyse the structure of genealogies where genes diffuse through a two-dimensional habitat, and discuss how genealogical information might be used to estimate the rate and pattern of gene flow.
NMR and its Applications to Living Systems
Authors: Gadian David G
Published: November 2023

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a technique that is extensively used as a means of obtaining clinical images. In the form of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), the technique can also be used to study tissue chemistry. In this revised and updated second edition, the technique of NMR is introduced, and the ways in which MRI and MRS can be used to study living systems are discussed, with an emphasis on applications in man. There are chapters which illustrate applications of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and imaging (MRI), including the new methods of functional imaging. Chapters also cover the basic principles of the techniques, the parameters that characterize NMR signals, instrumentation, and pulse sequences.
Pulse sequences
Authors: Gadian David G
Published: November 2023

The development of new pulse sequences has been a major theme of research in magnetic resonance for many years, and has provided much of the basis for the continued progress in imaging and spectroscopy. For example, the studies described in Chapter 4 illustrate the various ways in which specialized imaging sequences can be used, not only for the visualization of specific structures, but also for the investigation of tissue function and pathophysiology. In this final chapter, we discuss in more detail some of the more widely used pulse sequences. We show that these sequences, which involve appropriate combinations of radiofrequency pulses and pulsed magnetic field gradients, can generally be built up on a modular basis, and that pulse sequences used for spectroscopy have many features in common with those used for imaging.
Structural chemistry
Authors: Simonettat† Massimo , Gavezzotti Angelo
Published: November 2023

Chemistry has a very important part in the scientific and technological wonders of our times. The composition of planetary atmospheres and interstellar clouds has been probed, superconductivity has been obtained at easily accessible temperatures, fibres a few millimeters thick can lift tons of weight, millions of tiny charges can be manipulated in microscopic chips to store and process information. The codes of life and evolution have been cracked, and the genes of micro-organisms can be cut and spliced to induce the production of useful substances. Much of this has been made possible by our detailed knowledge of the intimate structure of matter at a molecular level, which has in turn produced the well-established theories of modern chemistry. At the same time, comprehensive and relatively simple theories have been constructed to account for the quantum behaviour of atoms and molecules, and phenomena like tunneling or Pauli forces are now explained. The non-classical, elusive properties of electron and nuclear spin are widely exploited for chemical characterization.
The potential energy surface and the meaning of internuclear distances
Authors: Kuchitsu Kozo
Published: November 2023

The theoretical framework for the concept of molecular structure is based on the Born-Oppenheimer approximation (Born and Oppenheimer 1927; Ballhausen and Hansen 1972). Except in the case of strong vibronic interaction, the electronic motion is solved for a set of fixed nuclear positions; the electronic wavefunction contains the molecule-fixed nuclear coordinates as parameters, instead of variables, because the influence of the momentum of the nuclear motion operating on the electronic wavefunction is ignored. The electronic energy in a certain electronic state, represented as a function of the nuclear coordinates, corresponding to the potential energy function for the nuclear motion (i.e. The intramolecular vibration). [n this Born-Oppenheimer scheme, the potential function for the nuclear motion is assumed to be independent of the nuclear masses and, therefore, the potential function should be independent of isotopic substitution.
Excited States and Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine
Authors: Bensasson R v. , Land E J , Truscott T G
Published: November 2023

Excited states and free radicals are involved in the normal physiology of living systems; in pathological processes including lipid peoxidation, inflammation, Parkinson's disease, cancer, and ageing; in the mechanism of action of drugs, such as quinone antitumour agents, and in the photochemotherapies such as the PUVA therapy of skin diseases and PDT of cancer. The chief aim of this text is to introduce the reader to this rapidly expanding field, which lies at the borderlines of physics, chemistry, biology, pharmacology, and medicine, and, in particular, to explore how time-resolved spectroscopic methods have found solutions at the molecular level to biological and medical problems. In the first three chapters, the nature of excited states and free radicals, and the fast kinetic and spectroscopic techniques for their study are described. Amongst the biological areas described in the subsequent chapters are: activated oxygen species; DNA; proteins; carotenoids and photosynthetic reaction centres; photodermatology and melanogenesis; and aspects of cancer related to radio-, chemo-, and photodynamic therapy.
A dedication, some history, and a brief overview
Authors: Symons M C R , Gutteridge J M C
Published: November 2023

This book was originally conceived because we both were keen on the ‘Fenton reaction’ from our different points of view-and we realized that it was (at that time!) the 100th anniversary of his classic paper. As well as saying something about Fenton himself, we also give very brief surveys of the ‘history’ of the other main participants (or? protagonists?), oxygen and iron. This book is not intended to be an overview of current literature, but a critical commentary on the major issues and controversies-presented from the disparate viewpoints of a chemist and a biochemist. Since we wanted both viewpoints to be expressed, we have avoided the temptation to produce a composite compromise.