Demons in Eden : the paradox of plant diversity / Jonathan Silvertown.

9780226757773 (electronic bk.)
0226757773 (electronic bk.)
1281966509
9781281966506
9786611966508
6611966501
9780226757728 (pbk. ; alk. paper)
0226757722 (pbk. ; alk. paper)

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

English

English.

1 online resource (x, 185 pages, 8 pages of plates) : color illustrations

10.7208/9780226757773 doi

QK46.5.D58 S55 2008eb

(OCoLC)309071396

Jonathan Silvertown here explores the astonishing diversity of plant life in regions as spectacular as the verdant climes of Japan, the lush grounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, the shallow wetlands and teeming freshwaters of Florida, the tropical rainforests of southeast Mexico, and the Canary Islands archipelago, whose evolutionary novelties - and exotic plant life - have earned it the sobriquet "the Galapagos of botany." Along the way, Silvertown looks closely at the evolution of plant diversity in these locales and explains why such variety persists in light of ecological patterns and evolutionary processes. In novel and useful ways, he also investigates the current state of plant diversity on the planet to show the ever-challenging threats posed by invasive species and humans. This paperback edition will include an entirely new chapter on the astonishing diversity of plant life in the Western Cape of South Africa that focuses on fynbos, a vegetation endemic to the Cape. Bringing the secret life of plants into more colorful and vivid focus than ever before, "Demons in Eden" is an empathic and impassioned exploration of modern plant ecology that unlocks evolutionary mysteries of the natural world

Includes bibliographical references and index.

data file

Print version record.

Print version: Silvertown, Jonathan W. Demons in Eden. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008

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