Evolution on Planet Earth: Impact of the Physical Environment
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Contentsv
- Contributorsvii
- Introductionix
- Part 1: The Earth’s atmosphere and the building blocks of life1
- Chapter 1. The physical setting for early life3
- Chapter 2. What good is nitrogen: an evolutionary perspective25
- Chapter 3. The coupled evolution of life and atmospheric oxygen35
- Chapter 4. Chemistry of the early oceans: the environment of early life55
- Chapter 5. The role of carbon dioxide in plant evolution65
- Part 2: Radiation85
- Chapter 6. The sun: the impetus for life87
- Chapter 7. Could life travel across interplanetary space? Panspermia revisited109
- Part 3: Molecular evolution129
- Chapter 8. Genome evolution and the impact of the physical environment131
- Part 4: Gravity141
- Chapter 9. The impact of gravity on life143
- Chapter 10. Gravity, the atmosphere and the evolution of animal locomotion161
- Part 5: Temperature185
- Chapter 11. Evolution and low temperatures187
- Chapter 12. Temperature, tectonics, and evolution209
- Part 6: The dynamic Earth233
- Chapter 13. The interplay of physical and biotic factors in macroevolution235
- Chapter 14. The causes of Phanerozoic extinctions253
- Chapter 15. Drifting continents and life on Earth279
- Chapter 16. Land/sea relations and speciation in the marine and terrestrial realms297
- Part 7: Climate317
- Chapter 17. Tectonics, climatic change, and the evolution of mammalian ecosystems319
- Chapter 18. Ice ages, species distributions, and evolution339
- Chapter 19. Environmental variability and its impact on adaptive evolution, with special reference t363
- Chapter 20. Climatic change, and the beginnings of agriculture: the case of the Younger Dryas379
- Part 8: Implications for life elsewhere395
- Chapter 21. The physical constraints on extraterrestrial life397
- Epilogue415
- Glossary419
- Index429
- Color Plate SectionColor Plat
Driving evolution forward, the Earth's physical environment has challenged the very survival of organisms and ecosystems throughout the ages. With a fresh new perspective, Evolution on Planet Earth shows how these physical realities and hurdles shaped the primary phases of life on the planet. The book's thorough coverage also includes chapters on more proximate factors and paleoenvironmental events that influenced the diversity of life. A team of notable ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and paleontologists join forces to describe drifting continents, extinction events, and climate change -- important topics that continue to shape Earth's inhabitants to this very day. In a world where global change has become an international issue, this book provides a several billion-year evolutionary perspective on what the environment and environmental change means to life.
* Provides thorough background information on each topic while introducing cutting-edge research
* Features original material solicited from the leading minds in evolutionary biology and geology today
* Emphasizes the influence of massive geological forces - continental drift, volcanic activity, sea and tides
* Provides thorough background information on each topic while introducing cutting-edge research
* Features original material solicited from the leading minds in evolutionary biology and geology today
* Emphasizes the influence of massive geological forces - continental drift, volcanic activity, sea and tides