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Contents:

1 - Early Classics; 2 - Earth history, vicariance and dispersal; 3 - Species ranges; 4 - Revolutions in historical biogeography; 5 - Diversification; 6 - The importance of islands; 7 - Assembly rules; 8 - Gradients in species diversity: why are there so many species in the tropics?

Review:

This huge tome is a collection of 72 papers and extracts taken from key work in biogeography and arranged in 8 parts. The aim is to provide, in one convenient location, the main writings that form the underpinnings of the subject. One key argument for this is that it gives the beginner, for whom the text is largely aimed, an opportunity of seeing work that would otherwise be more difficult to obtain. It also assumes that the selections are 'right' in that most would agree that they should be in any collection.

The first part covers the period to 1953 (although older 20th century papers are also seen in other parts). Given that biogeography was not even considered a separate subject until later, the choice of excerpts here is perhaps the most difficult. Writers should be well known but there should also be an opportunity to see those less popular who nonetheless still made a contribution to the subject. The choice we see here is a fair balance. Linnaeus, von Humboldt, Darwin and Wallace are represented along with Forbes, Merriam and Wulff. Even if the names are less familiar their contributions to the rise of the study can be seen clearly. Part two looks at those authors who have tackled the question of why species are where they are. It must also consider why some species are present in one place but absent in another, equally suitable, space. Extracts here start with Wegener and then tackle some of the issues such as land bridges and continental drift. Those expecting to find Croziat here will need to wait until another section highlighting both the difficulty of categorising the work and the breadth of research of many biogeographers. Part three looks at species ranges including classic work by Grinnell, Wulff and Elton. Part four gives examples of some of the more revolutionary ideas in biogeography. As one might expect, here is work by Croziat and Nelson but also Hennig and Rosen. The range of ideas continues with part five which examines the various ideas behind diversification. From the beginning, geography has played a key part in our understanding of the proliferation of species: the idea that location can influence the development of species. Since we are concerned about biodiversity today it makes sense to see how the ideas developed. There is work by Rensch and Mayr but also commentary on Darwin's studies by Lack. The aim, as with the other sections, is not so much to be comprehensive as to give an idea of work which has become seen as crucial to the development of the subject. It could be argued that even amongst the work seen here, island biogeography, the subject of part six, is one of the most fundamental areas dealing as it does with both biogeography and conservation. Extracts from Wilson and Diamond necessarily hold key place but there's also other work, notably Arrhenius, outlined. Part seven turns to look at assembly rules - the ways in which ecosystems might gain/lose species according to some 'plan'. Elton, Whitaker, Diamond and Simberloff are amongst those whose ideas are presented. Finally, we get to consider the distribution of species diversity and why some areas have more than others. Here we have a smaller range of papers with a closer time-focus but with the key work presented.

To what extent can this be seen as a classic collection? In such a restricted review it's not possible to describe every one of the 72 extracts but one can get a good feeling of the way in which the work has been constructed. The idea for the book came from a meeting of biogeograpers in 2000 so to some extent this is a committee production. The upside is that the examples here are a consensus from a range of key workers in the field. Any group of people in a given field would come up with their own examples so we can dismiss the comment that there are some we would have liked to see included. What we do have is a large collection of work which shows the dynamicism of the subject and the breadth and depth of its workers (as shown by the fact that several authors appeared in more than one category of work). Let's not forget that it's aimed at the beginner, not the advanced historian of biogeography. When we consider these ideas we realise that the editors have put together a key work (a classic in its own right!) that demands to be consulted by every biogeography student and probably most interested educators as well. An excellent collection deserving the widest readership.