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The Ornaments of Life: Coevolution and Conservation in the Tropics
Contributor(s): Fleming, Theodore H. (Author), Kress, W. John (Author)
ISBN: 0226253414     ISBN-13: 9780226253411
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
OUR PRICE:   $57.42  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: October 2013
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Science | Life Sciences - Evolution
- Science | Life Sciences - Botany
- Science | Life Sciences - Zoology - Entomology
Dewey: 576.875
LCCN: 2013000803
Series: Interspecific Interactions
Physical Information: 1.43" H x 6.15" W x 9.06" (2.83 lbs) 616 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
The average kilometer of tropical rainforest is teeming with life; it contains thousands of species of plants and animals. As The Ornaments of Life reveals, many of the most colorful and eye-catching rainforest inhabitants--toucans, monkeys, leaf-nosed bats, and hummingbirds to name a few--are an important component of the infrastructure that supports life in the forest. These fruit-and-nectar eating birds and mammals pollinate the flowers and disperse the seeds of hundreds of tropical plants, and unlike temperate communities, much of this greenery relies exclusively on animals for reproduction. Synthesizing recent research by ecologists and evolutionary biologists, Theodore H. Fleming and W. John Kress demonstrate the tremendous functional and evolutionary importance of these tropical pollinators and frugivores. They shed light on how these mutually symbiotic relationships evolved and lay out the current conservation status of these essential species. In order to illustrate the striking beauty of these "ornaments" of the rainforest, the authors have included a series of breathtaking color plates and full-color graphs and diagrams.

Contributor Bio(s): Kress, W. John: -

W. John Kress is curator and research botanist as well as director of the Consortium for Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet at the Smithsonian Institution.