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The Macmillan Living Universe Series

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isgipsssfi
Bioimes and
Habitats

DR PHIL I P W H I T F I E L D
DR PET E R D . MOORE
PROFESS O R B A R R Y COX

MACMILLAN REFERENCE USA

GALE GROUP
---*---
THOMSON LEARNING

New York • Detroit * San Diego • San Francisco

Boston • New Haven, Conn. • Waterville, Maine
London • Munich
A MARSHALL EDITION

This book was conceived, edited, and designed by

Marshall Editions,
Just House.
74 Shepherd's Bush Green,
London,
W12 SQE

Copyright © 2002 Marshall Editions Ltd.

First published in the USA in 2002 by Macmillan

Reference USA, an imprint of the Gale Group

Macmillan Reference USA

300 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010

Editor Jinny Johnson

Text Editors Anne Kilborn
Gwen Rigby
Assistant Editor Jazz Wilson
Managing Editor Ruth Binney
Art Director John Bigg
Art Editor Lynn Bowers
Picture Editor Zilda Tandy
Production Barry Baker
Janice Storr

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or by an information
storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the Publisher.

Library of Congress Card Number: 2001094842

ISBN 0-02-865633-4

10 987654321

Originated in Singapore by Masterlmage

Printed and bound in Italy by De Agostini

The Publishers would like to thank the World

Conservation Monitoring Centre at Cambridge
and Kew for their invaluable assistance in the
preparation of the sections on Threatened plants
and Endangered species (pp 200-13) and Pip
Morgan for compiling the information.
Contents
6 Foreword

8 Global patterns
The shape of the
living world

48 Habitat patterns
The realms of nature

92 Niche patterns
Worlds within
worlds

110 Changing patterns

The dynamics of
living

132 The human impact

Forces of the future

178 A catalogue of life

214 Index

218 Charts and further

reading
i-V^i
Foreword
he ever-changing patterns of life on
-L earth are revealed in the pages of this
book. It explains where plants and animals
live—and why they exist where they do—
and traces the vital geographical dimensions
of natural history in maps. On this
cartographic foundation we have drawn
together the strands of modern knowledge to
create a comprehensive study of the natural
realm.
On a global scale, we chart the physical
forces that have shaped the earth and the
biological processes that have determined
the life of our planet.
Coming in closer, the environment is
brought into sharp focus through its many
varied habitats. From tropical and temperate
forest, through savanna and scrub, ocean,
shore and island, desert and tundra—each
has its own unique identity created by the
living things that flourish within its
boundaries. Comprising each habitat are the
niches where creatures are engaged in the
daily round of living, where resources must
be shared, mates found, and young reared.
But the living planet is not static.
Superimposed upon it are changing
patterns of existence—of migration and
colonization, of natural population
explosions and crashes—which give the
biological world its own dynamic. The
arrival of humans has also effected great
changes in the living environment, many of
them documented , explained, and evaluated
here.
This book reaches out to the leading edge
of scientific knowledge, to unravel the vital
forces that are molding the future. In doing
so, it addresses the most crucial questions of
planet management in to the next century.

THE EDITORS
Global
patterns
12 Origins of our planet
14 The moving face
of earth
16 The origins of life
18 The distant past
20 The last 100 million
years
22 Patterns of today
24 The isolated continent
26 The great American
interchange
28 Extinctions: the other
side of evolution
30 Ice ages
32 Survivors of
the Ice Age
34 Ice Age devastation
36 Birth of an island chain
38 Hawaiian colonists
40 Worldwide patterns
42 Restricted patterns 1
44 Restricted patterns 2
46 From equator to pole

* •
 The shape I t is often said that the sheer variety of life on Earth is
astounding. So it is. But when you come to think about it,
the similarity between animal groups worldwide is also

of the living extraordinary. In Europe there are frogs and lizards, butterflies
and spiders, earthworms and snails. Travel to the island

world continent of Australia, ten thousand miles away on the other

side of the globe, and you will find there animals that, without
any question, also belong to such groups. It is true that
Australian frogs are not exactly the same as European ones,
but they are so similar in the fundamental details of their
anatomy that you cannot doubt that European and Australian
frogs are related and that furthermore they belong to the same
group as frogs in Africa, Asia, and South America. The same
can be said about the lizards and earthworms, butterflies—and,
indeed, most major categories of animals alive today.

A dramatic theory proved

Relationship implies that all the animals concerned are
derived from common ancestors. But if that is the case, how
and when did the descendants get separated from one
another? Many different answers have been proposed to that
question. Birds, of course, are hardly a problem. They could
have flown from continent to continent. Perhaps, then, they
were lesponsible for carrying seeds and eggs and even tiny
animals in the mud on their feet. Perhaps flying insects and
spiderlings also traveled by air, being inadvertently swept up
by gales and blown away over vast distances at high altitudes.
But those explanations cannot account for the distribution of
bigger animals such as lizards. So perhaps the level of the
ocean was once much lower than it is today and animals were
able to walk or wriggle from one continent to another. Maybe
volcanic eruptions built chains of temporary islands linking
continents and some animals that were normally landbound
were able to swim sufficiently far to get from one to another.
Such things may have happened in particular cases, but
neither separately nor together can such events provide an
adequate explanation for the astonishing ubiquity of most
animal groups throughout the world. There has to be a more
universal explanation. In the 1960s it was discovered.
In that decade a suspicion that had been growing in the
minds of many geologists for a long time was finally proved.
At one far distant time in the Earth’s history, all the continents

10
were joined in one great supercontinent. About 200 million have been periods of violent activity worldwide and others when
years ago, that vast landmass began to break up. The fragments, the globe has been comparatively quiescent. And throughout
today’s continents, then drifted apart, each carrying its own that vast expanse of time, living organisms, both plant and
complement of animals and plants. The proof of this dramatic animal, steadily evolved into more and more complex forms and
theory came primarily from geophysics and other branches of spread to almost every part of the Earth and sea. Sometimes
geology, but its implications have now affected almost all of the vast catastrophes, the exact character of which is still a mystery
natural sciences. to us, annihilated tens of thousands of species, but such mass
Yet, although there are basic similarities between faunas, extinctions only led to an even greater burgeoning of new forms
there are also great differences. If you blindfolded a party of among the survivors.
naturalists, took them on a mystery plane trip and dumped them
in a desert, they should be able to tell you fairly quickly on what Evolution is still active
continent they had landed. If the plants around them had Are such gigantic changes only things of the past? Viewed with
bloated, green stems, lacked leaves, and were covered with the perspective of our own brief lives, the world today seems
spines, then they would know that they were in the Americas, such a stable place that talk of continents colliding and new
for cacti only occur naturally in the New World. If they spotted categories of animals suddenly appearing seems a little
a large animal with a baby peering out from a pouch on its farfetched. But once we have recognized these processes in the
stomach, they would know they were in Australia. And if a herd past, we know what trends to look for in the present.
of large, hoofed, striped animals galloped away from them into Observational satellites in space enable us to check whether or
the distance, they would be certain they were in Africa. How is not the continents are still drifting. They are. The width of the
it, then, that in spite of the inter-relatedness of animals Atlantic Ocean has now been measured many times with
worldwide, different continents have their own special versions? unprecedented accuracy. It is steadily increasing, and North
America and Europe are now moving apart at the rate of an inch
Variations on a theme or so a year. The great continental blocks of India and central
The answer to that conundrum was provided in the middle of Asia, which first collided about 60 million years ago, are still
the last century by Charles Darwin. He demonstrated that moving, compacting with one another and pushing up the
species of animals do not remain fixed in their characters for all buckled sedimentary rocks of the Himalayas still higher.
time but, over many generations, change, so that one species Changes in the shapes of animals’ bodies are not so easily
gives rise to others and, over extremely long periods of time, the observed. Since alternations in genetic makeup can only occur
accumulated changes produce quite new kinds of animals. He as each new generation is conceived, it follows that we cannot
called this process evolution by natural selection. Animal witness in our own lifetimes the cumulative effect of many
populations on the supercontinent were evolving both before generational changes in animals whose longevity is about the
and after its breakup, and since all its fragments did not separate same as ours. Not for us the privilege of knowing whether and
simultaneously, different sections carried away different mixes how elephants, which live even longer than we do, are in the
of animals. Those populations, isolated on their continents, process of evolving into new forms. If we want to see such
continue to evolve, eventually producing their own changes taking place, we must look at animals such as aphids
characteristic variations on the near-universal themes of frogs and fruit flies that can produce several hundred generations in
and spiders, butterflies and snakes. a few years. And when we do that, we can indeed confirm that
So for a full understanding of the present state of the natural evolution is still active in the world.
world, we have to look at its history. That history is not only The realization that life on Earth is even now in the process
unimaginably long but full of great changes. During the 4 billion of changing may well lead us to speculate about its future. But
years or so since life first appeared, the planet has warmed and more important than that, understanding those processes could
cooled and continents have drifted apart and collided. There enable us to safeguard its survival and its destiny.

I
 T he only life in the universe of which
we have evidence began on this Earth
The matter out of which the early uni¬ Hydrogen nuclei at the center of the
verse was composed was not distributed bulge were squeezed by gravity and
around four billion years ago. The condi¬ evenly, however, and gravitational attrac¬ reached such a high density that fusion—
tions present on its surface at that time tion brought about further clusterings. the process that fuels the hydrogen
provided the basic ingredients—liquid Such giant concentrations of gas and dust bomb—began to occur. Helium nuclei
water and carbon compounds—out of were the starting material for galaxies— were produced and enormous quantities of
which all known life is constructed. But island subuniverses each containing energy were given off in the form of heat
where did the Earth come from? Why were enough matter for billions of stars. In each and light. The sun had begun to shine.
the conditions appropriate for the creation galactic mass, individual clouds of matter Elsewhere in the spinning disk, most of
of life to be found here and, so far as is were the beginnings of stars like our sun. the swirling gas and dust particles collided
known, nowhere else in the solar system?
and stuck together, “glued” by electro¬
All matter in the universe was originally Birth of the solar system static and other forces to form ever-larger
formed during the early phases of the “Big Modern theories vary, but most agree that “rocks.” Eventually these acquired suffi¬
Bang” that brought the universe into exis¬ the sun did not “capture” its family of cient mass to exercise a strong gravitation¬
tence—an explosion of unimaginable vio¬ circling planets by gravitational attraction. al attraction, and planets were formed
lence which took place about 16 billion They suggest that the entire solar system from the aggregated matter.
years ago. Beginning as a small, intensely was created at the same time, between The four planets that lie closest to the
hot entity, the universe has from that 4-5 and 5 billion years ago. The story heat of the sun—Mercury, Venus, Earth,
moment on been expanding and cooling. probably began with a roughly spherical and Mars—were formed from clusters of
In the early stages of its expansion, it con¬ cloud of hydrogen and dust. Gravity material with high melting points: all are
tained only subatomic particles and waves caused this cloud to collapse toward its rocky, with metal cores. Farther out are
of radiation. Later, the nuclei of hydrogen own center and begin to rotate. But as it the frigid gas giants: Jupiter, Saturn,
atoms coalesced. Subsequently, fusion of picked up speed, the shape of the giant Uranus, and Neptune.
these basic nuclei and their capture of spinning cloud began to change. It Early on in its history, the Earth’s
electrons led to the creation of all the flattened out like a disk, with a spherical substance sorted itself into layers. Heated
other, heavier elements. central bulge.
to over 7,000 °F (4,ooo°C) by the natural

Mercury
Mean daytime surface
Mean surface
temperature: 626°F
temperature: 900°F
Mean nighttime surface
Mean distance from sun:
temperature: -292°F
67.2 million miles Til/
Mean distance from sun:
Thick atmosphere,
35.9 million miles
containing much carbon
Virtually no atmosphere:
dioxide: strong
no greenhouse effect
greenhouse effect

12
 Global patterns

A cataclysmic
explosion, the “Big
Gas and dust cloud Bang,” is thought to
have been the origin of
the universe (see time
chart above).
decay of radioactive elements such as A
Our sun and planets
uranium and thorium, much of the iron- §/ were formed later
nickel mixture at the center of the Earth " from a huge cloud of
and the layer of rock which surrounds dust and gas. A jolt
it—the “mantle”—became liquid. On top started the cloud
contracting, and the
of this, and thinner proportionally than
collection of gases at its
the shell of a bird’s egg, is a cooler crust. center became the sun.
Volcanic activity—the eruption of the Solid masses then
mantle’s inner molten rock through the began to build up
crust—is accompanied by “outgassing.” around heavier grains
of dust; these became
This escape of gases accounts for the
the planets. Their
Earth’s basic atmosphere of nitrogen initially random
and carbon dioxide. Another vital contri¬ movements settled to
bution was the release of water vapor, their present orbits
which condensed in such great quantities around the sun.
Collisions cause randomization of orbits
that oceans of liquid water were already
present on our planet by about four billion
years ago.
Why, though, did life begin here on
Earth and not on the other rocky planets,
all of which were also outgassing water
vapor and carbon dioxide? The answer
Uranus
seems to be that the Earth’s temperature
was neither too hot nor too cold to sup¬
port life—as in the Goldilocks fairy tale, Ircury
at around 6o°F (i5°C) it was “just right.”

Saturn

Mean surface
Mean surface
temperature: -58 F
temperature: 63°F
Mean distance from sur
Mean distance from sun:
141.5 million miles
92.9 million miles
Thin atmosphere,
Medium-thick atmosphere,
containing very little
containing little carbon
carbon dioxide:
dioxide although level is
little greenhouse effect
increasing; medium
greenhouse effect
 The moving face
of Earth
T he appearances of the world are
deceptive. The land, with its ranges
The Earth’s plates

of mountains raising their apparently

ancient snowy peaks into the skies, seems
massive and unmoving. Yet, in reality,
every aspect of the world is changing, Eurasian Plate
however minutely, day by day and month
by month* American Plate
The seemingly stable continents are in
fact slowly moving and, perhaps, starting
to fragment. America and Europe are :aribbeari
7 Plate
gradually moving farther apart. Some of
Pacific Plate
those ancient mountains are in truth African Plati
young and are still rising skyward.
The energy for these great changes
Indian-Australian Plate
comes from within the Earth. As the
molten lavas that pour from volcanoes so
dramatically illustrate, the depths of the
Earth are hot—so hot that the rocks
themselves are liquid. The source of this Trench Antarctic Plate

heat is the radioactivity of many elements,

particularly of some isotopes of uranium,
thorium, and potassium. Just as the water
heated at the bottom of a kettle rises and
circulates, so the heat produced by the
radioactive decay of these elements causes
patterns of movement of the rocks
themselves.

The structure of the Earth

These patterns do not involve all the
material of the Earth, which has a layered
structure. As it cooled from its original Heated material from within the Earth’s mantle Ocean waters flow into the split between the
rises to the surface below a landmass. This continents, so the spreading axis is now below
molten state, the heaviest elements and
material spreads out and splits the landmass into the sea. As new ocean floor is produced here, old
compounds sank to the center of the two smaller continents.
ocean floor disappears down an oceanic trench.
planet. There they formed a dense core.
Nearly all of the remainder of the Earth is ridges,” form in the oceans. Here, new and form new ocean floor. The ocean floor
made up of the “mantle,” which is about ocean floor is continually being produced is therefore being slowly but continually
i,800 miles deep. On top of this, like the as the regions on either side move apart. cycled and is comparatively youthful—
thin skin of a peach, lies the “crust,” This movement is slow, only an inch or so none of it is more than 200 million years
which is made up of the lightest minerals. a year—about the same rate at which our old. The ancient rocks of the continents
The continents themselves contain fingernails grow—but even such a tiny are up to 4 billion years old.
many radioactive minerals, and are there¬ amount as this gradually builds up over Evidence for this process of ocean floor
fore comparatively hot. The heat that rises the centuries.
spreading is provided by the clear pattern
from deeper within the mantle is mainly The cooled crust descends into the of the age of the floor: it is always youngest
lost through the thinner crust that lies Earth at a system of great troughs or adjacent to the spreading ridges, where it is
below the oceans. It is here that upwelling trenches, about 6 miles deep and 155 formed, and oldest near the trenches,
heated material rises to the surface, where -185 miles wide, many of which ring the where it disappears into the Earth.
it must then move laterally before it can Pacific Ocean. From there, the cooled The surface of the Earth is divided into
descend, now cooled, into the Earth. material moves downward to a depth of a pattern of “plates,” which move in dif¬
Where it reaches the surface, great subma¬ about 125 miles, where it melts. Later, it ferent directions away from the spreading
rine mountain chains, the “spreading may rise again to a new spreading center ridges and toward the trenches. Some, but

14
 Global patterns

The Earth is made up

of three major
“layers”—core,
mantle, and crust. The
The major plates crust is 3 miles thick
into which the surface below the oceans but
of Earth is divided are 20-30 miles thick
shown on the map. below the continents.
These plates are
slowly moving in
different directions,
away from the
spreading oceanic
ridges and toward the
trenches. Arrows show
the direction of
movement of

All the ocean floor of the westward-moving

continent has disappeared, but the continent
cannot follow it. Instead, ocean floor of the
adjacent plate is now being consumed.

not all, of these plates bear continents, and Africa lay over the south magnetic pole The Himalaya
so the whole system of movement is now some 400 million years ago and has slowly Mountains were
created by geological
known as “plate tectonics” rather than drifted to its present position.
processes that began
continental drift. By comparing the tracks of different
around 150 million
Perhaps the most dramatic evidence for continents, we can see how they have years ago when a giant
the occurrence of plate tectonics lies in the moved relative to one another. This can “raft” of the Earth’s
phenomenon of paleomagnetism. Many show how and when they collided with crust, bearing what is
now India, broke away
rocks contain magnetized particles that one another or split apart. By moving
from the huge
become aligned with the Earth’s magnetic them on the map back down their tracks,
southern landmass.
field as they are deposited in the rocks. we can see how they were once positioned. The raft drifted
These tiny fossil magnets reveal where The fact that this process leads to a pat¬ northward and
those rocks were in relation to the magnet¬ tern that is consistent with the shapes of collided 60 million
the edges of the continents, and with the years ago with Asia.
ic poles when they were laid down. By
The intervening
studying a series of rocks from one conti¬ patterns of ages of the rocks, is over¬
former ocean floor was
nent, its movement can be tracked relative whelming evidence of the correctness of buckled into a vast
to the magnetic pole. For example, North the theory of plate tectonics. mountain range.

15
 The origins
of life
L ife is a comparatively fragile phenom¬
enon that can exist only within a
passed into each of the two newly formed If ultraviolet light or lightning activates
cells. such an atmosphere, a variety of simple
narrow range of conditions. Yet in the In the blue-green bacteria, organisms organic compounds are formed. An early
vastness of the universe, it is assumed that with ancient origins, the DNA is found form of DNA could have been made from
the conditions necessary for the evolution loose in an uncomplicated cell. This such ingredients. Once the first DNA-like
of life must have occurred many times. “prokaryote” structure is simpler than the molecule had appeared, it would rapidly
The Earth on which life first evolved “eukaryote” one, in which the DNA is have reproduced itself. Then natural
was, however, very different from the organized into threadlike chromosomes selection would have come into play,
planet of today: the very oxygen that we and housed within a cell nucleus. Eukary¬ favoring the survival of those variants best
breathe, and the protective ozone layer of otes are thought to have evolved about 1.2 adapted to quick, effective reproduction
the Earth’s atmosphere, did not exist then, billion years ago. and vigorous offspring.
for they are themselves the products of Whether simple or complex, all living DNA replication became much more
that life. matter is made primarily of the com¬ effective through the evolution of the cell,
The oldest direct traces of life on Earth pounds of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and within whose walls or membranes are
date back almost 4 billion years. In rocks nitrogen, which would have been abun¬ substances such as proteins. Moreover,
that age in Australia and southern Africa, dant in the Earth’s early atmosphere in the amino acids, the building blocks from
geologists have found stromatolites, lay¬ form of gases such as water vapor, nitro¬ which proteins are constructed, are
ered structures created through the activity gen, and carbon dioxide. Each of these spontaneously formed in the chemically
of primitive bacteria. Other Australian gases is given off during volcanic activity, reactive conditions believed to be present
rocks of similar age provide even more which was very frequent at that time. in the Earth’s early history.
direct evidence of ancient life. Sections of
these rocks, known as cherts, show the
Plant cell Animal cell
fossilized remains of blue-green bacteria
themselves.
Mitochondrion
Rocks also reveal even more distant,
-Nucleus-
indirect traces of life. Living things use
particular isotopes (physical forms) of the Endoplasmic reticulum
element carbon preferentially. The mix of _Cell membrane_
carbon isotopes detected in rocks from _Cell wall
Greenland more than 3.8 billion years old - Golgi body_

also show evidence of life on Earth—that Chloroplast

is, only 600 million years after the planet
itself was first formed.

What is life? Chloroplast

Mitochondrion
Reduced to its barest essentials, life is the
ability of an organic substance to produce
a replica of itself. In organisms alive today,
Primitive nucleated cell
that ability is found only in molecules like
DNA—deoxyribonucleic acid.
The huge information-carrying mole¬
cule of DNA is similar to a set of detailed
plans, and the plans are for making pro¬
teins. From proteins, whose production
and packaging is controlled by the endo¬ Photosynthetic bacterium
Aerobic bacterium
plasmic reticulum and Golgi bodies of
plant and animal cells, DNA can build
itself a cell. When the cell divides in two,
each daughter cell needs a copy of the
master plan for making new cells. So,
before the division, the DNA copies itself
Anaerobic bacteria
so that a version of the DNA plan can be

16
 Global patterns

Another development of immense

importance was the evolution of the green
pigment chlorophyll, for this allowed cells
to trap sunlight and use it to produce their
own energy. As a by-product of this
process of photosynthesis, early photosyn¬
thetic bacteria, like their modern higher
plant counterparts, released oxygen.
The oxygen produced by plants at first
became “locked up” by reacting or com¬
bining with other substances and miner¬
als. Eventually, some 2.2 billion years ago,
free oxygen was present in the atmos¬
phere. Living things' used this reactive
substance in the biochemical functions of
their own cells. The free oxygen in the
atmosphere also produced a layer of
ozone, which filters out the ultraviolet
light from the sun that is harmful to life
below.

Some of the oldest

evidence of life on
Complex cells (left) may have evolved Earth, dating back
by the permanent combination of more about 3.5 billion
years, is contained in
simple cells. If a simple anaerobic Adenine
stromatolites, rocklike
bacterium, an organism living without
Cytosine structures such as
oxygen, engulfed an aerobic bacterium, these at Shark Bay,
the newcomer could have become a Australia.
mitochondrion, the cell organelle that They are formed by
primitive organisms,
uses oxygen to provide energy. In a
blue-green bacteria. As
similar way, the chlorophyll-containing
the bacteria grow they
chloroplasts typical of plant cells may- form a web of material
have originated as photosynthetic in which sediments
bacteria. Plant cells also differ from from the surrounding
water are trapped and
those of animals in having thick, rigid
eventually compacted
walls. into a dense mat.
Another bacterial
The DNA molecule (right) is at the web then forms above
heart of all earthly life and is built like a this layer, and this too
forms a sediment mat.
ladder. Each “rung” is made of a pair
The process continues,
of chemicals (“bases”)—either adenine gradually shaping the
and rhymine, or cytosine and guanine. mound- or even pillar¬
When the molecule replicates itself, the like structures known
helix unwinds and as stromatolites.

new bases are New strand built up

added from a
“pool” available in
the cell. Thus two
perfect copies of
the original helix
are produced.

>7
 The distant
past
O ver many millions of years, the simple
form of life that had begun on our
The changing face of the world
N

planet gradually became more complex.

At first living organisms remained in the
sea, where they had evolved. But, some
500 million years ago, in the Ordovician
period (see Geological Time chart, p.218),
life forms extended into freshwaters and
eventually onto the land.
The first land plants date from about
500 million years ago. They were probably
accompanied by the first terrestrial inver¬
tebrates, such as arthropods and worms,
that fed on the decaying plant matter.
Vertebrate animals did not colonize the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian Late Permian-Triassic
320-270 million years ago 270-210 million years ago
land until the Devonian, about 380 million
years ago, but soon evolved into a variety
of amphibians and reptiles. Their distrib¬ destined to become China also had dis¬ barrier that rose as the two continents col¬
ution provides the first opportunity to tinct floras, and the southern landmass of lided is the most likely reason for this.
analyze the biogeography of land organ¬ Gondwanaland had a unique flora of cold- 1 he now-eroded relics of those mountains
isms. Such studies have revealed, for adapted plants that grew to within 5 remain in the Allegheny Mountains of the
example, that land vertebrates seem to degrees of latitude of the South Pole. Biol¬ eastern United States and the Atlas range
have evolved in what was the continent of ogists had already identified these separate of northwest Africa.
Euramerica. Nearly all the earliest evi¬ floras long before geologists realized that Fossil records suggest that it was not
dence of their existence, from the Late they lay on separate continents. until 265 million years ago that land verte¬
Devonian until the middle of the Permian
brates were able to cross this mountain
period, has been found there. The early vertebrates barrier and disperse into Gondwanaland.
At this time Euramerica lay across the Although the great southern landmass of And it was at that time that Siberia
equator. Large parts were covered by Gondwanaland is thought to have joined attached itself to what was now a world-
swampy tropical forest, similar to that of up with Euramerica in the Late Carbon¬ continent, Pangaea, over which land verte-
the Amazon jungle today. These forests iferous, there is no evidence that the land — loumvu y. ±11 llic ± liable, 1
contained early relatives of the conifers, veitebrates of Euramerica dispersed example, around 230 million years ag
club mosses, and horsetails, as well as tree southward into it at this time. A mountain similar faunas, both amphibians ai
ferns and seed ferns.
Farther north, on the separate conti¬
nent that eventually formed what is now
Siberia, there was a different flora, adapt¬
ed to a cooler climate, with many conifer¬
like trees and seed ferns. The areas

Cynognathus was a
mammal-like reptile,
the group from which
the first mammals
evolved.
 Global patterns

About 300 million years

ago much of Euramerica
The four globes
was covered with tropical
show how the pattern
of the world’s swamp forests, filled with
landmasses changed giant trees.
over a period of about Peat accumulation in
300 million years. these swamps led to the
Areas at the “back” of
development of extensive
the globe have been
folded out. Dotted domes similar to modern
lines indicate the raised bogs.
coastlines of modern In some areas the land
continents. covered by these forests
was slowly sinking,
n Shallow seas
forming basins that filled
| | Oceans
Mid-Jurassic Early Cretaceous
with the accumulated
Continental edges
180 million years ago 100 million years ago that later collide remains of the trees.
These became compressed,
dried, and hardened to
reptiles, were found in the lands that are outcome might have been very different.
form the coal deposits of
now Australia, southern Africa, North and If some continents had contained only
the eastern United States,
South America, Europe, and Asia. mammals and others only dinosaurs, the
Britain, and central Europe.
The Triassic fauna of Pangaea con¬ two groups might have evolved indepen¬
tained a variety of groups of amphibians dently. Instead of dinosaurs becoming
and reptiles. And it was in this Triassic only gigantic uninsulated creatures that
world that two major evolutionary events ruled the daylight hours, some of
took place. One great group of reptiles, the them might have become small,
mammal-like reptiles, evolved into the warmly covered animals. Simi¬
mammals. At almost the same time, an¬ larly, instead of becoming only
other group, the archosaurs, evolved into small, furry denizens of the night,
the dinosaurs. Both groups were therefore mammals might have evolved
able to spread throughout Pangaea. into larger creatures much earlier.
If, however, these groups had evolved As it was, in the presence of the
later, when the world-continent had split mighty dinosaurs, mammals had
up into separate landmasses, the to remain insignificant nocturnal
creatures until they were able to
grasp the great new opportunity
when dinosaurs became extinct.
In this way evolution was influ¬
enced by geography.

Hypsilophodon was a
dinosaur that occurred
Ornithosuchus was an in both Europe and
archosaurian reptile. North America. It
Pinosaurs evolved lived in the Early
from forms similar to Cretaceous period
Ornithosuchus and when those areas were
spread throughout the still linked, so it could
world. roam widely.
 The last
100 million years
A bout ioo million years ago, at the
beginning of the Late Cretaceous
that had evolved during the Jurassic peri¬ Asia and soon spread to western North
od. Similarly, the ostrich-dinosaurs, the America. The pouched mammals, the
period, the two landmasses in the north¬ dome-headed dinosaurs and early duck¬ marsupials, evolved somewhere in the
ern hemisphere, although still joined billed dinosaurs, which evolved in Early linked chain of southern continents—
together, had each been bisected by a sea¬ Cretaceous times before the seaways South America—Antarctica—Australia.
way. Extending south from the Arctic appeared, had spread throughout the Though some marsupials dispersed north¬
Ocean, the Interior Seaway ran down northern hemisphere. But the ancestors of ward to North America, most eventually
North America to the Gulf of Mexico, the horned ceratopsian dinosaurs, as well became extinct there in the face of compe¬
while the Tugai Sea separated Europe as the massive carnivorous tyrannosaurs tition from placental mammals.
from Asia (see map). The resulting land- and the more advanced types of duck¬ At the end of the Cretaceous, around
masses were Asiamerica, composed of billed dinosaur, all evolved in Asia after 70 million years ago, the Interior Seaway
Asia plus western North America, and the appearance of the seaways. So they gradually withdrew from North America,
Euramerica, made up of eastern North were able to move from Asia, via Alaska, reuniting it with Europe in a new, though
America plus Europe. This Cretaceous into western North America. Some also short-lived, Early Cenozoic Euramerica,
geography, deduced by geologists, is con¬ made their way, perhaps via a chain of which seems to have been the main the¬
firmed by the distribution of the living- islands, into South America; but, confined ater for the radiation of the placental
creatures of the Late Cretaceous. by the seaways to east and west, they were mammals. The first hoofed mammals
All the Cretaceous continents were never able to colonize Euramerica. (both the split-toed and the horselike
populated by the older types of dinosaur Placental mammals, too, evolved in forms), the first primates, bats, rodents,

20
 Global patterns

insectivores, and carnivores all originated northern North America and Eurasia.
in that era. Not until the Eocene epoch, In the southern hemisphere it is pos¬
about 50 million years ago, did Greenland sible to distinguish a very different flora
separate from Europe to break the land adapted to the cooler temperate climate.
link between North America and Europe. Characterized by the southern beech tree,
Nothofagus, this flora spread from, south¬
The spread of plants ern South America across the Antarctic to
Flowering plants seem to have evolved by Australia and New Zealand. This was pos¬
the Early Cretaceous (135 million years sible because in these Early Cenozoic days
ago) in the tropical, near-equatorial region the polar regions were still unglaciated,
of the still-linked continents of South and milder climates extended much
America and Africa. Aided by their light farther toward the poles.
seeds, which can be wind-borne, they So, for example, 50 million years ago a
spread rapidly around the world and rich fauna of salamanders, turtles, tor¬
adapted to its various climates. The tropi¬ toises, lizards, snakes, alligators, tapirs,
cal types spread through Africa and into and flying lemurs lived on Ellesmere
southern parts of Europe, Asia, and North Island in the Canadian Arctic. And a sub¬
America, and elements of this flora must tropical flora and fauna flourished in
have adapted to the cooler climates of southeastern England.

About 50 million The Isle of Sheppey

years ago a rich lies just off the coast of
subtropical flora southeast England
grew on the Isle of near the Thames
Sheppey. The land estuary. The landscape
was fringed with in today’s cooler
mangrove trees, many climate (below) is very
types of palm, and different from that of
relatives of the living 50 million years ago.
magnolia, cinnamon
tree, dogwood, and
grape. Lianas
(climbers) festooned
the trees and ferns,
sedges, and club moss
carpeted the ground;
grasses had not
evolved at this time.

The two globes show

the pattern of changes
in the world’s
landmasses over the
last 100 million years.
Areas at the “back” of
the globe have been
folded out. Dotted
lines indicate the
coastlines of modern
continents.
1 Meliosoma
2 Cinnamomum 3 Platycarya
4 Mastixia 5 Menispermum
6 Uvaria 7 Nipa 8 Vitis
9 Magnolia

21
 Patterns of today

T he living world of today can be con¬

veniently divided into regions, each
region—the Oriental. The flora of this The northern continents
area is less distinct, but the eastern “Indo- The great landmasses of the northern
with its characteristic mammals and flow¬ malesian” region can be separated from an hemisphere, North America and Eurasia,
ering plants. Every such region has some African “Ethiopian” region. Little is now have temperate climates and few
unique types. For example, the kangaroo, known of India’s early fauna and flora species of animals and plants compared
sloth, and giraffe are unique to the conti¬ when, as a separate island continent, it with lands to the south. But until nearly
nents of Australia, South America, and drifted through the Indian Ocean until it two million years ago, the faunas and
Africa respectively. As a rule continents collided with Asia. floras of Africa and India extended north¬
that have been isolated for a long time In the Early Miocene the shallow seas ward into Eurasia. Hippos, apes, rhinos,
have many unique organisms; those that that had separated India from Africa giraffes, tapirs, hyenas, and elephants all
have always had land connections with withdrew, allowing an exchange of occurred there, and it was the ice ages that
others have few. mammals. Later the two regions were led to their extinction in the north.
again separated by the growing deserts of North America did not receive such
The southern continents the Middle East. Hence, although both tropical animals, partly because the south¬
Australia, with its many marsupials, has regions contain elephants, rhinos, apes, ern part of the continent was much drier
the most distinctive fauna of all. It has and smaller primates, those of the Oriental than their lush tropical homelands of
been isolated for at least 50 million years, region have evolved separately and are dif¬ South America, and partly because the
longer than any other continent, and few ferent from those of Africa. Panama land bridge, the sole link with
of the placental mammals that dominate
the rest of the world ever reached it. Zoogeographic regions of the world
Although its neighbor Antarctica may
once have had a similar fauna, the ice The world can be divided into distinct
areas, each with its characteristic animal
sheets that now cover that continent make
population. Although these were first defined
present-day comparisons impossible.
by their bird fauna, they are now based on the
South America was also an isolated
continent until about three million years
ago and was home to a mixture of Nearctic
marsupials and primitive placental
mammals. Most of this distinctive fauna
became extinct when the formation of the
Panama land bridge between North and
South America allowed more advanced
placental mammals to enter from the
north (see pp. 26-27). The anteaters,
I he now rare
armadillos, sloths, New World monkeys, pronghorn
and marsupial opossums are now the only {Antilocapra
Neotropical
relics of the rich original fauna of South americana) evolved in
America. the Nearetic region
and feeds on the
Africa, although physically united with
prairie grasslands.
the lands to the north, has never been easy
for animals to reach. In the Tertiary era
the Mediterranean Sea was wider than it is
today, and only a few types of mammal
reached Africa at that time. Later, the
great deserts of northern Africa and the
The three-toed sloth
Middle East continued that early isolation. Elephants evolved
(Bradypus tridactylus)
in Africa and spread
Some of the first mammals to enter the belongs to the
everywhere except
continent evolved into characteristically Neotropical region. Its
Australia. Only the
African groups—elephants, conies, ele¬ arboreal lifestyle
Indian and African
prevented it from
phant shrews, and the aardvark. elephant (Loxodonta
spreading to the North
India and Southeast Asia are recog¬ africana) {right) survive.
American grasslands.
nized by zoologists as being a separate

22
 Global patterns

South America, was only completed three Floral regions of the world
million years ago. Until then immigrants The world divides
could only come via the Bering land into six floral
bridge that joined Alaska and Siberia until regions based on the
distribution of
a few thousand years ago. This northerly
flowering plants. But,
area wras very vulnerable to the climatic
whereas each
changes of ice ages and, as the climate zoogeographic region
cooled, it wras only the larger, hardy ani¬ has characteristic
mals that could make the journey. Thus inhabitants, it is far
harder to pinpoint
the elk, moose, and caribou (known as the
unique plant examples.
red deer, elk, and reindeer in Europe) are This is partly because
found in both Europe and North America plants are more easily
as are bison and musk ox. dispersed than animals,
The northern continents have few so tend to be more
widely distributed.
unique mammals. Only the pronghorn
Some 86 of the 302
antelope is unique to North America while plant families are
Eurasia has only a single unique rodent found worldwide.
family.

The desert
dormouse (Selevinia
betpakdalensis) is one
of the few creatures
found only in the
Palearctic.

Gibbons, such as the

lar gibbon (Hylobates
lar), are unique to the
tropical Oriental region

The koala
(Phascolarctos cinereus)
is one of a wealth of
unique marsupials in
the Australian region.

23
 The isolated
continent
A ustralia stands apart from the other
continents of the world in its living
Evolution has
produced close
and nonliving features. Its uniqueness parallels in appearance
results from several factors: its isolation and lifestyle between
native Australian
comparatively early in the Earth’s history,
animals and those of
so that many late-evolving types of ani¬ the rest of the world.
mals and plants were unable to reach it; its Only the grazing
mainly f^t terrain, with few mountains; kangaroos are unlike
and its climatic history, arising from its their placental
movement from a cool-temperate to an ;t equivalents, deer and
antelope.
arid latitude.
Australia was originally a part of the
great southern landmass, Gondwanaland Australia
(see pp. 18-19). First India, and later
Africa, split off from the landmass, leaving
Australia and South America still inter¬
connected by Antarctica. South America
Mulgara (Dasycercus cristicauda)
split away about 70 million years ago, leav¬
ing Australia and Antarctica. At first they Worldwide
moved northward, so that the latitude of
central Australia changed from about 550
Brown treecreeper
south to about 450 south. At that time ('Climacteris picumnus)
Australia had a warm climate, with an
House mouse (Mus musculus)
adequate rainfall from the westerly winds
that circled the southern end of the world.
The continent continued to move north¬ The plants that have colonized this dif¬ area where there is little rainfall. Australia
ward until 55 million years ago, after ficult environment are particularly hardy, became the driest continent on Earth,
which the gulf between Australia and and are described as sclerophylls. They two-thirds receiving under 20 in of rain
Antarctica widened more rapidly have sparse, small evergreen leaves and per year and the remainder les,s than 10 in.
Knowledge of these movements helps can stop growing temporarily if conditions As a result, desert and grass shrublands
to explain how and why Australia came to become impossible; the most common cover most of Australia today.
possess its unusual fauna and flora. examples belong to the genera Eucalyptus
Flowering plants probably spread to and Acacia. Although so different from Australian fauna
Australia from the equatorial regions, rain forest plants, sclerophylls have clearly By chance, an unusual group of mammals
where they evolved, about 90 million years evolved from them, since most have close was given the opportunity to evolve in this
ago, when the southern continents were relatives in that flora. unique environment. The placental mam¬
still connected. Living representatives of Even sclerophyll plants, however, are mals, which originated in Asia and spread
these plants still flourish in a few small now found only in scattered areas around to the rest of the world, did not reach
surviving areas of rain forest. But most of the periphery of Australia, because climat¬ Australia. The pouched marsupial mam¬
the country now has a very different flora, ic history made the environment even mals, however, which seem to have
resulting from its geological and climatic more difficult for plants. As Australia sep¬ evolved in North America, did spread
history. arated from Antarctica and moved north, beyond South America into Antarctica
Australia is the flattest of all continents. a new cold, deepwater ocean current and Australia. They were then free to fill
Its only mountains lie along its eastern developed, sweeping between the two all the different ecological niches in Aus¬
margin, and these are old (about 200 mil¬ continents, whose climates now diverged. tralia, unhampered by competition from
lion years) and heavily eroded (less than Antarctica became progressively colder, their placental relatives.
6)55° F high). Because there are no new, as its glaciers formed and grew. Little The two groups closely parallel each
young mountains to be weathered away, water condensed from the chill Antarctic other. The marsupial versions of wolf, cat,
the great plains of Australia’s heartland seas into rain clouds to moisten the vast mongoose, mouse, anteater, marmot,
have received no new sediments. Their flat lands of Australia. And as that conti¬ bear, squirrel, and so on, often look
soils are old, highly weathered, poor in nent drifted farther and farther north, it remarkably similar to their placental
nutrients and minerals. moved into the 300 south low pressure counterparts.

24
 Global patterns

Australia
Trade winds blow
Monsoon rains from off the Pacific onto the
Southeast Asia bring east coast of Australia.
rain to the northern When the air is forced
fringe from December to rise by the Great
to February but do Dividing Range, it
Quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) cools and sheds
not extend inland.
I. water. The rain
B falls on the
North, Central, Hi * coastal belt,
and South America
■HH^lcaving none
|S| for the
IPmBH interior.

Ocelot (Felis pardalis)

Macdonnell Ranges

Gibson Desert

iricorn

Great Dividing Rang€*

Great Victoria Desert

Australia straddles
the Tropic of
Capricorn, a zone
where many of the
Earth’s deserts lie.

New Guinea Until about 55

million years
ago, Australia and
Antarctica were
still very close
together. Australia Easterly moving
then moved weather systems
steadily northward, bring localized
while Antarctica rain-bearing winds
retreated to the southeast
southward to its and southwest.
present position, These do not
centered on the extend any distance
South Pole. inland.
55 million years ago At present,
Australia is situated
in an area where
there is little rainfall
Antarctica

25
 The great American
interchange
N o other continent has experienced
such changes in its fauna as South
continents—or from North America,
which had provided the earliest South
America. The basic cause of these changes American mammals.
was the movement of tectonic plates, The next change to overtake South
which rafted the continent away from its America was climatic. In the Early Ter¬
original partner, Africa, and eventually tiary the continent contained tropical,
linked it instead to North America. Dur¬ subtropical, and temperate forests and
ing the periods when it was linked to other open savanna. But about 12 million years
landmasSes, South America received ago, in the middle of the Miocene epoch,
immigrants from them; when it again the westward movement of the landmass
became isolated, its new fauna had the brought it across the great trench in the
opportunity to evolve and diversify, until eastern Pacific, into which the ocean floor
a new connection brought a further period was descending. This caused the rise of
of immigration and integration. the Andes mountains along the western
margin, which prevented the rain-bearing
Island-hopping
winds from reaching the rest of the conti¬
Near the beginning of the Tertiary period, nent. As it became drier, treeless pampas,
(around 60 million years ago) some North cool steppe, and semi-desert replaced the
American marsupial and placental savannas, leading to a reduction in the
mammals managed to disperse to South numbers of rodents, ground sloths, and
America, probably by a rather hazardous hoofed mammals that had fed there.
island-hopping route such as that provid¬ The movement of the continent also
ed by the Caribbean island chain today. brought it progressively closer to North
Where marsupial and placental mammals America; and about six million years ago,
have coexisted elsewhere, the placentals in the Late Miocene, rodents and raccoons
have normally dominated the marsupials, from North America began to appear in
which have gradually diminished in the south, and South American ground
variety. But in South America, the marsu¬ sloths in the north. This limited exchange
pials became quite diverse and evolved suggests that there was still only an
and tree sloths, South American mammals
into types similar to the mountain lion, incomplete island route between the two today give little hint of the uhique fauna
mole, and kangaroo-rat, as well as into landmasses.
insectivorous forms. that once existed there. In contrast, the
South American birds remain the richest
Early South American placental A land link
fauna in the world, with more than 700
mammals evolved into a variety of groups. When the land bridge, the Panama Isth¬
unique species. In particular, the vast
One of these, the edentates, which mus, was eventually completed about
forests of the Amazon Basin, with trees up
includes the armadillos, anteaters, and tree three million years ago in the Pliocene
sloths, still exists, although the early sloths t° 33° ft tall, have provided an evolution¬
epoch, there was an interchange of the two
were elephant-sized terrestrial animals, ary hothouse for countless arboreal and
faunas. This is known as the great Ameri¬ flying creatures.
far larger than their arboreal descendants. can interchange. At first they coexisted
Another group, now extinct, evolved into Until two million years ago, there was a
haimoniously throughout the tropical
a variety of strange, hoofed herbivores, gradual tiansition between the tropical
regions from the south of the United
which paralleled the horses, camels, tapirs, faunas and floras of South and Central
States to southern Brazil. But gradually
and elephants that developed in the rest of America and those of the cooler North
the old hoofed mammals of South America
the world. American environment. But geological
either fell victim to the competent
In the Oligocene epoch, about 35 mil¬ changes as South America continued to
northern predators or failed to compete
lion years ago, these animals were joined move westward caused the rise of the high
successfully with the immigrant herbi¬
by two other placental groups, the rodents Mexican Plateau, and this now forms a
vores. Today none of them, nor any of the
and the New World monkeys. It is still sharp boundary between the two environ¬
giant tiee sloths, exists. The opossums,
uncertain whether they came from Africa, ments. Differences in the richness of ani¬
armadillos, and anteaters were the only
where their nearest relatives are to be mal and plant life between the two
South American mammals to penetrate
found—island-hopping across the narrow continents were further exaggerated by
the colder lands of North America.
ocean that then separated the two the glacials that have decimated northern
Apait from the armadillos, anteaters,
lands ovei the last two million years
26
 Global patterns

The horse family

originally evolved in
Glyptodon (extinct) North America and spread
from there to the rest of
the world except
Australia. When the
Panama land bridge was
formed, horses, like other
The formation of the animals, entered South
Panama land bridge some
America.
three million years ago allowed
animals to move between North About 8,000 years ago,
and South America. Few of the for reasons that are not
original South American animals known, horses became
managed to withstand the extinct in both continents.
competition from the more
They were not seen again
sophisticated incoming North
in South America until
American mammals (examples
below) and only the opossum, brought by the Spanish
armadillo, and anteater were conquistadors in the
successful in making the move sixteenth century. Horses
from south to north.
were also reintroduced
into North America by
early settlers.
Before During After
interchange interchange interchange

The number of mammal families rose in

both North and South America when, with
the formation of the Panama land bridge,
species could move between the two.
Subsequent extinctions, however, caused
numbers to fall again, northern families
proving more successful than southern.

(wild species extinct)

Horse

Spectacled bear

Mammoth (extinct)

Pampas deer

Saber-toothed cat (extinct)

 Extinctions: the other
side of evolution
J ust as the death of an individual allows
space for a younger, more vigorous
period during which many types of organ¬
isms vanished. The challenge, then, is to
many other types of animals seem also to
have become extinct at this time, includ¬
replacement, so the extinction of a group try to discover, millions of years after the ing some families of marsupial and placen¬
of animals is a normal, healthy event in event, what may have caused these sudden tal mammals, flying pterosaurs and birds,
nature. Their disappearance is often due waves of extinctions. and some semi-aquatic crocodilians.
to competition from another group, which The most famous extinction event is There were also many extinctions in the
will replace them in the environment that associated with the demise of the seas and among plants.
they once shared. But from time to time dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous The great variety of organisms
over the' history of life, the fossil record period, about 65 million years ago. In fact, involved, and the diversity of their habi¬
appears to show a comparatively brief the picture is more complicated because tats, suggest that the normal processes of

28
 Global patterns

competition were not involved; some slow, not sudden. But in 1981 two Ameri¬ Extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous
much more general change must have can scientists proposed a dramatic solution
The chart shows the percentage of families left
taken place. The most obvious possibility to the puzzle.
in each group at the start of the Tertiary.
is a change in climate. Evidence from
studies of floras in North America and Meteorite impact
Europe, and analyses of the plankton Luis and Walter Alvarez discovered that
remains in marine sediments, suggest a rocks laid down in many parts of the
substantial decline in temperatures. world at the extreme end of the Creta¬
The difficulty with this idea, however, ceous contain a thin layer of iridium and
is that climatic change is normally fairly osmium. Since these normally rare ele¬
ments are found in larger quantities in
A complete meteorites, they suggested that a great
fossilized skeleton of meteor was the cause of both the iridium-
a long-necked dinosaur
osmium layer and the extinctions. They
unearthed in Zigong is
one of many such
calculated that such devastation could
exciting finds in China have been caused by collision with a mete¬
over the last 50 years. or 6 miles in diameter.
From evidence such as The scene they painted was awesome.
this scientists can
The impact would have thrown up such a
reconstruct the fauna
vast cloud of debris that the sky was dark¬
of the different
continents and their ened for years. In the prolonged and
evolution. extreme “winter” that followed, plants
would have failed to grow, so there was
little food, and in any case background
temperatures would have remained too
low for cold-blooded animals to function.
Could this sudden chilling, then, have
been the cause of the extinctions?
The argument is a powerful one. The
discovery of a crater 200 miles across in
northern Yucatan, Mexico, dating from
this time, has added considerable support
to the proposal. The collision of this
Mexican meteorite, which is indeed likely
to have been 6-10 miles in diameter,
would have generated a great fireball mea¬
suring hundreds of miles across, that
swept over the Earth. Smoke and soot
would have darkened the skies and the
precipitation would have fallen as nitric
acid. It is extremely probable that such a
catastrophe would have caused massive
exticntions over land and sea.
Whether the eventual fate of the last of
the dinosaurs lay in some celestial calamity
or merely in earthbound changes of cli¬
mate is still unclear. What is certain, how¬
ever, is that any extinction, whatever its
cause, contains within itself the seeds of
new life, as surviving organisms lose some
competitors but themselves compete to fill
the empty niches.
 Ice
ages
A bout 2 percent of all the water on
Earth is locked up as ice, mainly in
The ice sheets

the Greenland ice cap and over the conti¬ In the last glacial period, more than half a
nent of Antarctica. The Antarctic ice cap mile of ice covered many areas that now have
is vast—one and a half times the area of a temperate climate. Great ice sheets
extended over northern Eurasia, North
the United States.
America, and Greenland.
But ice caps are not a permanent fea¬
ture of the Earth’s geography; they have
y Extent of last great ice sheets 18,000 years ago
been present for only a tiny proportion of
| | Glaciation today
the 4.6 billion years of its existence. Four
million years ago there were no ice caps in
the polar regions; in fact, for most of its
history the Earth has been consistently At least seven ice ages are thought to have
occurred in the Earth’s history. The last
warmer than it is now. Periodically, how¬
started about two million years ago and is still
ever, it has entered into cooler states—ice going on.
ages. Ice caps have then formed and
extended in area.
An “ice age” is not simply a long
unbroken spell of frigid climate. Geologi¬
cal evidence suggests that there have been
several phases during the course of the
recent Ice Age when the ice caps became
more extensive and glaciers overwhelmed
many areas that now enjoy a temperate
climate. These cold phases, known as
glacials, are interspersed with warmer
periods, or interglacials, such as the world
is currently experiencing. Ice sheets force vegetation zones toward
the Equator during a glacial. Here, strips
stretching from the Mediterranean to the
Why ice ages occur Arctic reveal the difference in vegetation Interglacial -t Glacial
NORTH
There have been many attempts to explain zones during a glacial and an interglacial.
the mechanism of the ice age cycle and to Arctic

identify the cyclical process that reduces

the Earth’s energy intake from the sun so
that it enters a cold period. The long-term
cycle, in which ice ages are separated by
hundreds of millions of years, could be
accounted for by the passage of the solar
system through clouds of dust in our SOUTH

galaxy, cutting down the amount of solar Mediterranean

radiation reaching Earth.
This would not, however, explain the
shorter-term cycle of glacials and inter¬ at others it becomes more elliptical, which
glacials. The best overall explanation of about 220 and 24.5 °, takes about 40,000
means that at times the Earth goes farther
these cycles is still that offered by the years to complete. Last, there is a cyclical
away from the sun and becomes cooler.
Yugoslav physicist Milutin Milankovich wobble of the Earth’s axis around its basic
This elliptical cycle takes about 100,000
in the 1930s. According to his theory there angle of tilt that is completed every 21,000
years to complete, roughly corresponding
are three rhythms superimposed upon one years. When these three cycles are super¬
to the span of a glacial/interglacial cycle.
another that together influence global cli¬ imposed, the predicted effects on climate
The second cycle relates to the tilt of
mate. First, there is a cyclical variation in are not unlike the actual climatic changes
the Earth s axis in relation to the sun, of the last million years.
the orbit of the Earth around the sun. which in turn influences the seasons. This
Sometimes our orbit is fairly circular, but There are, however, other factors that
cycle, in which the tilt varies between
influence climate and that make the series
30
of cycles less predictable. Volcanic activity hemisphere to fall by 2.7 0 Fahrenheit. For most of the 4.6
is perhaps the most important. After a In the future human impact on the billion years of the
Earth’s existence
severe volcanic eruption, the Earth’s cli¬ world climate may be more important
there have been no ice
mate becomes cooler because of the dust than any other factor. The burning of fos¬ caps. But the Earth is
veil that is forced high into the atmos¬ sil fuels is the major cause of climatic currently in an ice age
phere and blocks incoming solar radiation. change, such as the greenhouse effect (see and major ice caps are
For example, two major volcanic erup¬ pp. 166-67). And a nuclear war could present in Greenland
and Antarctica.
tions in the nineteenth century, Ghaie, in generate dust clouds far in excess of vol¬
the Bismarck Archipelago, and Krakatoa, canic eruptions and lead to global cooling
caused the temperature of the northern and a nuclear winter.

31
 Survivors of
the Ice Age
T he climatic changes of glacial
episodes, the coldest phases of an ice
smaller units. These were interspersed In Europe the stresses experienced
with tropical savanna grasslands. Trees during the glacial advances were, in some
age, affected more than just the high lati¬ from mountain regions became more respects, more severe than in North
tudes to the far north and south. The cli¬ abundant in the lowlands. America. The mountain ranges in Europe,
mate of the whole Earth was changed, and The changing patterns of climate and the Alps and Pyrenees, run approximately
consequently the pattern of vegetation vegetation presented many problems for east to west and are high enough to have
over the surface of the globe was altered. the various species of plants and animals developed their own ice masses, cutting
As the cpniferous and deciduous forests that had to cope with these fluctuations. off the southward spread of the plants and
of the temperate zones were pushed to¬ Some became extinct; others became animals threatened by the advancing ice of
ward the equator by the advancing ice, an much more restricted in their distribu¬ the north. Some trees, such as the hem¬
area of dry grassland and scrub preceded tions. As the climate cooled, Northern lock and the tulip tree, became extinct in
them. The equatorial regions, occupied Hemisphere plants were able to germinate Europe during successive glacials but sur¬
today by tropical rain forest, were some¬ and establish themselves south of their vived in North America where their free¬
what drier during the glacials, and the usual ranges. But northerly populations dom to spread their range was not
forest itself became fragmented into were gradually exterminated. restricted by mountain ranges.
flycatchers

Pied flycatcher

Collared flycatcher

The gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) lives in the The European and Asian flycatchers west in the fall and cross the
African tropical rain forest.
are small migratory birds that feed on
Mediterranean into Africa by moving
Fragmentation of the rain forests during insects. They move from Africa, where through southern Spain. Collared
the climatic changes of the Ice Age is
they spend the winter, into Europe and flycatchers, however, migrate east
probably the main cause of the split in
Asia to take advantage of the longer days
through Turkey and the Middle East.
their distribution into separate western
and rich feeding opportunities afforded
These habits were probably developed
and eastern populations. The gorillas took by the temperate summer.
during the last Ice Age when their
refuge in the surviving patches.
Both the pied flycatcher (Ficedula
Although, after the glacial, the forest breeding ranges were separated by the
hypoleuca) and the collared flycatcher
ice sheet and the two flycatcher
recovered, the appearance and gradual (-Ficedula albicollis) occur in Europe in
development of the Zaire River and the populations did not meet at all during
summer, but the latter has a more the breeding seasons.
more recent habitat destruction by
southerly distribution. The two do not
The flycatchers evolved
humans in the intervening area have
interbreed, despite their similarity, but
prevented the two populations from independently, and now, even though the
they are clearly closely related.
fusing once more. Although still the t\\ o species are back in contact again,
In the relatively recent past, less than
same species, they have evolved into they show little interest in each other
one million years ago, these flycatchers
two distinct races and will eventually, and retain their old migratory habits.
were a single species. Their migration
if they survive, become separate species So glaciation proved a spur to evolution,
patterns may provide a clue to their
of gorilla. with the result that one species has now'
separate evolution. Pied flycatchers head become two.
 Global patterns

This disruption and fragmentation of Past and present extent of rain forest in South America. During an ice age the
the range of a plant or animal may result climate changes worldwide.
in new bursts of evolution as well as In the last glacial the
extinctions. If a species is split into sepa¬ American Midwest was
rate ranges for long enough it will eventu¬ some I8°F colder than it is
ally evolve into two separate species. New today, and Britain about
species were probably born during the Ice I2.5°F colder.
Age; others began to split and are on their The Atlantic was
way to becoming new species. affected more severely
Fast-breeding species, such as birds than the Pacific. The sea
and pupfish of the genus Cypnnodon around Ice Age Spain was
(below), evolve quickly. Large animals, about the same
and trees, which may take several decades temperature as the waters
During the last glacial, rain forests were far less extensive than they are
to reach breeding maturity, may take today. Climatic change caused them to become fragmented into scattered surrounding modern
thousands of years to evolve new species. “refuges,” where conditions remained sufficiently warm and moist. Greenland.

Desert pupfish

Cypnnodon diabolis Unlike animals, plants

could not move toward
the equator as the Earth
grew cooler, and many
populations of trees
perished as the ice
advanced.
But if the seeds of these
trees had dispersed
southward, they were able
to germinate where once
it had been too hot and
The white spruce (Picea glauca) of dry; in this way plants
North America mainly occurs in a broad could spread south and
band across Canada and into Alaska. But escape the advancing ice.
In the Nevada desert small lakes and there are isolated populations of the tree Trees can migrate at
waterholes provide homes for about 20 in hilly areas south of its main range, rates of several hundred
species of desert pupfish (Cypnnodon notably in the Black Hills of Dakota. feet a year. The hazel tree
spp.). Males are iridescent blue, This apparently puzzling distribution achieved rates of 5,000 ft
females are green, and there is a strong can best be explained by the tree’s per year when spreading
resemblance between species. history. Having been driven south during north after the last
At the end of the last glacial, the last glacial, these Dakota populations glaciation.
conditions in the area, and in most of survived as relicts and are now isolated
the currently arid regions of the world, from the main band of distribution. This
were much wetter. Connections can be confirmed by the fossil record.
between the various bodies of water The spruce produces large quantities of
allowed fish to move around and distinctively shaped pollen grains that
interbreed. As the glacial passed and have been preserved in lake sediments
the climate became more arid over the and provide evidence of the tree’s former
last six or seven thousand years, lakes southerly distribution.
became smaller and more isolated. The The Dakota spruce has not yet evolved
pupfish split into scattered into a new species. Its breeding rate is
populations, and each became a slow and the population has been isolated
separate species. for a relatively short time.

33
 Ice Age
devastation
A t the end of the last glacial, about
10,000 years ago, more than twice as
could be expected to correspond with the the woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth,
arrival of people. But determining such cave bear, and giant Irish elk. But is it
many species of animals and plants dates is difficult. For example, it can never possible that climate and habitat changes
became extinct as at any previous period be conclusively asserted that the last bones simply rendered these animals more sensi¬
of glacial advance and retreat. The most of a species have in fact been found. tive to further pressures, such as hunting?
spectacular extinctions involved the so- A better source of evidence is often the There is, of course, plentiful direct
called “megafauna,” animals whose body animal’s dung—a big herbivore produces evidence of human predation on the
weights were in excess of iio lb. Most much more dung than bones in the course megafauna. In Asia, the mammoth was
were mammals, among them mammoths, of its life. Preservation may be a problem, not only a source of meat but also of bones
mastodons, cave bears, ground sloths, but dung survives well in caves, especially for the construction of dwellings. In the
saber-toothed cats, and giant kangaroos, in arid areas. It has proved useful, for caves of southern France and of Spain, the
but there were also some birds. It has been example, in dating the demise of the large, hunters themselves left a vivid pictorial
estimated that at least 55 species of large lumbering Shasta ground sloth in the record of their prey and their methods.
animals became extinct at this time in southwest United States. For many sites Bison, horses, wild cattle, and reindeer are
North America alone.
examined, the last traces can be dated to all represented graphically on the walls.
What could have caused such an extra¬ about 11,000 years ago—a figure that
ordinary loss of species? Was it simply the This does not necessarily mean that the
corresponds closely with the arrival of apparently unrelated extinction of smaller
consequence of an unstable climate hunting cultures.
causing changes in habitats, or were other species at this time is to be explained in
factors at work? Specifically, to what terms of climatic change rather than
Climatic change or human
extent did people bring about these human intervention. Changes in habitats,
intervention?
extinctions? induced by humans, could account for
The spread of scrub and forests these losses too. Some transformations
If human predation was indeed impli¬ undoubtedly contributed to the extinction could have been direct—as in the case of
cated, the disappearance of an animal of species adapted to the tundra, such as the destruction of forested land by fire. An

ttZd velr^o1
ousand yeai s ago."The
it' arrival
eUi1’of Tu"S*"
Homo sapiens “fKn S“mS
extinction of“ coiMid'd with the
large animals.

34
 Global patterns

example of an indirect change might be Many large animals disappeared from the
the invasion of scrub on grassland, thanks face of the Earth at the beginning of the
to the hunting to extinction of a “keystone present warm period. They had survived
previous warm periods, but this one was
species”—a particularly influential ani¬
different for an important new predator was
mal such as a large grazer. Just such an present—humankind. Because these large
effect can be seen in Africa today wherever creatures moved slowly, they easily fell victim
the elephant has disappeared from the to human hunters. (Color codes below link
savanna. with time chart and map, left.)

Additional evidence that points 26,000-15,000 years ago

emphatically to humans as the culprits in

the extinction story derives from places
Diprotodon
where their arrival is recent and can be Metridiochoerus
dated with some confidence. Examples 12,000-9,000 years ago

include New Zealand, w here 27 species of o SOUTHERN AFRICA

Megalotragus
flightless birds, including a giant moa
Metridiochoerus
standing 10 ft high, became extinct soon Equus capensis
after the appearance of people there about Antidorcas australis
1,000 years ago. Antidorcas bondi

While other factors, such as climatic

I 1,000 years ago
change, habitat alterations, and even dis¬
O EUROPE/ASIA
ease, may have contributed to megafaunal Mammuthus
extinctions, there is strong circumstantial Coleodonta
evidence, though no conclusive proof, of Elasmotherium
Megaloceros
human responsibility.
Ovibes

I 1,000-10,000 years ago Elasmotherium

Genus Homo first in Africa about two million years ago
o NORTH AMERICA
Mammuthus
Mammut americanum
Cuvieronius
Eremotherium
150,000
130,000
I 10,000 I 1,000-10,000 years ago
90,000 O SOUTH AMERICA
70,000
Cuvieronius
50,000
30,000 Haplomastodon
Stegomastodon
Eremotherium
Megatherium
Toxodon
Mammuthus
:0,000
8,000 years ago
Toxodon
O SICILY
Elephas falconeri

2,000-1,000 years ago

10,000 O MADAGASCAR Elephas falconeri
Dwarf hippopotamus
Giant lemurs
Elephant bird (Aepyornis)

1,000 years ago Moa (Diornis maximus)

O NEW ZEALAND
Moa and other flightless birds

Giant lemur (Megaladapis)

35
 Birth of
an island chain

T he Hawaiian Islands, clothed in dense

green vegetation and surrounded by
nearly 6 miles from the ocean floor. Hotspots of volcanic activity
All the islands of the Hawaiian chain Geologists have discovered more than 120
white breakers, rise from the blue waters are volcanic and can be dated by scientists “hotspots”—sites of intense volcanic
of the Pacific Ocean. Only the slow drift from the radioactive minerals that they activity—scattered over the surface of the
of smoke from their few, snowcapped vol¬ contain. Hawaii, the largest and most east¬ globe. More than 50 of these lie below the
canoes hints at the dramatic story of their erly island, is the youngest; its surface oceans; the remainder are below conti¬
birth in fire, molten lava, and hissing rocks are less than a million years old. nents in areas such as East Africa and
steam. From there, the farther west the island, Iceland. A hotspot is probably the cause of
The unique chain includes not only the the greater is its age. Oahu is 2.6 to 3.6 volcanic activity in Yellowstone Park in
eight major islands from Hawaii itself million years old, Kauai about 5 million the United States, while another has given
westward to Nihau, but the smaller Lee¬ years old, and the most westerly island, birth to all the islands, islets, and sea¬
ward Islands. These smaller islands, islets, Midway, is 27 million years old. mounts of the Hawaiian-Emperor series.
and reefs stretch even farther west to The pattern continues through the The unusual feature of the Hawaiian
Midway Island and Kure, 1,400 miles northwesterly-directed Emperor Sea¬ hotspot is that, because of the pattern of
from Hawaii. Extending northwestward mount chain: the farthest north, the Meiji plate tectonics (see p. 14), the floor of the
from Midway almost to the Aleutians is Seamount, is the oldest of them all at 70 Pacific Ocean is steadily moving over it at
the Emperor Seamount chain of 30 sub¬ million years. But the ocean floor from a speed of some 3-4 in a year. The hotspot
merged seamounts. Were the oceans which the chain rises is in fact far older, 80 is probably about 185 miles in diameter
miraculously to dry up, the Hawaiian to 120 million years, which poses the and lies at least 35 miles below the ocean
Islands would be seen as the most impres¬ question of how this neat pattern of floor. The floor over the hotspot becomes
sive mountains on Earth; they rise to islands has been formed.
heated and swollen and eventually a rift

36
 Global patterns

A hotspot of volcanic activity beneath the Earth’s

crust eventually builds a volcanic island. But because
the crustal plate is moving westward, the island is
slowly carried away from the site of the hotspot, where
a new island begins to form.

forms in the rocks through which molten eroding island until eventually it is
lava rises. At first this creates only a hot reduced to a mere sunken seamount, deep
vent on the ocean floor. But as the years below the surface of the sea.
pass, the submarine volcano increases in The seamount relics of ancient volcanic
size until it eventually breaks through the islands are still being borne along on the
surface of the sea to form a volcanic island. moving Pacific Plate until they reach one
The new island continues to grow as of the great oceanic trenches into which
long as it is connected to the hotspot. The the old ocean floor disappears down into
island of Hawaii is still at this stage and its the deeper layers of the Earth to be recy¬
southeastern volcanoes, Kilauea and cled. In a few million years the oldest
Mauna Loa, are still producing lava. seamount, Meiji, will reach the edge of the
Eventually, however, the slow move¬ great trench south of the Aleutian Islands
ment of the Pacific Plate westward will and disappear forever.
separate the new volcanic island from its The whole cycle repeats endlessly.
source of new lava. Then the relentless Once Hawaii has finally passed from the
forces of erosion by rain, wind, and ocean hotspot, it will commence its 70 million-
waves, which have always been at work, year-long journey westward toward even¬
will steadily wear away the island, reduc¬ tual destruction and oblivion. And a bulge
ing its height and size. In addition, as the 1,000 ft high in the ocean floor southeast
ocean floor moves away from the hotspot, of Hawaii will one day be the site of a new
it will cool and contract, pulling down the island.

37
 Hawaiian
colonists
T he Hawaiian Islands are the most iso¬
lated in the world. The largest,
majority, however, provided the success¬
ful colonists with an unparalleled opportu¬
partly to the great variation in climate and
vegetation. In addition, lava-flows fre¬
Hawaii itself, is 2,000 miles from North nity to evolve and diversify. The limited quently isolate small patches of vegeta¬
America and 3,400 miles from Asia. range of birds and insects, for example, tion—mini-islands—in which evolution
Some organisms have crossed the vast filled all the ecological niches that their then takes place independently.
stretches of ocean to these remote tropical relatives had occupied in other lands. Genetic studies of the fruit flies have
islands. And much can be learned from Such diversification is known as adaptive shown that the relationships between
the evolutionary history of those that suc¬ radiation. them reflect the geological history of the
ceeded—the animals and plants that One of the species of birds that reached islands. For example, species from the
established themselves in a new world of the islands, probably about 15 to 20 older islands, to the west, are found to be
opportunity, far from their normal com¬ million years ago, was fmchlike. Its ancestors of those in the younger islands
petitors, predators, and parasites. descendants form a unique family, the to the east.
Few of the Hawaiian chain’s land ani¬ honeycreepers (Drepanididae), of which As in other parts of the world, the ani¬
mals and plants come from the distant there are now 23 species. They have mals and plants native to the islands are
North American or Asian mainlands. evolved to fill a variety of ways of life, increasingly threatened by the activities of
Most are related to forms on other Pacific feeding on insects, insect larvae, fruits, humans, and by the animals and plants
islands, which are geographically closer to seeds, and nectar. that they import. Human disturbance and
Hawaii. Moreover, the presence of those Among plants, the lobelias (Campanu- the effects of introduced species have led
animals and plants on other islands shows laceae) have evolved in a variety of habi¬ to the loss of many of the islands’ species
that they were already well adapted to tats. About four types of these normally of birds. Efforts are being made to protect
island life and to overseas dispersal. small herbaceous flowering plants proba¬ and conserve this unique living museum,
bly colonized the Hawaiian Islands origi¬ but for some of its inhabitants this con¬
An opportunity for evolution nally. These have radiated into six genera, cern has certainly come too late.
Many types of plant and animal never including over 150 species and varieties.
reached the Hawaiian chain. There are no Perhaps the most impressive examples
naturally occurring freshwater fishes, am¬ of adaptive radiation on the Hawaiian
phibians, reptiles, or land mammals, and Islands are the tiny fruit flies of the family
no coniferous trees. And of those groups Drosophilidae. More than 500 species of
that did reach the islands, representatives these flies live in the islands, nearly a
of only a few families finally succeeded in quarter of the total known throughout the
their colonization. The failure of the world. This diversity is probably due

Hawaiian lobelias

A wide diversity of leaf Because there were few

form is evident in the native Hawaiian trees,
Hawaiian lobelias. The some lobelia species
examples {right) illustrate evolved to fill this niche.
just a few of the leaf They range from plants of
shapes found in species of less than 3 ft tall to the
the genus Cyanea. treelike Cyanea leptostegia
at about 29 ft in height.

Cyanea leptostegia
Cyanea rollandoides

Cyanea grimesiana Cyanea shipmanii

Cyanea
leptostegia

38
 Global patterns

The Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian honeycreepers
have the highest
Fruit Fruit and seeds Insects Insects and some nectar Nectar and some insects percentage of endemic
organisms of any part of
the world. (An endemic
organism is one that is
found in one area only.)
As many as 91 percent
of Hawaiian flowering
Hemignathus wilsoni plant species, nearly 99
Hemignathus lucidus percent of the birds, and
virtually 100 percent of
the insects, are endemic
to the islands.
Psittirostra psittacea

Hemignathus procerus

Psittirostra kona
ppP
Loxops virens

Psittirostra bailleui Drepanis pacifica

Loxops coccinea
The bill of each
Telespyza cantons Vestiaria coccinea
species of Hawaiian
honeycreeper is
adapted to its
particular diet. Some
have short, heavy bills
to crack seeds; others,
long slender bills to
reach into flowers for
nectar. Pseudonestor xanthophrys Himatione sanguinea

. ... .

d r—'Hf

Ciridops anna Palmeria dolei

Finchlike ancestor
 Worldwide
patterns
E ach species of animal and plant has its
own distinctive pattern of distribution
around the world. An animal that is not
fastidious in its diet is more likely to be
over the face of the Earth. No two pat¬ able to occupy a range of habitats.
terns are exactly the same. Some species Both the snipe and the plantain, there¬
or groups of species enjoy an almost com¬ fore, are extremely tolerant and adaptable
plete global coverage, whereas others are in their physical and food requirements.
restricted, sometimes to a very small area. Both also have efficient means of disper¬
Others, perhaps the most interesting of all, sal. The plantain has seeds that are con¬
have split distributions, sometimes occur¬ sumed by birds and germinate the better
ring in widely separated parts of the world. for having passed through the bird’s
Explaining a pattern of distribution for digestive system. The snipe can fly. Many
an organism involves knowing the answers of the most successful cosmopolitan plants
to many different questions. How tolerant have developed close relationships with
is it of different physical factors in the highly mobile animals, especially migra¬
environment? How adaptable is it to new tory birds.
conditions? When did it evolve and what
was the Earth like at that time? How well Cosmopolitan families
can it compete with other organisms? Individual species with cosmopolitan dis¬
What was its past distribution, and how tributions are, however, comparatively
did it fare during the climatic changes of rare. But at a higher level of classification,
the recent past such as the last glacial? All while an individual species may not be
of these questions are relevant to an found throughout the globe, the family or
understanding of the modern geography order to which it belongs does have a
of plants and animals. worldwide distribution. The crow family
(Corvidae) is represented on all continents
The adaptable plantain but no single species is cosmopolitan.
The widespread, or cosmopolitan, type of Among reptiles, the skinks (Scincidae) are
organism is usually tolerant of a wide widespread in all but the high latitudes.
range of environmental conditions. The Several plant families are cosmopolitan,
broad-leaved plantain (Plantago major), for and probably the most widespread is the
example, is found over most of the globe grass family (Gramineae). This is the
and is tolerant of heat and cold, wetness flowering plant family that extends closest
and drought, and, perhaps most important to the South Pole.
of all, disturbance by mankind. Indeed, it When looking at the distribution of
benefits from human company because families rather than species, the length of
the habitat disturbance caused by humans time for which that family has been pre¬
reduces the amount of competition from sent on Earth must be a factor. A family
other, especially shade-casting, plant represented on all major continents could
species. Even the cosmopolitan species have evolved and been represented in each
have their weaknesses and plantains are region before the great splitting up of con¬
not tolerant of shade. tinental masses. This may well have The broad-leaved
Among animals, a wading bird, the occurred with the rats and mice, and the plantain (Plantago
common snipe (Gallinago gallinago), is roses, both ancient families. However, major) is a successful
found in every continent except Antarcti¬ both have good powers of dispersal so weed that occurs in
ca and Australasia. It has a long bill and every continent. Like
they may have continued to spread.
most widespread
legs, enabling it to feed on small inverte¬ With such mobile creatures as skinks plants, it is adaptable.
brates in shallow water, and its tastes are and crows, dispersal over a lengthy period Plantain will tolerate
catholic. It consumes a very wide range of is entirely possible and geological explana¬ most conditions other
invertebrates from worms to dragonfly tions of their widespread distribution are than shade. It thrives
larvae and has been known to eat the seeds in habitats disturbed
hardly necessary. The same applies to our
by humans, where
of wetland plants. This wide choice of own species, Homo sapiens, with one of the many other plants
food certainly contributes to its success most cosmopolitan distributions of all. have been destroyed.

40
 Global patterns

The grasses of the Ferns are among the most

family Poaceae are one efficient of plants at
of the most successful
dispersing themselves.
of all flowering plant
They germinate from
groups.
Representatives of the minute spores carried in
family are found in the air as dust.
almost every habitat, The world's most
from alpine pastures to
widespread fern is
coastal mudflats, from
probably the brittle
tropical savannas to
Antarctic islands. bladder fern (Cystopteris
As much as 20 fragilis), found from
percent of the Earth’s Greenland to tropical
land surface is
mountains.
dominated by grasses.
No barrier is too high
These plants can cope
with all types of or too wide for the spores
environmental stress; of this plant to cross. It
they can also survive was among the first land
being grazed on by plants to colonize the
animals because they
volcanic island of Surtsey
grow from the base
rather than the tip. when it arose off the coast
of Iceland in 1963.

The snipe (GatUnago to survive in many The skink family except Antarctica, and
gallinago) is a wetland types of wetland (Scincidae) is a thrive in a wide
bird found in all but' habitats, and its wide particularly successful variety of habitats,
the most arid areas of range of foods, mainly and widespread group from rocky shores to
the world. Its success is invertebrates and some of reptiles. They occur desert, and from
due both to its ability seeds. in every continent freshwater to forest.

41
 Restricted
patterns 1
S ome plants and animals are wide¬
spread throughout the world, but
during the Cretaceous period.
The flightless birds belonging to the
marine fauna. When the Panama Isthmus
finally connected North and South Amer¬
most are restricted in their distribution, order Ratites are today distributed across ica in the Pliocene period (see pp. 26-27),
and the endemics (see pp. 38-39) are usu¬ many continents: the rhea in South Amer¬ it separated a single marine fauna into
ally found only where they originated. ica, the ostrich in Africa, the cassowary Pacific and Caribbean parts. Hundreds of
The reasons for their distribution patterns and emu in Australia, and the kiwi in New species of marine organisms segregated in
lie in the geography, climate, or competi¬ Zealand. Since it is impossible for these this way, including crabs, mollusks, and
tion existing when the organisms evolved, birds to have crossed the oceans separating fishes, have since evolved into pairs of
which may have been at any time in the the continents, they must have originated species, one on each side of the isthmus.
last 100 million years. in Gondwanaland and only later have Another cause of disjunct distribution
evolved into different genera. patterns is competition: a group originally
Drifting continents Not all the southern-hemisphere fami¬ widespread across the world may have
Changing geography has been one of the lies developed before the breakup of died out because it could not compete
most important causes of discontinuous, Gondwanaland was complete. Both the with later-evolving organisms. Fossil evi¬
or disjunct, distribution. When the great marsupial mammals and the southern dence indicates that the primitive cycad
continental masses broke up and slowly beech tree, Nothofagus, evolved after plants, for instance, once grew worldwide;
rafted apart, each fragment still bore its Africa and India had separated off, so they now they are found only in Central Amer¬
original flora and fauna. This is illustrated are found only in South America and Aus¬ ica, northern South America, Africa,
in the breakup of Gondwanaland, the tralia and in fossil form in Antarctica. Madagascar, and Australasia. They were
southern supercontinent, which occurred New land connections also subdivided presumably killed off in other places by

The spectacular bloom of an Australian species of the Protea family.

42
 Global patterns

competition from flowering plants. naturally only in eastern Asia and eastern Iguanid lizards and bold
The progressive cooling of the climate North America. snakes are found today in
that took place during the Cenozoic period A similar combination of climate and both the New World and
also had an effect on the distribution of land movement was probably responsible Madagascar but not in
organisms, particularly in the northern also for the present disjunct distribution of intervening Africa.
hemisphere. Forests containing a diversity tapirs (piglike mammals). These animals A possible explanation
of coniferous and broad-leaved flowering were once found throughout North Amer¬ for this is that both groups
trees had evolved in all the continents ica and tropical Eurasia. But the cooling of did once exist in Africa but
there and were once found as far north as the northern hemisphere led to the extinc¬ have become extinct
Alaska. As the climate cooled, however, tion of European tapirs, which were there. This was probably
these forests gradually shifted southward, unable to cross the Mediterranean Sea or due to competition from
although they remained in a wide belt the Sahara Desert to reach the tropics of their relatives, the agamid
across North America and Eurasia. But central Africa. lizards and pythonid
when movements of the tectonic plates Their cousins in North America were snakes, which are found in
raised mountains in wesfern North Amer¬ more fortunate, for the completion of the Africa but not in the
ica, southern Europe, and the Himalayan Panama Isthmus allowed them to colonize Americas or in Madagascar.
region, some trees became extinct over South America before they became extinct
wide areas. Hence the irregular distribu¬ in the north. So, today tapirs are found
tion today of the tulip tree (Liriodendron), only in South America and Southeast
and the magnolia, which are now found Asia.

The southern
supercontinent,
Gondwanaland, began
to fragment about 160
million years ago.

Protea family

The Protea plant

family occurs in the
areas that once made
up the supercontinent
of Gondwanaland.

The ratite birds I | Ostrich (Struthia camelus)

{right) probably
originated in | | Common cassowary
Gondwanaland before (Casuarius casuarius)

it split up. They later

evolved into separate
orders on each
continent.

"J Brown kiwi

(Apteryx austrajis)

Five orders of
| | Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)
ratite birds survive.
The ostrich and emu
are the only living
| | Rhea (Rhea americana) members of their
Ratite birds
orders.

43
 Restricted
patterns 2
W hile some plant and animal species
are restricted in their range because
The mosquito Aedes
aegypti occurs mainly
of ancient geological events, such as the within the area where
movements of continental landmasses, the July temperatures
average at least 50 °F.
spread of others has been limited by dif¬
Larvae and adults die
ferent, more recent influences. Of these, at temperatures below
sensitivity to climate is one of the most this. The species does
common. succeed in living
All species have their limits. The mos¬ farther north in some
regions, such as
quito Aedes aegypti, for example, is
eastern North
restricted to tropical and warm-temperate America, where it
parts of the world: neither adults nor lar¬ survives the winter in
vae can tolerate cold. Within this range, egg form.
however, the insect is extremely wide¬
spread. At another extreme, the brook
saxifrage (Saxifraga rivularis) is restricted
to arctic and subarctic regions and high
Colville barrel cactus
mountains farther south. This plant is
unable to survive high temperatures.
Even good powers of dispersal do not
guarantee wide distribution if a species Aedes aegypti mosquito
has climatic limits. Many tropical plants
rely on marine currents to disperse their
seed-containing fruits, which are often
large and robustly built to withstand long
immersion in seawater. Fruits of such
tropical species as the sea beans frequently
drift from the Caribbean across the Cactus family

Atlantic to western Ireland, but they

are unable to germinate and establish
themselves in its cooler climate.
Similarly, many birds manage to cross
the Atlantic from west to east as a result of
The cactus family
the prevailing wind directions. North occurs naturally only
American species, from waders such as in the New World.
dowitchers to passerines such as the yel¬ Cacti are capable of
low-billed cuckoo, and the song sparrow, living in the Old.
World but are thought
make the journey to Europe but do not
to have evolved at a
succeed in establishing themselves there. time when the Atlantic
Their failure probably has less to do with Ocean was already too
climate than with the problem of finding a wide for them to cross.
mate and surviving the competitive pres¬
sures of native species. doubtedly limited by the barrier of the the past two million years, has led to the
Some species are well able to spread deserts of northern Africa and Arabia. constriction of some species ranges. The
within a given area but are unable to cope Oceans may prove an insuperable bar¬ coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirem) of
with a particular barrier, such as a moun¬ rier to plants. Members of the cactus family California had an extensive distribution in
tain range or desert. The Arabian bustard (Cactaceae), for example, are capable of western and central North America as
(Ardeotis arabs), for example, inhabits dry living outside their current New World recently as Tertiary times, two million
scrub and open savanna woodland in a range, but none has ever succeeded in years ago. Its natural population is now
belt across Africa south of the Sahara, and crossing the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean restricted to a strip of land just 25 miles
through Ethiopia and Somalia into south¬ without human help. wide along the fog belt of the Pacific coast.
eastern Saudi Arabia. Its range is un¬ Changing global climate, especially over Sometimes climatic change has even

44
 Global patterns

Albatrosses spend
much of their lives on
the wing but their
flight is very
dependent on wind.
They have great
difficulty in crossing
the equatorial regions
that experience long
periods of calm (the
doldrums). As a result
most species live in
the southern
hemisphere, although
three species occur in
the North Pacific.

caused populations of a species to frag¬ restricted in its distribution is that it has

ment. The brush mouse (Peromyscus only recently evolved and simply has not
boylei), for example, has its main range in had time to spread. California is notable
New Mexico and areas to the south but is for its richness in endemic species—more
also found in a part of Texas and in sever¬ than 2,000 species of its flowering plants
al small pockets between the two areas. occur only in this region. Many of them,
The distribution was once continuous but such as species of Clarkia, Mimulus, and
has been fragmented by climatic and Cryptantha, are newly evolved and may be
habitat changes. awaiting an opportunity to spread beyond
One further reason for a species being their current boundaries.

45
 From equator
to pole
14
_ 60°--I-
The swallowtail butterfly family
31
- 50°-—J- (Papilionidae) occurs all over the world, but the
74 number of species is much greater in equatorial
- 40°--- regions than in higher latitudes. The diagram
136 (left) shows a steady rise in species numbers
-30°-—--—
toward the equator.
131
-20°--—

-10°-
240
* Equator -—-——— ---
261
- 10°-

- 20°

-30°-
23

Number of species of swallowtail butterfly

T he luxuriant jungles of the equatorial

regions of the world teem with life, in
and interglacial periods, the tropics had
similar cycles of wet and dry periods.
round production of leaves, fruits, and
seeds, the rain forest clearly provides an
sharp contrast to the silent, lifeless icy During the latter, the great forests con¬ opportunity for the evolution of many
wastes of the poles. As a rule, the nearer tracted to a number of smaller patches, more types of animals than do other bio¬
the equator, the greater is the diversity of separated by dry shrublands (p.33). This mes. But what is it that allows a greater
species, and this seems generally to apply may, indeed, be one explanation for the diversity of plants to survive in the tropics
to all forms of life from algae and lichens diversity of plants: evolution would have than in higher latitudes?
to flowering plants, from insects to birds continued in each of these patches of The answer may be simple—sunshine.
and mammals. That this gradient of diver¬ forest. When wet, humid conditions The tropics receive a constant high
sity exists may seem obvious, but the rea¬ returned, the new plants may have dis¬ amount of solar energy. This allows plants
son why it exists is complicated and has persed outward from the “patches” to col¬ to grow more rapidly and to greater
proved hard to explain. onize surrounding areas. heights. And since the tropics are far
One approach might be to try to iden¬ wealthier in solar energy than the higher
tify the ways in which the richest of all the A multilayered world latitudes, they can afford to spread that
biomes, the jungle or tropical rain forest, Another remarkable feature of the rain wealth over a greater diversity of species.
differs from the others. An astonishing forest is that it has many layers. The main Not every tropical environment is as
feature is the immense variety of its plant tree canopy is 80-100 ft above ground, diverse as the Amazon rain forest. Sun¬
life—the Amazon rain forest, for example, while individual trees rise to heights of light alone is not enough. If rainfall or the
contains more than 4,000 species of trees. half as much again, or even twice as high. supply of nutrients is inadequate, then
Here, an area of less than 2 acres may con¬ Below the main canopy, smaller trees and diversity will remain low, as in parts of
tain 400 trees, belonging to almost 90 shrubs provide another layer of life. Each Australia.
species. These trees provide support for layer, the forest floor included, offers a
other plants, each having space for up to distinctive environment with a unique Seasonal stresses
80 species of epiphytic plant on its trunk community of animals and plants. In higher latitudes, the supply of solar
and branches. The diversity of plant life provides a energy is not only lower, it is also irregu¬
At one time it was thought that the rain huge range of foods for animals. And, in lar. In some seasons the stress of short day
forest was a community of great antiquity the unvarying, seasonless climate, fruits length and low temperatures prohibits the
and stability, unaffected by the ice ages and seeds are always available. Thus the survival of organisms that are not hardy. If
that decimated higher latitudes, but it is animals that feed on them can become the Earth’s axis were not at an angle, if it
now known that these tropical regions did more specialized, allowing a greater range lay vertical to its orbit, the high latitudes
not go unscathed. Studies suggest that of animals in each way of life. would be seasonless and might well exhib¬
while higher latitudes had cycles of glacial With its complex structure and year- it a higher diversity of species.

46
 Global patterns

Tropical diversity

/I

The number of both bird and mammal

species also increases dramatically between high
latitudes and the tropics in North and Central
America. There are three times as many species in
the tropical forests of Panama as in Alaska. Much
of the increase in mammal diversity is accounted
for by the numbers of bat species, which, like
birds, can easily fly from tree to tree. Many feed
on the abundant insects that live on the year-
round diversity of tropical fruits, flowers, and
foliage in the forest.

The extraordinary diversity of plant life in

the tropical rain forest provides a huge range of
foods and habitats for animals such as this red¬
eyed leaf frog in the Costa Rican forest.

47
■ Habitat
patterns
Patterns of plant life
Climate and
plant life i
Climate and
plant life 2
Tropical rain forest
Tropical seasonal
forest
Savanna
Semi-arid scrub M
Desert ■M'"'

Chaparral lands
Temperate grassland
Temperate forest
Boreal forest
Tundra
From valley to
mountain peak
Freshwater wetlands 1
Freshwater wetlands 2
Saltwater wetlands
Oceans
The shore
The coral reef
 M any of us today know first-hand how varied our planet is.

The realms We can step from the chill of northern Europe into an
airplane and, within a few hours, be basking in the

of nature Mediterranean sunshine. Closer to home, but still within a day,

we can fly from the snows of the Rocky Mountains to the
baking heat of Mexico.
These great variations in the Earth’s environments stem from
just one simple circumstance, the way the light from the sun
strikes the surface of the planet. On the equator, it does so four¬
square. There, at midday, the shadow of a palm tree forms a
black disk on the ground centered around its bole; in the desert
rocks get so hot that they are painful to the touch; and water
from tepid rivers vaporizes and saturates the air. On the other
hand, near the poles, the sunlight meets the Earth only
glancingly, so that such heat as it contains is spread over a
much greater area. There, even in summer, metal can get so
cold that your flesh sticks to it, and if you expose your fingers
and toes for any length of time, the blood in them may freeze
and you will lose them.

From rain forest to desert

The great heat around the equator has further consequences.
Hot air rises. It is also able to carry more water vapor than cold
air. So above the equatorial lands there are great up-currents of
moisture-laden air. But as they reach higher altitudes in the sky,
they cool and shed their moisture as torrential rain. As a result,
after millions of years of evolution, the equatorial lands of the
Earth are blanketed with rain forest. Higher still in the sky, the
air currents, freed from their moisture, are deflected by the spin
of the Earth beneath them and flow away on either side of the
equator, north and south. In the slightly cooler latitudes, the air
sinks and at a lower level streams back toward the equator.
Having lost its water, it now sucks up any moisture that remains'
on the land beneath and turns it into a desert. This global
pattern of rain forest around the equator, with bands of parched
desert land to the north and south of it, has long been
established, and today whole communities of plants and animals
exploit these circumstances.
We are able to move from one environment to another

5°
 r

without major discomfort by simply putting on heavier or in a tropical jungle. The same principle applies to plants, which
lighter clothing, or even taking it off altogether. But before we are as little able to adapt to unfamiliar conditions as animals. All
became globetrotters to the extent that we are today, we also gardeners know that if they want to grow a plant-that originated
became physically adapted to the particular climate in which we in another part of the world, they have to pay close attention to
spent our lives. Those people living in the tropics acquired dark its particular requirements. The temperature, the humidity, the
skins which protected them from the damaging ultraviolet balance of light and shade—all have to be just right if a plant is
elements in the strong sunshine. Others, in the Arctic, deprived to flourish.
of sun but afflicted with cold, developed permanent layers of fat Some species have to be protected from sunshine; others will
just beneath their skin which kept them warm. only grow if they can bask in it. Some need frequent drenching
The spread of human beings from Africa, where they with water, others, if treated that way, will die. All such
evolved, to all corners of the globe was achieved, as far as we requirements are simply a measure of how closely adapted a
can judge from the evidence currently available, during the past plant has become to the conditions of its original home.
300,000 years. That, in evolutionary terms, is relatively recent.
Most of the species of animals and plants with which we share Environmental changes
the world have been resident in their own particular habitats for The climatic conditions in any one part of the Earth are not,
much longer than that. In consequence, most have become however, eternal. Over geological time they have varied
much more closely matched to their particular environments considerably. As we have seen, the continents themselves have
than we have. shifted their position on the globe. Three hundred million years
Bears, for example, are found throughout Eurasia and the ago, the continent that was to become North America lay on
Americas. Those in the north have become very big. Large size the equator while southern Africa was much nearer to the
is an advantage in the cold, since a big body retains heat very South Pole.
much better than a small one. They have also developed thick There has been another great variable, too. For reasons
shaggy fur to protect themselves from the cold. The species that discussed on p.30, the whole globe has warmed and cooled. The
lives farthest north, the polar bear, has in addition become latest manifestation of such a change took place around 70,000
white, so matching its surroundings of snow and ice, developed years ago. The world became colder. Ice fields and glaciers
partially webbed toes to enable it to swim more efficiently spread down from the poles and created a glacial period. After a
between the ice floes, and pads of long coarse hair on its feet to series of oscillations in global temperature, that cold period
insulate it from the cold. In contrast, the species of bear that finally came to an end around 10,000 years ago.
lives in the warm humid forests of Malaysia is about half the Although these environmental changes may seem
length and a fifth the weight of a polar bear and has a very thin extraordinarily swift when considered in terms of geological

black coat. history, in the context of the lives of animals, they have for the
most part been very gradual, being spread over many hundreds,
Attuning to surroundings if not thousands, of generations. Some species were able to
But such specializations have one huge disadvantage. The more move their territories, keeping pace with the shifting pattern of
closely attuned a body becomes to its surroundings, the less able the climate. Others, through the processes of natural selection,
it is to survive elsewhere. We are the only species that can put changed physically and acquired new adaptations suited to the
on or shed a coat in a moment to compensate for a swift new conditions, which enabled them to survive. So ecological
environmental change. A Malayan bear would die within hours catastrophe has been avoided and the biological richness of the
in the Arctic; and a polar bear would collapse with heat-stroke Earth has been maintained.

51
 Patterns of
plant life
A habitat provides both a physical set¬
ting in which a plant or animal is able
summer. They bear their perennating
buds at the soil surface, sometimes sur¬
to survive and the requirements necessary rounded by a rosette of overwintering
for its growth. For an animal, these are its leaves (as in plantains), or with no leaves
food in the form of plant material or prey showing at all (as in stinging nettles).
animals. For plants, the requirements are These Raunkiaer described as hemi-
sufficient light for photosynthesis and a cryptophytes, meaning half-hidden.
supply of water and nutrient elements Those plants that survive an un¬
from the soil. favorable period by means of under¬
Since plants are static and often rela¬ ground organs, such as bulbs or tubers,
tively large, they are an important compo¬ are termed geophytes. Another type of
nent of any habitat. Their type and plant—the therophyte—survives periods
structure are determined by local climate of stress in the form of a seed. These
Spiny deciduous
conditions. annuals and ephemerals are an important
part of the flora of deserts and semi-arid
Raunkiaer’s classification areas, and in other climates thrive as
The vegetation of the world may be opportunists or weeds.
broadly described in terms based on its
general form and architecture—forest, Evergreen plants
grassland, scrub, for example. These There are many other ways in which
terms are familiar, but they are difficult to plants vary in response to climate. One is
define scientifically. In 1934 a Danish by having evergreen leaves. Evergreens
botanist, Christen Raunkiaer, developed a occur in varied situations—the northern
simple yet effective system for defining coniferous forests have many and yet so
vegetation. Fie suggested that the response do the tropical rain forests. The evergreen
of vegetation to climate could best be leaf enables the plant to photosynthesize
judged by the height at which it held its all year round in the tropics—or to take The benefits of being evergreen
perennating organs—that is, the buds, maximum advantage of a short growing
rhizomes, or bulbs by which the plant season in colder climates. It is also eco¬
could survive through unfavorable weather nomic in terms of the investment of
conditions. Thus, in a favorable climate energy and nutrients required for leaf
where buds are not in danger of drying or construction. Making new leaves every
freezing, they can be held well above the year is costly to the plant, and nutrients
ground; a complex, layered canopy of are in short supply in both the rain forest
leaves then develops. Plants of this type, and tundra soils.
consisting of trees and tall shrubs, he The greatest disadvantage of being
termed phanerophytes. evergreen is that water is lost through the
Generally, the more difficult the cli¬ leaves at all times. This means that main¬
mate, with periods of drought or cold, the taining a leaf canopy puts plants under
lower the potential height of the canopy, stress if water is scarce. The deciduous
Pines, such as
for buds held at great height would be plant overcomes this by shedding its the eastern white
most exposed to climatic stress. In very leaves in times of drought or when cold pine (Pinus
cold conditions exposure to wind and ice conditions make water scarce. Most ever¬ strobus), succeed in
eliminates all species with buds protrud¬ green leaves have adaptations, such as temperate and
boreal forests
ing above a cushionlike cover, usually less waxy surfaces, hairs, and sunken pores,
where the summer
than 10 in in height. The dwarf shrubs that help reduce water loss. growing season is
and perennial herbs making up this cover Low temperatures and low water avail¬ short. Because
are called chamaephytes. ability are the major climatic stresses that pines are evergreen
Flerbaceous plants have developed vegetation has to face. The structure of they can start to
other ways of avoiding unfavorable condi¬ photosynthesize
the world’s vegetation is largely deter¬
and grow as soon
tions. Many plants in the temperate zone mined by the degree to which it is subject¬ as spring arrives.
die back in winter and grow up again in ed to one or other of these stresses.

52
 Habitat patterns

ciduous

The structure of a Each biome has its own

plant fits it for characteristic spectrum
growth under
of plant life forms. In
particular climatic
tropical rain forest, for
conditions. Tall,
Deciduous broad-leaved example, more than 90
evergreens, for percent of the flora
example, thrive only in are phanerophytes—tall
warm moist
trees and shrubs. In the
conditions.
Arctic tundra, some 60
Adaptations in
structure and leaf form percent of species are

evergreen equip other types of chamaephytes—dwarf

plants for the rigors of shrubs and low-growing
colder or drier
perennial herbs.
climates.

Certain plant forms are

associated with
particular climatic
conditions. The cacti of
deserts and semi-arid lands
Dwarf shrubs are the most familiar
succulent plants, but
Cushion plants
succulence is also a
characteristic of plants in
other locally dry habitats.
Colder-
The stonecrops of alpine
rock faces and the tree¬
dwelling cacti of the
tropical rain forest are just
two examples.

In mediterranean
climates, spring
and fall, when
are
Many broad-leaved warm and moist,
evergreen trees, such as are the best times
Symphonia, grow in for plant growth.
tropical rain forest. Since The leaves of
there is no dry period, evergreens, such as
plants do not need to the strawberry tree
shed their leaves to (Arbutus unedo), are
conserve water, and an ready to photosynthesize
evergreen leaf can survive when these brief but
favorable periods arrive.
several years.

53
Climate and
plant life 1
T he patterns of plant distribution on
Earth are closely related to today’s
Ocean currents/Mountains
I | Mountains
climate. Plants’ tolerance varies, and
because climate also varies in a complex Climate and
way, plant distribution is complex. therefore vegetation
are strongly affected
Climate is governed to a great degree
by ocean currents. North Pacif|c Gyre_
by the amount of energy received from the Warm currents from
sun. Most solar energy reaches the surface the tropics bring Equatorial Curren
Fqnatnrial Countercurrent—
of our planet at the equator, because here mild, moist
South Equatorial Currer
light energy has had to travel a shorter conditions to high
latitudes in
distance through the atmosphere than it South Pacific Gyre.
northwest America
has at the poles. Seasonal variations and Europe. J> \
depend on the angle of the sun to the
Earth, but the angle is always more ■ent
The Coriolis effect
oblique at the poles, so that a greater
thickness of atmosphere must be crossed
by the sun’s radiant energy. At high lati¬
tudes, the low angle of the sun also means
that the available energy is spread over a
larger surface.

Atmospheric patterns
The uneven distribution of energy over Global wind
the Earth causes instability in the atmos¬ patterns are
influenced by
phere. In the cold polar regions the air is
differences in energy
chilled and contracts. As it does so, it distribution and
becomes more dense, descends toward the variations in the
Earth’s surface, and creates high pres¬ rates at which land
sures. Meanwhile, at the equator the air is and water gain and
lose heat. In
heated from below, becomes less dense,
addition, the Earth
and is pushed upward, which creates low
is spinning,
atmospheric pressure systems. deflecting all air
However, the air that rises over the masses into swirling-
equator does not get as far as the poles systems (the Coriolis
effect).
before it falls again. It descends in a region
around the Tropic of Cancer in the north
and the Tropic of Capricorn in the south, □ More than 60 in a year

creating two high-pressure belts. Some of □ 20-60 in

□ 8-20 in
□
this descending air moves poleward and
Less than 8 in
collides with polar air heading toward the
equator. This produces the unstable con¬
ditions typical of temperate regions.
Rainfall is greatest
From the global pattern of atmospheric
in the equatorial
circulation, it is possible to discern the region, where rising
direction of prevailing winds. However, masses of warm air
the spin of the Earth—deflecting winds to cool as they are
the right in the northern and to the left in pushed upward and
lose their moisture as
the southern hemisphere—also has an
rain. The dry air
effect on direction. So, too, do mountain masses descend over
chains and local convection currents pro¬ the two tropics,
duced over large landmasses outside the where little rain falls.
equatorial regions (as they heat up in

54
 Habitat patterns

The greatest ever

Earth’s energy balance
recorded fluctuation in
In Kcal/cm2/year
temperature over 24
More than 120 Kcal [ j
Equatorial regions 100-120 n hours occurred in
receive the highest 60-100 g§ Browning, Montana in
levels of energy 40-60 Q 1916. The temperature fell
input because the 20-40 Q
I00°F from 44°F to -56°F.
sun is directly 0-20 Q
overhead. This varies
from season to Rain falls on 335 to 350
season, however, days a year at Mount
with the tilt of the Energy input Waialeale on Kauai, one
Earth on its axis (see is measured in
of the Hawaiian Islands,
diagram below). Kcal: i kilo-
is the making it the most
energy required consistently wet place on
Seasonal energy change
to raise the Earth. Mean annual rainfall
July \ January temperature of i kg of is 451 in.
water by i ° C.
(i calorie = 4.182 Joules)
(1 Kcal = 1,000 calories)

Air movements: January

In the northern
hemisphere winter,
the equatorial zone
of wind convergence
moves from north of
the equator (see Air
movements: July)
farther south. This
movement is caused
by the Earth’s tilt
and shifting energy
balance.

Land productivity
In grams of carbon/m2/year
More than 800 g g|
400-800 g gg
Plant productivity 100-400 g □
is dependent on 0-100 g Q
warmth and
moisture, so the
highest levels occur
in equatorial regions.
Drought limits
productivity in zones
immediately to the Productivity
north and south of is measured as
these areas, and the quantity of
winter cold restricts material (carbon)
the length of gained by
growing periods in photosynthesis per
higher latitudes. unit area per unit time.

55
Climate and
plant life 2
summer and cool down in winter). The
precise influence of prevailing winds also
depends on the type of terrain they have
crossed. Air masses that have traveled
over the oceans, for example, are usually
heavy with moisture.

Ocean influences
Because seawater warms up more slowly
in summer and cools down more slowly in
winter than the land, coastal regions have
less extreme or “oceanic” climates, while
interiors of landmasses have more extreme
“continental” climates.
The circulation pattern of the oceans
also influences climate. The warm Gulf
Stream Drift of the North Atlantic, for
example, insures mild, ice-free conditions
in the summer months in the north of
Scandinavia. But summer conditions are
Biomes.are living
far more severe in the north of Alaska, at
comfiiuriities in which
similar latitudes, where there is no such the. form of'the
warm current. constituent plants and
Variable factors of atmosphere, wind, animals is determined
and ocean interact to determine the exact by climate. Their
arrangement over the
climate of any particular area. The equato¬
globe is therefore
rial zone has high levels of precipitation
dependent on the
because water vapor in the rising air cools underlying climate
and condenses as rain. High-pressure pattern.
<6
areas, with descending air, have little rain¬
I Tropical rain forest
fall. These are the desert zones—hot in
I Tropical seasonal forest
the tropics and cold at the poles. I 3 Savanna
In the middle latitudes the collision of I Semi-arid scrub
warm and cold air leads to atmospheric ! 1 Desert

instability. This results in cyclones or [ I Mediterranean

ffl Temperate grassland
depressions that form over the oceans and
I I Temperate forest
drift eastward, bringing periods of high El Boreal forest
precipitation to the western edges of the 1~1 Tundra
continents.
As the seasons change, the positions of
the Earth’s climate belts are altered. In the this plants are described as primary pro¬ primary productivity of that unit. This
northern summer, for example, the tropi¬ ducers. Even carnivores would be unable reveals how much material (leaves, flow¬
cal rain belt shifts north, pushing the to make a living if there were no herbi¬ ers, branches, trunk, and so on) is gained
other belts in front of it. Changing wind vores in the food chain. Plants depend for each year, and it can be measured in units
patterns take monsoon rains into southern survival and growth on the energy of sun¬ of weight (such as pounds per square foot
Asia, while the Mediterranean, continental light. This they capture, using the green per year) or in units of energy (Joules per
North America, Europe, and Asia experi¬ pigment chlorophyll, and store in the form square foot per year).
ence dry seasons. of energy-rich substances such as starch or Primary productivity influences both
oils. the number and the kind of animals that
Plants and productivity The amount of new energy that is can live in a particular area. The quantity
All the animals on Earth depend ultimate¬ acquired by plant life in a given unit area and variety are greatest where conditions
ly on plants for their energy. Because of of land in a given time is described as the are best for plant growth, but decline
 Habitat patterns

The coldest place in

the world is Vostock,
Antarctica. It has a mean
annual temperature of
-72°F, and a record low
of—128.6°F, registered
on July 21', 1983.

The highest shade

temperatures ever
recorded are 136°F in
Libya in 1922 and 134°F
in Death Valley, California,
in 1913.

The Atacama Desert in

Chile is the world’s driest
place, with an annual mean
rainfall of nil. In some
areas there has been no
rain in living memory.

Dice
HMountains ir ■ •

‘ 1 .....

O Plant biomass in kg/m2

under harsh conditions such as cold or The amount of
□ Plant production
drought. living material in a
in kg/m2/year
community is its
Another important measure of habitat (I kg/m2 = 0.2lb/ft2)
biomass, measured in
is the amount of living material actually dry weight per unit
present at a given time—the biomass. A area. Plant
large biomass usually means that both productivity is the rate
vegetation and animal life are diverse and at which new material
is added to this by
complex. Plants often need to grow large
photosynthesis. This,
in order to capture maximum amounts of too, is measured as dry
sunlight. However, many leaves means weight, added within a
great water loss, so drought can limit specific area in a given
biomass development. time.

57
Tropical
rain forest
L ife is found at its most luxuriant in
the tropical rain forests. Plants grow
Animal life: each forest layer has its own
community of animals; a species may
taller and in greater profusion than in any remain in a particular layer for its entire
other bionte, and rain forests contain as life. Canopy dwellers include sloths, mon¬
many as 50 percent of the world's plant keys, lemurs, parrots, and snakes. On the
and animal species. ground there are peccaries, anteaters,
More of the sun’s energy is fixed here tapirs, and capybaras. Rain forests are par¬
by photosynthesizing plants than in any ticularly rich in insect life, and in addition
other bidme, and so much carbon is con¬ to those known there are millions of
tained within the timber that if it were all species as yet unidentified.
converted to carbon dioxide by forest
destruction and burning, it would alter the Nutrient cycling: rain forest soil is nutri¬
climate of the whole Earth. Yet this appar¬ ent poor and highly leached and most of
ently robust ecosystem is fragile, and dis¬ the available nutrients are in the plant
turbance soon upsets its complex but biomass. Since temperature and humidity
delicate balance. are so high, decomposition is fast and
nutrients are rapidly cycled through the
Climate: rain forest is uniformly warm, plant litter.
usually between 68 °F and 82 °F year
round. Fligh rainfall is evenly spread Conservation: major threats are from
throughout the year in this the wettest of logging and clearance, the latter mainly for
all biomes; it always exceeds 60 in annually short-term agricultural exploitation, par¬
and may reach 400 in. ticularly for beef cattle. The resulting
extinction of many species of plant and
Structure: there are between three and animal means the loss of many potentially
five distinct layers of foliage in the forest, useful organisms for agriculture or as
from the shrubby understorey to the giant sources of drugs.
trees that tower above the main canopy
(see diagram, top right). This stratification Rain forest climate:
gives strength to a forest structure in San Carlos de Rio Negro, Brazil
which the tallest trees may be 150 ft high.

Composition: rain forest is the most

diverse of all biomes; up to 80 tree species
per acre have been recorded in some areas,
compared with 4-8 per acre in temperate
forests. The high energy input from the
sun means abundant resources for plant
growth, which encourages diversity. The
trees support rich communities of
epiphytes and climbing plants, and the
resulting complex structure provides
many niches for animal species.
(Epiphytic plants use other plants as a
means of support and have no contact
with the ground.)

Productivity: this is both the bulkiest The richest environment on Earth is the
and the most productive biome. Between tropical rain forest, where the lush plant life
thrives on the constant high temperatures and
0.2-0.7 lb per sq ft is produced annually
abundant rainfall of the equatorial regions (see
by a biomass of approximately 9 lb per sq ft above). There is no drought, frost, or other
(see pp. 56-57). seasonal change to disrupt growth.

58
Habitat patterns
Tropical
seasonal forest
T he plants of equatorial rain forest
have only to compete with one an¬
okapi, may browse upon the lower tree
canopy, while various rodents, and
other for the resources around them. ground-dwelling birds such as guineafowl
But a little farther from the equator a and cassowary, feed on the forest floor.
new environmental problem emerges—
periodic drought. Even a short dry spell Nutrient cycling: most of the nutrient
has a great impact on the life of the forest, reserve is in the plants themselves; little is
from the trees down to the tiny inverte¬ in the soil. Although in the dry season a
brates feeding among the leaf litter. sudden supply of leaf litter is deposited on
the soil surface, its decomposition is
Climate: it is warm all year round, with delayed until the arrival of the wet season.
plentiful rainfall that is limited to the wet The rains can also cause extensive soil
season. The length of the dry season varies erosion.
according to location. In the monsoon
forests of northern India and Southeast Conservation: clearance for timber and
Asia, it usually lasts from November until overgrazing now pose serious threats to
April. The drought interrupts plant some seasonal forest areas such as those in
growth and causes many species to lose northern India. Intensive management for
their leaves. wood production is destroying the ecolog¬
ical balance in other areas.
Structure: the seasonal forest is less com¬ Where forest has been removed, the
plex than the true rain forest and usually remaining vegetation is exposed to scorch¬
has only three vegetation layers. It merges ing drought during the dry season and
with the rain forest on one side and the most dies; rains erode the bare soils and
savanna woodlands on the other. flood the valleys, often with devastating
effects on local human and animal
Composition: these forests are less populations.
diverse than the rain forest but still rich in
species compared with temperate areas. Tropical seasonal forest climate:
Deciduous trees, such as teak and moun¬ Belgaum, India
tain ebony, are typical. There are also
drought-tolerant evergreen species, such
as the Indian banyan and the eucalyptus
trees of northern Australia.
Since trees lose moisture through their
leaves, deciduous species have an advan¬
tage in the tropical seasonal forest; they
lose their leaves when water is scarce, in
the dry season, and in this way cut down
water loss.

Productivity: depending on total rainfall

and the length of the wet season, produc¬
tivity can be high. It is usually between
0.2-0.5 lb per sq ft a year with a biomass
of about 7 lb per sq ft (see pp. 56-57).

Animal life: canopy dwellers include the In the eucalyptus forests of Western Australia,
a marked dry season {see above) disrupts plant
langur monkeys of India, the koalas and
growth. Some trees may lose their leaves, but
cockatoos of Australia, and the widely dis¬ others have tough, drought-resistant foliage. A
tributed fruit bats and hornbills. period of high rainfall follows, but the
Ground dwellers, such as elephants and temperature remains much the same year round.

60
 Habitat patterns

.. ■ a ■ i|y ' X !;■ -fVl ; .'v ' >$w*>se» mi imfnm

fP ,*««<-'i 'r 1 .

1 !»n I / v ■ . ,-/ ,*
|r| ./*'* • -/•' • „-xl»' >' - >&■ ",

■. ••;;•/
. i

\I -
-.

■
Wj

ifovf'-vlLj ' -i
'■ 1". .

t 'r ,v.“ * ■"(.' i- : >v- :>? . A*

-Jr *^0iL;JHS:
P*W W ; |5*', ■•*-■

61
 Savanna

V ast open landscapes make these sea¬

sonally dry tropical grasslands among
Nutrient cycling: reserves of nutrients
may be built up by the trees but, since
the most visually spectacular of all biomes. both periodic fires and grazing keep tree
During the dry season the golden savanna density down, there is no great nutrient
appears parched, but, when the rains build-up in the savanna.
arrive, it quickly fdls with green vegeta¬ Some grasses secrete chemicals that
tion and flowers. inhibit microbe activity in the soil and
Savannas support an unusually high reduce the rate at which nutrients are
number of large animals, both grazers and cycled and made available to other plants.
predators. In the relative openness of their This keeps the soil poor in nutrients and
grassy habitat, these animals can easily be inhibits the growth of competitors.
observed, and filmed, making this one of
the most studied of all communities. Conservation: fire, which occurs natu¬
rally in the savanna, can also be artificially
Climate: there is some variation in tem¬ induced as an important tool in its mainte¬
perature, but the savanna is warm nance; it can be used to prevent the devel¬
throughout the year. Dry and wet seasons opment of forest since grasses regenerate
alternate, often with quite severe drought after fire much more successfully than
during the dry season. trees. Too frequent fires, however, can
make the soil unstable by destroying all
Structure: tall uniform grasses, often the surface vegetation and roots.
over 3 ft high, are the most conspicuous Grazing by herbivores actually
vegetation. Trees are scattered over the enhances productivity by stimulating
land with a density of sometimes ioo per growth, but the density of animals has to
2.5 acres, although this is highly variable. be controlled. Overintensive grazing by
cattle, however, can cause the encroach¬
Composition: a wide range of grass ment of scrub vegetation onto savanna.
species occurs in the savanna, but a given
area is often dominated by just one or two
species. These may have different growth Savanna climate: Harare, Zimbabwe
periods and different degrees of tolerance
to being grazed, so they can coexist.
Common trees in African savanna are
the baobab, with its swollen water-storing
trunk, and the acacias, with their charac¬
teristic flat tops.

Productivity: the production rate of

between 0.04-0.4 lb per sq ft a year is
achieved by a biomass of 0.04-1 lb per sq ft
(see pp. 56-57), depending on tree
density. Although savanna productivity is
half that of the tropical rain forests, it
achieves this with less than a tenth of the
biomass; so it is, in effect, more efficient.

Animal life: herbivores, including ante¬

lope, zebra, and buffalo, feed on the Scattered trees among a sea of grass
savanna grasses. Trees are browsed by characterize the East African savanna. Herds of
large herbivorous animals thrive on the lush
elephant and giraffe. The herds of large
grazing, but in the dry season the grass dries up
herbivores are preyed on by such carni¬ and water becomes scarce. Rainfall is restricted to
vores as hunting dogs, hyenas, and lions. the summer months fief above).

62
#
Habitat patterns
 Semi-arid
scrub
W here rain is infrequent, or limited to
certain short periods of the year,
pumas, leopards, and cheetahs, that prey
on the grazers, and lizards and snakes
where summers are so hot that every last abound.
drop of moisture evaporates, coarse thorny
scrub develops. This vegetation provides Nutrient cycling: since these soils have a
meager fare for the few animals able to low organic content, they do not retain
feed upon it. Even humans can only nutrients. Leaf litter is important in
scrape a living here by using hardy breeds recycling the nutrients that do exist but it
of sheep and goat as pasture animals. is easily blown away by the wind.The
growth of plants is slow, however, so
Climate: semi-arid land has an annual demand for soil nutrients is not high.
rainfall of 10-20 in. Summer tempera¬
tures are high, and any available moisture Conservation: while arable farming is
evaporates quickly. Winters may be cold; difficult in semi-arid scrublands, pastoral
in the scrublands of the Middle East, rain farming is possible, and these areas are
and snow fall in winter. often overgrazed by domesticated sheep
and goats.
Structure: woody shrubs up to 6.5 ft high The first result of overgrazing is that
are the main vegetation. If the land is not the most palatable and digestible plants,
too heavily grazed, they are sometimes grasses, for example, are destroyed, fol¬
interspersed with dwarf shrubs and lowed by the more acceptable shrubs.
grasses. The larger bushes are usually rel¬ Goats, which have a wider tolerance than
atively widely and evenly spaced. This sheep, then consume all but the more
even spacing results from intense compe¬ toxic plants, such as the joint pines
tition for the limited resources, particu¬ (Ephedra). Eventually the land may
larly water—the shrubs extend their root become true desert. The state of the vege¬
systems over a wide zone to obtain suffi¬ tation is an indication of how far this
cient water and young shrubs cannot degeneration has progressed.
establish themselves near them.
Semi-arid scrub climate: Astrakhan, Russia
Composition: the shrubs in this biome
are often sclerophylls—plants with small
leathery leaves, well adapted to drought.
The deciduous creosote bush family is
abundant, as are the tamarisks, especially
in dried-up water courses. Bulb plants,
such as desert lilies and desert hyacinths,
are widespread, as are annuals that survive
drought periods as seeds.

Productivity: annual productivity in

desert scrub is about 0.16-0.2 lb per sq ft
(see pp. 56—57). If the land is heavily
grazed, however, it may become virtual
desert, and biomass and productivity fall.

Animal life: small herbivores, such as

gerbils and hares, manage to survive in The Argentinian semi-arid scrub is typically
desert scrub, but large grazers, such as sparse and low-growing, and contains only a few
plant species. The shrubs provide some shelter for
wild ass and sheep, are rare. Gazelles are
small animals such as rodents and snakes. There is
perhaps the most common large animals. a long, hot, dry season but winters can be cold and
There are some carnivores, including frosty.

64
 Desert

L ife itself is at the limits of endurance

in the desolate, barren desert lands,
Animal life: reptiles are common, and
desert species adapt to the conditions by
where rainfall is so low that little vegeta¬ excreting almost dry, crystalline urine to
tion can survive. Those living things that conserve water. Small mammals, such as
do exist in this biome must adapt to cope gerbils and ground squirrels, survive by
with the formidable conditions imposed burrowing to avoid the heat, but there are
by almost constant drought. Even human also larger hardy grazing animals such as
beings find it hard to survive the rigors of gazelle and oryx. Successful predators
desert lift. include foxes, hyenas, and some cats.

Climate: deserts have less than 4 in of Nutrient cycling: the nutrient cycle is
rain annually and may go for years with no almost nonexistent. Because of the lack of
rain at all. Some are hot all year round; organic matter in the soil, there is little
others, such as the Asian Gobi Desert, are bacterial activity. Decomposition is slow
cold in winter. The hot deserts lie in the and the few nutrients take a long time to
subtropical high pressure belt, while those recycle through the ecosystem.
with cold winters are at high altitudes and
in the shadow of mountain ranges that Conservation: deserts are currently
prevent rain-bearing clouds from reaching spreading for two reasons: the subtropical
them. drought resulting from climatic change
(see pp. 156-57), and human mismanage¬
Structure: there is little vegetation and ment. For example, the remaining vegeta¬
much open ground. What plant life there tion of the deserts is at risk because of
is may be restricted to wadis (old river overgrazing by domestic stock, particu¬
beds) and is of vital importance in creating larly camels and goats. Many wild desert
shaded microclimates for animals. animals and birds, such as the Arabian
oryx and the houbara bustard, are seriously
Composition: plants must be drought- threatened by hunting.
resistant. Some, such as the Old World
euphorbias, have small, thick leaves that Desert climate: Aswan, Egypt
are short-lived and can be shed in the
driest periods. The cacti of the American
deserts store water in their bulky stems.
Many desert plants open their pores at
night instead of in daylight and fix carbon
dioxide while temperatures and evapora¬
tion rates are not so high. A plant of the
Namib Desert, Welwitschia, actually
absorbs nighttime mist through its leaf
pores.
Some plants, such as members of the
gourd family, have deep roots to seek out
water far below the ground, but cacti and
others root in the surface layers of the soil
and take up the dew. Annuals survive long
droughts as seed and go through a rapid
life cycle during the rare rains.
Intense heat, prolonged drought, and mobile
sandy soils make desert areas such as these in
Productivity: desert productivity is
Saudi Arabia almost uninhabitable. Rainfall may
usually under 0.06 lb per sq ft a year (see
be irregular, even virtually nonexistent, but dew
pp. 56-57), a similar rate to that of the can supply the needs of some hardy plants and
tundra and open oceans. animals.

66
 Habitat patterns

--

.V Si.. Vy
■ ■■ ' K» « . . ’ Sf . , ,,
<

■ ..

vM
f,vs‘ it i
ilia
 Chaparral

A reas with a mediterranean climate—

mild winters and hot summers—
California. Predators include wolves and
coyotes.
have always been attractive to humankind.
This biome not only fringes the Mediter¬ Nutrient cycling: in woodland areas
ranean Sea, it also occurs in the southern much of the nutrient reservoir is held in
tip of South Africa, southern Australia, the plants, and the alluvial soils are rich.
and California, where it is known as chap¬ But in heath and scrub the soil retains
arral. little nutrient content and may easily
% become further degraded.
Climate: typically, winters are cool and
moist, with the possibility of frost, while Conservation: for centuries, the medi¬
summers are hot and dry. The summer terranean lands have been intensively
drought is the most unfavorable period for exploited by human populations and used
plant and animal life. for grazing sheep and goats and other ani¬
mals. This has destroyed much of the
Structure: many of these areas, including original forest, reducing plant biomass and
the Mediterranean region itself, were orig¬ productivity and resulting in extensive soil
inally covered by woodland. Fragments of erosion.
woodland remain, but much of this biome, In all mediterranean climate areas, fire
particularly in the Mediterranean area, has is an important ecological factor. The hot,
been degraded to scrub (maquis) or even dry summers and the volatile oils pro¬
to low heath or open grassland (garrigue) duced by many plants render the vegeta¬
as a result of human activity and the graz¬ tion highly flammable. Most plants can
ing of domestic stock. survive fire and some are even stimulated
into growth by it. Human management of
Composition: trees include both ever¬ this biome needs, therefore, to permit
green species, such as live oaks, the straw¬ occasional fires.
berry tree {Arbutus unedo), and eucalyptus,
and deciduous trees, such as the lombardy Mediterranean climate:
poplar. Conifers, such as junipers and
pines, are also characteristic.
The dwarf shrubs of mediterranean
heathland\include many aromatic species,
lavenders, sage, California lilacs (Ceanoth-
us), and plants with attractive flowers such
as rockroses (Cistaceae) and mesembryan-
themum.
Among the grass species of the
Mediterranean are the wild wheats and
barleys that were among the first plants to
be domesticated 10,000 years ago.

Productivity: in wooded regions produc¬

tivity may reach 0.3 lb per sq ft annually.
In poor garrigue, however, it may be as
low as 0.04 lb per sq ft (see pp. 56-57).

Animal life: mediterranean vegetation is Aromatic, spring-flowering shrubs and

grazed by animals such as the red deer and brightly colored flowering bulbs bloom in the
scrubby Ijeathland of Crete. The evergreen
wild boar in Europe, gray kangaroo in
woodland that once grew here has been degraded
Australia, duiker and hyrax in South by centuries of grazing. Summers are hot and dry,
Africa, guanaco in Chile, and mule deer in winters cool and wet.

68
Habitat patterns
 Temperate
grassland
T he North American prairie, South
American pampas, Eurasian steppe,
as grasshoppers and caterpillars, are also
important members of the community and
and South African veld are all temperate provide food for the many insectivores
grasslands. Landscapes may appear such as sharp-tailed grouse and prairie
monotonous and lacking in relief—hot chickens.
summers leave the grasses dry and brown
and the trees are confined to the river¬ Nutrient cycling: this occurs relatively
sides-—but the grasslands have proved rapidly through the decomposition of
valuablejo humankind. The many grazing thick black humus in the surface layer of
animals have long been hunted and the soil. Despite the many grazing animals,
rich soils have provided excellent agricul¬ about 90 percent of the plant productivity
tural land. The opportunities have not is left to die and decompose, so litter is
always been well used, however, and some plentiful and nutrients are quickly
grassland has been destroyed. released.

Climate: grasslands occur in the interiors Conservation: the numbers of natural

of landmasses where continental climatic wild grazers are well balanced with grass¬
conditions bring cold winters with hard land productivity, but when domestic
frosts, and hot, dry summers. Summer stock is introduced it can create higher
drought, occasional fires, and intense grazing pressures than the land can sus¬
grazing are all factors that prevent the tain. The vegetation cover is then
growth of trees. reduced, and only plants that are unpalat¬
able to the grazers survive.
Structure: tail-grass prairies may be more Arable farming has proved successful
than 6.5 ft high while short-grass areas are on the fertile soils, but overuse can lead to
less than 2 ft. The grass shoots grow soil instability and wind erosion in the dry
densely and trap much of the available summer.
light, leaving little for other plants. Trees
are rare and confined mainly to damper Temperate grassland climate:
areas in the grassland where they can Chkalov, Russia
obtain some water in summer.

Composition: grass species, such as fes¬

cues, bromes, and bluegrass, are typical,
but many herbs also grow among them.
The plants have characteristic times of
growth: those that need more water grow
earlier in the season, while the drought-
tolerant species grow later.

Productivity: like savannas, temperate

grasslands are surprisingly productive for
their low level of biomass. An annual pro¬
ductivity of 0.1-0.3 lb per sq ft is typical,
depending on moisture levels (see pp.
56-57)-

Animal life: abundant low-growing Herds of bison graze in the prairie grasslands of
vegetation means plenty of food for graz¬ Yellowstone National Park. Grasses are the
dominant vegetation and there are few trees
ing animals. Large grazers include deer,
except along riversides. Rainfall is adequate year
saiga antelope, pronghorn, gophers, prairie round, but there is a short dry season in summer
dogs, and bison. Invertebrate grazers, such when temperatures are high.

70
Habitat patterns

7i
Temperate
forest
M uch more of the temperate world
would still be clothed in forest if it
Animal life: ground-dwelling creatures
include badgers, bears, elk, wild pigs,
were not for a long history of clearance for woodchucks, and many insectivores and
agriculture and settlement. This biome rodents, as well as predators such as
now includes some of the most densely wolves, wild cats, and foxes. The forest
populated areas of the world. canopy houses squirrels and many bird
species, particularly titmice, chickadees,
Climate: rainfall in this biome is always woodpeckers, warblers, and finches.
adequate for tree growth and is usually
fairly evenly spread throughout the year. Nutrient cycling: the main nutrient
In some localities, such as eastern Asia, reservoirs are in both the plants and the
southeast Australia, and the Pacific north¬ soil. The leaf litter carries nutrients from
west, rainfall is so high that the luxuriant the leaf canopy to the soil, but it may take
forests are called “temperate rain forests.” several years for the organic matter to
Summers are warm, but winters may decompose completely and for the nutri¬
be cold, often falling below freezing. ents to be released. Rain passing through
the canopy leaches out nutrients and car¬
Structure: temperate forests are simpler ries them to the ground, and almost as
in structure than the tropical jungles. much is cycled in this way as by leaf fall.
There are usually only two canopy lay¬
ers—the trees and an understory of Conservation: agricultural clearance has
shrubs. Sufficient light penetrates through left little virgin temperate forest, and soil
the canopy to the forest floor to allow the degradation following clearance can lead
development of an herbaceous and a moss to the formation of heathland and moor¬
ground layer. land. The fragments of ancient forest that
do survive are distinguished by their
Composition: there are several different diverse flora and fauna and the presence of
types of temperate forest. Coniferous for¬ species that are sensitive to disturbance.
est (Pacific coast of North America) con¬
tains redwood, hemlock, and western red Temperate forest climate: Luxembourg
cedar. Mixed conifer and deciduous
(Great Lakes region) has oak, birch, hem¬
lock, pine, and maple.
Broad-leaved deciduous forest (eastern
North America, western Europe) is also
rich in oak species, together with beech,
ash, and chestnut. The broad-leaved ever¬
green forests of Japan and Tasmania have
such trees as chinquapin and southern
beech.
Compared with tropical forests there
are relatively few tree species in temperate
forests, but there is a rich ground flora.
These are mainly hemi-cryptophytes—
perennial plants that survive the winter by
dying back to ground level buds and then
surge back into growth in spring (see pp.
52-53)- Glowing colors suffuse the temperate forest of
Vermont in fall. Winter frosts mean water is in
short supply and trees cannot afford the luxury of
Productivity: an average biomass of keeping leaves. As the green pigment,
6 lb per sq ft produces some 0.12-0.5 lb chlorophyll, breaks down, the leaves turn golden,
per sq ft annually (see pp. 56—57). red, or brown before they fall.

72
I labitat patterns
Boreal
forest
T he forests of the far north form an
almost continuous belt around the
Animal life: the many insectivorous
birds that live in the forests in summer
globe, across northern North America and migrate south in winter, hut the crossbills
Eurasia. The growing season in these high remain year round, feeding on conifer
latitudes is too short for most deciduous seeds. Moose and reindeer are common,
trees (apart from birches) to develop a full and there are many small mammals such
leaf canopy, but evergreens, able to start as hares and voles. Predators include
photosynthesis at the first sign of spring, wolves, lynx, and owls.
can survive. Unlike the broad-leaved ever¬
greens of farther south, however, these Nutrient cycling: the boreal forest sys¬
conifers have tiny, needle-shaped waxy tem is poor in nutrients. Therefore, when
leaves that can withstand the intense cold forests are being cropped for timber, it is
and drought of winter. important to replace nutrients by fertiliz¬
ing. Lichens, which fix nitrogen from the
Climate: there is great seasonal variation, atmosphere, play an important part in the
with hot summers and extremely cold replenishment of nutrients.
winters. In the eastern Siberian larch
forests, the variation in extreme annual Conservation: many areas of boreal for¬
temperatures can be as much as i8o°F. est have been heavily exploited for forestry
Rainfall is not high, usually about and timber production. In Finland, for
16—24 in annually; in winter it falls as example, little virgin spruce forest remains
snow. In the most northerly areas rainfall and most of the country is covered with
may be as low' as 6 in, not much more than even-aged plantations. Boreal forest areas
in desert regions, but since temperatures also suffer particularly badly from the
and evaporation rates are low, supplies are effects of air pollution and acid rain (see
adequate. pp. 164—65). Their acid soil cannot neu¬
tralize the acidity in the rain and it passes
Structure: the canopy is dense, allowing on into lakes and rivers.
little light to reach the forest floor. Some
dwarf evergreen shrubs may grow; Boreal forest climate: Moscow, Russia
beneath them lichens and mosses form
ground cover. There are many bogs in
low-lying, waterlogged areas.

Composition: needle-leaved trees pre¬

dominate. Most, such as spruce, pine, and
fir, are evergreen but some, larch and
tamarak for example, are deciduous. A few
broad-leaved deciduous trees, including
birches, rowan (in Eurasia), alders, and
willows, are hardy enough to survive.
The heather family, including blueber¬
ries and mountain heathers, is the most
abundant in the understory. Marshland
species such as labrador tea, bog rosemary,
and leatherleaf grow on bog surfaces.

Productivity: the short growing season Evergreen coniferous trees predominate in the
boreal forest of Banff National Park in Canada,
results in a lower productivity than that of
but dwarf shrubs such as blueberry cover the
the temperate forests. It generally ranges
ground. Summers here are warm, but winters are
from 0.04-0.3 lb per sq ft a year (see pp. very cold and the growing season short. Frost is a
56—57)- risk for much of the year (see above).

74
Habitat patterns
Tundra

T he tundra, a polar desert, lies beyond

the limits of forest growth. In these
usually hibernate since the summer is too
short for them to have built adequate fat
high latitudes close to the Arctic, winter reserves.
winds laden with crystals of ice blast all Mosquitoes, blackflies, and other
vegetation projecting above a cushioned insects overwinter as eggs, hatching in
carpet of ground-covering plants. their millions as the temperature rises in
Despite months of total darkness in summer. Birds migrate to the tundra from
winter, these barren wastes manage to wintering grounds farther south to take
support'some life. And in summer the advantage of this plentiful food source.
reemerging dormant plants and insects are Caribou herds also arrive to feed on the
joined by migrants, the herds of animals summer vegetation, bringing their pred¬
and flocks of birds that have wintered ators, wolves, with them.
farther south. This fruitful summer tun¬
dra provides rich pickings for residents Nutrient cycling: the nutrient cycle is
and visitors alike. slow because there is little bacterial activ¬
ity in the cold soil. Slow decomposition
Climate: winter temperatures are leads to the accumulation of peat and sur¬
extremely low, often averaging -4°F to face humus where nutrients may become
-22 °F in the coldest months. High locked in. But since growth is so limited
atmospheric pressure means that the by the cold, nutrients are not needed in
chilled air carries little rain, but since large quantities.
evaporation rates are also low, supplies are
adequate for most areas. The summer Conservation: the exploitation of oil
lasts three to four months and even then at reserves in the tundra causes some serious
the highest latitudes the average monthly environmental problems. Pressure of traf¬
temperature may not rise above freezing. fic damages soil, and animal migration
routes are disrupted by aboveground
Structure: there are no true trees—they pipelines.
could not tolerate the winter wind and ice
damage. Dwarf shrubs, sedges, grasses, Tundra climate: Fort Yukon, Alaska
and lichens, along with cushion-forming
plants, form a low carpet of vegetation.

Composition: dwarf birch, several

species of dwarf willow, and many other
woody dwarf shrubs such as bilberry and
crowberry form the basic vegetation. Tus¬
socky grasses and cushion plants such as
saxifrages are also an important feature.

Productivity: low temperatures com¬

bined with a short growing season result
in an annual productivity of only 0.02-
0.08 lb per sq ft, similar to that of desert.

Animal life: polar bears, musk oxen, and

arctic foxes are among the resident ani¬
mals that have to cope with food scarcity Lush vegetation flourishes in the long days of
summer in the Yukon tundra, but the harsh dark
as well as extreme cold in the long winter.
winter, with its ice-laden winds, prevents the
Lemmings, also residents, are able to
growth of any tall trees. Rainfall is low throughout
continue grazing on vegetation beneath the year and drought is possible on well-drained
the snow cover. Tundra animals do not sites in summer (see above).

76
I Iabitat patterns
From valley
to mountain peak
G oing up a mountain is, in biological
terms, rather like undertaking a
much longer journey toward the poles: the
changing vegetation types encountered
with increasing altitude resemble the suc¬
cession of biomes with increasing latitude.
Mountains have a climate of their own
and thus a distinctive flora and fauna, and
add diversity to a region.

Mountain climates
Temperatures generally decline the higher
above sea level one goes. The rate at
which they fall is variable, but an increase
in altitude of 300 ft results in a drop in
temperature of approximately one degree
Fahrenheit. The average annual tempera¬
ture is always lower at higher altitudes,
and so the growing season is shorter.
Plants cannot begin their growth below
certain limiting temperatures that vary
from one species to another.
Temperature affects the degree of
moisture retention of the atmosphere: cold
air cannot hold as much moisture as
warm. When air is pushed up a mountain¬
side, it is forced to lose some water as pre¬
cipitation, either rain or snow, depending
on the altitude. High areas, then, are likely
to receive increased precipitation, espe¬
cially if they intercept warm, moist air that
has been carried over the sea. On the
highest mountains, most precipitation falls
as snow; if summer temperatures are so
low that it never melts, the snow may
compact to ice, and a glacier is formed.
On the leeward side of a mountain
ridge, however, where air is descending,
rainfall is much scarcer, and such regions
are said to be in a rain shadow. The Gobi
Desert in Asia, for example, is in the rain
shadow of the Himalaya Mountains.

Vegetation zones
Biomes around the world merge into one
another, but the zones of vegetation on
mountains are quite distinct. The plant
species that occupy particular belts of
vegetation vary from one mountain to
another, but the structure of the belts
is similar, even for widely separated
Colorful plant life thrives below the towering bare summits of these Colorado mountains. mountain regions.

78
 Habitat patterns

Major mountain
ranges are shown in
the map {left). It is
noticeable that those
of the New World run
north to south while
those of the Old
World tend to have an
east-west alignment.

Himalayas

Tropical Africa

Equator

The Alps of Europe and the Himalayas The mountains of western North On a mountain,
America have a similar pattern of zon- climate and plant
of Asia, for example, both have a decidu¬
life gradually change
ous temperate forest zone followed by ation. In the Sierra Nevada, however, the
with altitude. The
coniferous evergreen, dwarf shrub, then temperate forest zone is not deciduous but different vegetation
grassland zones before the bare scree consists of coniferous redwoods. Above zones that result
slopes and ice take over. Both deciduous this zone grow the boreal forests of red fir, correspond, on a
lodgepole pine, and hemlock. smaller scale, to the
belts contain oaks, but the coniferous zone
biome changes that
of the Himalayas is dominated by deodar Some mountains, such as Mount
occur with the
cedar, whereas in the Alps spruce and Kenya, lie almost on the equator. Here the progression toward
larch are the most important trees. zonation pattern is somewhat different. higher latitudes.
Rhododendrons and junipers grow in the Below the alpine grassland and scrub Hence the Himalaya
zones are bamboo and montane forest Mountains have zones
dwarf shrub zone of both areas, which also
of deciduous forest
share some alpine grassland plants. bands, replacing the boreal and temperate
and tundra similar to
The altitude at which the zone bound¬ forest zones of the higher latitude the biomes of regions
aries occur differs greatly. The coniferous mountains. much farther north.
forest zone, for example, stops at about Just as there are fewer plant and animal And mountains on the
species in high latitudes than in the equator have zones of
6,550 ft in the Alps but continues to about
alpine vegetation near
11,150 ft in the Himalayas. This is partly tropics, so the diversity of species reduces
the summit.
due to the more southerly latitude of the with altitude where climatic stresses are
Himalayas—t-hey receive greater energy greater. These result in less vegetation,
from the sun—and partly to warm air lower productivity, and fewer opportuni¬
moving up from the Indian subcontinent. ties for animals to make a living.

79
Freshwater
wetlands 1
T he world’s freshwater habitats pro¬
vide a set of niche opportunities for
aquatic animals and plants quite distinct
from those of the oceans. Apart from
being, typically, less salty, freshwaters dif¬
fer from the sea in that they are divided
Carp
into static ponds and lakes, and flowing
streams and rivers.
Through a succession of infilling
stages, highly productive static fresh¬
waters often become converted into
vegetation-covered land; and several of the
stages in this conversion, such as swamp
and marsh (see pp. 82-83), form charac¬
teristic types of freshwater wetland in Stickleback
their own right.
The conversion of a lake by way of
marsh into woodland is just one example
of the range of temporal changes that
affect freshwater habitats. Streams and
lakes silt up, rivers change their courses,
and new lakes are formed by erosion or The complex
nutrient flow in a
climatic change. The life of such a new
temperate lake is
lake will pass through several phases of shown in this Annelid worms
colonization before a stable, complex com¬ simplified food web
Zooplankton
munity of plants and animals is formed. diagram. Decaying Aquatic plants
The permanence of a freshwater habitat detritus as well as
algae and aquatic
frequently depends on its size. A tiny
plants form the base of
ditch in a meadow or a wet-season pool in
such a web. Herons
dry grassland is likely to be temporary and and pike are examples
Detritus
will probably not exist long enough to of top predators.
develop a complex living community. On Plant plankton

the other hand, major deep lakes, such as effect on some invertebrate animals. elements such as calcium. The low levels
Lake Baikal in Russia and Lake Victoria in In terms of water chemistry, there are of mineral salts in the water do not favor
Africa, are silting only slowly and have three types of lakes. Eutrophic lakes are plant growth, and the lack of decaying
been in existence long enough to have usually shallow; water flows into them organic material on the lake bottom, which
developed their own unique faunas of from nonacid soils and they have high consists of mineral sands or silt, means
species that occur only there. levels of dissolved calcium, nitrates, and that oxygen is usually plentiful at all levels.
Essentially, ponds and lakes differ only phosphates—features that make them Although the total amount of plant and
in size. Water enters them directly as rain very productive. The plankton and other animal life in an oligotrophic lake is often
or as streams and rivers flowing in from water plants have high photosynthetic small, the number of different species may
their catchment areas. The water carries levels, while the presence of large amounts be considerable.
sediment and dissolved minerals from the of calcium provides good growing con¬ In dystrophic lakes, which only exist in
underlying and surrounding earth, and if ditions for mollusks and crustaceans. Since habitats with extremely acid soil such as
the lake is shallow and productive, it will it contains high densities of plankton, the peatlands, productivity, total biomass, and
rapidly be converted into dry land. water is often greenish and opaque. species diversity are all low.
The life of a lake is also influenced by Although oxygen levels may be reasonable The broad common patterns of nutri¬
the chemical content of its water. The in surface waters, near the organic sedi¬ ent flow in eutrophic and oligotrophic
main impact of this is in the effect that ment of the bottom bacterial decomposi¬ lakes are not unlike those of the sea.
different levels of mineral salts have on the tion leads to a shortage of oxygen. Primary production rests with the plant
primary production of aquatic plants, Deep, clear, oligotrophic lakes are plankton eaten by small animal plankton,
including plankton. There is also a direct formed in landscapes that do not contain which in turn form the food of other

80
 Habitat patterns

In flowing water
aquatic plants are less
important than in
lakes. This food web
shows' some of the
main types of animals
in the river
community. Nutrient
flow in such a web
moves from tiny
invertebrates such as
insect larvae to large
predators such as
otters and heron.

Dipper (Cinclus)

Stickleback

Shrimp

Insect larva
Freshwater snail

swimming animals such as fish.

Similar community patterns exist in the
slower-moving, broad stretches of lowland
rivers. Here, however, because of the
one-way flow of the water, planktonic life
is rare except in the slowest reaches.
.Much larger differences exist in the fast-
moving upland sections of rivers, where
the sheer physical force of the water
means that there can be no stable
sediment bottom to the habitat. In this
Leaves falling from
swift-flowing world, most animals (apart
the bordering
from powerful swimmers such as fish) woodland provide a
and plants must attach themselves to the river with an
river bottom or find sheltered spots in important input of
crevices under rocks or among attached nutrients. Such plant
litter provides energy
vegetation. Primary production comes
for the detritus¬
partly from these attached plants but also consuming organisms
from vegetation that falls into the water at the base of the food
from the banks. chain.

81
Freshwater
wetlands 2
T he freshwater wetlands, unlike other
major biomes;, are not zoned over the
because it slows the flow of water and adds
new organic matter to the accumulating
as the water fern and duckweeds.
Swamps are among the most produc¬
Earth in a distinct pattern. Wetlands can muds. The result is a marsh—a sizable tive habitats on Earth, even exceeding the
occur wherever rainfall is abundant, or population of emergent water-dwelling rain forests in their productivity, and they
where temperatures are low, and evapora¬ herbaceous plants with a water table that thus support a wide range of animal life.
tion slow, sometimes even on slopes and is permanently high. Because the water Aquatic invertebrates and fish abound in
hilltops. Where rainfall is low and evapo¬ table is above the sediment, even in sum¬ the standing water between the plants and
ration high, wetlands are usually restricted mer, standing water is always present. feed on the detritus that falls from above.
to basins that receive drainage water. Sometimes, however, the thick rhizomes Reedbed birds, such as the marsh wren,
of the plants, which are full of air channels inhabit forests of vertical reed stems, feed¬
Plants of the wetlands to carry oxygen to the waterlogged roots, ing on insects and weaving their nests into
Wetlands are constantly changing, some¬ float in a carpet on the water surface. the herbaceous scaffolding. Coots and bit¬
times slowly, sometimes rapidly. An open In marshes of this sort, one plant terns also live in reedbeds; snakes and alli¬
body of water, with time, becomes silted species often dominates. In temperate gators are other vertebrate water-dwellers.
up and is invaded by aquatic plants. These areas this may be reed, sawgrass, or cattail Flying predators include the marsh harrier
may be submerged types, such as the (reedmace); in tropical swamps, papyrus. and Everglade kite.
- hornwort, or floating plants such as water Trees, such as the swamp cypress of the As silts and peats accumulate in the
lilies. Eventually, emergent species like Florida Everglades, may grow in the swamp, the surface of the sediment rises
reeds can colonize the accumulating mud. swamp with their trunk bases permanently in relation to the water table, so that in
The growth of the plants themselves under water, but often the surface water summer water may be invisible above
actually encourages the silting up process, is populated by floating aquatics such ground. In such a habitat, known as a fen,

% of area classified as peatland

1—1 More than 10% 1—1 0.5-10% D Less than 0.5%

82
 Habitat patterns

wet woodland trees may flourish. Wetland succession

How bogs are created □ Lake clay

Every peatland leaves beneath succeeded by bog mosses that
In high latitude regions of the world it a record of its own build up domes of peat. In
□ Lake muds
where precipitation is high but evapora¬ development. A common steep-sided basins (bottom) the
sequence is the infilling of a lake infilling may never be
tion is low, this succession does not stop ■ | Marsh peat
as sediment collects around completed; carpets of floating
here. The bog moss, sphagnum, invades aquatic vegetation. Wet swamp vegetation converge from the
the habitat and alters the entire course of □ Bog peat
forest may form, but it is sides and seal off the water body.
events. Sphagnum has some remarkable
properties. It acts like a sponge and can
hold io times its own weight in water. It
attracts nutrients to its surface and binds
them so that they are no longer available
to other plants, thus leaving the wetland
water acid and poor in-nutrients.
As the sphagnum builds up its hum¬
mocks, a number of other species, such as
the swamp trees, willow and alder, are
killed off. Only acid-tolerant plants such
as cranberries, sundews, and cotton sedges
survive in this habitat, which is now
known as a bog. Another way in which
bog is created is if a floating carpet of
sedges forms in open water and becomes
the vehicle for sphagnum to invade.
Many wading birds breed in boreal
bogs, including golden plovers, broad¬
billed sandpipers, greenshanks, curlews,
and cranes, but because the productivity
of these bogs is much lower than that of
swamps, there is, by comparison, less
diversity of species.
The peat of the wetlands may have
taken more than 5,000 years to form. But
the usefulness of peat as an energy source
and soil conditioner threatens these
ancient bogs with extinction—almost all
the once-luxuriant bogs of central Ireland
have been excavated and destroyed.
Forestry is a further threat, since many
conifers grow well on peatlands after the
surface has been plowed and the water
table lowered.

Peatlands, areas where peats have gradually

accumulated on wetlands, are most frequent in
cool temperate and boreal regions.

83
Saltwater
wetlands
T he saltwater wetlands that fringe
some coastal regions are biomes of
constant development and change. These
wetlands are found only along calm pro¬
tected shores. Here, often at the mouths of
estuaries where currents counterbalance
to produce lazy eddies, fine particles of
mud and sand settle out in mudflats and
mudbanks.
These muddy environments form an
anchorage for pioneer plants. The first
plants to colonize estuarine mud need to
be able to cope with a very unstable envi¬
ronment. The mud, which may move as
water currents alter, may be covered with
seawater for most of the day. When
exposed to the air (normally twice a day),
it may be baked by the sun or affected by
frost. Exposure to air also results in fluc¬
tuating temperatures, and in increased
salinity as the water evaporates. But if it
rains at low tide, salinity decreases.
Eelgrass, glasswort, and cord grass are
the most frequent colonists in temperate
regions. Of these, cord grass is probably
the most successful worldwide. This
perennial can invade by seed and by frag¬
ments of rhizome (underground stem),
and soon establishes itself. Although the
glassworts are succulent, salt-tolerant, and
capable of surviving both desiccation and
immersions, these plants (mainly annuals)
do not bind the mud as effectively as cord
grass.
The presence of plants helps stabilize
the mud and leads to its increased accu¬
mulation. As the mud surface gradually

The prop-rooted Rhizophora tree dominates this Fijian mangrove swamp.

84
 Habitat patterns

rises, other plants arrive that are less toler¬ stick fast in the mud where they drop. Mangrove swamps
ant of lengthy immersion, including salt- Mangrove swamps are the saltwater around tropical coasts
marsh grasses, arrow-grasses, and sea equivalent of the tropical rain forest but play an unexpected
aster. The plants that eventually form a do not contain the same diversity of plant protective role. They
dense carpet of vegetation on the salt- life. The different mangrove trees do, absorb much of the shock
marsh must all be tolerant of high salinity, however, form zonation patterns along the of tidal waves caused by
and several are equipped with special shore in response to such factors as mud hurricanes and protect
glands that they use to get rid of salt. stability, salinity, water depth, and local inland, populated areas.
The saltmarsh turf contains some rainfall. In Malaysia, for example, the When mangrove swamps
insect-pollinated, nectar-producing plants mangrove Avicennia usually colonizes are destroyed, they leave
such as thrift and sea lavender that attract saline mud first and occupies the outer coasts vulnerable to
insects to the community. Many other zone of mangrove forest. Closer inshore is damage by such storms.
invertebrates find shelter in the turf, Rhizophora, which has longer prop roots For this reason, mangroves
including small periwinkles and crus¬ but is less salt tolerant. are being planted at some
taceans. Where water drains from the Fish and fish-eating birds such as sites in Bangladesh.
marsh, soft mud is exposed in creeks or egrets and anhingas abound in the man¬
channels. Here wading birds such as dun¬ groves. Saltwater crocodiles are the larger
lin, stilts, yellowlegs, and godwits feed. predators in swamps of Southeast Asia
Small mammalian grazers, including and northern Australia. Fish, such as the
hares, rabbits, and voles, visit the marsh mudskippers, can drag themselves from
and are preyed on by birds such as short¬ the mud and clamber up protruding roots,
eared owls and kestrels. and fiddler crabs scuttle over the exposed
mud at low tide.
Mangrove swamps
In tropical regions, coastal muds are often Habitats under threat The plants that
colonized in the first instance by man¬ Among the greatest modern threats to grow on this
European saltmarsh
groves, trees with leathery leaves. Their saline wetlands is the development of
are determined by the
roots are adapted to the stagnant, airless coastal regions for shipping and industry,
height of the soil
muds they inhabit, and some grow upward particularly since saline lands are usually surface. The highest
into the air to collect oxygen. Prop or but¬ of little agricultural value. Mangrove areas are rarely
tress roots provide stability where mud is swamps, communities with a history of flooded by the sea and
more than 60 million years, are even more support rushes and
mobile and high winds are frequent.
brackish water species.
Mangrove seeds are adapted to the at risk because they can be converted into
Low-lying sites are
problems of pioneering—some begin to rice paddies, as is happening in Southeast flooded with each high
germinate before they fall, to insure quick Asia. They also provide a source of fuel, tide, and only plants
establishment. To aid anchorage^ some and mangrove stripping is taking place in that are tolerant of

seeds are spear-shaped and

 Oceans

M ost of the water on Earth is in the

oceans that dominate the planet.
Microscopic phytoplankton
main primary producers of the open
are the

They cover 71 percent of the world’s sur¬ oceans; there are virtually no visible plants
face and, on average, are 12,700 ft or some except for the algae of the shoreline
2.5 miles deep. These oceans provide a fringes. Like green plants on land, plank¬
vast reservoir for the constant cycling of tonic plants trap sunlight and turn dis¬
the Earth’s water. When it evaporates solved carbon dioxide into structural and
from the ocean surface, water is transport¬ energy-providing organic molecules by
ed in the jir as water vapor, comes back to photosynthesis. Further such molecules
the ground as rain, snow, or dew, and is are constructed with the addition of other
then returned to the seas via thousands of elements such as sulfur and phosphorus
rivers. obtained from mineral salts. Almost all
The cycle takes the water through and other life forms in the sea depend on this
past the rocks and soils of the landmasses. organic production, directly or indirectly.
This steady percolation, which has been
taking place for some four billion years, Key requirements for life
slowly dissolves soluble salts out of the All plants, on land and in the sea, depend
Earth’s crust and washes them into the on sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, and
sea. The saltiness of seawater results from mineral salts to live. In the upper layers of
the accumulation of these salts. the ocean, the first three of these needs are
Seawater contains a huge variety of dis¬ easily met, but mineral salts may be in
solved elements. Just six, however, make short supply because they are used up by
up more than 99 percent of the 1 oz of algae. Among the key elements on which
solid salts in any 2 lb of seawater. These productivity depends, but which may be
are chlorine, sodium, sulfur (as sulfate), limited, are phosphorus, in the form of the difference between “dead waters”—
magnesium, calcium, and potassium. dissolved phosphates, and nitrogen as with little plant and animal life—and pro¬
Other elements are present at much nitrates. ductive waters. In the latter, a sufficient
lower concentrations, yet some are of vital Both phosphorus and nitrogen usually supply of mineral salts supports a flour¬
importance to the creatures living in the occur in the sea at concentrations of less ishing phytoplankton population that is
seas. They provide mineral nutrients for than one part per million. They play cen¬ fed on by zooplankton—naicroscopic
the plant life of the oceans, particularly tral roles as plant nutrients and as such marine animal life. This in turn provides
the phytoplankton organisms. These are can determine the productivity (see pp. food for larger sea animals such as small
the tiny plant cells that live and photosyn- 56-57) of any part of the oceans. High or fish and squid which are themselves con¬
thesize in the upper sunlit layer. low levels of phosphates or nitrates make sumed by larger predators.

The most productive

regions of the oceans are
the shallow, nutrient-rich
waters of continental
shelves. Productivity is a
measure of the amount
of new carbon-containing
organic material made
by photosynthesizing
plants in the sea.

In grams of carbon/m2/year
□ 500-200g
Low heat input from the sun
□ 200-IOOg
means little temperature
□ I00-60g layering of the water. Minerals
I I 60-35g from deeper layers are stirred
into surface waters and
□ 35-15g
support plant growth.

86
 Habitat patterns

The richest marine

life occurs in shallow
waters close to
continents where plant
productivity is high.
Complex food webs
carry the productivity
of plant plankton via
animal plankton, small
“ invertebrates, and
fishes to top predators
such as sharks and
tuna.

On land the areas of greatest plant pro¬ depleted. The surface warming has the
ductivity are in the tropics, but this is not effect of making the upper layers of water
so in the oceans; the areas of highest pro¬ less dense than the deeper, cooler water,
ductivity are in cooler waters. This is away from the sun’s rays. This lighter
because mineral salt replenishment is water, lower in salts, remains at the sur¬
affected by the temperature and density of face and, because of the density differen¬
seawater. tial, cannot easily be replenished by the
In the tropics, for example, the sun- heavier, nutrient-containing water below.
warmed surface waters encourage plant Consequently, tropical midocean zones Animal
plankton
growth, and mineral levels are quickly are not highly productive.

Temperate U Equatorial upwelling Shore upwelling

(summer) C

Plant plankton
(J_U
D
*->
n
.

Warm
1.
<U
Cool *->
o3
+->

Where major water

In tropical and temperate Near the equator different movements meet
summer seas the sun’s heat water movements to the north continents, deep nutrient-rich
produces layering of the water. and south interact to push waters are brought to the
The warm surface waters deep waters plus nutrients to surface. Such upwelling areas
rapidly run out of nutrients the surface, thus improving are often the site of rich
and their productivity is low. productivity. fishing grounds.

87
 The shore

T he seashore is a highly diverse envi¬

ronment. And, although it may not
These pulls produce bulges of water,
approximately under the moon and
ditions—temperature, wave action, and
most important, periods of immersion and
always be obvious, it teems with life. The roughly at the mirror position on the exposure to air. Each has its communities
boundary between land and sea, it extends opposite side of the globe. In the course of of plants and animals adapted for particu¬
from the level of the lowest of low tides to the Earth’s 24-hour spin around its polar lar levels of seawater immersion.
the area above the highest tides, which axis, most points on the globe experience On rocky shores, where there are many
may be reached by waves during the these two tidal bulges (high tides): most places for the larger seaweed (algae)
fiercest storms. The intertidal zone is the coasts have two high tides and two low species to attach themselves, zones are
band of ^hore between these two tidal tides in about 24 hours. clearly demarcated by these plants. A
extremes. Above the high tide mark itself A central point on a shore, between common sequence found in temperate cli¬
is the “splashzone” strip which may be high and low tide marks, is exposed to the mates begins with dark encrusting lichens
affected by storm-driven waves and spray. air for two periods in a day and immersed on the splashzone rocks and green algae in
Tides are produced by the gravitational in water for two periods. Either side of the upper intertidal zone, where there may
pull of the moon and sun on the oceans. that point, the total time immersed varies be some freshwater runoff. Below this is a
from about 100 percent of the day near the zone dominated by brown algae, and at
low water mark to almost zero around the the low tide level and just below it, there
high tide level. Thus physical conditions are large brown algae and red algae. Other
on the shore are much more variable with¬ red algal forms live mixed among other
in a small area than in most environments. types at all levels of the intertidal zone.
Just a few feet can mean the difference The attached algae of a rocky shore are
between an entirely terrestrial habitat and the principal primary producers. They
one that is intermittently marine. also provide physical habitats for other
Shore zones experience differing con- organisms, and a zoned pattern of attached
and wandering animals often emerges.
Some stick to the weeds themselves,
Splash zone A
1 Detritus-eating isopods others to the rocks; some enter rock
2 Encrusting lichens Zone C crevices while yet others move over the
1 Red algae
available plant and rock surfaces. Charac¬
2 Barnacles
3 Mussels teristic attached animals are barnacles, sea
4 Shore crab
Rocky shores harbor a rich variety of plants
plash zone A
and animals, each adapted for conditions in a
particular zone. Those near the low tide mark
Highest high tide spend much of their lives immersed in seawater;
those around the high tide mark are usually
exposed to the air.

Lowest high tide

Zone D
Red algae
2 Tube worms
3 Sea urchin
4 Swimming crab
5 Starfish
6 Brittle star
7 Brown laminarlan algae

Zone B
1 Green algae Highest low tide
2 Limpets
3 Chitons
4 Sea anemone
5 Periwinkles
6 Brown fucoid algae
Lowest low tide
 Habitat patterns

anemones, hydroids, and shellfish such as

mussels. The many mobile species include
worms, mollusks, crustaceans, starfish, sea
urchins, sea cucumbers, and brittle stars.
When the tide is in, shallow-water fishes
move in among the weeds to feed on other
intertidal animals.

Sandy shores
Shores without rocks do not appear to be
as packed with life. Whether composed of
sand, mud, or a mixture of the two, they
usually lack large surface seaweeds
because there are few firm anchorage
points in the shifting sediments. Zonation
is therefore less evident. The main prim¬
ary producers of a sand or mud shore are
microscopic organisms such as the yellow-
brown diatoms. These occur in the water
itself or on the sediment surface.
The animals of sediment shores are
usually burrowers such as worms,
bivalves, sand dollars, brittle stars, sand-
stars, and others. Almost every marine
animal group has evolved specialists that
can construct tubes or dig tunnels in
marine bottom sediments. In this way
they protect themselves from the worst
effects of exposure at low tide.
A false-color
Zone B satellite image of the
On sandy and muddy shores there is far less
1 Scallop
solid substrate for animals such as mollusks to northwest Atlantic
2 Cockle
attach themselves to. Most live underground, shows areas of low
3 Furrow shells
burrowing into the sediment. 4 Razor clams
productivity in blue.
5 Spiny cockle Green, yellow, red,
6 Burrowing worm and dark red indicate
Zone C 7 Lugworm increasing levels of
1 Sand dollars productivity toward
2 Brittle stars land (buff).
3 Heart urchins Highest high tide
4 Eelgrass

Lowest low tide

Zone A
Detritus-eating sand hoppers

89
The
coral reef
World distribution of coral
A coral polyp
emerges from its
supporting rocklike
skeleton and extends
into the sea to catch
planktonic prey. The
soft outer parts of the
polyp are surmounted
by a ring of food¬
trapping tentacles
surrounding the
mouth.

Mouth

The global distribution of coral reefs where the minimum water temperature is Rocky skeleton
reveals much about their requirements for 64 °F (area indicated above), and to the edges
growth. Coral needs warm shallow waters so of landmasses and islands, where the ocean is
is restricted to the tropics and subtropics, no more than 500ft deep.

L ike rock buttresses against the action of

-ithe sea, coral reefs can stretch more
The animals take the photosynthesizing
organisms into their bodies, either in or
feeding tentacles can become clogged by
any sediment, the water must be clean and
than 1,250 miles along tropical coastlines between their own cells. These organisms clear for maximal growth. Corals also need
and support a fantastic variety of marine gain a protected habitat in which to live a hard sea bottom on which to attach their
life. These massive reefs are built by other and some nutritional mineral salts from heavy skeletons and sunlight for their
living things as well as the coral animals the animals’ body fluids. In sunlight, the photosynthesizing partners. They never
themselves. animals are able to gain organic food occur at depths of more than 5Q0 ft; below
The solid substance of a reef consists of which is produced by the photosynthesis this there is not enough light.
the limestonelike (calcium carbonate) of their guests. There are three main types of reef:
outer skeletons of coral polyps—inverte¬ The partners of the corals belong to a fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and atolls.
brate animals closely related to sea group of single-celled organisms called the Fringing reefs are found close to the edges
anemones. A normal sea anemone in a dinoflagellates. Inside corals these cells do of a landmass in shallow waters. Barrier
rock pool has a soft unprotected body, not lose their power to photosynthesize reefs are more extensive structures that are
capped with a mouth surrounded by feed¬ but continue to trap sunlight energy and separated by a lagoon from the continent
ing tentacles. The soft multiheaded body synthesize organic food molecules such as or island landmass. Atolls are approxi¬
of a coral polyp, however, is encased in a sugars. Some of these food molecules pass mately circular reefs that appear to have
rocky protection, a skeleton which it into the coral and help its growth. formed around volcanic islands that sub¬
secretes itself in the same way as a snail The most crucial effect of the dinofla¬ sequently sank.
builds a shell. Each outcrop of coral has a gellates is to enable the corals to convert The complex creviced and branching-
base of the accumulated rocky skeletons of calcium salts in seawater into a rocklike shapes of coral outcrops provide an envi¬
dead corals, with a surface coating of liv¬ calcium carbonate structure. Without ronment that offers many opportunities
ing coral polyps. These emerge through their partners, corals would be just soft for colonization for huge numbers of other
slits or holes in their skeletons to catch colonial sea anemones, and reefs would plants and animals. Mollusks, crustaceans,
their food with their tentacles. not exist. and many other invertebrates find homes
But coral animals alone cannot build Corals have certain habitat require¬ there, and a rich variety of colorful fishes
the reef. They depend on their symbiotic ments that constrain the geographic distri¬ weave their way through the coral world.
(mutually dependent) partnership with bution of coral reefs. As invertebrates As a substrate for other life forms, the
tiny single-celled photosynthetic creatures adapted to tropical conditions, they re¬ corals of the reef play the same role as the
that are also found free in the seawater. quire warm seawater, and, because their trees of a forest.

90
 Habitat patterns

A reef community off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

 Niche
patterns
96 The story of
the crossbill
98 Day shift/night shift
100 Competition and
% ' ‘-%ii : survival
102 Adapting to
surroundings
104 Parallels in the
bird world
106 Plant parallels
108 Parallels past and
present
 A ny one habitat provides a multitude of different

Worlds opportunities for an animal to earn a living. Take, for

example, a coral reef. In environmental terms, it is a relatively

within uniform place. Its margins are precisely defined, cut off at the
top where the pounding of the waves at low tide breaks the
coral branches, and at the bottom by the depth to which

worlds sunlight can penetrate, for coral cannot live without light.
Between these two limits, the temperature of the water, its
saltiness, its clarity, and the amount of oxygen dissolved in it
vary only within quite narrow limits. Yet even if you overlook
the multitudes of crabs, sponges, starfish, worms, mollusks, and
much else besides, and consider only the fish of the reef, the
variety is enormous.
Each has its own particular diet. Some graze the marine
algae, some sieve tiny floating organisms from the water, and
still others hunt smaller fish. Parrot fish crunch up the coral
itself, pulverizing the stony skeleton in order to extract the
edible bodies of the minute coral polyps—and they have
powerful rounded teeth to enable them to do so. Others have
jaws elongated into long slender forceps so that they can
delicately pick off little worms and other morsels from the
nooks and crannies of the coral. Some even graze the skins of
other fish and live by eating dead skin and parasites.
Nor is their specialization limited to their diets. It extends to
their resting and hiding places. Little blue damsel fish favor the
branches of a particular species of coral and dive to safety
between its sharp stony arms whenever danger threatens. They
are seldom found anywhere else except close beside it. Trigger
fish use narrow clefts as bolt holes and lock themselves inside
by erecting their trigger, a spine on their back, so that they are
securely jammed between the two sides. Gobies dig holes,
moray eels live in caves, and clown fish consort with sea
anemones, wallowing in their tentacles, protected from predators-
by the anemone’s poison stings, to which the fish themselves are
immune. One remarkable fish actually lives within the gut of a
sea cucumber and moves in and out of its lodgings as it pleases
by using a special touch, as though ringing a door bell, to
stimulate the sea cucumber to relax the muscles around its vent
and allow the fish to pass through.
Such variables as there are in the physical environment of the
reef give fish more chances to specialize. Some fish are active
only during the day, others only at night. Some prefer the ocean t
side of the reef, where the water is slightly cooler and more
oxygenated. Others live on the landward face, where there is

94
less oxygen and warmer water, and they will die if they are occupation of a similar niche tends to result in animals in
transported into what might seem to be better conditions. different parts of the world developing similar physical
This assumption of particular professions by different species characteristics.
is found not only in coral reefs but in every inhabited Their similarities may, indeed, extend beyond their
environment that exists. This is so whether the community it appearance to such seemingly unconnected characteristics as the
supports is highly complex, such as the tropical rain forest, or way they reproduce. In all tropical rain forests, occasional trees
whether it is so harsh and impoverished that only a few species rise high above the general level of the canopy. They stand out
manage to survive in it, as is the case in the high Arctic, where like islands in a sea of leaves. In them you are likely to find a
there is darkness for much of the year. gigantic nest and standing on it a huge eagle. It lives by hunting
Any one species of animal, therefore, possesses a set of across the surface of the canopy, catching any monkeys that are
specializations that determine how and where it spends its life— incautious enough to climb in the topmost branches. Its wings
its diet, its home, its physiological preferences of temperature, are broad and relatively short and it has a long tail, features that
and its patterns of activity. Taken together, such factors define give it the great maneuverability it needs when diving between
its niche. In this competitive world, no two species can occupy the branches. It has huge claws with which to seize its prey and
exactly the same niche for long. One would inevitably be a massive beak with which to butcher it. The bird is immense,
marginally more efficient and would therefore ultimately as it has to be to have the strength to carry off such big victims.
displace the other. Should it appear to us that two different You can see such birds in the forests of South America—the
species living alongside each other have identical lifestyles, close harpy eagle; in Southeast Asia—the monkey-eating eagle; in
study will almost certainly reveal that they are exploiting their Africa—the crowned eagle. Take one from each of these forests
environment in slightly different ways. and put the three birds side by side in a zoo and you would
have to be very expert to tell one from the others, even though
Ants and anteaters they belong to different genera in the eagle family.
But in different parts of the world, quite unrelated species may But occupying the same niche has also given them similar
occupy equivalent niches in the community. Ants and termites nesting habits. Their young must grow to a considerable size
are one of the most abundant sources of protein to be found before they are able to hunt for themselves. That takes a long
anywhere in the tropics. The problem is how to collect them. time and requires the parent to catch and bring back to the nest
Most live in fortresses of one kind or another, either in great quantities of meat. So all three species rear only a single
underground galleries or in concrete-hard mounds of their own youngster at a time and all have to feed it for almost a year
construction. One anatomical device is more efficient than any before it leaves the nest.
other at extracting them—an extremely long muscular tongue
covered in glue. That is exactly the equipment used by the giant Exploiting niches
anteater of South America. Its jaws are elongated into a curving The more food an environment produces, the more inhabitants
tube and its tongue can extend for 2 ft beyond its mouth. The it can support and the more crowded it becomes. And the
animal wanders across the grassy savannas at night, ripping greater the crowd and therefore the competition, the more
open the ants’ nests with its immensely powerful forelegs and specialized animals tend to become, and the narrower the niche
flicking its tongue deep along the galleries of the nests. they occupy. No habitat seems so remote, no food so
In Africa this niche of nocturnal ant and termite feeder is indigestible, no conditions so uncomfortable but that some
occupied by a quite unrelated creature, the aardvark. Yet it, too, animal has developed specialisms that enable it to exploit them.
has evolved just such a tongue. In Australia, a third mammal That seems a very extravagant statement, yet again and again
has specialized in feeding on ants and termites. It is a marsupial naturalists come across a species that has taken up a way of life
more closely related to the kangaroo than to either the giant that seems beyond the wildest flights of human fancy. Consider
anteater or the aardvark. But even though, compared to them, it this: in the densely crowded environment of tropical Africa, a

is very small, being no bigger than a rabbit, it has developed worm flourishes that lives only under the eyelids of hippopotami

that long narrow snout and that long sticky tongue. So the and feeds only on their tears. That really is a narrow niche.
The story of
the crossbill

IP

Norway spruce (Picea abies)1

Q Red crossbill

The red or common

crossbill (left) is widespread
in both the Old and New
Worlds. Its distinctive bill is
ideally suited to the
extraction of seeds from
cones, particularly spruce.

E very organism has its niche—its role

in the community it occupies. A
mountain areas such as the Alps and the
Rockies. The crossbill is a bird of the for¬
spread and common. But the crossbill can
take few other foods. It will eat berries,
description of an animal’s niche would est canopy and is rarely seen on the buds, thistle seeds, and even insects, but it
include where it lives, what it eats and ground except when it lands at a pool to is far less efficient at manipulating these.
how it obtains that food, what its environ¬ drink. It is hard, therefore, for the crossbill to
mental requirements are, and so on. Some The crossbill’s most distinctive feature colonize new habitats, and it is largely
niches are broad and include many is its beak—the upper and lower restricted to coniferous forests and a diet
variables while others are much more mandibles are crossed at their tips. This of cone seeds.
specialized. shape has evolved in response to the bird’s
feeding habits: it pries seeds out of the Feeding adaptations
The crossbill’s niche cones of trees such as spruce, larch, and Even within such a narrow niche there is
The red or common crossbill (Loxia pine, using its crossed bill to force open room for further specialization. Other
curvirostra) is a bird with a narrow, spe¬ the scales of the cone while it extracts the species and races of crossbill have evolved
cialized niche. This small gregarious finch seed held between them with its tongue. with bills adapted to their specific feeding
has a wide distribution and is found Although this is a highly specialized needs. Over much of Europe common
throughout the northern boreal forests. It diet, cones and their seeds are widely crossbills feed on the seeds of spruce
also lives in coniferous woodlands in available, so crossbills are both wide¬ cones. But in some areas, such as Scotland,

96
 Niche patterns

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)

['"[.Parrot crossbill

The parrot crossbill has a

heavy bill, adapted for
dealing With* the robust cones
of pine. Thus it does not
compete with the red
crossbill, although their
ranges.overlap.

QWhite-winged crossbill

Larch (Larix decidua)

■ white-winged
isbill avoids competing
the red crossbill for
. Using its more slender
it feeds on small,
:ate cones such as those

some Mediterranean islands, and North In North America there are just two The expansion of
Africa, other types feed on cones with crossbill species, the red crossbill and the coniferous forestry has
tougher scales such as those of the Scots white-winged crossbill, with its thinner meant that the crossbill is
pine and the umbrella or Swiss pine. bill. Resources are shared between them, spreading into previously
These birds have evolved thicker, heavier the red crossbill taking the heavier cones, uncolonized areas of
bills to deal with their food. The heaviest usually pine, while the white-winged pre¬ Europe and North
bill of all belongs to the parrot crossbill fers the lighter cones of spruce and tamarak. America. If suitable
The crossbill, then, is very successful habitats and food sources
(Loxia pytyopsittacus), which feeds on
Scots pine cones in Scandinavia and within an extremely narrow niche. Its bill are found, birds may
structure has become so highly adapted establish new colonies and
northern Asia.
Thin-billed types have become special¬ that it is ill-equipped to deal with any food thus extend their ranges.
apart from cones. And its diet restricts it In the United States the
ized to deal with more delicate cones. The
white-winged crossbill (Loxia leucoptera) to the coniferous forests where its food is red crossbill is currently
plentiful. Although the cone is a tricky spreading southward from
of the Asian forests, for example, feeds on
fruit to exploit, it is such an abundant food the boreal zone on the
larch cones. Thus it has evolved to fit a
resource that it is worth the evolutionary East Coast and breeds as
subtly different niche from its thicker-
effort and the risks involved. far south as Georgia.
billed relatives.

<)7
Day shift/
night shift
C ompeting species in an environment
often “divide up” the existing
The vervet monkey
(Cercopithecus
also forages on the
ground. Although its
aethiiips), a primate diet is mostly plant-
resources in order to maximize their use.
largely active by day, based, it eats
Several bird species may coexist in the shares its habitat with invertebrates, lizards,
same area of forest but find their food at the nocturnal birds’ eggs, and
different levels or in different parts of the bushbaby. It finds its nestlings.
trees. food
Less obvious as a resource than food or
nesting sites is time. The clearest and
most common example of “time-sharing”
is that between daylight-active (diurnal)
and nighttime-active (nocturnal) animals
in the same environment. Both groups The greater bushbaby
can live in the same space, searching for (Otolemur crassicaudalus) is a
specialist nocturnal primate of
exactly the same food, but one comes out
African forests and wooded
at night while the other sleeps. savannas. It sleeps in the trees
by day and emerges at night to
A rhythm of light and darkness hunt for spiders, insects, and
Almost everywhere on the Earth’s surface young birds and to feed on plants.
there is a 24-hour rhythm of light and dark.
The main exceptions include the deeper
regions of the oceans, where no light ever
Mosquitoes bite by
penetrates, and the deepest caves. day or night,
The durations of dark and light periods depending on their
in any day are variable. They change with species, to obtain their
the seasons and they change with latitude. meals of human blood.
The graphs show the
Close to the equator, day and night
biting cycles of two
lengths are about 12 hours each and rela¬ common species. They
tively unaffected by the seasons. Nearer only overlap briefly at
the poles, because of our planet’s tilted dawn and dusk.
spinning axis, day and night durations are
much more variable with the time of year. to the evolution of specifically nocturnal rhythm. These can produce a change of
But no matter what their lengths, these animals with high sensory abilities in the behavior for night or day even without the
days and nights are the backdrop against dark. Owls, for example, have huge ultra¬ trigger of external light clues.
which diurnal and nocturnal animals play sensitive eyes that are responsive to even
their respective scenes. the lowest light levels. They also have The nighttime specialists
There are day-specialist and night- extremely acute hearing and can pinpoint The bats are an example of a major group
specialist animals in almost all ecosystems. the sources of minute sounds. of animals that has apparently arisen and
Hawks hunt rodents and other small crea¬ On the other hand, the problems of diversified successfully as a result of adap¬
tures during the day; owls take over at nighttime activity have encouraged certain tations linked with night specialization.
night. Most butterflies are in the air by patterns of behavior in diurnal animals; About one mammal in four in the world is
day, to be replaced by moths at night. they sleep at night to maximize their safe¬ a bat, and bats are the only mammals
But how do these specialists evolve? ty during the hours of darkness and their capable of sustained flight. This is accom¬
For any animals with vision, which efficiency during the day. plished by means of efficient wings that
includes most invertebrate and vertebrate The behavior patterns of day- and are constructed from flight membrane
species, lit and unlit environments pose night-active animals can be triggered by stretched between the elongate fingers of
quite distinct problems and opportunities. the light changes at dawn and dusk. They the hands and the sides of the body.
Nighttime darkness is an enormous disad¬ are switched on by rapidly changing light The bats’ success as a group seems to
vantage for a creature that senses the levels. Alternatively their behavior may be be linked to their capacity to fly and catch
presence of its prey or its predators by controlled by internal biological clocks, flying prey at night, even in complete
sight, unless it has additional sensory probably present in the brains of most ani¬ darkness. No other vertebrate can do this
abilities. This sensory imperative has led mals, which tick with a roughly 24-hour with anything like their facility. As a
 Niche patterns

Some blood-
transmitted parasites
have become adapted to
the specific nighttime
biting activity of certain
mosquitoes. The nematode
worm Wucheria, which
causes the disease
elephantiasis, appears in
human blood only at
night—when it can be
picked up by the night-
biting mosquitoes that
transmit it from person to
person.

result, they share the skies with the other homing radar to track flying prey. The greater
predators of flying insects—the birds. This sensory “technology” was an evo¬ horseshoe bat
(Rhmolophus
This sharing is generally done on a strict, lutionary breakthrough for the ancestors of
ferrumequinuni) has a
two-shift basis. The birds use the air by today’s bats. It meant that they had the
wingspan of up to
day, the bats by night. Only a few bird nighttime sky and the insects it contained 14 in and is an expert
species, such as owls and nightjars, pro¬ to themselves. An enormous and previous¬ nocturnal hunter. As
vide a little nighttime competition. ly almost empty niche space was opened well as feeding on
up for them and they adapted to fit it. So airborne insects, these
The supreme nocturnal capabilities of
bats are adept at using
bats are based on a unique sensory system phenomenal has been their success that
their ultrasonic radar
that involves flight guidance and the loca¬ there are now approaching a thousand to home in on beetles
tion of flying prey in darkness by a form species of these nighttime specialists. on the ground. They
of “biological radar.” Bats make ultrasonic Bats and other nocturnal creatures are fly low, locate their
an example of the slow yet constant adap¬ prey, and swoop on
squeaks and churrs at pitch levels way
them with
above the hearing range of the human ear. tation of living things to the world around
extraordinary
These sounds bounce off objects and the them as they jostle for position in crowded accuracy.
returning echoes are picked up by the ecological space. Any way of life or
large, aerial-like ears of the bat, which can resource that is not fully exploited consti¬
detect ultrasonic frequencies. The return¬ tutes a gap in that space. Steady evolu¬
ing sound pulses are analyzed to give the tionary change can produce new,
creature a sound echo map of its sur¬ specialized organisms that can insert
roundings to fly by; they also act as a themselves into these unused niches.

99
Competition
and survival
S tudying the behavior and capacities of
an animal species in the laboratory
Red and exav sauirrels

under strictly controlled conditions pro¬

vides a useful but limited view of the way
that animal lives. For this type of study
can produce little more than a list of
observed behavior and physiological abili¬
ties. It is a list that rarely catches the true
essence of the animal’s way of life because
it is based on a species in isolation; in the Until the North American gray squirrel
(,Sciurus carolinensis) (below) was first introduced
real world, species live in rich, compli¬
into Britain in 1876, the European red squirrel
cated communities of animals, plants, and (S. vulgaris) (above) was the only British species.
microbes.
It is only possible to understand an ani¬
mal’s actual lifestyle, or niche, if it is
investigated within the community of
other species among which it exists. This
is the living environment in which its
behavior and physiology have evolved.
When the niches of the species in a
community are described—whether of
rodent species in a field, canopy birds in a
Competition from the more adaptable,
wood, or carrion scavengers in savanna
aggressive gray has led to a change in
country—a remarkable patterning of distribution of the native red squirrels. They
niche types nearly always emerges. The once thrived in broad-leaved and coniferous
niches of the coexisting animals do not woodland over much of the British Isles but
“overlap” much. That is to say, when the have now retreated from much of their English
range. Where they do remain they are usually
community of animals is looked at as a
found only in coniferous woodland. In southeast
whole, habitat resources seem to be neatly
and central England, the gray is the only squirrel
apportioned between the different species. in all types of woodland. ^
The division is never absolute, but overall
Distribution of gray squirrels in British Isles
it does seem as though the niches of
I | Distribution of red squirrels in British Isles
even closely related species in the commu¬
nity are significantly different from one
another. be using the same ones. More detailed The turquoise tanager, in contrast,
field observations, though, showed up the almost always takes insects from fine
Dividing resources niche differences, as is clearly demon¬ twigs, usually those less than half an inch
Reference to a specific example will make strated by considering one aspect of the in diameter. It also has a predilection for
this patterning clearer. In the 1960s, two pattern of resource division. the insects found on dead twigs, which are
ecologists made careful studies on the In hunting for small insect prey in usually untouched by the other two
island of Trinidad of the niches of eight vegetation, the speckled tanager almost species. These detailed observations show
coexisting species of tanager—brightly exclusively searches the leaves themselves. that insect food resources and specific
colored songbirds of the New World It clings to them upside down, picking off feeding areas on the island of Trinidad are
tropics. Of the eight species, three, the insects, or it walks along small twigs, pick¬ neatly split even between very closely
speckled (Tangara guttata), the bay¬ ing off insects from the leaves above it. related birds.
headed (77 gyrola), and the turquoise The other two species only rarely feed like Findings such as these have led to the
tanager (77 mexicana), were extremely this. Both obtain most of their insect prey expression of what has become almost an
closely related. They all belonged to the from the undersides of branches. The article of dogma about niches and commu¬
same genus, lived in the same trees and bay-headed species does this mainly on nities: if two animals have the same niche
bushes, and fed on insects and fruit. This quite substantial branches, hopping along characteristics, they cannot coexist for
suggests little in the way of a division of and leaning over each side alternately to long in a stable way in the same habitat.
resources, for all three species seemed to reach under it for insects. This is because, in a direct fashion,

IOO
 Niche patterns

Tanagers: feeding in harmony Mowing a lawn may

actually increase the
Speckled tanager takes insects from underside of foliage incidence of weeds. If
they are constantly cut
back, all the plant species
in the lawn—both weeds
Turquoise tanager takes insects from fine twigs and grasses—are
stimulated to grow again. If
the lawn is left alone, the
grasses will eventually
dominate and suppress
most other species. But, in
the continued absence of
mowing, woody shrubs and
trees will become
established and will
eliminate the grasses by
shading them.

Bay-headed tanager takes insects from branches

ijpfeg -

similarity of niches means competition for common for the niche of at least one of the These three species
competing species to “contract,” with the of tanager coexist in
habitat resources.
the same woodland on
And great niche similarity means result that it uses only a part of the range
the island of Trinidad.
immense competition. In a condition of all of resources it has previously used. Although they all feed
out “war” between two species with very on insects in trees and
similar niches, it is almost inevitable that Competing squirrels shrubs, they do so in
A good example of this is the contraction subtly different ways.
one will be slightly more efficient in some
This means they do not
way. This means that it will breed more in woodland range of the native red
use quite the same food
successfully and supplant the less efficient squirrel in the British Isles after the intro¬
resources. Hence
species. duction of the American gray squirrel. competition is reduced
The lifestyle of an animal that exists The indigenous red squirrels have been and the birds have a
forced to retreat, largely because of direct better chance of
without any real competition in its envi¬
survival.
ronment is sometimes called its “funda¬ competition for food and breeding terri¬
mental niche.” It can be thought of as the tories. In the southern half of mainland
raw niche material that can be modified Britain, they are now restricted to fringing
when the species finds itself in a com¬ pockets of mainly coniferous woodland
munity of competing species. When this and in some areas they have disappeared
transition in circumstances occurs, it is altogether.

IOI
Adapting to
surroundings
I t is common to find that animals living
together in one habitat occupy niches
alkaline pH levels lower down the intes¬
tine, and the parasites often become
such is Allen’s Rule, which states that as
habitats become increasingly cold, so the
that differ from one another in clear but specialized for survival in just one of the extremities of warm-blooded animal
often subtle ways. They appear to be microhabitats offered by the different species become correspondingly shorter
avoiding excessive competition for zones. and more compact.
resources such as foods, space, and nesting Parasitological research work on the gut This rule is clearly demonstrated by the
territories. of the flounder, a flatfish, has revealed the hare and rabbit species found in a south to
There are also other types of niche complexity of spatial parasite patterning north sequence, moving from Central into
patterning. One particularly different type on the minutest scale. Different species of North America. Antelope jackrabbits,
emerges when some important physical flukes (digeneans), roundworms (nema¬ black-tailed jackrabbits, snowshoe and arc¬
characteristic of the landscape—such as todes), and spiny-headed worms (acantho- tic hares are distributed in zones that
temperature, wave exposure, water avail¬ cephalans) are typically found in restricted scarcely overlap, and the sequence shows a
ability, oxygen, or light—varies in a pre¬ portions of the flounder’s alimentary tract: gradual and adaptive reduction in the pro¬
dictable spatial way across the habitat. a gradient less than 3 ft long. portional length of the ears and legs.
This physical change can be envisaged as a Midway between gut- and continent¬
gradient, with high values of the character Adapting to cold sized gradients and species sequences are
in one part, tapering to low values in At the other end of the geographical scale those on a geographical scale of tens or
another. range, it is possible to chart smooth hundreds of miles. A good example of this
changes in species adaptation that appear is the pattern found along river estuaries,
Lifestyle strategies to be responses to a habitat gradient across where many animal groups show a series
Such environmental gradients, via the an entire continent. Some of these types of of specialist species, each adapted to the
mechanism of evolutionary change, have changes occur so predictably that they main environmental gradient of varying
induced a response in the niche patterns have been termed biological “rules.” One salinity.
of the animal species that live among
them. Along the length of the gradient, it Flounder parasites
is common to find a regularly spaced
series of related species, each of which
has become specialized for maximum
efficiency in one specific segment of the
gradient and lives mainly in that geo¬
graphical area.
A lifestyle strategy of this sort is,
however, only valuable when the gradient
exists, more or less unaltered, for the
lifetime of many generations of the ani¬
mals concerned. In randomly changing
conditions, it would be dangerous for an
animal species to specialize. If it did,
although it might still operate highly
efficiently for part of the time, when
conditions changed it could face local
extinction. Conditions are
subtly different in
The scale of the gradient and the
each part of the gut of
sequence of the species that have matched the flounder flatfish,
themselves with sections of it are intrigu- and specific parasitic
ingly diverse. They may be on a tiny scale: worm species are
for instance, along the gut of a single ani¬ adapted to life in
particular sections.
mal there are predictable gradients of
Derogenes, for
many important variables that are crucial
example, occurs only
for parasitic worms living in that animal’s in the stomach, the
gut. Acidity, for example, is often high in most acidic part. Pomphorhynchus spr

the stomach, but gradually declines to

102
 Niche patterns

North American jackrabbits and hares

O Arctic hare (Lepus arcticus)

A sequence of
species of
jackrabbits and
hares with distinct
distributions occurs in
Central and North
America. The father
north the species lives,
the shorter the relative
length of its ears and
legs. Long limbs and
ears provide more
heat-losing body
surface and so are a
disadvantage in cold
climates.

Freshwater shrimp

Open sea
River

Salinity average along river’s length expressed in parts per 1,000

30
25
20 -

O Black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)

10 -

Distribution of three species of Gammarus

<
-^Gammarus zaddachi S>-
Gammarus locusta

>
Gammarus pulex
A gradient of salinity occurs zone. Those upstream cannot
along the length of a large river tolerate salt. Those at the mouth
that meets a tidal sea. Different of the estuary are intolerant of
species of particular organisms, freshwater, while those species
such as freshwater shrimp, are midway can stand wide
adapted for conditions in each variations in salinity. O Antelope jackrabbit (Lepus
Parallels in
the bird world
W ithin a single habitat, one particular
ecosystem, the differences between
of function are likely to have evolved
structural and behavioral similarities, even
as the garpike, have jaws like this, they
also occur in almost any other vertebrate
the adaptations of individual animal if they are not closely related. Indeed, group, living or extinct, that has members
species are the most striking feature. such similarities may occur in completely feeding in this way. Fish-eating croco¬
These differences define the bounds of the unrelated animal types. diles, the gavials, have them, as did the
niches of those species; they constrain It is as though there is only a limited now extinct swimming reptiles, the
competition between them. number of design plans that can fit any ichthyosaurs and the plesiosaurs. Diving,
Another perspective emerges, however, particular niche specification efficiently. fish-catching ducks, such as the mer¬
when habitats of similar type in widely Over and over again in animal evolution, gansers, and smew, are called “sawbills”
separated parts of the planet are com¬ the same solution to a particular design because of their long, serrate-edged beaks.
pared. Then, almost invariably, it is not problem is turned up by the process of All exhibit the same design solution to a
the differences that are most remarkable, natural selection. common problem.
but the similarities of adaptive design The answer to the problem “design a The birds provide many examples of
in animals cast in similar roles in the pair of jaws that can catch and hold a slip¬ this remarkable pattern in animal life, and
ecosystem. pery, fast-moving fish prey” has more often the convergent similarities that
This is a fascinating example of a gen¬ than once been long, tapering jaws set develop go beyond a matching of the gen¬
eral phenomenon known as convergence with many evenly spaced, pointed peglike eral structure of one part of the body. If
or convergent evolution, which can teeth. Evolution, moving along many two birds take the same ecological role,
determine any aspect of an animal’s tracks, has “converged” on this answer. they will frequently come to parallel each
makeup. Two animals that share a pattern Not only do some predatory fish, such other in behavior as well as anatomy.

Ecological parallels
Scavenging bird

A bird is a warm-blooded, feathered

vertebrate with a beak and four-toed feet.
The forelimbs have become flattened elongate Broad, long wings
with wingtip slot “primaries”
wings. The unspecialized bird (below) shows
for efficient gliding
the basic body plan on which evolution
shapes the adaptations for different lifestyles
among the bird groups.

Featherless head and neck

Lappet-faced vulture

Large beak for

Generalized tearing skin and flesh
nonspecialist bird

The carrion-eating
lifestyle of the
vultures and condors
demands certain
adaptations (right) to
the basic body plan.
The long broad wings
allow this type of bird
to soar and glide for Powerful feet
hours, using minimal
energy, as it searches
for food. King vulture

104
 Niche patterns

Take, for instance, the example of the to swim well at the sea surface, and to Toucans and hornbills
niche of a bird that hunts below the sur¬ accomplish this they both have rear legs are fruit-eating rain forest
face of the sea on long dives for cuttlefish, positioned far back on the body outline birds of the New and Old
squid and fish. Penguins live like this in and strong webbed feet. Shared selection Worlds respectively. Both
the nutrient-rich waters around the pressure has even produced similar body have massive bills which
fringes of the Antarctic continent. Half a patterning for underwater camouflage. they use to pluck fruit
world away in the North Atlantic and the from the trees.
Arctic Ocean, some species in a com¬ The scavengers Although their bills give
pletely different bird family, the auks and Large carrion-eating birds also show con¬ the birds a superficial
murres, hunt in much the same way. vergent evolution. Many specialized fea¬ resemblance, toucans and
Similar niche roles have provided the tures of the vulturelike body plan have hornbills are quite
template that has shaped the same design evolved, apparently independently, in unrelated. They have come
in both hemispheres and in both bird both South America and the Old World to look alike because of
families. Each group has a streamlined tropics. Aspects of design shared by some their similar lifestyles.
underwater body shape, with small, tight¬ New World condors and African vultures
ly fitting feathers. They have sharp, for- include a featherless head and neck, easier
ward-pointing beaks for capturing their to keep clean after dipping into a bloody
prey and pointed paddle-shaped wings for carcass, a powerful beak capable of tearing
underwater propulsion. flesh and skin, and strong talons for dis¬
Between dives both types of bird have membering large prey.

Diving, fish-eating bird

Pointed beak
for fish

Two-tone coloration
for underwater
camouflage
Flipperlike wings
for underwater Rear-positioned
swimming webbed feet for
surface swimming

Penguins and auks

(murres) share many
features, including their
two-tone coloration
which provides
underwater camouflage.
The white underside of
a penguin makes it hard
for potential prey or
predators to see from
below, while the dark
The Indian white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis) thrusts its head into back hides it from
the carcasses it feeds on. Its head and neck are free of feathers which those looking down
Common murre Galapagos penguin
would become clogged with blood and be difficult to keep clean. into the dark sea.

i°5
Plant
parallels
100 million

T he general form of any plant is a

result of evolutionary adaptations to
years ago

particular aspects of the environment.

These include climatic factors and the
pressures exerted by other living
organisms—plants competing for light,
water, and space, and animals seeking to
exploit the plants as a source of food. Dif¬
ferent plants have developed, in parallel, 200 million
years ago
similar forms and strategies for dealing
with similar environmental pressures.
The tree is a particularly successful
plant form that has evolved separately in a
number of different groups. It is an appro¬
Echinops dahuricus (Asteraceae)
priate growth habit where water supply is
adequate and winds are not too strong,
where temperatures do not fall so low that
buds are damaged, and where competition 300 million
from other plants means that being tall years ago

confers a strong advantage.

An adaptable plant form

The tree habit is found in some very prim¬
itive flowering plant families, such
as magnolias and witch hazels. The very
first flowering plants may well have been
herbs, and from them developed the whole 400 million
years ago
wealth of today’s flowering plant trees. It is
a life form also found in the gymnosperms advantages are to be gained by reducing
(from conifers to cycads) and is the domi¬ the surface area of a plant to a- minimum;
Eryngium maritimum (Apiaceae) nant life form of the group. Tree ferns are this cuts down water loss through the sur¬
still more primitive examples. face pores in transpiration. The best way
Trees were once found even among the to achieve this is to adopt a near spherical
lycopods, or club mosses, which are now form. In some plants, such as cacti, the
represented only by short creeping plants. whole stem is reduced to a sphere or a
In the days of the great coal-forming cylinder and leaves may be completely
swamps of the Carboniferous era, some absent or have a short life.
300 million years ago, tree lycopods Cacti are naturally restricted to the
reached a height of 130 ft, similar to that New World, but there is a living to be
achieved by some rain forest trees today. made for plants of this form in the dry
Where conventional trees are absent, regions of the Old World. Here the
particularly in isolated locations, such as euphorbias have assumed the role and
oceanic islands and the upper reaches of many have cylindrical stems very like the
mountains, some rather surprising plant cacti. Groundsels once again display their
families have evolved members in that accustomed adaptability and have evolved
form. On the equatorial African moun¬ species in which the individual leaves are
Genista hirsuta (Fabaceae) tains giant lobelias, heaths, and ground¬ greatly reduced, rounded, and covered in
sels—close relations of the garden a waxy bloom. A family closely related to
weed—have all developed as trees. cacti, the Aizoaceae, has produced many
Spines on leaves and branches protect plants
against grazing animals. This useful deterrent has Succulents are another type of plant cactuslike plants in the Old World, espe¬
evolved in many different families, including resulting from parallel evolution within cially in South Africa. These include the
those to which the above examples belong. different groups. In hot, dry conditions, remarkable living stones (Lithops), with

106
 Niche patterns

The tree form has

arisen many times in
the course of plant
evolution. The fern
group began as
herbaceous plants,
from which the tree
lycopods and tree
ferns developed.
Conifers and cycads
life mostly trees, and
they may have
evolved from a
woody fern.
The first flowering
plants were probably
herbs. Some of these
families, such as
groundsels (Senecio),
are mainly composed
of small herbaceous
plants, but they
contain a few species
that have evolved the
tree habit. These
mostly grow on
tropical mountains
where “conventional”
trees are absent.

leaves reduced to the form of pebbles.

One other type that has proved a
success and has evolved in a variety of
forms is the spiny plant. The predation of
animals has led to many species develop¬
ing protective mechanisms—unpleasant
taste, poisons, or stinging hairs—but stiff
spines seem to be one of the commonest
solutions to the problem of deterring
grazers. A whole range of plant families
has converged in the evolution of this one
form, from thistles to nightshades and
even poppies.
In many of the woody species that have
adopted the spiny habit, lateral branches
have become reduced in growth and come
to a sharp point, as in members of the rose
family. In other plants, such as thistles,
holly, and live oaks, parts of the leaf have
become spiny.

Most lobelia species are small herbaceous plants,

but tree forms have evolved on high tropical
mountains. This example, Lobelia keniensis from
Mount Kenya in Africa, is about 6.5 ft tall.
Parallels past
and present
T he physical world is far more con¬
stant than the evolving world of
propulsion, and a dorsal fin for directional
guidance. Their fossils show that the
Evolutionary pairs

nature that fills it. Both in recent times extinct ichthyosaurs and modern sharks
Parallels can be drawn between long-
and in more remote geological ages, differ¬ and porpoises all evolved exactly these extinct creatures and some modern animals.
ent organisms have responded in similar same features. Although unrelated, they have similar habits
ways to similar evolutionary environmen¬ For rapid running over dry level and have clearly followed the same
tal pressures. ground, an animal needs elongated simpli¬ evolutionary path and been subjected to
much the same environmental pressures.
All continents normally have a range of fied limbs such as those of horses and
environments, some of them similar to other present-day ungulates. The extinct
those of other continents. Equivalent habi¬ ungulate mammals of South America
tats and niches may be filled by represen¬ included forms such as Thoatherium and
tatives of a single group that has spread Thesodon that resembled horses and
throughout the world. The dog and cat camels. Similar creatures, such as Iguan-
families, for example, have dispersed to odon and Anatosaurus, existed earlier
nearly every continent, and their members among the dinosaurs, but they rose onto
have filled the niches for medium to large their hind limbs when running rapidly. Animals that can
Even here there is a living parallel in the reach foliage high in
carnivores.
the trees can exploit a
It also happens that unrelated creatures kangaroo, which uses its hind limbs alone
food source
evolve in parallel to exploit the same for rapid locomotion. The kangaroo, unavailable to their
opportunities on different continents. For though, hops, rather than moves its back shorter competitors.
example, ants and termites live in many legs alternately. Both the present-day
parts of the world and construct hard Members of the extinct reptilian giraffe and
Brachiosaurus of 150
earthen nests to house their colonies, eggs, pterosaur group once filled the skies. These
million years ago
and larvae. They are particularly abundant leathery-membraned flying creatures had evolved long necks
in tropical regions. Here, then, was an wingspans of up to 36 ft. Bats today use that could be used in
opportunity for the evolution of an ant¬ similar membranes for flapping flight. this way.
eating animal, equipped with strong,
clawed limbs to destroy the nest, a long, Parallel lifestyles
sticky tongue in a tubular snout to probe Feeding adaptations can also produce
for larvae, and a thick, bite-deterring outer remarkable parallels. The extinct South
covering. American ungulate Pyrotherium had a
As if to order, four different groups of short trunk, much like that of a modern
mammals have independently, but in very elephant, that enabled it to feed on high
similar ways, evolved to fit that niche in vegetation. Giraffes, with their elongated
tropical zones. They are the anteaters of necks, also manage to reach high into trees
South America, the aardvark of southern to feed. An ancient parallel of the giraffe
Africa, the pangolin of tropical Africa and was the long-necked Brachiosaurus, one of
India, and the egg-laying spiny anteater of the largest of the dinosaurs at 75 ft long
Australia. and 41 ft tall. Like the giraffe, its front
Parallels such as this result from similar legs were longer than its hind legs, and its
adaptations in styles of locomotion, feed¬ whole body sloped down from its
ing, defense, or attack dictated by particu¬ shoulders.
lar habitats and niches. And since the Even methods of attack and defense
nature of available niches tends to change produce parallels. The bands of bony
little over time, clear similarities can often armor that protect a living armadillo echo
be demonstrated between living and those of the 240-million-year-old amphib¬
extinct animals. ian Peltobatrachm, as well as the dinosaur
Interesting parallels occur, for example, Euoplocephalus. This dinosaur also paral¬
among fast-swimming aquatic animals. leled the armadillo’s extinct relative
These creatures need to be streamlined to Glyptodon in having a massive bony club
minimize water-resistance, they need a on the end of its tail, which it used to
powerful tail and paddlelike limbs for break the bones of its attackers. G i raffe (Giraffa camelopardais)

108
 Niche patterns

The giraffe and

Brachiosaurus both
evolved elongated necks
The ability to fly with which they could
opens up many new reach high foliage.
opportunities. The
Baluchitherium, a rhino
long-extinct reptilian
relative that lived about 25
pterosaurs and the
mammalian bats million years ago in Asia,
evolved leathery wings had elongated limbs
made of skin and instead. Standing more
stretched between the
than 16 ft tall at the
limbs.
shoulder, it was the largest
land mammal ever known.

Quetzalcoatlus Spear-nosed bat (Phyllostomus hastatus)

Armadillo (Priodontes maximus) Peltobatrachus

Peltobatrachus had
protective bony bands
and plates on its body
very similar to those of
today’s armadillo. This
early amphibian lived
in East Africa 250
million years ago.

Brachiosaurus
Changing
patterns
114 Airborne migrations
116 Overland migrations
118 Marine migrations
120 Traveling the world:
animals
122 Traveling the world:
plants
124 Population explosions
126 Colonizing islands:
getting there
128 Colonizing islands:
staying and surviving
130 Isolated populations
 P eople often speak of the balance of nature. The implication

The is that the natural world, left to itself, is eternal and that it
is only human beings who bring about changes—and usually

dynamics catastrophic ones at that. This, of course, is not the case. The
Earth and all that is in it has been changing throughout
geological history and is still doing so.

of living A changing world

The latest major alteration in the world’s climate was the
warming that brought the glacial period to an end. Its effects
can still be seen every spring and fall. When, 20,000 years ago,
the southern margin of the Arctic ice cap lay as far south as the
middle of Europe, birds in Africa developed the habit of making
the short journey north every summer to gather the rich harvest
of insects that briefly flourished there. As the Earth began to
warm again and the ice to retreat northward, so the journeys the
birds had to make became longer, perhaps quite suddenly. But
they persisted in the habit and today they may fly 5,000 miles
each spring to reach their summer feeding grounds and repeat
the journey back only a few months later. Most of the great
seasonal migrations made by animals today probably originated
in a similar fashion.
It is not only the Earth’s climate that changes. So does the
surface of the land itself. Mountain ranges are -steadily eroded
by ice and water. Lakes fill with the debris of this destruction,
and turn first into swamps and then into forest or bogs. The sea
bites steadily into the coast, undercutting cliffs, and mudbanks
and deltas built by rivers push out into the sea. Huge areas of
forest are regularly devastated by fires. Some of these are indeed
started by human beings, but many occur naturally, as a result
of lightning strikes or by volcanic eruptions.
Whole communities of animals and plants specialize in living
on these changing frontiers moving with them as they move
and exploiting the particular opportunities they bring. When a
forest is destroyed by fire, the ground on which it stood is
bathed in sunshine for the first time in centuries. Wind-borne
seeds float down and land on the rich, bare soil that the trees
had created around their roots. There they germinate and
sprout with extreme rapidity. For a few seasons they dominate

112
the clearings, blooming among the charred logs and setting their slightly longer beaks managed to reach the nectar that was
seed. But then the seedlings of bigger trees, which have grown hidden away in the depths of some of the flowers. Still others, a
very much more slowly, rise among them and over-top them. little more agile in the air, became expert in catching insects.
The pioneer plants no longer get the sunshine they need and These physical differences in their bodies were inherited by
they die. But their own seeds are now sprouting in other, more their offspring. As the natural sifting continued over many
recently fire-cleared territory. generations, separate populations eventually developed that were
In North America one of the commonest of these pioneer markedly different from the original immigrants. So several new
plants is called, very appropriately, fireweed. In Europe it is species' arose, descended from the original uniform flock.
known as willow herb. When, half a century ago, many of the
cities of Europe were,.devastated by bombs, the fireweed found a Interpreting natural history
new kind of seedbed and sprouted among charred timbers that This scenario may sound glib. But such events are certain to
had once been roof beams. So bombed sites everywhere became have happened on several occasions. The most famous instance
carpeted in their pink blossoms. occurred on the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean, 560
miles off the coast of Ecuador. The wandering ancestral birds
Evolution and survival were probably South American finches, and arrived there many
Living things not only change their territories in response to a thousands of years ago. Today, there are more than a dozen
shift in physical circumstance, they are also capable of changing- different species of them, each with its own diet and physical
in themselves. They evolve. adaptations that enable it to feed in its own particular way.
Imagine a flock of land-living birds, caught in a sudden Such things also occurred on the Hawaiian Islands. There,
storm of hurricane strength and swept out to sea. Before they too, the ancestral birds are thought to have been finches of some
fell from the sky, totally exhausted, they reached a remote kind, and they gave rise, ultimately, to about 40 different
volcanic island. There they landed and their lives were saved. species. Some we know only from fossils, and others have
This island inevitably had a much more restricted range of food recently become extinct in the face of the major changes that
on it than they had in their original home. They had to swallow have taken place in the islands’ ecology since the arrival of man.
unfamiliar food or die. Some failed to do so and paid the price, But there are still a dozen or so surviving that are known
but others managed to find something edible among the few collectively as honeycreepers. And in New Zealand there may
plants growing on the island, from the spiders and insects that have been several such avian invasions, but they occurred so
had drifted there earlier, or from the small invertebrates that long ago that it is now very difficult to decide what the original
were washed up on the shore. ancestral birds were.
The birds had neither the physical strength nor the These extraordinary happenings on remote and isolated
instinctive route-finding ability to make their way back to the islands may seem to have nothing to do with the main progress
mainland. They were permanently marooned. Those that of life as it takes place on the great continents. But the very
survived in due course mated, nested, and reared their young. isolation that keeps an island community apart from other
As time passed, certain individuals began to concentrate on influences, and the small number of species comprising it, make
particular foods. Some of them had slightly heavier and more the interpretation of its history very much easier than in more
powerful beaks and were able to crack seeds that others could complex communities. It was, indeed, a visit to the Galapagos
not manage. The rewards for doing so were considerable, for that started the train of thought in the mind of Charles Darwin
since no others could, they had this food resource to themselves, that ultimately led hint to propose a solution to that most
and naturally they concentrated on it. Other birds with perhaps crucial question of all in biological science, the origin of species.
Airborne
migrations
S edentary animals are those that are
born, grow up, mate, and live out their
logic tied to changes in food availability
and climate.
The magnificent
monarch butterfly
(Danaus plexippus) has
entire lives within one small area. For an A single example, that of the Old
one of the longest of
earthworm, this may be only some feet World garden warbler, provides many all insect migrations.
across, for a hedgehog, a few miles. Their insights into this logic. Like all warblers, Five or more
niches and patterns of adaptation are tied the garden warbler feeds on small insects, generations (eggs,
to the single plot of land where they live, which it catches among thick vegetation caterpillars, then
adults) are needed to
and their capacity for feeding, reproduc¬ when the plants are in full leaf. It can feed
complete one
tion, and'*survival must, therefore, be con¬ in this way throughout the year by shut¬ migration cycle.
strained by the possibilities inherent in tling between Europe and central Africa.
their home territory. So while Europe is locked into winter con¬
Other animals can be highly mobile. ditions, which preclude insect feeding for
This is particularly true of large, fast¬ all but the most hardy and opportunistic Eastern summer range
running mammal herbivores, of many birds, the garden warblers are feeding in
birds that can fly, and of some winged African warmth. Western summer range

insects, whose mobility opens up to them In spring the birds migrate north across
a whole new world of niche possibilities the Sahara. Before this journey they feed
and gives them the option of changing intensively, laying down supplies of body
their habitats. fat to fuel the energy demands of the long
The movements may be rather haphaz¬ flight to come. They cross the Mediter¬
ard shifts, brought about by local difficul¬ ranean at the eastern end, and spread out
ties or opportunities. For instance, the through their summer ranges in Europe,
drying up of a savanna waterhole can where they pair up and breed. In the fall,
induce the birds that feed and drink there after again building up fat supplies, the
Winter
to move hundreds of miles to a new water surviving parent birds and their offspring roost sites
source. In an unpredictable climate, return to Africa, crossing at the western
mobility may produce a strategy of wan¬ end of the Mediterranean. The insects
dering movement based on changing local By careful matching of flight times with overwinter in mass
roosts in trees in warm
conditions. seasonal changes, the birds ensure that
southern California or
they are present in each half of their living-
near Mexico City. In
Seasonal movements space when food supplies are plentiful. spring they migrate
In contrast, the more patterned type of Such synchrony is achieved by inbuilt bio¬ north—some even
animal population movement known as logical clocks in the birds’ brains that are reach Canada by the
migration usually involves a recurrent late summer—then
influenced by day length. In their summer
return south for the
shuttling between two or more geographi¬ location, they can sense the passage of
winter.
cal areas in a regular sequence. Almost seasonal time by the shortening days as
always, these movements are seasonal, fall approaches, while lengthening days in
“tuned” in time to the more or less pre¬ the spring induce hormonal changes that
dictable yearly changes in climate in the bring the birds into breeding condition at
areas the animals visit. the right time.
The most dramatic migrations in terms The navigational ability of all birds on
of total distances traveled must be those of migration, much of which is instinctive, is
birds and, to a lesser extent, of winged a subject of intense scientific enquiry. It
insects. In both the New and Old Worlds, probably depends partly on sightings on
where continents straddle lines of latitude sun and star positions, partly on pattern¬
from the cool polar regions to the equator¬ ing of polarized light in the sky, and partly
ial tropics, migrating bird species are on a magnetic sense that some birds
common. appear to possess. With this sense, they
In most instances, their patterns of can directly perceive the position of the
migration clearly demonstrate the under¬ magnetic north or south pole, and so
lying evolutionary “logic” of the migratory orientate themselves precisely on the
niche strategy: This is an advantageous Earth’s surface.

14
 Changing patterns

The 20,000-mile annual migration The arctic tern probably

of the short-tailed shearwater holds the record for
(Puffinus tenuirostris) is one of the distance traveled during an
longest of any animal. It breeds on
annual migration. This
islands near Tasmania in early
spring, then for seven months flies slender relative of the
around the Pacific Ocean, feeding on gulls flies more than
the wing on surface oceanic life. The 25,000 miles from its
route and its timing seem to Arctic breeding sites to
maximize the benefit both from
Antarctic feeding grounds
wind directions and from
seasonally changing food and back again the
supplies. following spring. Its
journey enables the tern
to take advantage of the
brief but productive
summer months of both
polar zones.

The garden warbler

(Sylvia borin) follows
an instinctive behavior
pattern in its roughly
circular annual
migration between
Africa and Europe. It
winters in central
Africa and in the
spring flies north to its
summer feeding and
breeding grounds in
Europe. In the fall,
the birds return to
Africa, crossing from
the Iberian Peninsula
via the narrow Straits
of Gibraltar.

1 1 Summer range

] Winter range
Overland
migrations
T he yearly migrations of nonflying ani¬
mals are usually linked with the avail¬
ability of food or the animal’s breeding-
cycles, or with both. Such movements are
ultimately driven by seasonally changing-
climate patterns. The word “migration” is
normally used only when the distances
involved are great, hut many terrestrial
animals brake much shorter annual move¬
ments linked with mating and food avail¬
ability; in essence, these are also
migrations.
Fall migration
A common toad, for instance, will make
> Spring migration
such seasonal movements mainly for
reproductive purposes. For most of the
year, an adult toad lives in moist vegeta¬
tion at ground level, feeding on terrestrial
invertebrates; but in the spring it will
return, over open ground if necessary, to a
pond to mate, often the same pond in
which it was itself spawned. The distance
traveled may be just a few hundred feet,
but the movement is, in microcosm, the
pattern of any annual migration.
The really impressive land migrations
are, however, those of the large herbi¬
vorous mammals. Seasonal climatic Caribou (Rangifer
changes—whether centered on a cycling tarandus) migrate
between hot and cold temperatures or some 6,000 miles
between different levels of rainfall—can between-fhe Barren
Lands, within the
make long-distance yearly migrations part
Arctic Circle, and the
of an efficient life cycle for these animals. coniferous forests
In the recent past, huge herds of North farther south.
American bison, numbered in tens of
millions, cropped the Plains grasslands Canada, and in the spring begin a north¬ norm. And it is the changes in vegetation
from as far north as Alberta to New Mexi¬ ward trek to the Barren Lands close to its caused by the varying rainfall that trigger
co in the south. Each spring the bison northern coast. the yearly migrations of East African
moved north in the lengthening days and On the journey north, the young cari¬ plains herbivores such as the wildebeest.
milder weather, giving birth to their bou are born, and within hours of their These movements have been carefully
young as the lush, relatively protein- birth are running with the rest of the herd. monitored in the Serengeti National Park
packed spring grasses sprouted. As cold The nutritional “payoff’ for the vast in Tanzania, where wildebeest herds make
northerly winds began to blow in the fall, expenditure of energy on the migration is complex migrations linked to the availabil¬
the bison herds moved south again to fresh, good grazing. In the brief Arctic ity of croppable grasses.
escape the harshest winter conditions. summer, there is suddenly a huge crop of As the midequatorial rain belt oscillates
These migrations ceased after the depre¬ rapidly growing grasses, and as the snow across the Serengeti with a yearly cycle, it
dations of nineteenth-century European cover melts, edible lichens are exposed. produces a marked wet season from Janu¬
hunters took the bison almost to the point 'The caribou fatten up and mate in the ary to March and a dry season from June
of extinction. late summer, before the return—south¬ to September. The migrations of the
Today the caribou show a similar life ward—migration begins. wildebeest, often in mixed herds with
plan to that of the bison. They spend the In the tropics, large seasonal tem¬ zebra, topi, and gazelles, take them on
winter in the deep coniferous forests of perature changes are unknown; instead, an approximately circular path that is
Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba in seasonally changing rainfall is often the dictated by the availability of grazing.
 Changing patterns

The moving rain belt

The annual
movements of the
equatorial rain belt
produce a wet and dry
season in the
Serengeti.
In the wet season
herds of wildebeest
(Connochaetes taurinus)
graze in the southeast,
near the Ngorongoro
crater. In April/May
the herds move north
and west to feeding
grounds nearer Lake
Victoria, where they

/ spend the dry season.

Around October, the
return journey south
begins.
Marine
migrations
A ny migrating land animal that cannot
. fly eventually comes up against the
can take three or four years, the larvae
slowly metamorphose into leaf-shaped,
insuperable barrier of the sea. No compar¬ flattened leptocephalus larvae that feed on
able difficulty exists for migrating marine plankton. When they reach the shallow
animals, since the oceans of the world are waters of the continental shelf, they
a continuous, connected whole. This change into glass eels, then elvers. In this
immense potential for movement has had form they move into river estuaries along
two major consequences. First, large the entire western coastline of Europe.
numbersmf highly mobile sea creatures are In freshwater habitats the eels feed and
distributed worldwide; second, long grow—for more than 10 years. When full
migrations are extremely common. adult size has been reached, they change
Migrations in the sea are linked with color, from greenish to silver, grow larger
the same imperatives as those on land. eyes, become sexually more mature, and
Salmon, eels, turtles, and whales migrate move downriver back to the sea. It is
in order to maximize their chances of sur¬ assumed that they then make the return
vival (through feeding) and of reproduc¬ migration to the Sargasso Sea to breed,
tive success (through breeding). but no eels have ever been caught in mid-
Not all marine migration patterns are Atlantic on this journey. This has led
locked into an annual cycle; the migrations some scientists to suggest that they do not
of some species conform to much longer return from Europe and that all the Euro¬
time scales. Those of the European and pean eels are derived from fertilized eggs
American eels are a well-researched ex¬ of the American stock. Certainly the two
ample. The 16 eel species (genus Anguilla) species are extraordinarily alike.
of the world are all catadromous; that is,
they breed in the sea but feed and grow in The green turtle’s journey
freshwater. A cosmopolitan marine reptile of tropical
The migrational habits of eels were waters, the green turtle is found only
unknown until the early part of this cen¬ where the sea temperature is above 68 °F.
tury. From earliest times, the fact that in Like most turtles, it spends the greater
Europe adult fish are common in lakes, part of its life at sea but still has to haul
streams, and rivers, but no eggs or young itself ashore on a sandy beach to lay its
are ever found, had caused great specula¬ eggs. These breeding beaches are always
tion. The ancient Greek philosopher Aris¬ highly traditional locations adopted by
totle even suggested that they were particular populations of this turtle.
spontaneously generated in the mud at the One amazingly remote green turtle
bottom of lakes. It took the determined breeding site is on Ascension Island, in the
work of the Danish oceanographer mid-Atlantic. This tiny speck of rock is
Johannes Schmidt to unravel at least the the egg-laying site for a population that
main components of the mystery. lives in the warm, shallow waters off the
His findings from the 1920s onward east coast of Brazil, more than 1,240 miles
have shown that both American and Euro¬ to the west. For most of the year, the tur¬
pean eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea, hun¬ tles feed here on algae and eelgrass; then, □ Eel Breeding ground □ Eel Migration path
dreds of miles due east of Florida. Here, at by methods that are not fully understood,
depths of 1,300-2,500 ft, adult eels pro¬ they navigate their way to Ascension. European eels (Anguilla anguilla) spawn
duce their eggs and fertilize them. The After a period of offshore courtship and in the Sargasso Sea east of Florida. The
tiny, transparent larvae that hatch from mating, they lay their eggs, in December, larvae hatched from these eggs slowly drift
these eggs are carried by the ocean cur¬ on the beaches of volcanic sand. After 10 across to Europe, a migration taking sever¬
rents, the American form up toward the weeks’ incubation, the baby turtles hatch al years. Eventually they enter estuaries
east coast of the United States, the Euro¬ synchronously at night and scramble and move upriver where they feed and
pean on the much longer Gulf Stream down to the sea. Nothing, however, is yet mature. American eels (A. rostrata) breed
route to Europe. known about the early life and movements there too but have a shorter journey to the
During this drifting migration, which of these hatchlings. rivers of eastern North America.

118
 The first
observations of the
migration of baleen
whales, such as the
humpback, were made
more than a hundred
years ago. Whalers
hunting these mighty
sea mammals
discovered that they
■ Summer feeding grounds ■ Winter breeding grounds were to be found in
quite different
latitudes at different
Green turtles (Che Ionia my das) occur in Humpback whales (Megaptera novaean-
times of the year.
warm seas worldwide. Those that live and gliae) occur in both northern and southern
feed off the coast of Brazil make an extra¬ hemispheres and all follow an annual
ordinary migratory journey to Ascension migration pattern. In summer the whales
Island in the Atlantic Ocean to mate and feed in the krill-rich waters of polar
lay eggs. The adult turtles then return to regions; in winter, they move closer to the
their feeding grounds, leaving their young equator. Here, in warmer waters, they
to incubate, hatch, and find their own way give birth to young conceived the previous
to the sea. year, and then mate again.
Traveling the world:
animals
M igrations are repetitive, usually sea¬
sonal, changes in the geographical
to the last ioo years or so raises a problem
of interpretation. Any alteration over this
of central Europe and much of Scandi¬
navia and Britain. It has recently reached
position of a population of animals. There period will have occurred at a time during Florida as a result of human transport and
are, however, other, fundamentally differ¬ which the human population has been ris¬ may well be on the point of an expansion
ent types of population movement that are ing exponentially, and when there has of range in North America.
neither seasonal nor repetitive. These are been immense human interference with Ornithologists and ecologists do not
range expansions in which a species habitats and conditions over more and really understand what has caused the
extends its geographical range steadily, more of the Earth’s surface. This makes it steady northwestern expansion of the
generatien by generation, in one or more difficult to decide whether a range alter¬ species. It may be related to the slowly
particular directions. ation has been “natural” or largely or part¬ warming climate of northern Europe or to
Over thousands or millions of years, all ly caused by humans. a lack of specific competitors for the par¬
animal species will expand or contract Some expansions appear to have taken ticular niche of the collared dove in these
their ranges as a result of their relative place without human interference being a more northerly zones. Or it could be asso¬
success or failure. The alterations will be major contributory factor, as the examples ciated with a sudden genetic alteration in a
due either to changing patterns of compe¬ of two bird species, the collared dove and population of doves in the region of
tition or to changing environmental condi¬ the cattle egret, clearly demonstrate. Turkey in the 1920s.
tions. For all their assumed ubiquity, Prior to 1930, the collared dove—a
these long-term alterations can often only small, grain-eating member of the pigeon The cattle egret
be inferred from present-day distribu¬ family—was essentially an Asiatic bird, An even greater expansion has occurred in
tions. Direct evidence of range expansion extending no farther into Europe than the range of the cattle egret since about
in today’s species is rare and is most evi¬ Turkey and adjacent areas. Then it com¬ 1930. Until then, these beautiful white rel¬
dent in highly mobile animals, particularly menced a remarkably speedy extension of atives of the herons were found in tropical
bird species. its range in a consistently northwestern and subtropical areas, from Africa to
The fact that direct evidence is limited direction. It has now colonized the whole southwest Europe and through Asia to

Limit of range in:

1930
m
1938
□
1^5
□
1955
□
1965
□
1970
□
1975
□

120
Japan. Over this already extensive range,
they fed on insects, frogs, lizards, and
small mammals disturbed by the passage
of herds of wild buffalo, wildebeest, and
eland, as well as of domestic cattle.
In the 1930s the egrets established
themselves as a successful breeding
species in South America, having appar¬
ently made the Atlantic crossing unaided.
They then moved into the islands of the
Caribbean, and from there to North
America, where they first bred in 1953.
On the other side of the world, at almost
the same time, they moved into north Aus¬
tralia from Asia. They have now spread
into the rest of Australasia and even to the
Hawaiian island chain. These last expan¬
sionary movements have, however, been
helped by deliberate human introductions.
Indeed, the whole of the cattle egret’s suc¬
cess is certainly underpinned by the
expansion of the range of farmed cattle
herds around the world—human influ¬
ence is never very far removed.

□ Distribution before 1930 The successful

□ Present distribution range expansion of
the cattle egrets
(Bubulcus ibis) is
partly due to their
adaptability. As well
as following wild
herbivores to feed on
the insects and small
The collared dove creatures disturbed by
(Streptopelia decaocto) their movements, they
(left) was originally a also accompany
native of eastern and domestic cattle.
southern Asia but has
made a spectacular
range expansion since
the 1930s. It has now
colonized much of
Europe, including
Scandinavia, and the
British Isles.
Traveling the world:
plants
M oving from one place to another is
harder for plants than for animals,
able means of seed transport. Many weeds
have adopted humankind as an agent for
When a climate gets colder, warmth-
dependent plants, such as hazel, begin to
simply because most plants are literally travel and a provider of sites for survival at contract in their range. Retreat may result
rooted to the spot. Some plants can spread new destinations. They may simply hitch from the sudden death of plant popula¬
themselves to another location vegetative- a ride. The North American oval sea rock¬ tions in severe weather, or come about
ly, by fragments that break off and are et (Cakile edulenta), native to the Atlantic gradually through plants’ inability to set
transported by wind, water, or animals. coast and Great Lakes, was accidentally good seed or through the death of
But it is only at the seed or spore stage of carried to Melbourne, Australia in sand seedlings. The population then fails to
their lift history that most plants have the ballast in 1863. By 1882 it had moved on regenerate and begins to decline.
opportunity to extend their boundaries. to San Francisco, and today has colonized Extension or retraction of a plant’s
Plants are remarkably good at getting the Pacific coast of North America, having range need not be related to climatic
from one place to another in seed form traveled right around the world. change. In Australia a native tree, Pitto-
and may travel by wind or water. Seeds of sporum undulation, recently began extend¬
cotton sedges, for example, with feathery The climate factor ing its range, moving westward in
tufts that keep the fruit airborne, have When their journey is completed, seeds Victoria. This may have been induced by
reached the newly formed island of Surt- must germinate and establish themselves alteration in land use, caused by the sup¬
sey, near Iceland, on the wind. Coconuts if their travels are to prove successful. In pression of bush fires, or it may relate to
have thick, fibrous, air-retaining husks this they are restricted by factors such as the European blackbird—an introduced
around their fruit, so they float well and climate. The tropical seeds that arrive on species that is efficient at spreading the
can travel by sea. Tropical bean seeds also the Irish coast have traveled in vain: it is tree’s seeds.
float well and arrive regularly on the west too cold for them to survive. It is not always possible to know
coast of Ireland from the Caribbean. When the climate is changing and get¬ whether the spread of a plant species is
Plants may make use of animals’ mobil¬ ting warmer, plants are presented with due to climatic change or to the provision
ity in distributing themselves. Seeds may new opportunities to spread. Hazel, for of new habitats through human manage¬
be carried on fur, or inside the digestive example, moved rapidly from Spain and ment of the land. In Europe, both spruce
system. Seeds that travel in an animal’s southern Europe through the rest of and beech have spread westward in the
gut must survive immersion in digestive Europe at the end of the last glacial 10,000 past 3,000 years. The climate has changed
juices but may be transported a long way years ago. Its nuts were carried by sea, by during that time, but trees may be taking
if the creature is migrating. small mammals and birds, and possibly advantage of changed soils and reduced
Humans provide some of the most reli¬ also by Mesolithic hunters. competition caused by human activity.

Water chestnut Beech

The range of the The beech (Fagus
water chestnut Extent of range today grandiflora) has
{Trapa mtans), which extended its range
grows best where northward in eastern
summers are warm, North America at a
has contracted rate of more than
southward. 6,000 1,000 ft a year over the
Fossils of its large years ago last 10,000 years.
fruits, dating back Its spread has been
5,000-7,000 years, 7,000 years ago traced by analyzing its
have been found in pollen grains,
lake sediments north preserved in lake
of its present 8,000 years ago sediments. By dating
distribution limit. the first occurrence in
This suggests that 9,000 years ago any quantity of beech
the climate was 10,000 years ago pollen at various lake
warmer at that time, sites, it has been
and the water chestnut possible to ascertain
was able to grow in both the course and
these more northerly speed of its expansion.
areas.

I I 6,000 years ago IH Present day

122
Changing patterns
Population
explosions
S ome animal species alter their location
by yearly migrations or steady range
expansions, and these movements are rea¬
sonably predictable. Quite different are
the sudden, unexpected increases in ani¬
mal numbers that induce unpredictable
moves to new areas. This type of change is
known as a population explosion, or epi¬
demic, and the movement it causes is an
irruption, or invasion. To understand
what underlies such irregular events—to
find out why locusts swarm or lemmings
go on the march—it is necessary first to
look at less eventful lifestyles.
An annual census of the numbers of an
animal species in a particular area at a spe¬
cific time of year will usually reveal an
overwhelming impression of population
stability. Although there may be random
fluctuations from year to year, there is
usually no consistent trend toward either
an increase or decrease in population size.
This is despite the fact that all animals
have the potential for increasing their
population size dramatically by breeding.

Controlling factors
It has been suggested that population size
is “regulated,” or kept under control, by
the links between the interacting organ¬
isms in a habitat. Of special importance
are those in which one organism (animal
or plant) is the food of another, or in
which one organism (germ or parasite)
acts to damage or kill another (the host).
So it would seem that exploding popula¬
tions are those in which a major change appears to be their huge reproductive An example of a mammalian population
occurs in these or other controls. potential. Because lemmings are active cycle where predation may play a
Lemmings—small rodents of northern and feed in burrows under the snow in more central role is that of the lynx and
Europe, Asia, and North America—pro¬ winter, a female is capable of producing up the snowshoe hare in northern Canada.
vide an almost mythological example of to eight litters of three to nine young each Both species, one a hunting cat, the other
population explosion. Stories of mass sui¬ year. This potential population explosion its main prey item, have approximately
cide migrations are almost always without is normally kept under control by food and io-year cycles of numbers. It seems that
foundation. It is true, however, that in climate restrictions and, to a lesser extent, the hares’ expansions result from changes
most parts of the lemming’s distribution by predators. But a rapid rise in numbers in climate and the availability of food. The
there is a locally synchronous rise and fall can result from a long summer, followed contractions are partly due to increased
in population size with an approximately by a winter that is neither so mild that the competition but also to increased preda¬
four-year cycle. And at the peaks in this snow melts, destroying the feeding tun¬ tion by the expansion of the lynx popula¬
cycle, lemmings disperse widely in unusu¬ nels in the vegetation under the snow, nor tion, itself caused by the extra hares.
al numbers, as competition for feeding so cold that the young die. The resulting
and breeding space becomes acute. competition for food and space then An insect plague
The main reason for these changes makes for a rapid reduction in numbers. Desert locusts show population explosions

124
 Changing patterns

When desert locust

populations expand
but food is limited, the
developing insects
change into a
voracious migrating
form of the species.
Huge swarms (left)
move along generally
predictable routes in
Africa and the Middle
East.

Trapping records,
going back to the
1850s, show that
fluctuations in the
population density of
both the lynx and the
snowshoe hare follow
an approximately 10-
year-cycle. Numbers
in peak years are more
than 10 times higher
than in the intervening
troughs.
The immense
at unpredictable intervals. These have reproductive capacity
huge economic consequences in parts of of the Norway lemming
Africa and Asia where they occur, since is partly the result of its
migrating swarms of locusts can destroy extremely short gestation
the crops over great tracts of country. and maturation periods.
When food is plentiful, the desert Gestation lasts only about
locusts behave like normal, nonmigratory 20 days, and the three to
grasshoppers. If, however, increasing nine young are weaned
numbers of changing climatic conditions within three weeks. Two
reduce their local food supplies, the devel¬ weeks later they, too, are
oping locusts may transform into a capable of breeding.
swarming migratory type, with long wings In ideal conditions, the
and a brighter coloration. This trans¬ total generation time
formed locust is active by day rather than (from mother mating to
by night and are the notorious Old Testa¬ daughter mating) is only
ment ravagers of crops. eight weeks.

125
Colonizing islands
getting there
O ceans are the most effective barrier to
the dispersal of land organisms and
(.0004-.04 in) spores of ferns and mosses
are easily carried by the wind, and often
secretions that attach them to the fur or
feathers of mammals or birds. Tiny snails
the colonization of distant islands. Any form an unusually high proportion of the and their eggs can also be carried by birds,
animal that can swim i ,000 miles will be flora of remote islands such as Hawaii. in the dried mud on their legs and feet.
so thoroughly aquatic that it could not Island floras also contain an unusually
adapt to a terrestrial existence; relatively Seed dispersal high proportion of plants with fleshy
few plants, such as the coconut palm and Many flowering plants have adaptations fruits. Once eaten by birds, their seeds
sea beans, have fruit or seeds that can that ensure their seeds are carried away may be carried long distances before they
survive*a long period of immersion in from the parent. Members of the are excreted and can germinate. Blueberry,
saltwater. Asteraceae family, such as the dandelion sandalwood, mint, lily, and nightshade
Occasionally land animals and large and thistle, have feathery tufts on the probably all arrived in the Hawaiian
plants are able to reach islands on masses seeds, allowing them to drift freely with islands in this manner.
of floating vegetation washed down by the wind, and this family is highly suc¬ The dispersal of plants is basic to the
tropical rivers after heavy storms, and cessful in crossing oceans. dispersal of all other living organisms to
small animals or their eggs could easily be Bidens, another member of the Aster¬ the islands; the more plants there are, the
carried in this way, too. aceae, is extremely widespread in the more ecological niches there will be for
But it is much more likely for the seeds Pacific islands because its hooked seeds animals to occupy. For example, the num¬
of plants and even intact small animals to can fasten to bird feathers. Other plants ber of bird genera on islands closely
make an aerial ocean crossing. The tiny hitch a ride by having seeds with sticky reflects the diversity of the plants among

Feathery tufted Thistle .irsium Seeds contained in

seeds, such as those of fleshy fruits may be
dandelion and thistle, eaten by birds and
are easily dispersed by Dandelion carried long distances.
the wind. (Taraxacum sp.)
Nightshade
(Solarium sp
Blueberry (Vaccinium sp.)

New Guinea!

More than 300 genera

Australia

126
 Changing patterns

which they live and upon which many of at which previous colonists become
them feed. extinct. At first, many species can colonize
Much can be learned by studying what a newly appeared island, but as time passes
happens when an island has been totally the rate of appearance of new species will
devastated and is then gradually recolo¬ gradually drop. At the same time, the rate
Coconut palms grow
nized. The most dramatic natural example of extinction of existing species will rise,
on tropical beaches
resulted from the explosion in 1883 of the partly because the more there are, the just above the high
island volcano of Krakatoa in the East more there are at risk, and partly because water mark, and their
Indies. Twenty-five years later, 13 species the competition between them becomes nuts are easily washed
of bird had colonized the island. After greater. out to sea. They float
well and can survive
another 10 years there were 31 species of Competition between species also leads
months of immersion
bird, but two of those previously found to more specialization, and this very before reaching a new
had disappeared. Another 10 years on exclusivity means smaller populations and beach, where they land
there was the same total number of species, greater vulnerability. But eventually a and, if temperatures
but another five species which had earlier balance will be arrived at, and unless are right, germinate.
Hence the coconut
colonized the island had vanished. conditions alter dramatically, the number
palm has been highly
So it seems that there must be a balance of species will now change little, even
successful at dispers¬
in nature between the rate at which new though new ones may appear and others ing itself around the
organisms colonize an island and the rate become extinct. tropical world.

127
Colonizing islands:
staying and surviving
T he diversity of an island’s flora and
fauna is affected not only by the rate
lived rodents such as the pygmy squirrel
and pygmy rice rat. There were also old
Barro Colorado

This small island was cut off from the

at which new colonists arrive and old ones clearings that the forest was still recoloniz¬
mainland during the construction of the
become extinct but also by its area and ing, in which there lived 32 species of Panama Canal, when river waters were
topography. A great deal can be learned of birds, such as wrens, woodpeckers, fly¬ dammed and rose to form Lake Gatun.
the nature of island biogeography by catchers, doves, and species of hawk and The lake itself is some 80 ft above sea level.
studying the history of a single island such falcon that preyed on them. All these ani¬
as Barro Colorado in Central America. mals and birds are now extinct because
Barro* Colorado is about 6 sq miles in their environments have disappeared.
area and is separated from the nearest
mainland by stretches of water at least Dangers of island life
1,000 ft wide. Though it lies in the tropics Hunting by humans before the island
and has an average rainfall of ioo in a year, became a reserve led to the extinction of
it also has a dry spell from January to the spider monkey and the tapir. Both
March when less than 4 in falls. have now been reintroduced, but their
This small island is covered in semi- numbers are still so low that they may
deciduous tropical forest, in which some again become extinct, as may the ocelot.
trees lose their leaves in the dry season, The extinction of the mountain lion and
others only in unusually dry years. The the small numbers of hunting ocelot meant
forest is diverse and fairly dense, with that their natural prey, such as monkeys,
each 2.5 acres containing 50-65 species of coatimundis, and opossums, became more
tree, and about 170 trees with a trunk common. The competition they provided
diameter of more than 8 in, as well as led to the extinction of several species of
many more smaller ones. In the south¬ birds that nest or forage on the ground.
western part of the island, trees grow to In addition to identifying these long¬
heights of 100-130 ft and are 200-400 term changes in the flora and fauna of the
years old; in the northeast, the trees are island, scientists have also been able to
only 65-100 ft tall and are probably only monitor the effects of an unusually rainy
about 100 years old. dry season. Many plants require the stim¬
ulus of a dry season before they can
Animal extinctions flower, and in 1970 the dry season was so
A number of mammals and birds have wet that it failed to trigger that flowering
become extinct since the island formed, in many cases. Less than half the normal
and there seem to be three reasons for number of species bore fruit, and that of
this: the size of the island, changes in veg¬ others was much reduced, so the total
etation, and hunting by humans. crop was only one-third of its usual level.
Barro Colorado is too small to support a The birds and mammals relying on this
big population of large animals, and a fruit for food suffered badly, and despite
small population is always at risk of turning to unaccustomed food sources,
extinction; the mountain lion and white- many did not survive. Coatimundis,
lipped peccary probably disappeared for agoutis, collared peccaries, opossums,
this reason. Similarly, animals with very howler monkeys, armadillos, and even the
specialized feeding patterns are unable to occasional tree sloth were found lying dead
find their preferred food sufficiently often in the forest. None could emulate the fruit¬
on so small an island. As a result, the ocel- eating birds, such as parrots, parakeets, and
lated antbird, which feeds only on insects toucans, which simply flew away.
flushed out of the forest litter by swarms All this confirms and underlines the
of army ants, has been unable to survive, basic danger of life on islands, where a
although the spotted antbird, with less small area provides less variety of environ¬
restricted feeding habits, flourishes. ment. There is less chance of avoiding the
When the island formed, there were occasional but inevitable ill-fortune, and
still some agricultural clearings in which little chance of escape.

128
 Changing patterns

Pollen studies show that

forest covered Barro
Colorado 35,000 years ago.
But from 7000 BC much of this
was cleared and corn was
grown until 1500-1600, when
the local Indian population
was decimated by the Spanish
conquest. What is now the older
forest may then have started to
grow in the abandoned clearings.
Today’s younger forest may date
from a reduction in local
farming about 1800, when the
heavy traffic through the area of
gold seekers on their way to
California ceased.

Barro Colorado lies

in the Panama Canal
area in Central
America. The island
has been studied since
1916 and in 1923
became a nature
reserve and natural
laboratory linked to
the Smithsonian
Institution in
Washington, DC.

129
Isolated
populations
A s land-living animals, we naturally
think of isolation as resulting from
river system. Each of these rivers would
have contained its own species of cichlid
each of which new species could evolve;
then later earth movements or heavier
water surrounding a piece of land. But fishes, and as each river swelled and rainfalls would have reunited the lakes and
aquatic animals become isolated if the expanded to form a small but deepening their new types of fishes.
body of water in which they live is lake, new environments would have been This is borne out by the fact that five
surrounded to form an inland sea or fresh¬ created, so new species of fishes could new species of cichlid fishes have evolved
water lake. In this respect, the Great have evolved to make use of them. in a small lake of 12 sq miles, which has
Lakes of East Africa are of particular Evolution might have stopped there been separated from Lake Victoria for
interest.« had the new Lake Victoria remained only the last 4,000 years. When land
As in so many other instances, plate constant; but changes both in the shape of subsidence or flooding reunites the two
tectonics has set the stage upon which bio¬ the land in this geographically unstable lakes, these five new species will become
logical events have taken place, for East area and in the climate would have caused part of the fauna of Lake Victoria.
Africa is an area containing many rifts, the size and shape of the lake to alter. In the narrow, deep lakes of Tangan¬
which continue up toward the Red Sea, Sometimes it would have shrunk to a yika and Malawi, it seems more likely that
where an oceanic ridge is beginning to series of separate lakes and lagoons, in new species evolved from populations that
separate Arabia from Africa. Some of
these rifts, formed 1.5-2 million years African cichlids
ago, created the deep, elongate lakes of
The three Great
Tanganyika (4,820 ft deep) and Malawi
Lakes of Africa have a Pseudotropheus auratus
(2,300 ft deep). Lake Victoria is both (3-5 in) herbivore
greater number of
younger (750,000 years) and shallower different species of
(330 ft), but all three are notable for con¬ fishes than any other
taining an enormous variety of fishes lakes in the world.
belonging to the cichlid family.

A wealth of species
Cichlid fishes are found in streams, rivers,
and lakes in both Africa and South Ameri¬
ca, but nowhere do they appear in as
much diversity as in the Great Lakes of
Africa. Lake Malawi contains 200 species,
Hemitilapia oxyrhynchus
Victoria 170 species, and Tanganyika 126; (7 in) herbivore
and nearly every one of these species is
found only in one particular lake and must Lobochilotes labiatus
(15 in) omnivore
have evolved there.
The evolution of a new species is A range of body Lake Tanganyika
forms exists among the 126 cichlid species
believed to take place when a population is
cichlid fishes of the
isolated from its relatives. Only then can it
African lakes. Predators,
develop the features that allow it to follow
for example, have sleek
a new way of life and evolve the genetic torpedo-shaped bodies
differences that prevent it from mating built for speed.
with its former relatives and merging back
with them. So it is not surprising to find
that the fishes of each lake are different.
What is at first puzzling is how so many
species could have evolved in each.
The history of Lake Victoria appears to
be different from that of the other two. It
is far shallower and seems to have formed
when the land to its west rose, damming
the flow of several rivers that had previ¬
ously drained westward into the Zaire
 Changing patterns

became isolated because of their habits. the cichlid fishes not been able to adapt to
Every area of rocky or sandy bottom has a variety of foods and environments. In
its own population of cichlids, each of addition to ordinary teeth along the edges
which is a potential new species. of their jaws, they have evolved a battery
This type of evolutionary change may of teeth on the bony skeletal supports to
also occur in cichlids because of their their gills. The shapes and numbers of the
social and mating behavior. The males of teeth are adapted to the type of food each
different species are often distinguished fish eats, as is the shape of the jaws. Lake Tanganyika is
by their bright colors and patterns: gold Such adaptations, together with a con¬ the seventh largest
and black horizontal stripes, royal blue siderable range in length (1.5-31.5 in) and lake in the world, w ith
and black vertical bars, patches of bright the colonization of both rocky and sandy an area of some
13,000 sq miles. Like
blue or orange. These colors are shown off shallow shores, open waters, and depths
the other two great
in territorial mating displays. up to 100 ft, have allowed as many as 200 African lakes, this
Certainly, none of this evolutionary species of cichlid to coexist in these lakes “watery island” has its
radiation would have been possible had in adjacent but separate “species flocks.” own unique fauna.

>3i
 The human
impact
136 Human origins
138 Origins of agriculture

I40 The story of wheat

142 Domesticated animals
144 Feeding the world
146 The spread of weeds
148 Animal pests
150 Controlling pests
152 Traveling with humans
154 City living
156 The spread of deserts

158 The ancient diseases

l6o The new diseases
162 The spread of disease
164 Pollution: acid rain
l66 Pollution: the
greenhouse effect
l68 Recent extinctions
I70 Saving one species:
•*' , •**"> p*S**<**m«»*. -*»■•***%;.-«». i-lfo-, « *. '*>»j
the condor
• *.>**-*-~.. rKB@5$?-e **
I72 Nature reserves:
:m- •■ - ' -- ■ +' - selection and design
174 Patterns of the future:
the next 50 years
176 Patterns of the future:
the far future
H**m»*i*m '^wi^Nkoi ■**+**<&«***•**. **g*Wi»^ ■wwwpt'W^ ■ .$***i!wf*

»■''’*' ■» ^ v - ^ *-., -^SM«r &***&*■ '>**,»■• *6*^. f.>* ■

wA’fV,1 .*»A i#Ljtpfi*v

i*. !****$*?«*»“» •
 H uman beings inflict huge changes on their environment.

Forces of So, of course, do rabbits. Indeed, since all animals by their

very nature depend directly or indirectly on plants, and almost

% the future all interact in some way with other animals, the disappearance
or the increase of any animal species affects the pattern of life
within a biological community.
But human beings have two characteristics that distinguish
them from all other animals. First, they have, over the past few
centuries, increased in number so swiftly that today they are by
far the most numerous and the most widely distributed of any
large animal species. Second, they have become so
technologically inventive that they can fell an entire forest in a
day, create a new species of living organism to suit their own
requirements, and pulverize a city and all life within it in an
instant.
For centuries this most powerful of species has exploited the
natural world for its own ends. Human beings operate as though
the planet’s resources are inexhaustible, believing that if they
want any more of anything they can take it.
The dodo has the sad distinction of being one of the first of
the world’s animals known to have been annihilated by this
process in modern times. It was a giant flightless pigeon that
lived on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Europeans
did not discover the island until the sixteenth century, but
thereafter sailors made a point of landing on it in order to club
the defenseless birds on the head and have a rare feast of fresh
meat. Within less than 200 years, every single dodo had been
killed.
In succeeding centuries, more animals followed the dodo.
European settlers in South Africa found vast grassy plains
thronged with huge herds of antelope and wild relatives of
horses. They hunted them for food and for fun. Within a few
decades, they had destroyed the majority of the herds. One
species, a kind of half-striped zebra called a quagga, was totally
exterminated. Others survived only in greatly reduced numbers
farther north in wilder country.
The pattern of destruction continued as more of the Earth’s
surface was claimed by human beings for settlement or
exploitation. By the 1950s naturalists discovered that at least 120

34
mammals and nearly 200 birds, let alone other kinds of animals Earth. As a consequence, the whole planet is now warming. If
and plants, were on the verge of extinction. Appalled at this this process continues unchecked, then the polar ice caps may
prospect, they banded together, raised the alarm, and started melt, causing sea levels to rise, and deserts may expand. Felling
collecting money to try to protect the survivors. Some species, forests will further add to the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
reduced to only a handful of individuals, had to be taken into These changes are likely to occur swiftly. A few species of
captivity in order to encourage them to breed and give them animals and plants may be able to tolerate them. Some may
protection while they were doing so. Tracts of wilderness that succeed in changing their distribution patterns and so keep pace
were the last refuge of particularly endangered animals were with the move of the climatic zones, but fragmented habitats
turned into reserves and given legal protection against further will make changes in range more difficult than in the past. A
despoliation. few may even manage to evolve swiftly enough to adapt to the
new conditions. But many animals and plants that today flourish
The rain forests so abundantly, precisely because they are so well adapted to the
But today it is not just individual species of animals and plants conditions in which they live, will be unable to respond and as a
that are in danger of disappearing, nor even precious remnants consequence will become extinct.
of what were once great wildernesses. In the last few decades, What is to be done to prevent the Earth from becoming so
human beings have created changes on a global scale. We are swiftly and drastically impoverished? The problems involved are
interfering with the circulation of water between the Earth and of great complexity. To tackle them, human beings will need all
the atmosphere by demolishing a key link in that process, the their knowledge of the workings of the living world. For that
rain forests. For millions of years, these have acted as reservoirs, reason alone, study of the biological sciences is more important
absorbing the deluges of the rainy season and releasing the to humans than ever before.
water steadily into the rivers during the dry. Now we are
cutting down those forests, leaving in their place either bare, Ecological crisis—a global problem
ravaged earth or fields planted with crops that, in nearly all And the problems exist also on a global scale. Discharging
cases, fail after a few seasons. In both instances, the land poisonous industrial gases into midwestern skies affects trees
becomes covered with a thin scrub that cannot retain the water, and lakes in Canada. Cutting down the rain forest in Brazil
either in the substance of its wood and leaves, or in the soil, affects the rainfall across the entire continent of South America.
which is only feebly held together by the thin roots. So the soil Felling coniferous trees for firewood in Nepal, on the flanks of
erodes and the land becomes alternately ravaged by floods and the Himalayas, causes devastating floods at the mouth of the
baked dry into a desert. The moisture that once rose in such Ganges in Bangladesh. So no nation can, by itself, solve the
quantities from the forest canopy to form clouds no longer does environmental problems that are likely to afflict it.
so. The whole pattern of rainfall over the continent is disrupted. Environmental catastrophe is not just a vague threat. In parts
We are changing the global climate in another way, too. Our of Africa it has already arrived and brought starvation and death
industries, for the past two or three centuries, have drawn their to millions. Its looming shadow elsewhere has now become so
power from carbon compounds that accumulated deep in the threatening that nations all around the world are beginning to
Earth’s crust as oil and coal. When we burn these fuels, we realize that they must cooperate to save themselves. So maybe
produce from them a gas, carbon dioxide. This accumulates in the deepening ecological crisis will bring the unexpected boon of
the atmosphere and forms a screen that acts like a pane of glass making the nations forget at last the quarrels and wars that were
in a greenhouse. It allows the sun’s rays to pass through it, but the greatest disasters of the past and lead them to join together
it reflects back the heat those rays produce when they strike the to forestall the even greater disaster that could lie ahead.

13s
 Human
origins
The first and most important step in boisei, remained more lightly built and
human evolution away from the apes was fed on a greater diversity of food. Con¬
quite literally a step, for our distinctive¬ temporary deposits show that one or per¬
ness began with the development of a haps both types started to use primitive
more upright posture and a bipedal stride. stone tools about two and a half million
The evolutionary advantage in that years ago.
change, which took place some five mil¬ Our own genus, Homo, evolved from
lion years ago, could well have been the another early hominoid Australopithecus
freeing o£ the hands for carrying food back afarensis a little over two million years ago.
to the family or tribal group. So from the Taller and with a larger brain and more
very start, the evolution of our species upright posture, Homo erectus coexisted
may have been associated with our social with the australopithecines for some time
habits. before its predecessors became extinct.
These people made technological, and
The role of climatic change presumably social, progress. Their tools
There is now little doubt that humans first became more sophisticated and they
appeared in Africa, and much of our early learned to use fire, developments which
evolution occurred in response to the cli¬ made existing environments more pro¬
matic changes that took place there ductive and opened up new ones to
between ten million and four million years habitation. Early humans began to spread
ago. The great Antarctic ice cap expand¬ out of Africa into cooler lands. By 700,000
ed, and the climate of eastern and central years ago, Homo erectus people had trav¬
Africa became drier. The forests in which eled into Europe, to China and Southeast
apes had flourished contracted and were Asia, and even to the most northern parts
replaced by grasslands. These supported a of Eurasia.
great variety of bovid herbivores, such as Our own species, Homo sapiens, evolved
antelopes, wildebeests, and gazelles, and in Africa from Homo erectus about 250,000
many carnivores such as leopards, chee¬ years ago. In fact, several distinct types of
tahs, lions, hyenas, and hunting dogs. Homo sapiens seem to have succeeded one ivory—many were clearly used for prepar¬
This was the environment in which our another. At least some of the earliest ing plant food, for hunting anc^butchering
ancestors had to survive. They were prob¬ European fossils belong to a “Nean¬ animals, and for transforming their skins
ably omnivorous, gathering vegetable derthal” type, which was stockily built, into clothing for warmth.
foods—leaves, seeds, fruits, berries, and large-brained, with a rather protruding
roots—together with insects, grubs, and nose and jaws and heavy brow ridges Colonizing the globe
the like. They probably also ate large above the eyes. It was as gatherers and hunters that these
mammals, but we cannot tell whether they But for the origins of modern Homo developing peoples colonized the globe
obtained meat by hunting or by scaveng¬ sapiens we must look once again to Africa. and adapted to its climates. By 35,000 to
ing from the carcasses left by the The oldest fossils of this kind are about 40,000 years ago, modern humans had
carnivores. 100,000 years old and have been found in spread throughout Eurasia and into Aus¬
eastern and southern Africa; the next tralia. It is likely that the New World was
The first humans spread of people out of Africa started colonized from Asia shortly afterward,
The earliest known member of our lineage about 10,000 years later. Studies of today’s across the land bridge that then connected
is Australopithecus ramidus, who lived in biochemical and genetic differences, such Siberia with Alaska. The last spots on
East Africa four to five million years ago. as those found in our blood groups and Earth to be peopled were the isolated
Over the next three million years, two DNA, lend support to this picture. islands of the Pacific, which were reached
types began to diverge from this ancestral To begin with, migration seems to have only in the last few thousand years.
stock but continued to live side by side. been slow. Life in these northern, cooler The next great chapters in human pre¬
One line, including Paranthropus robustus, lands, with less game to hunt and a more history involved the tilling of the earth,
developed heavy muscular jaws and pow¬ seasonal supply of plant food, demanded the “agricultural revolutions” that seem to
erful crushing teeth in order to eat the invention of a more complex array have taken place independently in differ¬
tougher roots, tubers, and nuts. The of tools. Of those that have survived-— ent parts of the world from about 10,000
other, which included Paranthropus mostly the ones made of flint, bone, and years ago onward.

136
 The human impact

Homo sapiens

Homo erectus When early humans

moved into different
Paranthropus robustus environments away from
Africa, they gradually
adapted to new conditions.
Northern peoples lost
much of the skin pigment,
which was a barrier to
sunlight, thereby allowing
the body to produce more
vitamin D. Narrow eyes
protected people from sun
glare in desert or
snowfield, and rounder,
fat-padded faces gave
better protection against
the cold.

The spread of humans

The agricultural
revolutions that
began about 10,000
years ago led to
further movements
of human populations.
One wave of expansion
was that of farming
peoples through
Europe and India.
Another wave
pushed into
northern Africa as
far as the equator,
forcing the original
inhabitants southward.
The latter became
what are now
known as the Bantu
of southern Africa,
whose own
agricultural
revolution took
place only about
2,000 years ago.

>37
 Origins of
agriculture
H unting wild animals and gathering
vegetable materials from their sur¬
roundings provided an adequate source of
food and clothing for human populations
until the beginning of the present inter¬
glacial 10,000 years ago.
Populations then began to grow and
people discovered the advantages of man¬
aging both habitats and wild plant and
animal species. This increased productiv¬
ity and thus eased the burden and risks of
hunting and gathering. A relationship
developed between human beings and
particular wild species of plants and ani¬
mals that has become almost symbiotic—a
mutual dependence.
Some animals, such as the wolf (dog),
shared the hunting habit and were dom¬
esticated early, during the last glacial
period. At about this time the productive
steppe grasslands of the Middle East,
Southeast Asia, and Central America sup¬
ported game animals and contained plant
species suitable for human exploitation.
The development of arable agriculture
started in these locations, with the collec¬
tion of wild seeds in open, mixed vegeta¬
tion. This led to the storage and sowing of
seeds in controlled conditions where water
could be supplied and harvesting was
made easier. The main centers of early
domestication are shown on
Many of the early domesticated plants
this map, together with the plant
were annual grasses, such as wheat, maize, and animal species involved.
and rice; these plants invest much of their When dates for the first
growth effort into the production of seed. domestication of particular
Annuals were well suited to the open animals and plants are known,
these are indicated by color-
grassland areas in which agriculture was
coded flags. Where dates are not
first pursued, where the habitat was un¬ known, centers are indicated by
stable and subject to catastrophe such as poles without flags.
drought, fire, and trampling by grazing
wild animals. Under such conditions an
opportunistic plant, such as an annual areas where they had used fire for driving simple. Rye probably first became known
grass, can thrive. Its optimal strategy is a game. Habitat management by fire would to agricultural humans as a weed species
short lifespan, rapid growth and maturity, have proved valuable both in the improve¬ of wheat crops. Some of the early domes¬
and the production of as much seed as ment of the grassland for grazing and in ticated animals, such as sheep and goats,
possible. The rich store of carbohydrates the encouragement of seed-producing an¬ may have been captured raiding the prim¬
and proteins in the seeds made them very nuals. From this it was a short step to the itive cereal fields. Wheat, barley, and
attractive to the humans who hunted game investment of some of the gathered seed in lentils were probably domesticated at least
on these grasslands. the sowing of a crop for the following year. 9,000-11,000 years ago but possibly as
No doubt they discovered that these Once the idea of maintaining a species long as 18,000 years ago. Rice was prob¬
annual, opportunistic plants were most under close control had developed, the ably domesticated as long as 10,000-
successful around their settlements and in adoption of new species would have been 15,000 years ago.

138
 African rice 0
\ Sorghum •
Pearl millet 0
Finger millet 0
Yam 0
/atermelon 0
Cowpea 9
Coffee 0

Selective breeding of the most produc¬ crop plants took a long time. In Europe,
tive types of domesticated plants came where it is well documented, the expan¬
under human control; those individuals sion of farming beyond the Mediterranean
most suitable for cultivation were favored region may have been limited by the need
and perpetuated. In annual species, such to clear heavy forest farther north in order
as cereals, squash, peas, beans, and lentils, to grow crops. Barley, for example, was
selective breeding could proceed quite cultivated in the Middle East more than
quickly and crop improvements would 9,000 years ago. It reached southeast
have been rapid. Europe around 7,000, northwest Europe
The spread of the agricultural idea and about 6,000 and Britain 5,000 years ago—
of the raw materials in the form of seeds of hardly a rapid spread.
The story
of wheat

O ne of the most familiar crops in tem¬

perate areas of the world is wheat, the
grasses of the genus Triticum, all found in
western Asia and around the eastern edge
The number of chromosomes in wheat
cells provides invaluable clues to the way
descendant of wild grasses from the Mid¬ of the Mediterranean. They can be in which this staple crop has developed.
dle East. First brought into cultivation divided into groups based on the type of And from species to species, the number
many thousands of years ago, bread wheat genetic material contained in their cells. of chromosomes differs. The smallest
(Triticum aestivum) has played an impor¬ Each cell of a plant or animal contains number found is 14 (seven pairs) in
tant role in the development of human genetic material (DNA) in its chromo¬ einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and some
civilization. But the story of its origins is somes (see pp. 16-17). The precise num¬ other wild species. Another group of
only just emerging. ber of chromosomes varies from species to wheats, which includes emmer (77
Exactly when wheat was first culti¬ species. turgidum), has 28 chromosomes. The
vated, rather than just gathered from the In a mature plant cell there are two sets modern cultivated wheat (77 aestivum) has
wild, is difficult to determine. Some of the of chromosomes (2N), one set from each 42 chromosomes, three times the number
oldest archaeological finds of wheat grains parent. When pollen grains or egg cells in of the primitive species.
are from Egypt and date from about the ovary are formed, the two sets separate Precisely how these groups of wheats
18,000 years ago. The location of these and each pollen grain or egg contains only are related is as yet unclear, but geneticists
finds, far south in the Nile Valley, is well one set (N). When the two reproductive have produced a likely scheme of
outside the probable wild range of the structures fuse together after pollination evolution (right). Einkorn and other
original species, and the remains are there¬ and fertilization, they make a cell with two primitive wheats with a low chromosome
fore likely to be domestic. sets of chromosomes (2N) from which the number were the first of the wild wheats.
There are about 20 species of wild seed develops. If two of them, such as einkorn and

140
 The human impact

T. speltoide's (14)

Triticum ovatum (14)

Elgtrigia juncea (28)

Triticum triunciale (14)

Triticum ventricosum j( 14)

Bread wheat (left and above) Selective breeding produced Wild relatives of wheat and
has been derived from the today’s robust bread wheat, with barley still grow in disturbed
crossbreeding of several different its 42 chromosomes, from the soils in the Middle East. They
species of wild grasses of the primitive wheats, with 14. contain genetic traits of value to
genus Triticum. (Chromosome numbers follow- modern wheat breeders.
each name.)

T. searsii, interbred, the hybrid (still with robust and successful, with a better yield
14 chromosomes) would have been able to of grain than the primitive wheat. It was
grow but not reproduce. Because their spread throughout Europe in prehistoric
parents were too different, the chromo¬ times and is still cultivated in parts of the About 20,000 cultivated
somes would not behave correctly during Middle East. But in Iran, some 8,000 varieties of bread wheat
the production of pollen and egg cells, and years ago, the next step in wheat evolution now exist as a result of
the hybrid would have been sterile. occurred. There the 28-chromosome selective breeding.
What happened next was an evolution¬ emmer wheat met up with another wild Yet there are still many
ary event that overcame the sterility prob¬ wheat species (T. tauschii), with 14 chro¬ ways of improving strains
lem. The number of chromosomes in each mosomes like emmer’s parents. The to help them cope with
cell doubled, so that there were two sets emmer interbred with the wild species, certain conditions.
from each parent instead of one. Pollen and another sterile hybrid resulted, with Conservation of wild
and eggs could form successfully, but each 21 chromosomes (14 from emmer and 7 wheats is vital. The genes
reproductive cell now contained 14, rather from T. tauschii). Once again the sterility they have developed in
than 7, chromosomes. The adult hybrid, problem was overcome by an increase in response to pressure in
formed as a result of a 14-chromosome chromosome numbers. The chromosome the wild—grazing, pests,
pollen cell and a 14-chromosome egg cell, number doubled to 42 to produce the fer¬ disease, and drought—are
had 28 (4N). tile hybrid bread wheat (T. aestivum), invaluable in helping
The fertile hybrid wheat, emmer (T. highly productive and full of vigor and modify and strengthen
turgidum), with 28 chromosomes, was variety, that is used today. modern wheat.

141
Domesticated
animals
A s humans moved out of the warm,
tropical lands where they had evolved
companion animals. By favoring those that
barked readily, they could also use them to
from the Asiatic mouflon sheep
bezoar goat; cattle from the aurochs, or
and

into cooler, more temperate regions, they warn of the approach of predators or ene¬ wild ox, that roamed through southern
found fewer animals to hunt. And as mies. The earliest trace of a domesticated Europe and Asia; and the useful scaveng¬
people became more numerous, and more animal is a dog’s jawbone about 12,000 ing pig from wild boar living in the
proficient hunters, this scarcity must have years old, found in a cave in Iraq. forests. Even horses and donkeys may
become more significant. The ability to The earliest evidence of the cat’s associ¬ originally have been kept for milk or meat,
rear and keep animals soon became an ation with humans is in Egyptian tomb but it is likely that their usefulness in
important factor in survival; and the tribes paintings of 3,500 years ago. Cats have pulling carts and carrying loads soon
that acquired the skill to do this must have long been domestic pets, providing plea¬ became apparent.
gained a marked advantage over their less sure and companionship; their useful role In North America, people were less for¬
well-provisioned neighbors. in a domestic setting has, however, been tunate. The horse became extinct there
largely limited to controlling pest popula¬ about 8,000 years ago, and the only large
Selective breeding tions of mice and rats. grazing mammal was the bison—which
Once animals were domesticated, human Domestication on any scale requires has never been tamed. But in South
control over them extended beyond their that animals have a social pattern of America, the mountains were inhabited by
use for meat and milk, wool and hides, to behavior so they can be raised in flocks the guanaco, a fast, agile, thick-coated rel¬
their breeding. And by selective breeding and herds. They must also be reasonably ative of the camel. Domesticated about
humans were eventually able to manipu¬ placid, so that they can be controlled and 4,500 years ago and used for food, wool,
late an animal’s physical characteristics to confined without danger to the herdsman. and as a draft animal, its descendants are
emphasize those that they could best But permanent systems for keeping and the llama and alpaca.
exploit. This was possible because factors breeding domestic animals for food Today the descendants of the first
such as size, thickness of coat, size of jaw, became practicable only when people domesticated animals range widely
teeth, or horns, and type of meat or fat are became settled agriculturists. Evidence throughout the world, though climate and
all under genetic control. Indeed, this way suggests that this occurred some 13,000 parasites still make it difficult to breed
of producing totally different breeds of an years ago in the Fertile Crescent of the them in tropical Africa. Many indigenous
animal was part of the evidence for evolu¬ Middle East, where there was an overlap herbivores are, however, successful there.
tion by natural selection that Charles Dar¬ in the natural ranges of the earliest live¬ These include the buffalo, oryx, and eland
win set out in his classic book The Origin stock: sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs. The as well as relatives of the pig such as the
of Species. quantity of bones found near such early warthog, bushpig, and forest hog. Perhaps
Domestication probably began with the settlements indicates that these animals these animals, already adapted to life in
rearing as pets of the small young of adults were a reliable source of food. the African tropics may in the future pro¬
that had been hunted and killed. And By about 8,500 years ago, several vide domesticated breeds to help supply
since humans began as hunters, it is not mammals of Eurasia had been domesti¬ food for people on that continent.
surprising that the first animal to be tamed cated for their meat or milk. Today’s
was the dog. By rearing wolf cubs and sheep and goats are probably descended
establishing themselves as “pack leaders,”
as it were, people domesticated them as

Domestic breeds
Dogs are thought to be the first animals
to have been tamed and domesticated.
The earliest evidence dates back some
12,000 years, when tamed wolf cubs were
probably used as companions and to warn
of approaching danger.
By breeding dogs to meet particular
needs, humans subsequently developed
different types for hunting, herding, and
protection. Today more than 200 breeds
are recognized.

I42
 The human impact

A heavily laden
horse struggles across
a glacier in the
Karakoram mountain
range in Central Asia.
For at least 5,000 years
horses and mules have
been used to pull or
carry burdens—
including humans.

Cairn terrier

Golden retriever

143
Feeding
the world
H umans are just one of the many mil¬
lions of animal species inhabiting the
ecosystems, human beings at present
divert 5.5 percent directly for their use.
percent of production is lost to the world
through land degradation by urbanization,
surface of the Earth. Like all the others, we This may be as food, forage for domestic dereliction, and desertification. Thus
are ultimately dependent on how much animals, for energy used in cooking, or in almost a half (45.5 percent) of the Earth’s
sunlight can be trapped and converted timber for construction. terrestrial primary production is diverted
into energy by plants, and how much of At the same time, however, we waste as by one species—our own.
that energy can be diverted into the food much as 34.6 percent of the Earth’s pro¬
chains on which we depend for survival. duction. A large proportion of forest bio¬ Energy: input and output
The whole globe is one massive eco¬ mass is never harvested; large areas of The supply of food energy to humanity is
system, and it can only maintain a finite pastoral grassland are never grazed by far from evenly distributed through the
number of people. Of the total terrestrial domestic animals, and much of our arable world. Food is overproduced in some
productivity from natural and agricultural produce is never consumed. Another 5.4 areas (mainly temperate) and under-

144
 The human impact

produced in others (mainly tropical). In and harvesting. Fertilizers and pesticides Use of the Earth’s terrestrial productivity
Africa, India, and Pakistan, for example, demand much industrial energy in their
food consumption per person per day manufacture. Transportation, preparation, 5.4% Degraded land 34.6% Lost timber
Desertification Unused grass and
represents 60 percent of the calorie intake and packaging of food also need fuel. For
Urbanization Dereliction arable land
and only 50 percent of the protein intake potatoes the amount of energy expended
of people in North America and Western in these ways is only slightly less than that
Europe. obtained in the food. Potato growing can
In modern intensive farming, much be seen as a method of converting fossil
energy is expended on growing a crop. fuel to starch.
Machinery is fueled by gasoline and is And if the input of energy into animal
needed for plowing, planting, spreading products is compared with the output, the
fertilizers and pesticides, and for irrigating ratio is far worse: to produce one egg, for
example, costs five times as much as its
This is one of many own energy value in fossil fuels.
-experimental In the United States, about 10 times
growing methods
more energy (mainly in the form of fossil
being tested in
attempts to increase
fuels) is expended in agriculture than is Total: 45.5% diverted for human use

food production. Here, actually provided by that agriculture.

in the environmental By contrast, in “less advanced” cultures, A total of 45.5 percent of the world’s plant
research laboratory of such as the hunter-gatherers, the energy production on land is used by humans or wasted
the University of by human activity. Over 5 percent of potential
invested in food production is only about
Arizona, lettuces can production is lost either because that land has
one-fifth to one-tenth that extracted. been destroyed by urbanization or because
be produced without
sun, rain, or soil. They Primitive agriculture, such as wet rice mismanagement has led to desertification.
are growing in a production in Southeast Asia, is even
tunnel that rotates more energy efficient, with up to 50 times
around an inner source more extracted than expended.
of light
But low-intensity, low-productivity
agriculture can only be economical in
areas where labor is cheap and there are
fewer people to support per unit area
of land cultivated. Increasing populations
in the developing world have made
improving agricultural production one of
humankind’s most pressing problems.

Biotechnology
Flope for the future comes from two main
areas of research. The first involves bring¬
ing new species—many of them as yet
unexploited—into cultivation. The sec¬
ond, biotechnology, will speed up breed¬
ing processes and furnish new crop
varieties with novel genetic constitutions
able to withstand the environmental diffi¬
culties of the developing world.
The wild genes of ancestral plants play
an essential role in these developments—
for we cannot make genes, only shuffle
them. In fact, the unique genetic packages
contained in wild plants and animals must
be one of the strongest arguments for bio¬
logical conservation.

'45
The spread
of weeds
A weed is essentially a plant pest, and
the term may be used to describe any
minor) consists of small, disklike plates
floating on water. Each of these can give
Many weeds, such as poppies, have seeds
with long viability in the soil; these may
plant growing where it is not wanted. It rise to daughter disks, so that a pond or keep a bank of dormant seeds that can ger¬
may be an herb such as groundsel or rag¬ waterway soon becomes covered with the minate rapidly when conditions are right.
wort in an arable field, an alien tree in a weed. The ideal weed must be relatively
managed forest, moss in a garden, or an Another successful weed strategy is fast insensitive to the conditions of its environ¬
aquatic plant blocking a waterway. growth. Couch grass {Elytrigia repens), a ment, for such tolerance will give it the
The successful weed has a variety of persistent weed of agricultural ground, greatest flexibility when invading. The
attributes. Fast reproduction is usually spreads rapidly by underground stems or only situation unfavorable to most weeds
necessary so that populations can be rhizomes. If these are broken up by plow¬ is one of heavy shade, so they tend to
increased as quickly as possible. Thus ing or digging, each fragment can grow establish themselves in less shaded, dis¬
most weeds, particularly annual species, into a new plant, spreading the weed turbed conditions, such as those produced
invest much effort in seed production. faster. by human activity.
The pineapple weed {Matricaria discoidea) Good dispersal is a valuable feature in a The species that are the weeds of today
can produce as many as 450 seeds on each weed, allowing it to invade a habitat ahead grew on the planet long before humans
flowering head. of other plants and gain an advantage. arrived, and thrived in naturally open, dis¬
Other weeds achieve rapid proliferation This may be achieved by seeds or by plant turbed habitats such as sand dunes, sea
by vegetative means. Duckweed {Lemna fragments that can grow into new plants. cliffs, river banks, and volcanic slopes.

One way of keeping crops weed-free is to

eliminate the seeds of weeds from the seed
store. In the past this was done by
winnowing—seeds were thrown across a floor
and those of similar weight and size landed
together. Some weeds adapted to this by
developing seeds similar to those of their host
crops, making it harder to separate the two
Gold of pleasure usually grows among flax
and has a seed that closely resembles that of
its host plant.

146
 T'he human impact

When humans first cleared areas of vege¬ supplied a wealth of weeds to the Old A common roadside
tation for agriculture, such open-habitat World—60 percent of the weed flora in weed in North America,
plants took advantage of the new, favor¬ Europe and 32 percent of that in Africa the pineapple weed
able conditions. originated there. (Matricaria matricarioides),
In agricultural situations, a trick of suc¬ probably first arrived
Traveling weeds cessful weeds is to mimic crop plants with there from northeast Asia.
Many weeds have thrived particularly which they grow in close association so Its seeds'adhere to mud
when transported far away from their that they are harvested with the crop. and hence to car tires. So
native homes by man. Saint-John’s wort Often such weeds include wild ancestors A huge raft of water the plant spread quickly
{Hypericum perforatum) has been a serious hyacinths in Malawi
of the crop species in question. The wild and efficiently with the
shows how this
pest in the prairies of North America but oat, for example, is a serious pest of cereal expansion of the road
tropical plant can
is not a problem in its native Europe. The crops because even seed screening cannot proliferate to such a system.
prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), a New differentiate between crop plant and weed. degree that it blocks From North America it
World cactus, is a successful weed of hot, With increased human mobility, weeds waterways and rivers. invaded Europe early in
dry climates in the Old World, notably In India and Africa
have also found it easier to travel. The the 20th century. There,
particularly, the water
Australia, where it was eventually con¬ plantains, cockleburs, and even ferns, such too, it spread dramatically
hyacinth (Eichornia
trolled by using an Argentinian moth that as the water fern Salvinia, have spread crassipes) has become with the increase in road
tunnels into its stems. North America has around the world in the wake of humans. a serious pest. traffic.

Some of the most

successful weeds are
unwittingly dispersed by
humans.
The thanet cress
(Cardaria draba), for
example, arrived in Britain
from the Mediterranean
region in 1809. It was
brought in the straw
bedding of injured soldiers
returning from Spain
during the Napoleonic
Wars. When a local farmer
plowed the bedding into
his fields as manure, the
plant became firmly
established.

147
Animal
pests
Red-billed queleas Life cycle of the mosquito
{Quelea quelea) nest
and fly together in
vast flocks, often more
than a million strong.
They can completely
destroy large areas of
crops.

Adult female
mosquitoes lay eggs
in freshwater. From
these eggs hatch
aquatic wingless larvae
that feed on bacteria.
The larvae pupate and
transform into winged
adults. These then
leave the water and
feed by sucking the
blood of vertebrate
hosts.

A n animal pest is an animal present in

large numbers in the wrong place at
only a domestic scale—one mouse in a
larder—or may occur on an industrial
generation span. Insects are small, so it
does not take them long to grow and reach
the wrong time, and considered harmful, level with, for example, massive infesta¬ reproductive maturity, which they do
damaging, or annoying by the humans tions of weevils in grain silos. through a series of larval development
who share its habitat. Any type of animal The final group do their damage prin¬ stages. In some insects, such as the mos¬
can be a pest; the trouble they cause can cipally by transmitting disease. Nearly all quito, these larval stages may not resemble
range from the minor irritation of a flock the vectors, as they are called, are insects, the adult at all, while the nymphal larvae
of sparrows picking off crocus buds in a and they infect humans and animals with of others, such as the cockroach, all look
garden, to the life-threatening bites of diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, very much like the adult. Whatever the
malaria-infected mosquitoes. plague, and sleeping sickness. larval development type, large numbers of
Animal pests fall into four main cate¬ Almost all serious animal pests, like offspring are produced with extreme
gories. First are those that can harm most plant pests (or weeds), have a high rapidity.
humans or their farmed animals. Ven¬ reproductive potential. And this ability to
omous snakes, spiders, and insects come multiply rapidly gives them the power to A bird pest
into this group, as do the biting flies, bot¬ cause harm at significant levels; it also As a rule, other noninsect types of stored
flies, screw worm flies, midges, and mos¬ makes controlling them more difficult. product and crop-devouring pests also
quitoes, whose bites are irritating, painful, Many of the most serious pests are have high reproductive rates. Mice and
or can cause skin damage. Second are insects. They are the most diverse animal rats live in this way and are among the
pests that destroy or damage crops by group—there are millions of different most rapidly breeding mammals; the
consuming them or by reducing their species—and they can adapt to almost any quelea is a remarkable example of a pest
growth. These include eelworm plant conceivable niche. More than anything, bird with this characteristic.
nematodes, caterpillars, locusts, plant though, it is their facility for rapid popula¬ An African bird, about 5 in long, the
bugs, hoppers, and aphids, as well as birds tion expansion that makes insect pests red-billed quelea, or dioch, is related to
such as pigeons and queleas. such awesome foes, for a female may pro¬ the weaver birds. From earliest times it
duce a new generation within a few days. has been recognized as a devastating pest
Stored product pests Thus, insects can respond terrifyingly fast of grain crops such as millet, sorghum,
A third and extremely important group to new nutritional opportunities. More¬ and wheat. Its breeding rate is extremely
has a great economic impact in all parts of over, any control measures must have high, with many broods in a season, and it
the world. These are the stored product an extermination rate of close to ioo of is also highly gregarious—both factors
pests that consume stored human food. percent if they are to have any chance that contribute to its pest status. When the
The main culprits are insects and small of success. flocks are on the wing, they have been
rodents, and their depredations may be on The smaller an animal, the shorter its likened to swarms of migrating locusts.

148
 The human impact

Stored product pests

Grain, flour, and other

foodstuffs stored by humans
provide a plentiful source of
nourishment for a wide range
of animals. These are known
collectively as stored product
pests, and while the term
includes rats and mice, most
are insects. They attack a
variety of foods the domestic
booklouse alone, for example,
infests 50 different types, as
well as books, paper, and other
nonfood substances.

Flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella)

Oriental cockroach (6/otto orientalis)

Booklouse (Liposcelis)
Controlling
pests
A lmost 3 million people die each year
from malarial infections, all spread by
River blindness and the blackfly The distributions of
the disease known as
river blindness and the
mosquitoes. Often 10-30 percent of a food
river-breeding blackfly
crop, or even more, will be lost to pest
that transmits it largely
insects in the field and to stored product coincide, as seen here
pests after harvest. The magnitude of in Africa.
these human and commercial losses has In part of West
stimulated far-ranging research efforts to Africa a major control
scheme has been in
find ever better ways of controlling pests.
operation since 1974.
The diversity of approaches to control Rivers in the area have
is great, but almost all fall into one of three been sprayed with
categories—chemical, environmental, or chemical insecticide to
biological. The technology of effective kill the blackfly larvae.
pest control is, however, fraught with dif¬
ficulties, inevitable when the target is
0 Control zone
resilient and adaptable and breeds rapidly.
□ Distribution of blackfly

9 Incidence of onchocerciasis
A parasitic disease (river blindness)
Both the diversity and the difficulties
inherent in such an enterprise are clearly
demonstrated by the attempt to eradicate
the disease known as river blindness, or
onchocerciasis. This is caused by the
nematode Onchocerca, a tiny roundworm.
A high proportion of the 15 million suffer¬
ers, who carry the worms in their bodies,
endure persistently itching skin and pro¬ Blackflies (Simulium) are that cause river blindness.
small biting insects that feed Blackfly eggs are laid in
gressive eye damage, leading to blindness,
on human blood. In parts of rivers, and the developing
often by the age of 30. The disease is
Africa, as they feed they may larvae attach themselves to
passed on through an intermediary, the transmit from person to stones or vegetation under
blood-feeding, biting blackfly, Simulium. person the nematode worms the water.
From the blood of an infected person, it
takes larval parasitic worms into its own in an area covering about 400,000 sq miles problem has been countered since 1986 by
body, where they rapidly develop into new in eleven countries including Benin, Burk¬ extending the scheme into eastern Mali,
larvae. The next time the blackfly bites ina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Guinea Bissau, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.
and feeds, another person is infected. Niger, and Togo. More than 12,400 miles Another problem arose when some local
The distribution of the disease is tied to of rivers are at present covered by the pro¬ blackfly populations developed a resis¬
the distribution of the blackfly host, found gram, which employs a variety of strate¬ tance to temephos; this necessitated a
in a band stretching across Africa, in the gies. switch to a different insecticide.
Yemen, and in Central America. In all The flies have been attacked by spray¬ An unorthodox biological control agent
these places, close to the rivers where the ing a highly specific organophosphorus has also been used. This consists of the
blackflies breed, the disease is present in insecticide, temephos, in carefully moni¬ commercially produced spores of an
human populations. tored amounts into the rivers. The spray¬ insect-killing bacterium, which will, in
In West Africa, a massive and sustained ing is done from the air as well as by theory, perpetuate itself by growing inside
effort—the Onchocerciasis Control Pro¬ ground teams. Since the program began, the flies and killing them. Environmental
gram, or OCP—is being made to erad¬ blackfly breeding has almost ceased in the control measures, too, have been intro¬
icate the blackfly. It was started in 1974 central parts of the control zone. This has duced: the design of spillways and canal
and continues to the present day; funding stopped all new onchocerciasis infections and dam walls has been altered so that lar¬
has been provided by the World Bank, the in children in that area. vae cannot easily attach themselves to
World Health Organization, and the Food The program, however, ran into some them. This disrupts the development and
and Agricultural Organization. They aim difficulties. Blackflies can enter the control breeding pattern of the flies. A preventa¬
to curtail blackfly breeding in all the rivers area from outside, but this “edge effect” tive drug, mectizan, is now available.
 The human impact

Several plant species

produce chemicals that
protect them from
herbivorous insects. Some,
for example, manufacture
substances that mimic the
hormones controlling
insect molting and
development.
Industrial chemists,
using these “false
hormones" as starting
points, have produced
insecticides that inhibit or
disrupt pest insect
development. Their great
advantage is that they are
entirely specific and have
no harmful effects on
other organisms.

The flowers of the

The screw worm A subtle form of biological control has chrysanthemum genus
been used in the United States to combat Tanacetum are the
the screw worm fly, a cattle pest. Female source of a group of
flies mate once only, then lay their eggs on natural insecticides
(pyrethrum) that are
the skin of a cow. The fertilized eggs
among the most
contain the maggotlike larvae (screw efficient known.
worms) which, when they hatch, bore
through the cow’s hide to feed on its flesh.
Here, the larvae pupate and eventually
emerge as adult flies through the hide.
The “sterile male” control technique
has been successfully used against the fly.
Millions of males, bred on an industrial
scale, are exposed to a dose of gamma
radiation that renders their sperm sterile.
When they are released, these sterile males
mate with local females. The eggs are not
Female7 Male
fertilized and so do not hatch. This greatly
reduces the fly’s breeding success.

15
 Traveling with
humans
of range by: abundant food but free of the predators and
2000 parasites of its normal range. Such fortu¬
1955 nate intruders are then likely to run ram¬
1950 pant, building up enormous numbers and
1945 upsetting the balance of their adoptive
1940 ecosystem. Imported species account for
1935 around 60 percent of agriculture’s most
1930 serious pests and 20 percent of all mammal
*<?
European starling 1925 and bird extinctions over the last 400 years.
1920 Eventually a new balance would probably
1915
evolve, but the time needed is likely to be
1910
many thousands of years longer than the
1905
mere handful needed to destroy some
The European starling species or to bring financial ruin to farmers.
(Sturnus vulgaris) was first The earliest known example of the
introduced into North transportation of an animal by humans is
America in 1891 when 100 that of the dingo. This domesticated vari¬
birds were released in
ety of the sheepdog of India was brought to
Central Park, New York.
Only 50 years later these
Australia more than 3,000 years ago by
adaptable birds had spread aboriginal colonizers. It was probably
over most of the country. responsible for the extinction of its native
Australian equivalent, the thylacine wolf.
A s humans have spread throughout the
world they have carried animals and
usually means that new¬
comers are confronted by
Today, though it preys mainly on kanga¬
roos, wallabies, and rats, the dingo also kills
plants along with them. Sometimes this a highly efficient “closed shop.” For exam¬ significant numbers of sheep and calves.
is done intentionally, to provide food, ple, of over 100 species of birds introduced For this reason efforts have long been
fur, sport, or visual delight. Often it is acci¬ into Britain, only four have established made to control the population by shooting
dental—rats and mice, for example, have themselves over a wide area—the Asian or trapping animals, dropping poisoned
spread all over the world as unseen passen¬ pheasant, the redlegged partridge, the little meat from the air, and erecting a supposed¬
gers on ships. owl, and the Canada goose. ly “dingo-proof’ fence that stfetched hun¬
The introduction of new organisms into dreds of miles across the country.
an environment is risky. The host ecosys¬ Disturbing the balance Australia and New Zealand, both of
tem has evolved a natural balance in which On the other hand, a species that can find a which remained relatively isolated for so
the numbers of any animal or plant species vacant niche within the host community or long, have been particularly vulnerable to
are controlled by the abundance of its food, can displace an existing member of that the introduction of new species. The Euro¬
predators, parasites, and competitors. This community may find itself not only with pean rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, for exam-

Prickly pears (Opuntia spp.) were

first introduced into Australia from Caterpillar
the United States in 1839 as
interesting garden plants. But
conditions were so favorable that
Cinnabar moth (Cactoblastis cactorum)
they spread rapidly and by the
1920s occupied some 50 million
acres. One of the reasons for their
success was that their normal I A-*J
► apt -
predator—the caterpillar of the — *i ■; cf
cinnabar moth—was absent. Once
introduced, the caterpillars cleared
the prickly pear from more than 95
Prickly pear (Opuntia sp.) percent of the affected area.

152
 The human impact

pie, first arrived in Australia only 200 years

ago, with the prickly pear cactus Opuntia
spp. following shortly after. Both quickly
achieved pest status.
In addition to rabbits, imports into New
Zealand that have reached pest numbers
include the European red deer (elk). Intro¬
duced in 1851 for sport and food, it now
causes great damage to forests and com¬
petes with grazing livestock.

Two-way traffic
The opening up of North and South
America to European travelers brought
about a reciprocal “trade” involving thou¬
sands of species of animals and plants. The
muskrat and nutria were introduced into
Europe for farming of their pelts, but many
escaped and established themselves in new
wetland habitats.
Examples of transmission in the oppo¬
site direction include the European star¬
ling, whose invasion of North America has
been mapped with great precision, and the
brilliantly colored fireweed, no\Y wide¬
spread in South America.
Some plants and animals have fared
even better by their association with human
travel. Spectacular examples include the
now-ubiquitous European sparrow, at
home in environments as diverse as Elawaii,
the Falkland Islands, and northern Euro¬
pean cities; and the South American water
hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), which has
become a menace to navigation, fishing, and
irrigation schemes throughout the tropics. The dingo (Cams dingo) was first taken to Australia
by humans some 3,000 years ago.

When European rabbits

were brought to Australia,
they spread so rapidly
that they soon became the
worst pest the country had
ever known. In 1950 the
virus disease myxomatosis
was introduced; it killed
90 percent of the rabbit
population in a short time,
effectively bringing it
under control.

1 I Natural distribution
□ Naturalized distribution

153
City
living
Brown rat
lives in sewers and

A s the human population has grown to

its present total of more than six bil¬
basements and an/where
it can find food

lion, more and more of the Earth’s surface Bat

roosts in tops of buildings
(around 2 percent) has been covered by and attics; feeds on insects
towns and cities. This built environment, that cluster around street
known as the urban biome, must now be lighting

considered an identifiable habitat for

plants and animals.
The animals that have taken advantage
of this special habitat are an intriguing
mixture of species: silverfish, mice, rats,
squirrels, foxes, raccoons, opossums, and
flocks of starlings, for example. They are
mostly characterized by their ability to
make use of a wide range of resources
relating to food, shelter, and survival, and Parakeet
roosts in warm air ducts in
each animal has adapted to the city in its North American cities
own particular way.
The disadvantages of city life are clear,
including massive human interference,
a relative lack of natural vegetation and
soil surface, and pollution. The main
Fox
advantages are less obvious—new shelters, suburban colonizer, feeds
new food sources, and new microcli¬ on human garbage
mates—but they are of great significance
to an adaptable animal.
A city provides an abundance of shelter
and nest sites. Houses have spaces under
the floorboards, in cavity walls, and in the
roof area; streets have underground cable
ducting, pipes, and sewers; while roofs,
walls, and windowsills provide what
amounts to a cliff habitat full of crevices.
For some animals the use is casual; for
others it has become their preferred way
of living. Swifts nest on buildings, and
house mice are found only in human habi¬
tations. This binding of animals to
Raccoon
humans can become a defining character¬
suburban colonizer, feeds
istic. On the west coast of America, Brew¬ on human garbage
er’s blackbirds have taken up residence in
shopping malls, feeding in restaurants. animals: there can be few European and close to the center of Paris, New York,
Human populations store huge North American suburbs without bird- Toronto, Amsterdam, Stockholm, and
amounts of food and throw away large feeders. The extra, high-energy foods London. Lying low during the day in a
quantities of edible refuse; both sources placed in them can have a considerable den under a garden shed, for instance, and
are exploited by city-dwelling animals impact on the survival of city birds in foraging in gardens and waste ground at
such as rats, mice, cockroaches, weevils, harsh winter conditions. night, it has adapted well to city life.
and flour beetles. Although regarded as Other new food resources available in As well as providing new food sources
pests, these animals are simply utilizing cities have indirectly made the transfer and types of shelter, in cool temperate and
the superabundance of food provided by from rural to urban living easy for animals cold climates the city protects animals
humans. Societies with food surpluses such as the red fox. This intelligent, from the winter weather. Some animals
even provide food specifically for wild adaptable omnivore can now be sighted can find their way into warmed houses.
 The human impact

Tawny owl
roosts in buildings

Blackbird House sparrow

Pharaoh ant
nests anywhere in cities only nests in buildi
lives under flooring in
where there is a patch of opportunistic
large centrally heated
vegetation; tolerates feeder
buildings such as hospitals
human disturbance

Swift
nests in crannies in
buildings

Silverfish
primitive wingless insect;
feeds on detritus in
buildings

Furniture beetle
wood-boring beetle
adapted to feeding on
indoor wood

Flea
larvae of human and
domestic animal fleas
develop inside buildings

Housefly
worldwide insect pest;
feeds on any organic
material and spreads
bacterial contamination

House spider
traps other house insects
with its web

Others find a haven in city streets, which, mammals and birds is better there than in A range of animal
owing to heat leaks from buildings, are the country, and why city birds start to species, from racoons
to fleas, has become
significantly warmer than the surrounding breed earlier than their counterparts in the
adapted to an urban
countryside. In addition, the mass of country. environment. The
buildings reduces wind speed and hence One telling set of statistics sums up the illustration shows a
the wind chill factor. Indeed, the mass of advantages of the city. After almost a selection of such
brick and concrete acts like a huge storage month of exceedingly cold weather and species and indicates
some of the advantages
device, warming up during the day and snow cover in London in 1968, city black¬
they gain from life in
slowly releasing heat at night. This “heat birds (a type of thrush) weighted 5 oz on
towns and cities.
island” aspect of a city may explain why average, while those in woodlands outside
the winter survival rate of warm-blooded London weighed only 3 oz.

55
The spread
deserts
I n only 70 years, between 1882 and 1952,
the proportion of the Earth’s land sur¬
face classified as desert rose from 9.4 to
23.3 percent. With desert still spreading
today, it is vital to discover why the
process is taking place—whether it is due
to climate or is a consequence of human
mismanagement. Changing climate and, in
The areas affected are mostly the semi- some areas, overgrazing are
arid lands around the fringes of the great putting the arid and semi-arid
deserts. Plants can grow in semi-arid lands on extreme desert fringes
under stress. The map shows
areas, and humans can make a living
the large areas of the World in
largely by keeping domestic grazing ani¬ danger of becoming true desert
mals. But in the last few decades much of if present conditions continue.
this land has suffered drought, and the
vegetation has been degraded by over- The reason for the current drought in
grazing to such an extent that the land has Africa may fie in the strength of the wind
become desert. patterns in temperate Europe. When the
Even some of the older desert areas “jet stream” of air over Europe is weak it
were not always so, and there is plenty of brings winter rain to the Mediterranean,
evidence of how conditions have changed but it prevents the penetration of mon¬
in the long term. Many deserts, such as soon winds and rain from the south into
the Negev in Israel, have deep canyons the desert regions of Africa and of north¬
running through them; their presence west India; so drought results.
suggests there was formerly a considerable ■ Extreme desert
□ Arid zones
flow of water. Pollen analysis of the sedi¬ The human factor
Areas at risk of
ment from ancient lake sites in the Desertification is not only a consequence further desertification
Rajasthan Desert in India shows that some of climatic change. The human contribu¬
6,000-9,000 years ago these were not only tion has been considerable. Economic
flourishing freshwater lakes, they were pressures cause herdsman to attempt to
also surrounded by a relatively rich vege¬ maintain large stocks of sheep and goats,
tation. There are similar indications in even during drought. South of the Sahara
many other deserts that in the early part of political boundaries have prevented the
the present interglacial their climate was free migration of herds with the changing
far wetter than it is now. rainfall and vegetation patterns, and this
A weak jet
Although meteorological records for has exacerbated the overgrazing problem. [ stream circulation
deserts do not date back long, they indi¬ It is clear that the global climate is holds back the
cate that there have been profound changing, resulting in poorer rainfall in northward
changes even in very recent times. many sensitive areas. Human pressures mov ement of
monsoon rains in
Records for the last 70 years from the through domestic animals place an unsup-
Africa and India.
Sudan in Africa show that there has been portable strain upon the stressed vegeta¬ ■
a drop of about 15 percent in annual rain¬ tion; and as plant life is progressively
fall since 1920. The decline has been most eliminated, the physical conditions of the
dramatic since i960 and is not getting bet¬ land deteriorate and desert becomes firmly
ter. Moving south of the Sahara, there is a established. Recovery is difficult but is
sharp, progressive decrease of about 1 in being achieved by afforestation schemes
for every 15 miles traveled. Such small in, for example, Israel and India.
shifts in rainfall pattern can have devastat¬ Meanwhile, changes are taking place in
ing effects. Here, drought spread south by the Earth’s atmosphere that are leading to
about 5.5 miles a year during the 1970s an increase in global temperatures (see pp.
and 80s. At the same time, winter rainfall 166-67). These are likely to accelerate the
in the Mediterranean has been increasing. course of desertification in the future. Monsoon rain belt held back

is6
 The human impact

A strong jet stream The rainfall

allows the monsoon pattern in the belt
rains to penetrate the south of the Sahara
arid zones of Africa Desert in Africa
and India. has changed
considerably during
the last half
century. Before
1960 rainfall was
generally above
average, but since
the mid-1960s it
has been well
below. The
diagram shows
departures from
normal figures
since 1940.

i '

157
The ancient
diseases
T racing the patterns and distribution
of the long list of infectious diseases
humans are prey to may seem a morbid
and negative exercise. The patterns of dis¬
ease do, however, provide fascinating indi¬
rect clues about the origins, travels, and
social development of humankind.
Although there is much overlap
between'the two, it is often convenient to
divide human infectious diseases into
ancient and recent categories. The ancient
diseases are those that have been problems
for hundreds of thousands, perhaps mil¬
lions, of years; the newer diseases are
those linked to more recent human history
and development.

Lifestyle and disease

To find out about ancient diseases, it is
necessary to understand the early evolu¬
tion of our species (see pp. 136-37). The
long-term diseases to inflict humankind
have been with us since these distant and
multiple origins. Those origins, and par¬
ticularly the emergence of the modern
subspecies of Homo sapiens about 100,000
years ago, all seem to have been rooted in
Africa.
Our subspecies grew up in an evolu¬
tionary cradle that was entirely tropical,
and that historical foundation of place and
climate determined the pattern of many of
our earliest diseases. These were, and
remain, the infections to which mobile
hunter-gatherers are susceptible: the bac¬
terial diseases caught from shared water-
holes, and the numerous diseases acquired
by close ecological contact with near rela¬ today humans share the major infectious the greatest diversity and density of
tive species and by the bites of blood¬ diseases such as yellow fever (caused by a insects, so in two quite distinct ways, the
sucking insects and ticks. virus) and some malarias (caused by pro¬ risks of insect-transmitted infectious dis¬
Close relatives among species share tozoan parasites) with tropical apes. Both eases have always been greater for humans
diseases; this truism is certainly borne out these diseases are spread from ape to ape, in the tropics. First, there were many
by the pattern of early human disease. from person to person, or between two insects to spread the diseases; second,
Most agents of infectious disease— species, by the bites of particular tropical humans shared the tropical habitat with
viruses, bacteria, protozoans, and mosquitoes. many closely related primate species from
worms—are host specific, usually infect¬ The primates, the group of vertebrates which new diseases were acquired.
ing only a few closely related species. And to which humans, the apes, and monkeys Before each of humankind’s expansions
in the early days of our genus, two million belong, are, almost exclusively among the out of Africa, enough evidence was laid
years ago, we shared Africa with many major vertebrate groupings, restricted to down to enable us to build a plausible
monkeys and apes, our nearest cousins in the tropics. In its early days, humankind, picture of our niche there and the forces
the vertebrate family tree. like the other apes, was purely tropical in that held our numbers in check. Fossil
It is no surprise, therefore, to find that its distribution. The tropics, in turn, have and shelter finds in Africa show that early
 The human impact

Malaria—a shared disease

Human

Human
Gorilla

Human

Chimpanzee

Malaria-transmitting

Malaria is a tropical disease infect humans are shared by our

caused by blood-dwelling protozoan close primate relatives, the gorilla
parasites of the genus Plasmodium. and chimpanzee, reflecting an early
Different types of Plasmodium—all period of our evolution when
transmitted by mosquitoes—cause humans lived in Africa in close
the disease in particular birds and proximity to those other apes. The
mammals, and each type has a map (below) shows the world
narrow range of vertebrate hosts. distribution of malaria.
Some of the malaria strains that

people must have existed in a few small, Fecal contamination

family-based hunter-gatherer groups. of waterholes, such
as this one in Kenya,
Those early hominids were great nutri¬
can lead to cross¬
tional opportunists, and in the productive infections between
tropics of Africa there were many foods to species. Early humans
choose from. in Africa probably
It seems improbable, then, that early became infected with
many bacterial diseases
human populations in Africa were con¬
in this way.
trolled by finite or restricted food
resources. It is far more likely that the
wide range of disabling, debilitating, and
killing diseases of the African tropics were
the single most important factor in keep¬
ing the human population density there so
low for so long.
The new
diseases
W ith the movement of the “modern”
subspecies of humankind out of
acquire infections from these closely re¬
lated species.
problems. But living in caves and wearing
clothes opened up the likelihood of new
Africa about 100,000 years ago, the most Left behind, too, were the constant diseases. An infrequently removed animal
recent and fateful chapter of human his¬ high densities of disease-transmitting skin covering provided a favorable pro¬
tory began: the peopling of the globe. This insects that flourished in the warm climate tected habitat for skin ectoparasites such
was the range expansion that was to pro¬ of tropical Africa. There were fewer as body lice.
vide all the geographically separated clus¬ insects, and they largely disappeared in the And in the caves where humans shel¬
ters of humans, who would ultimately cold winter months. These two influences tered, new, specialized, blood-sucking
evolve lhto the main racial groupings of meant that for the first time humans were insects found them tasty. One such
today. The “break-out” from Africa also not seriously impeded in their survival unsought partner picked up by humans
had other profound implications, some of and reproduction by infectious diseases. during this time was the bedbug. It
them linked with disease patterns. belongs to a group of ectoparasitic insects
As the migrating groups moved north A new way of life that utilize cave-dwelling vertebrates
from the tropics, they encountered two In the world’s colder regions (colder than exclusively; apart from humans, members
fundamental environmental changes. they are now because they were in the grip of the family are found feeding only on
First, they left all the other primates of a glacial), the major difficulty was to caveroosting bats and birds.
behind; in the temperate and cool zones of find adequate food and shelter. Caves and By the end of the last glacial, around
Europe, then Asia, and lastly the Ameri¬ rock shelters, fires, animal skin coverings, 10,000 years ago, all the habitable parts of
cas, there were no monkeys and apes to and more sophisticated stone weapons and the world, except for some remote oceanic
share their habitat. No longer would they hunting techniques partly solved these islands, had been peopled. Then, as the

Floods, such as these in the Sudan, create ideal conditions for the spread of cholera in fecally contaminated water.

160
 The human impact

climate moderated, a series of linked Cholera, an extremely

changes occurred that were vastly to severe form of
dysentery, is spread by
increase the population of Homo sapiens.
fecally contaminated
These changes were the introduction of
water. Its chances of
arable agriculture, the domestication of transmission are
animals, metal smelting, and the growth highest when large
of urban living. numbers of people are
living in crowded
In a good season, a person with a bronze
conditions with poor
or flint sickle could reap nearly 6.5 lb of
sanitation.
wild wheat in an hour. A family could In the 1850s such
gather supplies for a whole winter during a conditions existed in
three-week harvest period. The pattern of central London. John
Snow, a physician at
fixed settlements engendered by agricul¬
the time, was the first
ture and the high reproductive success of
to realize that cholera
their well-fed inhabitants meant that was spread by water.
people were suddenly living close to large In a detailed survey of
numbers of other people for the first time. deaths from cholera in
the Soho area of
London (see map, left),
The rise of epidemic disease
he revealed a cluster of
High population densities, poor sanitation, cases around Broad
and poor hygiene are conditions that pre¬ Street. These were
dispose communities to epidemics. Bacte¬ eventually linked to a
public water pump, the
rial and viral diseases, which persist with
source of which was
difficulty in small, mobile hunter-gatherer
contaminated by a
groups, could flourish in the villages and fractured cesspit.
towns. It is likely that a range of diseases
became widespread at this time; these
would have included tuberculosis and
influenza, since both need high-density
human living to survive.
In the complex new world of settle¬
ments and agriculture, humans were also
living in close proximity to their recently
domesticated farm animals. Dogs, des¬
cended from wolves, were helping hunters
to catch game as long as 12,000 years ago.
Soon afterward, sheep, pigs, goats, and
cows were under human protection for
the sake of the food and skins they
produced. They were followed by the
transportation animals: camels, donkeys,
horses, and llamas. And, just as with the
apes, humans’ closeness to these animals
led to their contracting their diseases.
The longer the period of domestication,
the more diseases humans share with the
animals. It is not surprising, therefore, to
find that we share most with our oldest
companion, the dog. Indeed, the list runs
Contact between humans and animals can spread serious disease. The
to more than 50 illnesses, including toxo¬ eggs of the parasitic roundworm Toxocara found in dogs and cats, for
cariasis, which causes blindness, and example, are easily transmitted to people. Children are particularly at risk,
hydatid disease. and in some cases infection causes eye damage or even blindness.
The spread
of disease
I f it is understood how a disease is
spread, it is often possible to think of a
novel means of stemming its transmission.
So the main goal of epidemiologists, who
study the spread of diseases, is usually to
find more effective ways of combating a
disease.
Infective agents make the jump
between'human beings in one of six ways
(see table). Some, such as the aquatic lar¬
val worms of bilharzia or those of the
hookworm that live in the soil, bore into
the human body through the skin. Simple
precautions—avoiding skin contact with
infected water and wearing shoes—can
dramatically reduce such infestations.
Humans can also acquire diseases when
they swallow food or drink contaminated
by bacteria, bacterial spores, and parasite
eggs. Many of these come from fecal cont¬
amination, a problem exacerbated by
people living in crowded conditions with
poor sanitation and little piped water.
Improved living standards will often, on
their own, reduce this type of infection.
High population density is also respon¬
sible for the spread of many respiratory
diseases by airborne droplets from coughs
and sneezes.
The other modes of epidemiological
spread are both biological in nature. The
first is by vectors, other animals that
carry the disease from one person to syphilis, where the bacteria causing them produce a DNA version of its genes, then
another. Insects are the main threat here: pass directly between sexual partners. “hide” inside the human genetic code
mosquitoes carry viruses such as yellow On a broader scale, patterns of disease until it is later activated to produce new
fever; rat fleas, the plague bacteria; distribution and spread are less easy to viruses. Several closely related forms of
blackflies, the nematodes causing river categorize. Sometimes they are restricted the virus seem to have evolved from simi¬
blindness. by climatic variables. For instance, the lar retroviruses infecting monkeys, in
Various preventive techniques, ranging snails that transmit bilharzia cannot toler¬ which they appear to cause little or no dis¬
from killing the animals to ingenious ate cool temperatures or saline water; and ease.
applied biological controls, are employed yellow fever can only be contracted in a The AIDS virus is normally passed on
to combat these diseases (see pp. 150-51). belt running through the equatorial trop¬ by the highly efficient sexual transmission
Another potent protection is the use of ics that is warm enough to support the route. But it can pass from mother to baby
immunization and vaccines, which boost breeding of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito across the placenta or in breast milk, or
the body’s antibodies and cell-based that transmits it. into victims via contaminated blood or
immunity to a specific disease. In the case blood products in injection needles or by
of the killer virus disease smallpox, global The disease of the 1980s transfusion. It invades and ultimately
use of vaccine eliminated both the virus AIDS is caused by HIV, a retrovirus, a destroys a key white blood cell type that is
and the disease. special type of virus that is, unusually, central to the body’s immune defenses,
The second biological mode of spread¬ able to store its own genetic code in the and it is this damage that produces the
ing infection relates to the sexually trans¬ form of RNA, rather than DNA (see pp. multiple symptoms of AIDS.
mitted diseases, such as gonorrhea and 16-17). Once it infects human cells, it can However, death, or even symptoms of
 The human impact

In 2000, the number of

people In North America
known to be HIV positive
more than I O' approached the one
million mark.

5-10

0 2-5
Southern Africa is the
area where.HIV infection
0 0.5-2 is greatest. Almost 9
© 0-0.5 percent of the population
o no data
is infected, including many
AIDS cases per 100,000 peopl
(1987)
children who have caught
the disease while still in
the womb.
How diseases spread

Method of transmission Transmission agents Examples

Water Infective agents (germs or eggs) in drinking CHOLERA

water TYPHOID

Food Infective agents (germs or eggs) in food SALMONELLA

SOME ROUNDWORMS
LISTERIA

Vectors Insects bite and transmit infection MALARIA

RIVER BLINDNESS
SLEEPING SICKNESS

Direct invasion Active invasion by parasites HOOKWORMS

BILHARZIA

Sex Disease agent spread during sexual SYPHILIS

intercourse GONORRHEA
AIDS

Air Germs in airborne water droplets INFLUENZAS

COLDS

the disease, can be delayed for up to eight The American homosexual community The first cases of
has already significantly altered its pat¬ AIDS (acquired
years, during which a carrier of the virus
immune deficiency
can unwittingly infect other people. This terns of sexual activity in response to such
syndrome) in the
means that the rate at which an AIDS epi¬ knowledge. The pharmaceutical industry United States were
demic spreads in a community is closely is also searching for new antiviral drugs diagnosed in 1981.
linked to the rate of sexual partner change. that can block the replication of the AIDS The graph (above
virus. AZT was an early, imperfect drug left) shows the number
In the United States, the first observable
of new cases reported
epidemic was among male homosexuals of this type.
to the World Health
because their average rate of partner Many prototype vaccines against AIDS Organization from
change was about io times higher than are also being developed, but success in 1980 to 1988. The true
among heterosexuals. In some African this area is made more difficult by the total is probably much
ability of the AIDS virus to keep altering higher since many
societies the primary epidemic has been
cases are thought to
among heterosexuals, probably because the constitution of the proteins at its sur¬
remain unreported.
partners changed sufficiently often to face, as the flu virus does. These variable The map (above)
ensure a rapid spread of the virus. viruses are notoriously difficult to treat shows numbers of
with vaccines. reported AIDS cases
The success of treatment with drugs in per 100,000 people for
The light against AIDS
all those countries that
Present hope's of curtailing or reversing reducing deaths from AIDS has lead to
provide data.
the epidemic rest first on health education some complacency in the use of “safe sex”
and on employing “safe sex” techniques. in the control of its spread.
Pollution:
acid rain
T he rivers of southern Norway used to Sources of pollution
yield a rich harvest of Atlantic El Homes
salmon—66,000 lb in 1900. By 1936 the I | Commerce
1 Power stations
salmon had virtually died out. It now
1 Refineries
seems clear that the “pollution cocktail” | | Industry
known as acid rain was responsible, not | | Road traffic
only for the further depletion of life in I I Rail traffic
Norway’s lakes and rivers, which meant I I Others

that by'1982 1,750 Norwegian lakes had

lost all their fish, but also for similar
effects on lakes and rivers in other parts of
Scandinavia, Europe, and North America.
Acidity is measured on a scale called Sulfur and nitrogen
“pH.” A fall in one unit, say from pHy oxides

(neutrality) to pH6, means that acidity is

10 times as strong. At about pH6 such fish
as salmon, trout, and roach cannot sur¬
vive. At PH5, pike and perch die. At
pH4-5, even eels die and only some fresh¬ Dry deposition

water invertebrates survive.

The death of these animals may be
either a direct result of the acidity or a side
effect of that acidity that leads to certain
toxic elements, such as aluminum, becom¬
ing more soluble in lake water.
chimney stacks is in
It is possible to trace the history of
the form of small
acidity in lakes by studying microscopic fragments of solid
planktonic organisms, known as diatoms, particles—acidic dust.
found in vast quantities in lake sediments.
Their hard, highly ornamented, silica coal and oil, results in the production of
several gases that can dissolve in water to Acidic dust lands on
coats survive in the mud and can be iden¬
plants, clogging their
tified as belonging to particular alkali- or form acids. Sulfur dioxide is probably the
pores, and enters the
acid-loving diatom species. Diatom analy¬ worst offender. It is emitted principally lungs of animals and
sis of sediments in a Scottish lake revealed from coal-fired power stations and heavy humans.
a constant pH of 5.7 until 1850; then a industrial plants, and once in the atmos¬
decline began that accelerated in the phere it oxidizes to form sulfuric acid. certain plant species and a consequent
1920s, leading to a present pH of 4.8. Oxides of nitrogen, from motor vehicle decline in dependent fauna; it is thought
These changes correspond with the exhausts, account for at least 50 percent of to be behind the increase in respiratory
increase in industry and air pollution. the nitric acid in the atmosphere. diseases and it may be implicated in
The leaching of nutrients over long These pollutants may be carried as far Alzheimer’s disease in humans; it also
periods of time, as well as conifer as 1,200 miles before they are deposited. erodes the stone from which many ancient
afforestation, could also account for So acids from Britain, Germany, and buildings are constructed.
increased soil acidity. But it is now accept¬ Czechoslovakia may be washed out by rain
ed that acidity comes principally from over Scandinavia; those from industrial The dying trees
precipitation—in snow, rain, hail, or mist. areas in the United States are carried Potentially the most serious effect of all is
One compelling piece of evidence is the north into Canada. Both Scandinavia and forest death, which now affects more than
flush in lake acidity during snow melt in Canada have acid soils that are not able to 17 million acres in over 20 countries. It is
Scandinavia, when a sudden drop in pH neutralize the acidic material falling from possible, however, that other factors, such
causes a peak in fish deaths. the sky. as ozone pollution, periodic drought, min¬
Links between the acidity of rain and A number of problems have been eral deficiency, and infection by pathogens
the development of industry are easily blamed directly or indirectly on acid rain. may also be involved here.
explained. Burning fossil fuels, such as It is implicated in the disappearance of The cure for acid rain is not simple.

164
 The human impact

Acidic gases are The Parthenon in Athens

dispersed downwind has suffered more erosion
of the sites where
in the past 30 years than
industrial pollutants
are released. Thus over the previous 2,000—-
much of the acidic gas clear evidence of the
produced in the destructive powers of
industrial north of the polluted acidic air.
United States is blown
into Canada before
In Germany, the
falling as rain.
percentage of trees
damaged by acid rain rose
from 34 to 50 percent
between 1983 and 1984,
but there has been some
recovery since that time
as sulfur emissions from
fossil fuel burning have

As the acidic gases been reduced.

are dispersed by the
wind, they are first Wet deposition—acid rain

oxidized by
atmospheric oxygen or
by ozone, then
dissolve in water to
Acid particles accumulate
form acid droplets in in snow; when snow melts
the rain clouds. it acidifies streams

When acid rain falls

on vegetation, it
dissolves away the
waxy covering of the
leaf, leaving cells open
to infection and liable
to dry out. It may
even damage the Lake acidification
photosynthetic
pigment, chlorophyll.

Immediate help may be given by adding

lime to lakes and raising the pH once
Leaching through soil
again. But the only long-term solution is
to cut sulfur emissions, particularly from
power stations. Sulfur emissions have
been reduced in recent years and the pH
of rainfall is beginning to rise. The
In the soil the acids dissolve out many plant
strongest currently favored contender,
nutrients and wash them out of the
nuclear power, also poses environmental ecosystem'. Toxins, such as aluminum, are
problems. Alternative, cleaner forms of released from the soil in acid conditions and
energy production include the exploitation can damage both the plant life and the fauna
of wind, wave, solar, and water power. of lakes and rivers.

165
Pollution:
the greenhouse effect
Most heat escapes from
the Earth’s atmosphere Some light energy
reflected back into space

i
Earth’s atmosphere

and other “greenhouse”

gases, in the atmosphere
absorbs some heat and
toward Earth

Most light energy passes

through atmosphere

Heat energy radiated from

Earth’s surface

These gases add to the

greenhouse effect and trap
more heat on Earth
Photosynthesis binds CO2
into organic matter in
green plants. The
destruction of rain forest
means less carbon is
CO2 dissolves in seawater
stored in organic form
and contributes to ocean
sediments

i
Industrial mining and
Plate movements burning of fossil fuels,
submerge carbon together with forest
burning and decay of
organic matter, speed up
release of carbon into the
atmosphere ’T

Carbon is trapped as coal

and oil (fossil fuels)
underground

Methane—by-product of
farming

CFCs from aerosols and

refrigeration iHHNl

fslOa from car exhausts

 I'he human impact

sun
S olar energy reaches the Earth in the
form of short-wavelength light energy.
the end of this century.
The effect of this on the world’s agri¬
Concern over the
thinning of the ozone

The processes that But when that light strikes a surface, culture would be profound, with many layer in the Arctic
result in the gradual much of the energy is converted into long- more areas becoming desert. And as the continues to grow.
warming of the Earth’s wavelength heat. Carbon dioxide (CO,) ice caps melt, sea levels, according to some NASA studies have also
atmosphere, the and other gases present in the atmosphere pointed to a winter
scientists, could rise by more than 1 ft by
increasing “greenhouse
absorb and retain enough of that radiated the year 2050. thinning of the ozone layer
effect,” are illustrated
here. The most heat to maintain a comfortable global tem¬ Increased industrial and domestic com¬ over some parts of the
important of the perature. Like the panes of glass in a bustion of fossil fuels—as well as the northern hemisphere of
greenhouse gases is greenhouse, the gases let the light in, but burning of large areas of rain forest—have about 8 percent in the last
carbon dioxide, and do not allow heat to escape; hence the accounted for this rise in CO, levels. twenty years.
the passage of carbon
“greenhouse effect.” Some of the excess can be used by plants As yet ozone depletion
through the world
ecosystem, the But the concentration of carbon dioxide in photosynthesis and some, being soluble over the Arctic is less
“carbon cycle,” is also is increasing and its effect is exacerbated in seawater, can be absorbed by the severe than that over
shown. ■by the presence of rising concentrations of oceans. But the rate at which it is used up Antarctica, partly because
other gases that also absorb infrared radi¬ or absorbed cannot keep pace with the of the Arctic’s higher
ation efficiently. As more heat is retained rapid rate of CO, generation. temperatures. But because
the Earth’s temperature must rise—per¬ Ozone can also act as an atmospheric the Arctic is so much
haps with devastating results. While the pollutant and greenhouse gas. This gas is nearer heavily populated
world needs its natural “greenhouse,” its produced at ground level by the interac¬ areas, loss of ozone here is
balance should not be disturbed. tion of sunlight and the exhaust fumes a much greater threat to
from motor vehicles, typically producing a the health of human
The greenhouse gases “photochemical smog.” Ozone is highly beings.
Apart from carbon dioxide, the principal reactive and may cause respiratory and eye As atmospheric CFCs
greenhouse gases are water vapor, oxides irritations. It also causes the breakdown of decline it is hoped that the
of nitrogen, ozone, methane, and the the pigment chlorophyll, thus seriously ozone holes will begin to
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Carbon di¬ damaging plant life. close.
oxide is given off in the burning of fossil A natural layer of ozone, between about
fuels and in the decay of organic matter in 12 miles and 30 miles high in the atmos¬
the soils. Methane is produced as a result phere, shields the Earth from harmful
of bacterial activity associated with certain ultraviolet radiation. But this ozone shield
types of wetland agriculture (such as rice is being damaged by the very CFCs that
paddies) and the large number of rumi¬ are increasing the greenhouse effect. Since
nant domestic animals. The CFCs are the beginning of the 1980s, it has become
mainly produced by certain aerosol sprays, particularly thin each spring over Antarc¬
refrigerators, and air conditioners and in tica, forming what is known as an “ozone
blowing plastic foams. hole” (see pp. 174-75).
Carbon dioxide is responsible for about
half this global warming; other pollutants Controlling pollutants
and the other greenhouse gases account These atmospheric problems can only be
for the rest. In 1850, the CO, in the tackled by controlling the release of the
atmosphere amounted to 265 parts per offending gases. The elimination of cer¬
million. By 1998 it was 365 ppm. tain aerosols, for example, has gone some
Although still a relatively small quantity of way to controlling CFC emissions. The
gas, its effect on the average global tem¬ increasing demand for refrigerators in
perature has been noticeable. tropical countries will tend to offset this,
This has risen by almost 2°F over the however. Methane is more problematic,
last century, though the effect has not since it is still not entirely clear where the
been felt equally in all parts of the world. major sources are. CO2 emissions can only
Predictions for the future vary consider¬ be reduced by the control of fossil fuel
ably, but conservative estimates suggest it burning and the conservation and exten¬
may well rise by another 3-4°F higher by sion of the world’s remaining forest cover.

167
Recent
extinctions
T he dodo, which became extinct in
1681, can stand as a symbol for much
bers. About 2.5 million were killed each
year from 1870 to 1875, mainly just for
that has happened on Earth since humans their tongues and hides. Only 500 sur¬
became a potent force. It lived on the vived in 1900; since then numbers have
island of Mauritius, which in the fifteenth increased to more than 25,000 in protected
century had become a convenient stop¬ areas.
ping place for spice traders, traveling to Human food requirements can no
and from the East Indies to replenish their longer be sustained by wild animals, but
stores. *The large flightless birds were their slaughter continues for a variety of
slaughtered in their thousands for food other reasons. Many are killed for their
until, only 200 years after their discovery, pelts. The Caspian and Bali tigers are
there were none left. already extinct, and the Australian koala is
The dodo story also serves as a warning now rarely seen outside a reserve. The
that no species is isolated from its en¬ greatest living land mammals are poached
vironment. Biologists have realized that all for their tusks and horns. Alligators, croc¬
the Calvaria trees on Mauritius are more odiles, and snakes are slaughtered for their
than 300 years old; none has taken root skins.
since the last dodo died. Since the remains Even the sea provides no shelter. In the
of Calvaria nuts are found with dodo hunt for the great whales, which provide
skeletons, it seems likely that passage oil, humans have driven all the larger
through the digestive system of the dodo species to a point where they are endan¬
was necessary before the nuts could gered or vulnerable to extinction. Hunting
germinate. When eaten by turkeys in of the great Antarctic blue whale began in
experiments they germinate well. 1904. By 1963 its numbers had been
The Maoris of New Zealand also exter¬ reduced by 99 percent to 2,000 individuals.
minated many bird species, and the
Native American are thought to have The loss of habitats
caused the extinction of two types of Ice Significant alterations to the landscapes of
Age elephant. It was in the nineteenth the world have had far-reaching effects.
century, however, that the problem This is not a modern phenomenon, but
increased dramatically. both the scale and rate of change have
The European expansion through increased enormously with the advent of
North America in the 1860s was accompa¬ modern technology.
nied by an unparalleled slaughter of its The greatest change is undoubtedly in
wildlife. At that time, for example, the South America, where the huge Amazon
passenger pigeon may have been the most rain forest is being systematically cut
abundant bird in the world; huge flocks down to provide new areas for grazing or
could take three days to pass overhead, cultivation. Since most of the soil is too
sometimes at the rate of three million an thin to support crops for more than a few
hour. Less than 100 years later, in 1914, years following such cultivation, erosion
the last passenger died in Cincinnati Zoo. sets in and the land crumbles into dust.
The Amazon Basin covers 1,200 billion
The slaughter of the bison acres and is the most species-rich area in
The story of the North American Plains the world. If this devastation goes
bison is equally chilling. There were unchecked, a major storehouse of life’s
originally between 30 and 40 million of diversity on Earth will disappear forever.
these creatures, and although the Native An international document on conser¬
Americans killed what they needed for vation states that “we have not inherited
food and hides, the population remained the Earth from our parents, we have bor¬
stable. But when European settlers, with rowed it from our children.” When the
their new weapons, swept westward in the loan is returned, it seems likely that it will
1860s, the bison soon declined in num¬ have been irreparably damaged.

68
 The human impact

As many as 60,000 plant

species may be extinct or
near extinct by the middle
of the 21st century if
present trends continue.
Scientists estimate that
for every plant species
lost, 10 to 30 other
organisms that depended
on that plant in some way
may also become extinct.

If tropical rain forests

continue to be destroyed
at the current rate, it is
estimated that at least
several hundred
vertebrates and more than
a million species of insect
will become extinct within
the next 30 to 50 years.

The African elephant could he extinct in less than 20 years if poaching continues.

i6g
Saving one species:
the condor
B ig animals, the so-called megafauna,
seem always to have been particularly
began its long decline. In California it may
have survived by feeding on the beached
at risk of extinction by human beings. bodies of seals and whales.
There is strong circumstantial evidence The condor has all the classic problems
that even in prehistoric times, early of large creatures. It is shy, it lays only one
human cultures pushed a number of large egg, it breeds only on reaching an age of
animals into oblivion, and much current six years, and its food resources are scarce
conservation effort is aimed at saving- so it needs to range widely. Finally, its
some of fhose that are now threatened. association with dead stock animals and its
These animals are susceptible for many unattractive appearance have given it a
reasons. Their size makes them vulnerable poor image and have led to persecution.
to hunters, since they are easily located When an animal becomes very scarce, it
and hit with missiles. They need extensive suffers from inbreeding, for its few possi¬
territories, hence populations are rarely ble mates may be closely related, and
large. Litter or clutch size is small, sexual harmful genetic characteristics can accu¬
maturation late, and breeding rates often mulate. By 1940 the number of condors
low, so replacement is slow. had fallen below 100; in 1982 there were
In addition, large predators are often only about 20 wild birds left.
sensitive to disturbance, particularly when
they are at the top of a food chain, since The dilemma of intervention
any changes lower down, such as the loss At this point some difficult questions had
of a food resource, can prove damaging. to be faced. Should the remaining wild
And any toxins or pesticides in animals birds be fed to encourage population
lower down will accumulate in the top growth? Should their eggs, or even mature
predator and may cause death. birds, be captured to ensure the survival
Among the most severely endangered of the species? In 1982 eggs were removed
large animals is the massive Californian from nests in the wild and incubated in
condor. Its dimensions—about 4 ft from captivity. The young birds were fed with
head to tail and with a wingspan of 9 ft— condor-headed puppets to avoid confusing
place it among the largest flying birds in them. As the wild population failed to
the world. The condor belongs to the recover and was clearly beyond rescue, all
New World vulture family and, like most 27 remaining adult birds were also
vultures, is a scavenger of carrion. brought into captivity in 1987. Here they
A native of the semi-arid scrublands bred very effectively and by 1998 the total
and mountains of southern California, the captive population exceeded 150 birds.
condor has been in decline for many years. Release back into the wild commenced
It has been poisoned and persecuted by in 1992 and by 1999 a total of 88 birds had
humans, and increasing efficiency in pas¬ been released 111 southern California. A
toral agriculture means fewer cattle and major problem for the released birds is
sheep carcasses as a source of food. that much of the food they find consists of
In the past, the condor’s range was of animals killed by hunters, and these
much greater: Fossil remains have been often contain toxic lead, which can cause
found in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, poisoning. Hunting must be controlled or
where, in the Grand Canyon, there is a the use of lead ammunition banned in
clue as to why its distribution became so areas where condors are being re-estab¬
restricted. Bones of the condor have been lished. The annual mortality rate needs to
found in caves alongside those of many be kept below 10 percent if the wild popu¬
large extinct animals dating from about lation is to become viable again.
10,000-14,000 years ago, and it is evident
that these ancient condors scavenged on The Californian condor (Gymnogyps
californiums), one of the largest flying- birds, has
the dead bodies of the megafauna. With
approached the edge of extinction.
the loss of this source of food, the species
The human impact
Nature reserves:
selection and design
A s human populations increase, even
greater pressure than at present will
what little survives. In areas that are cur¬
rently developing, such as the Amazon
because it permits more species to be
cared for in a single reserve, but also
be placed upon the world’s decreasing Basin, there is still an opportunity to set because it is sometimes indicative of lack
areas of natural habitat. At the same time, aside sites for nature conservation. But of disturbance in the past. The degree to
it is of great importance that the extinction what criteria should be applied to their which an area can be regarded as free from
of species should be avoided; for, apart selection? human influence is also significant.
from all the other reasons for conserva¬ When establishing a reserve within a
tion, such a loss of genetic resources is an Choosing a site changing landscape, for example in the
unacceptable cost to humankind. The first priority must be to protect frag¬ Amazon rain forest, the questions of
If endangered creatures such as the ile habitats that are under threat. Some of its size and shape and the proximity of
condor and panda are to survive in the these, such as the raised bogs of Ireland other protected areas must be taken into
wild, nature reserves must be set aside for and the swamp forests of Sarawak, have consideration.
them. The same applies to smaller and taken many thousands of years to develop, In general, the larger the area, the more
less conspicuous species: habitat mainte¬ and once lost can never be recreated. species it will contain. Moreover, most
nance is the key to survival. Several other factors must also be taken species that are lost become extinct
In many of the developed countries, into account in the selection of a site for because of the stresses around the edge of a
unspoiled habitats are already rare, and special conservation. The diversity of reserve, and a large site has less perimeter
conservationists are concerned to retain species it contains is important, not only per unit area than a small one. A circular

A grizzly bear (Urstts arctos) roams the virtually undisturbed territory of a wildlife refuge in Alaska.

172
 The human impact

shape reduces that perimeter to a mini¬ Nature reserves macaws, and many other The Great Barrier Reef
mum. If a reserve is cut back to one-tenth species. is the world’s most
of its original area, probably about half the The following alphabetical list spectacular underwater
presents a small sample selection Kanha Tiger Reserve and reserve. It stretches more
species it contains will be lost.
of sites worldwide. National Park INDIA Tiger
In an experimental study in Brazil, for¬ than 1,250 miles along the
sanctuary also contains sloth
est “islands” were left when an area was Arctic National Wildlife bear, wild dog, swamp deer, northeastern coast of
cleared and the number of forest-breeding Refuge ALASKA Virtually and others. Australia and covers an
birds recorded a year later. A 3,460-acre undisturbed arctic reserve area of 114,000 sq miles.
containing species such as Serengeti National Park The reef contains more
site had lost 14 percent of its original
polar and grizzly bears, TANZANIA World's largest
birds; a 618-acre site 41 percent; and a than 400 species of coral in
caribou, musk oxen, golden community of grassland
52-acre site as much as 62 percent of its eagles. mammals such as wildebeest, a wide variety of forms.
breeding species. zebra, Thomson's gazelle. They provide a rich habitat
But species number is also affected by Baikalsky and Darguzinsky Also elephants, black rhinos, for an unequaled collection
State Reserves Russia Include lions, cheetahs. of marine animals, including
diversity of habitat. If there are many
Lake Baikal and contain more
microhabitats in an area, it may contain more than 1,400 species of
than 220 bird species and 40 Shark Bay AUSTRALIA
more species than might be expected on mammals, such as the Baikal Du gongs, turtles, rays, sharks, fish and 4,000 species of
the basis of size alone. Some species have seal, sable, and reindeer. and shellfish. Islands in bay mollusk, as well as myriad
specific habitat requirements; for in¬ support many rare mammals sponges, starfish, sea
Dumoga-Bone National Park such as hare wallabies. urchins, and many others.
stance, for a few days each year, many
INDONESIA Contains
species of frogs in the Amazon Basin need St. Kilda National Nature
mammals such as the babirusa,
wet hollows, preferably those created by tarsier, Sulawesi civet, and Reserve UNITED
wallowing peccaries, in order to breed phaianger, 90 percent of KINGDOM One of the
successfully. Such particular needs must which occur nowhere else; greatest Atlantic seabird
outstanding bird fauna, 40 colonies. Includes gannets,
be borne in mind when a reserve is
percent of which are found puffins, fulmars, skuas, and
selected. many others.
only there.

Multiple reserves Eclipse Sound/Bylot Island Swedish Lapland SWEDEN

It is also possible to argue that a single CANADA Seabird breeding Largest European reserve,
site; also large populations of includes lynx, bears, wolves,
large reserve may not be the best answer;
bowhead and beluga whales, otters, moose, reindeer.
in a catastrophe species could be lost. Sev¬
narwhals, seals, walruses, and
eral smaller reserves, close together, might polar bears, Virunga National Park
provide insurance against such loss and ZAIRE Mountain gorilla
allow the recolonization of a devastated Fjordland National Park population and perhaps the
NEW ZEALAND Rare birds greatest diversity of species
area by immigration. Proximity also
such as takahe and kakapo. in Africa.
enhances interbreeding between popula¬
tions and improves their genetic variation. Galapagos National Park Wenchun Wolong Nature
The movement of animals from one ECUADOR Birds, .such as Reserve CHINA Giant
reserve to another can be encouraged by Darwin's finches, and giant pandas and other endangered
providing corridors between them. For tortoises, marine iguanas. species such as golden
monkey.
instance, hedges form corridors for ani¬
Gray Whale Lagoons of Baja
mals between woodland reserves, and in California MEXICO Major Yellowstone National Park
the tropical forest reserves of Costa Rica, breeding site of gray whales. USA Grizzly bear, wolf,
corridors have been constructed specifi¬ mountain lion, bald eagle,
cally to permit the seasonal movement of Henry Pittier National Park trumpeter swan, and many,
VENEZUELA Huge range of others.
migrant animals between upland and low¬
species, particularly birds and
land regions. insects. Site of spectacular Yosemite National Park USA
Although it is possible to formulate spring and fall migrations of Contains spectacular granite
guidelines for the selection of ideal nature birds and butterflies. mountains and groves of giant
reserves, the choice of site is often limited. sequoias-—among the world’s
Jau National Park BRAZIL oldest trees; fauna include the
The conservationist may be forced to
Rain forest reserve containing black bear, bobcat, and gray
accept what is available only after other jaguars, giant otters, primates, fox.
demands on the land have been satisfied.

i73
Patterns of the future:
the next 50 years
P redicting what the world will be like in
50 years is a task no scientist would take
lightly. Too many unknown factors may
play a part in the shaping of the future to
forecast it with any accuracy. The current
rise in atmospheric temperature caused by
the increasing greenhouse effect (see pp.
166-67) could be taken as one example.
Predictions can only be made about this
by extrapolating from past evidence and
making certain assumptions about the
continuing accumulation of greenhouse
gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
It is possible, though probably un¬
likely, that our species will modify its
behavior and lifestyle sufficiently to slow
down the production of carbon dioxide
and CFCs. But, equally, it is only too
probable that these and other gases will
continue to build up even faster than
expected.
Will the ozone hole over the Antarctic
continue to grow? Will an Arctic equiva¬
lent develop and will the frequency of
human skin cancers increase accordingly?
Or is the ozone hole a seasonal feature of
the Antarctic atmosphere that has always
existed and has only recently been
observed? Will it prove to be of little
longterm consequence?
Such questions cannot be answered
with certainty. Today, scientists can only
make informed guesses about the future
and may well be wrong. If, in 2050, some
50 years after the first publication of this
book, the authors were asked to write a
new edition, what kind of information
might it contain? Some possible extracts
from such a book follow here.

Famine in central Africa is still spreading The FILS IV virus is being dubbed the Cereal crops are no longer sprayed with
southward as the great drought extends New Plague by the media. From its origin chemical pesticides. The transfer of gen¬
and intensifies. For many years the mon¬ in the suburbs of Mexico City, it has now etic material with specific pest resistance is
soon rains have failed to penetrate the spread to almost all major centers of popu¬ now' routine and the use of hazardous
Sudan, with the result that pastoral agri¬ lation in the world. It is believed to have chemicals in agriculture is being phased
culture has become entirely unreliable. In arisen from a form of the influenza virus, out. This has encouraged the use of
West Africa, Nigeria supports refugees but the high mortality rate associated with genetically engineered biological control
from the Sahel w'ho must constantly move infection reflects the present inadequacy agents as a backup to the newly developed
farther south with the retreating of the human immune system to cope resistant crops. Further development of
vegetation. with this new' mutant strain. pesticides has been banned.

74
 The human impact

Civilization goes in circles, it is said, and Sea level has risen by 5.4 ft over the past In 50 years’ time, if
South America seems to be proving the 50 years as a result of the increasing global conservation measures
point. The return to mixed cropping of temperature and the consequent melting succeed, it may be possible
maize, quinoa, and other crops from the of large bodies of ice. The Netherlands to record the following:
time of the Incas has raised living and has had to abandon extensive areas of pre¬ after the reintroduction of
nutritional standards for the farmers of the viously reclaimed land because of the Californian condors into
Andes. The World Bank has recently set expense of maintaining sea defenses and the wild; 23 pairs have
up a fund to encourage the development the constant pumping of ground water. In attempted to breed. A
525 of early agricultural practices. Bangladesh, much of the former produc¬ total of 14 young have
500 • tive area of the Ganges Delta has also been been fledged and
abandoned to the sea, following a series of prospects for the future
475 The days of the European “grain moun¬ devastating floods. are more hopeful.
450 tains” are over. All excess production, For the third year in
•
425 o resulting from the variance of computer succession, birds bred in
-predictions at sowing time or unexpect¬ It has long been known that some bacteria captivity have been
400 % edly light infection of crops by pests, is naturally fix nitrogen in the soil. Supply¬ released in the Grand
jrb o now automatically cast into the fermenters ing this nitrogen to plant roots has recent¬ Canyon. Conservationists
and used for alcohol production. The use ly become much more efficient as a result expect, however, that it
350 3 of this environment-friendly fuel in auto¬ of inoculating the soil with single-celled will be some time before
335 i mobiles has considerably reduced the animals (protozoans), which feed on the breeding takes place in this
problems of ozone and smog generation bacteria. The protozoans then deposit the region, where it has not
300 3 that were once so common in great cities nitrogen near the plant roots, where they
m been recorded for 10,000
275 ' such as Los Angeles, New York, and are most active, in an easily available form years.
London. which the plants can utilize freely. Agri¬ There is still
cultural advisers are recommending the controversy about the
225 routine inoculation of soils with the provision of carcasses for
Increased efficiency of crop production appropriate protozoans. feeding these released
and protection has greatly reduced the birds; proponents of this
1 75 pressure to use all suitable land for agri¬ “artificial” feeding are

150 cultural purposes. The area of the United Human populations in Africa have stabi¬ being dubbed “wildlife
States and Europe given over to nature lized, and the farming of game animals, gardeners."
125 conservation has doubled since the end of such as eland, ostrich, Cape buffalo, oryx,
the last century, despite the drought and and impala, has solved the problem of
deteriorating climate in the Wheat Belt providing meat; the supply of protein in
Desert of North America. Industrial con¬ the continent now seems assured. Earmers
cerns, such as drug companies and also report that many of the former prob¬
gerntbank agencies, are now shouldering lems caused by tsetse fly and other pests
the bulk of the financial load involved in have become much less serious. The
the maintenance and management of these native species have an in built resistance to
reserves. such pests.

•
A satellite picture
plotting ozone values Israel has now solved its energy supply A new international archaeological group
reveals an ozone problems by piping seawater from the has been formed. It will be chiefly con¬
“hole”—a
Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, generat¬ cerned with the recovery and reconstruc¬
dramatically thinned
ozone layer—over the ing hydroelectricity during its descent. tion of low-lying structures from the last
Antarctic area. The The Dead Sea is now also acting as an century that have been submerged by
ozone hole waxes and energy source: the deep saline waters, -rising sea levels. The main branches of
wanes but on this trapped by less dense waters arriving from the society will be situated in New York,
particular day, . London, and Tokyo—all cities that have
the Mediterranean, are heated to tempera¬
5 October 1987, it
tures in excess of 140 °F by solar radiation suffered partial inundation as a result of
covered 2.5 million
sq miles. and used to drive turbines. climate change.

1 / .s
Patterns of the future:
the far future
W hatever may happen to our planet
over the next 50 million years, it is
problems arise from populations that
reproduce too rapidly for local resources
western Pacific has refted the western part
of California northward.
likely that humans will be here to experi¬ to support them. In the short term, either Africa, too, will have moved farther
ence it. We are no less genetically adaptable famine or war can correct such an imbal¬ north into Europe, so the Mediterranean
than other animals, and the extent to which ance. But in the longer term, changes in Sea will have dried up. The collision of
we are able to control our own environment the birthrate, produced either by social the two continents will have raised a chain
makes it unlikely that we shall be severely change or by genetic engineering, will of mountains from northwest Africa east¬
threatened, whatever climatic, geographi¬ provide the only reliable answer. We shall ward to Turkey. These mountains will
cal, or geological changes may take place. live longer but have fewer children, so separate Europe from the warmth of
It is also likely that we shall still be rec¬ there will be fewer of us worldwide. And northern Africa, and Europe itself will
ognizably human, for there is no reason to the reduction in population densities will have become cooler. The great farmlands
expect any major change in our appear¬ mean that our demands on the natural of the center and east will be too cool for
ance. Our already vestigial, but sometimes resources of the planet will also be the crops they bear today. Only Europe’s
troublesome, appendix will have disap¬ diminished. western margin will still be warmed by the
peared, as will our rear molars, or “wis¬ continuing, though weaker, Gulf Stream.
dom” teeth, which already only erupt late The moving continents The greatest change will be in the
in adolescence and often cause trouble. But what of the planet itself? The slow but Pacific. Australia will have moved north¬
We shall still be erect, intelligent bipeds, relentless process of plate tectonics will ward, away from its present position in
and our brains are unlikely to become sig¬ have changed the map of the world. As the the subtropical region of low rainfall.
nificantly larger, for there is no correlation Americas continue to move westward, the Instead, it will lie across the equator,
between brain size and intelligence. Atlantic Ocean will widen at the expense where generous rains will enter it from the
If our species is at all different, it is of the Pacific. A new, elongate island will east. The then much-eroded Great Divid¬
more likely to be in its social structure lie off the west coast of northern North ing Range will no longer attract all the
than in its appearance. The greatest social America, where the movement of the rain, and the whole eastern half of

The changing world

The pattern of the

Earth’s landmasses
is not static, and the
process of plate
tectonics is slowly but
steadily changing the
shape of the
continents.
The first map {right)
shows the world and
its plates as they are
today. The second
map (Jar right) shows
the map of the future
and the continental
outlines that, on
current evidence, are
likely to exist in 50
million years’ time.
Areas of particular
interest are circled.

176
 The human impact

Australia will be wetter and more fertile, under an influx of mammalian species
though its still impoverished soils will from Asia.
inevitably limit its productivity. But which mammals will still survive?
The Antarctic will remain ice-covered, There can be no doubt that the great
but whether the high latitudes of the mammals will long have become extinct.
northern hemisphere will be affected by The great cat predators, the elephants,
alternating glacial and interglacials will and rhinos require more space than man
depend, as it does today, on a complex can spare. All the productive regions of
series of factors, such as the precise orbit the Earth will bear crops and support
and inclination of the Earth and the level domestic animals—cattle, sheep, pigs,
of dust produced by volcanic activity (see and, in tropical regions, altered varieties of
pp. 30-31). That, in turn, will have a dra¬ the antelope and buffalo.
matic effect on sea levels. The breeding of new crop plants will
If, for example, there is a major ice age allow cultivation in cooler and higher
in 50 million years’ time, the increase in latitudes and at greater altitudes. Huge
size of the polar ice caps will lead to a fish-farming enclosures will fringe the
reduction in the amount of water in the eastern Pacific, where a fertile ecosystem
sea. The sea will, therefore, have receded will still be based upon the rich, cold
from the continental shelf extending from upwelling waters near the coasts of the
Southeast Asia to Borneo; so Australia Americas.
may well have a complete land connection Life will be quiet and orderly—as long
with Asia, and the present Australian as humans have completed their last and
zoogeographic region, with its unique most important program of domestication:
mammals, may have all but vanished themselves.

(1) A long silver of the

Pacific coast of North
America, from San
Francisco to Baja
California, will move
farther north and
become an island.

(2) The slow

northward movement
of South America
toward North America
will cause the
compression of the
Central American
Panama land bridge.

(3) Today’s Great Rift

Valley in eastern
Africa may extend and
eventually split off a
fragment of the
continent.

(4) (5) The northward

movement of the
continental plate that
underlies Australia and
New Guinea will take
them into collision
with Southeast Asia.

i77
A catalog
of life
180 The Plant Kingdom
182 Flowering plants
184 The Animal Kingdom
186 Vertebrate animals
188 Successful families:
plants
192 Successful families:
mammals
196 Successful families:
birds
200 Threatened plants
204 Endangered species:
mammals
208 Endangered species:
birds
210 Endangered species:
fishes, reptiles, and
amphibians
210 Endangered species:
invertebrates
The Plant
Kingdom
The evolution of the Plant Kingdom has resulted in a wide Life began in the oceans and the algae, many of which still
range of different plant types, all linked in the distant past by inhabit this environment, are regarded as a primitive group
common ancestors. The accompanying diagram shows the of plants, able to survive only when submerged or regularly
ways in which many botanists believe the different groups of doused with water. And since they produce swimming
plants are related in an evolutionary series, represented here sperms, they are totally dependent on water to insure
by branches terminating in the living plant types. The reproduction. Mosses are better equipped to survive in dry
scheme shown is one of a number of possible plant environments, but their means of conducting water is
classifications, all of which are based on a consideration of primitive and they, too, need water to carry their sperms.
fossil hisfory and modern resemblances between species. Ferns also have swimming sperms, but have developed much

ANGIOSPERMOPHYTA (flowering plants)

CYCADOPHYTA (cycads)

Herbaceous club mosses

Tree club mosses

LYCOPODOPHYA (club mosses)

Zosterophyllum type

Primitive vascular plants

BRYOPHYTA (mosses, liverworts)

-1
Fungi Green algae Red algae

\ _ ^ -I z
Primitive green plants
 A catalog of life

larger and more complex vegetative structures in which flowering plants came later in the evolutionary story.
water-conducting tissues are present. Some primitive club There are still many gaps in the fossil record of plants,
mosses, close relatives of ferns, were able to attain heights of such as the jump from algae to mosses and liverworts, and
130 ft or more by producing such conducting tissue. the origin of the flowering plants. It is fairly certain that the
Trees first flourished in the conifer group and in the green algae are the main ancestral group in both these cases,
flowering plants (angiosperms). Neither group depends on since the system of chlorophyll pigments is the same
water to reproduce sexually, and this freedom has throughout the evolutionary series. Other algal groups, such
undoubtedly played a large part in their success. The earliest as the brown and red algae, together with the fungi, must
flowering plants were probably trees—the herbaceous have branched off at an earlier stage.

GINKCOPHYTA
(ginkgos)

CONIFEROPHYTA
(conifers)

GNETOPHYTA
(Gnetum, Welwitschia, Ephedra)

Psilotum

Brown algae
Flowering
plants
A tentative arrangement of evolutionary relationships within the diagram and the more advanced ones at the perimeter.
the flowering plants, the angiosperms, is illustrated in this Some of the oldest flowering plant fossils resemble
diagram. It arranges groups according to their similarities and magnolias in having many floral parts (sepals, petals, stamens,
their presumed evolutionary paths, beginning with an original and carpels) arranged spirally. For this reason, plants such as
ancestor whose identity is still unknown. From this ancestor, magnolias (Magnoliales) are considered primitive. They have
flowering plants have developed in many different ways, not changed significantly in their floral structure since the ■
shown here as a radiating series. The main groups are the early days of the evolution of the flower. The buttercups
plant orders, each consisting of several families, but fossil (Ranunculales), however, are regarded as slightly more
links between orders are scarce or nonexistent. The orders advanced. Both their petals and sepals are reduced to a single
are arranged according to complexity or assumed evolutionary whorl (sometimes elaborately arranged, as in plants such as
advancement, with the simpler groups toward the center of delphiniums and monkshood), but they still have a spiral

ANCESTRAL
 arrangement of many stamens and carpels. features: flower form—monocotyledons usually have parts in
In the more advanced groups of flowering plants, the floral threes, whereas multiples of five or four are commoner in
parts are fused into groups. Often petals are joined into dicotyledons; leaf venation (dicotyledons have network
tubes—a development related to their pollination by insects. patterns, while monocots have parallel veins); wood
Instead of having a simple, radially symmetrical structure production (absent in almost all monocots); seed
(like that of buttercups), advanced flowers are more complex germination—dicot seedlings have two seed leaves, whereas
and often symmetrical about only one plane; snapdragons monocots have only one.
(Scrophulariales) and sweet peas (Fabales) are examples. These two lines of development have diversified greatly,
Relatively early on in their evolution the flowering plants the dicots ranging from oak trees to daisies, the monocots
developed along two distinct lines, the monocotyledons and containing such contrasting forms as palms, orchids,
the dicotyledons. The two groups differ in four major daffodils, and grasses.

DICOTYLEDONS MONOCOTYLEDONS

ROSIDAE

Santalales
(sandalwoods)
Proteales
(proteas)

Poales/Gramineae
(grasses)
Myrtales
Euphorbiales (myrtles)
(euphorbias) Arales
(arums) Cyperales
(sedges)

Fabales Piperales
(peas, beans) (peppers)
Restionales
Celastrales (cord rushes) Zingiberales
Arecales/Palmae
(spindles) (gingers)
(palms)
Pandanales
(screw pines)
Juncales
(rushes)

Rosales
Eriocaulales
(roses)
(pipeworks)
Orchidale
Laurales Ranunculales Commelinales (orchids)
(laurels) (buttercups) (tradescantias)

Bromeliales
(bromeliads)

Liliales (lilies)
Papaverales
(poppies)
Magnoliales
(magnolias)

Alismatales (flowering rushes)

The Animal
Kingdom
T he basic unit of classification in the Animal Kingdom is
the species—a natural grouping of animals that can all
This evolutionary tree of the Animal Kingdom shows the
relationships between all the different groups ol living
breed successfully with each other. Species that share several creatures. This diagram links every living animal from the
common characteristics are grouped together into a genus, simplest, single-celled animal ancestors, which first lived
genera into families, and so on. In ascending order, the most more than a billion years ago, through to all the major
commonly used levels of classification are species, genus, groupings (phyla) of today.
family, order, class, and phylum. Ultimately all animals are One of the dozens of phyla in the Animal Kingdom
grouped together in the Kingdom Animalia. contains the vertebrates—animals with backbones, like

ACANTHOCEPHALA LORICIFERA

ENTOPROCTA KINORHYNCHA

ROTIFERA NEMATODA

GASTROTRICHA NEMATOMORPHA

GNATHOSTOMUL1DA

PLATYHELMINTHES

NEMERTINA

MESOZOA

CTENOPHORA

CNIDARIA

PLACOZOA

PORIFERA

PROTOZOA Single-celled
eukaryotic ancestors

84
 A catalog of life

ourselves. The vertebrate branch of the tree is examined in of “best guesses.” The links these suggest all occurred many
greater detail on the next page. millions of years ago and no direct evidence for them
In reading this tree, from its billion-year-old roots to its survives. There is, however, a considerable body of
present-day phylum branch ends, we must bear two points in knowledge based on indirect evidence—fossils and the
mind. First, it omits major groups that are now extinct. genetic and physical structure of living animals—that is
There are many of these, such as the graptolites which constantly expanding. Minor adjustments to the accepted
disappeared from the Earth millions of years ago. view of the Animal Kingdom are continually being made in
Second, any such tree can only be constructed on the basis the light of changing knowledge.

ARTHROPODA
MYRIAPODA
(millipedes)
CRUSTACEA MOLLUSCA
(crustaceans) POLYPLACOPHORA
ARACHNIDA (chitons)
(spiders, scorpions) CEPHALOPPODA
INSECTA (squid, octopus) ONYCHOPHORA
(insects) BIVALVIA
(shellfish)
GASTROPODA POGONOPHORA
(snails and allies)
PRIAPULIDA
SIPUNCULIDA
ECHIURA
BRACHIOPODA
ECTOPROCTA
PHOTON I DA
PENTASTOMIDA
TARDIGRADA
ANNELIDA

HEMICHORDATA
CHORDATA
Proterostomes VERTEBRATA (vertebrates)

Deuterostomes
Vertebrate
animals
T he vertebrate branch of the chordate phylum in the
evolutionary tree of the Animal Kingdom is illustrated
complex animals on land, in the air, or in water are almost
always vertebrates.
here in greater detail than the other phyla. The diagram The diagram does not include extinct groupings—there
shows the various classes included in the group—mammals, are no dinosaurs. And, despite the fact that the vertebrates
birds, fishes, and so on—and the orders contained in those are the best known of all animals, there is sometimes room
classes. Within these orders are families and then species, too for doubt about origins and links between the different
numerous to mention here. groups. The ways in which the reptiles, mammals, and birds
Vertebrates have been an extremely successful group. relate to one another, for example, are still a matter of
While invertebrate groups may contain more species and dispute. This tree simply offers one interpretation of modern
exist in greater numbers of individuals, the largest, most evidence and knowledge.

Australian lungfish
African and South American lungfish Trout-perches
Coelacanth Cod
Bichirs Toadfishes
Sturgeons Angler fishes
Gars Indostiformes
Bowfins Toothcarps
Bony tongues Sticklebacks and tube-snouts
Elephant fishes Dealfishes .-• Newts and salamanc
Tarpons Squirrelfishes e^^Caecilians
Herrings Dories
-frogs and toads
Eels Pipefishes
Swamp-eels
*
Spiny eels
Sharks Scorpionfishes
Salmon AMPHIBIA
Bullhead sharks Flying gurnards
Milkfishes (amphibians)
Cow anf frill sharks Perchlike fishes
Carps
Dogfish, saw, and angel sharks Clingfishes
Catfishes
Skates and rays Flatfishes
Lanternfishes
Chimaeras Putterfishes ans
Beardfishes
triggerfishe

CHONDRICHTHYES OSTEICHTHYES
Lampreys
(cartilaginous fishes) (bony fishes)
Hagfishes

AGNATHA GNATHOSTOMATA
(jawed fishes)
 A catalog of life

Pheasants, curassows, etc

Ostrich Cranes, rails, bustards
Rheas Plovers, gulls, auks
Cassowaries and emu Pigeons, sandgrousse
Kiwis Parrots
Tinamous Cuckoos, turacos
Penguins Owls
Divers Potoos, nightjars
Grebes Swifts, hummingbirds
Albatrosses and petrels Mousebirds
Pelicans, cormorants, etc Trogons
Storks, herons Kingfishers, bee-eaters
Ducks, geese, swans Woodpeckers, toucans
Birds of prey Perching birds

Spiny anteaters, platypus

Prototheria (egg-laying)

Marsupials
MAMMALIA (mammals)
(reptiles)
Metatheria (marsupial mammals)

y
Theria (live-bearing)

\ Eutheria
(placental mammals)

Anteaters, armadilos, sloths

Pangolins
Aardvark
Insectivores
Elephant shrews
Flying lemurs
Bats
Tree shrews
Monkey, apes
Carnivores
Seals, sea lions
Dugong, manatees
Whales
Elephants
Hyraces
Odd-toad ungulates
Even-toad ungulates
Rodents
Rabbits, hares, pikes

187
Successful families:
plants
The number of species in families of animals and plants is The biggest families also tend to have a wide distribution.
one indication of their relative success, showing how well that The distributions of some of the most successful plants,
family has adapted to a wide range of specific lifestyles. mammals, and birds are shown over the following pages. In
Generally, the more species there are in a family, the more each group, families are arranged in descending order
adaptive potential there is in that basic living design. according to the number of species they contain.

Sunflowers Gardenias Roses

Family: Compositae Family: Rubiaceae Family: Rosaceae

Species: about 25,000 Genera: about I, I 00 Species: about 7,000 Genera: about 500 Species: about 3,370 Genera: about 122
Examples: lettuce, tarragon, marigold Examples: gardenia, coffee, quinine Examples: rose, Potentilla, apple, Prunus

Orchids Spurges Mustard

Family: Orchidaceae Family: Euphorbiaceae Family: Cruciferae

Species: about I 8,000 Genera: about 750 Species: over 5,000 Genera: about 300 Species: about 3,000 Genera: about 380
Examples: vanilla, slipper orchid Examples: rubber tree, poinsettia Examples: mustard, cabbage, wallflower

Peas Reeds and sedges Heathers

Family: Leguminosae Family: Cyperaceae Family: Ericaceae

Species: I 7,000 Genera: about 700 Species: about 4,000 Genera: about 90 Species: about 3,000 Genera: about 100
Examples: pea, lentil, chick pea, clover Examples: papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) Examples: heathers (Erica spp.), cranberry

Grasses Lilies Mint

Family: Gramineae Family: Liliaceae Family: Labiatae

Species: about 9,000 Genera: about 650 Species: about 3,500 Genera: about 250 Species: about 3,000 Genera: about 200
Examples: wheat (Triticum spp.), rice, oats Examples: tulip, hyacinth, onion Examples: mint (Mentha spp.), marjoram

88
 A catalog of life

Disotis and Medinilla Carrot Mesembryanthemum

Family: Melastomataceae Family: Umbelliferae Family: Aizoaceae

Species: about 3,000 Genera: about 240 Species: 2,500-3,000 Genera: about 300 Species: about, 2,300 Genera: about 143
Examples: pococa, maieta Examples: carrot (Daucus carota), parsnip, Examples: pebble plants (Lithops), ice plant
celery, parsley, fennel, anise, hemlock (Mesembryanthemum), Lampranthus

Potatoes Cactus

Family: Moraceae Family: Solanaceae Family: Cactaceae

Species: about 3,000 Genera: 75 Species: 2,000-3,000 Genera: about 90 Species: over 2,000 Genera: 87
Examples: fig (Ficus spp.), mulberry, Examples: potato (Solarium tuberosum), Examples: prickly pear (Opuntia),
breadfruit, iroko eggplant, pepper (Capsicum), tomato Mammillaria, Melocactus, Ferocactus

Myrtles Palms Elms

Family: Myrtaceae Family: Palmae Family: Ulmaceae

Species: about 3,000 Genera: about 100 Species: about 2,780 Genera: about 2 I 2 Species: over 2,000 Genera: I 6
Examples: Eucalyptus, clove, pimento, guava, Examples: date palm, coconut, raffia palm, oil Examples: white elm (Ulmus laevis), nettle-
myrtle palm, rattan (Calamus) tree (Celtis), zelkova

Foxgloves Acanthus Soursops

Family: Scrophulariaceae Family: Acanthaceae Family: Annonaceae

Species: about 3,000 Genera: about 220 Species: about 2,500 Genera: about 250 Species: about 2,000 Genera: about I 20
Examples: foxglove (Digitalis spp.), Examples: black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia), Examples: soursop (Annona squamosa),
snapdragon, speedwell, Mimulus, Nemesia Aphelandra, Acanthus sweetsop, ilang-ilang

Verbenas Avocado Aroids

Family: Verbenaceae Family: Lauraceae Family: Araceae

Species: about 3,000 Genera: about 75 Species: about 2,500 Genera: about 32 Species: about 2,000 Genera: about I 10
Examples: lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora), Examples: avocado (Persea), cinnamon, Examples: arum lily, Monstera deliciosa,
teak, vervain, Lantana Sassafras, bay laurel Philodendron, Dieffenbachia

8{)
Forget-me-nots Akees Iris

Family: Boraginaceae Family: Sapindaceae Family: Iridaceae

Species: about 2,000 Genera: about 100 Species: about 2,000 Genera: about I 50 Species: about 1,800 Genera: about 70
Examples: forget-me-not (A/lyosot/s), Examples: akee (Blighia sapida), lychee, Examples: iriis, crocus, gladiolus, freesia,
heliotrope, comfrey, borage rambutan, balloon vine monbretia

Pineapple Periwinkles Sugar beet

Family: Bromeliaceae Family: Apocynaceae Family: Chenopodiaceae

Species: about 2,000 Genera: about 50 Species: about 1,500 Genera: about 180 Species: about 1,500 Genera: about 100
Examples: pineapple (Ananas comosus), Examples: periwinkle (Vinca), oleander, Examples: sugar beet (Beta vulgaris), quinoa,
Spanish moss, Billbergia, Aechmea, Bromelia frangipani spinach, beet

Carnations Milkweeds Stonecrops

Family: Caryophyllaceae Family: Asclepiadaceae Family: Crassulaceae

Species: about 2,000 Genera: about 80 Species: 1,800-2,000 Genera: about 250 Species: about 1,500 Genera: about 35
Examples: carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus), Examples: milkweed (Asclepias), wax plant, Examples: stonecrop (Sedum), house leeks,
campion, Gypsophila, chickweed Stephanotis Echeveria, Kalanchoe

African violets Buttercups Mistletoes

Family: Gesneriaceae Family: Ranunculaceae Family: Loranthaceae

Species: about 2,000 Genera: about 125 Species: over 1,800 Genera: about 50 Species: about 1,300 Genera: about 3-5
Examples: African violet (Saintpaulia), Examples: buttercup (Ranunculus), celandine, Examples: mistletoe (Viscum/Phoradendron),
gloxinia, Achimenes larkspur, Pulsatilla, clematis Loranthus

Pepper Bindweeds Ginger

Family: Piperaceae Family: Convolvulaceae Family: Zingiberaceae

Species: about 2,000 Genera: about 5 Species: about 1,800 Genera: about 50 Species: about 1,300 Genera: about 49
Examples: pepper (Piper nigrum), kava Examples: bindweed (Convolvulus), sweet Examples: ginger (Zingiber officinale),
potato, morning glory cardamom, turmeric, ginger lily
 A catalog of life

West Indian boxwood Tea Myrsinaceae

Family: Flacourtiaceae Family: Theaceae Family: Myrsinaceae

Species: about 1,250 Genera: about 89 Species: about I, I 00 Genera: about 29 Species: about 1,000 Genera: about 32
Examples: boxwood (Gossypiospermum Examples: tea (Camellia sinensis), Franklinia, Examples: Myrsine, Ardisia, Maesa, Suttonia
praecox), Homalium camellia

Currants and saxifrages Cotton and mallows Pepper elders

Family: Saxifragaceae Family: Malvaceae Family: Peperomiaceae

Species: about 1,250 Genera: about 80 Species: over 1,000 Genera: about 80 Species: about 1,000 Genera: 4
Examples: black, white, and red currants Examples: cotton (Gossypium), okra, mallow, Examples: pepper elder (Peperomia),
(Ribes), gcoseberries„.sax - rage, hydrangea hollyhock, Hibiscus Manekia, Piperanthera, Verhuellia

Pipeworts Stinging nettles Milkworts

Family: Eriocaulaceae Family: Urticaceae Family: Polygalaceae

Species: about 1,200 Genera: 13 Species: over 1,000 Genera: about 45 Species: about 1,000 Genera: about 17
Examples: Eriocaulon, Paepalanthus, Examples: stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), Examples: Polygala, Xanthophyllum,
Sygonanthus, Leiothrix ramie, Cecropia Bredemeyera, Monnina

Lobelias Beeches and oaks Proteas

Family: Lobeliaceae Family: Fagaceae Family: Proteaceae

Species: about 1,200 Genera: about 30 Species: about 1,000 Genera: about 8 Species: about 1,000 Genera: 62
Examples: lobelia (Lobelia erinus), Clermontia, Examples: beeches (Fagus), oaks (Quercus), Examples: giant protea (Protea cynaroides),
Cyanea chestnut (Castanea) Banksia, Chilean fire bush, macadamia

Daffodils Mangosteens Primrose

Family: Amaryllidaceae Family: Guttiferae Family: Primulaceae

Species: about I, I 00 Genera: about 75 Species: about 1,000 Genera: about 40 Species: almost 1,000 Genera: 28
Examples: daffodils (Narcissus), snowdrop, Examples: mangosteen (Garcinia Examples: primroses (Primula), cyclamen,
amaryllis, Nerine, Clivia mangostana), mammee apple, hypericum auricula

9'
Successful families:
mammals
Fruit bats Old World monkeys
Rats and mice

Family: Muridae Order: Rodentia Family: Pteropodidae Order: Chiroptera Family: Cercopithecidae Order: Primates
Number of species: about 1,0 I I Number of species: about 173 Number of species: about 76
Examples: house rat, harvest mouse, North Examples: greater fruit bat, hammerheaded Examples: stump-tailed macaque, olive
African gerbil, muskrat, bog lemming bat, large flying fox baboon, vervet monkey, red colobus
monkey, langur
Vespertilionid bats New World leaf-nosed bats
Opossums

Family: Vespertilionidae Order: Chiroptera Family: Phyllostomatidae Order: Chiroptera

Number of species: about 3 I 9 Number of species: about I 40 Family: Didelphidae Order: Marsupialia
Examples: long-eared myotis, brown Examples: little big-eared bat, false vampire, Number of species: about 73
pipistrelle, noctule, red bat, barbastelle yellow-shouldered bat Examples: Virginia opossum, water opossum,
mouse-opossum, gray short-tailed opossum
Squirrels Cattle, antelope, sheep, goats
Civets

Family: Sciuridae Order: Rodentia Family: Bovidae Order: Artiodactyia

Number of species: about 246 Number of species: about I 23 Family: Viverridae Order: Carnivora
Examples: gray squirrel, African palm squirrel, Examples: bison, roan antelope, wildebeest, Number of species: about 72
eastern chipmunk, woodchuck gazelle, mountain goat, barbary sheep Examples: African linsang, masked palm
civet, small-spotted genet, meerkat, Indian
Shrews Free-tailed bats mongoose

Horseshoe bats

Family: Soricidae Order: Insectivora Family: Molossidae Order: Chiroptera

Number of species: about 246 Number of species: about 9 I
Examples: short-tailed shrew, pygmy Examples: Egyptian free-tailed bat, black Family: Rhinolophidae Order: Chiroptera
white-toothed shrew, mouse shrew mastiff bat, wrinkle-lipped bat Number of species: about 69
Examples: greater horseshoe bat, Philippine
horseshoe bat

192
 A catalog oflife

Weasels American spiny rats Deer

Family: Mustelidae Order: Carnivora Family: Echimyidae Order: Rodentia Family: Cervidae Order: Artiodactyla
Number of species: about 67 Number of species: about 45 Number of species: about 34
Examples: marten, western polecat, least Examples: armored rat, gliding spiny rat, Examples: muntjac, roe deer, tufted deer,
weasel, wolverine, badger guira, coro-coro moose, wapiti, caribou, northern pudu

Pocket mice Rabbits, hares Tenrecs

Family: Heteromyidae Order: Rodentia Family: Leporidae Order: Lagomorpha Family: Tenrecidae Order: Insectivora
Number of species: about 63 Number of species: about 40 Number of species: about 33
Examples: silky pocket mouse, pale kangaroo Examples: brown hare, black-tailed Examples: greater hedgehog tenrec, streaked
mouse, desert kangaroo rat jackrabbit, desert cottontail, common rabbit tenrec, shrew tenrec, giant otter shrew

Old World leaf-nosed bats Pocket gophers New World monkeys

Family: Hipposideridae Order: Chiroptera Family: Geomyidae Order: Rodentia Family: Cebidae Order: Primates
Number of species: about 61 Number of species: about 37 Number of species: about 32
Examples: flower-faced bat, trident bat, large Examples: Plains pocket gopher, northern Examplesnblack-bearded saki, white-fronted
Malay leaf-nosed bat pocket gopher capuchin, red howler, woolly spider monkey

Kangaroos Dogs, foxes Marine dolphins

Family: Macropodidae Order: Marsupialia Family: Canidae Order: Carnivora Family: Delphinidae Order: Cetacea
Number of species: about 57 Number of species: about 35 Number of species: about 32
Examples: musk rat-kangaroo, potoroo, Examples: golden jackal, coyote, gray wolf, Examples: common dolphin, killer whale,
swamp wallaby, red kangaroo red fox, fennec fox, hunting dog long-finned pilot whale, bottle-nosed dolphin

Sheath-tailed bats Cats Tuco-tucos

Family: Emballonuridae Order: Chiroptera Family: Felidae Order: Carnivora Family: Ctenomyidae Order: Rodentia
Number of species: about 50 Number of species: about 35 Number of species: about 32
Examples: African sheath-tailed bat, lesser Examples: wild cat, lynx, ocelot, cheetah, lion, Examples: tuco-tuco
white-lined bat, tomb bat, ghost bat jaguar, leopard, tiger

i93
 Seals Marmosets
Moles

Family: Phocidae Order: Pinnipedia Family: Callitrichidae Order: Primates

Family: Talpidae Order: Insectivora
Number of species: about I 9 Number of species: about 17
Number of species: about 29
Examples: harp seal, leopard seal, northern Examples: Goeldi’s marmoset, golden lion
Examples: European mole, star-nosed mole,
Chinese shrew-mole, Russian desman elephant seal, Mediterranean monk seal tamarin, emperor tamarin

Jerboas Raccoons Tree shrews

Family: Dipodidae Order: Rodentia Family: Procyonidae Order: Carnivora Family: Tupaiidae Order: Scandentia
Number of species: about 27 Number of species: about I 8 Number of species: about I 6
Examples: northern three-toed jerboa, Examples: raccoon, coati, kinkajou, olingo, Examples: common tree shrew, feather¬
greater fat-tailed jerboa coatimundi, ringtail/cacomistle tailed tree shrew

Ringtails Beaked whales Lemurs

Family: Petauridae Order: Marsupialia Family: Ziphiidae Order: Cetacea. Family: Lemuridae Order: Primates
Number of species: about 22 Number of species: about I 8 Number of species: about I 6
Examples: sugar glider, common ringtail, Examples: northern bottle-nosed whale, Examples: ring-tailed lemur, ruffed lemur,
common striped possum Cuvier’s beaked whale gray gentle lemur

Armadillos Golden moles Guinea pigs

Family: Dasypodidae Order: Edentata Family: Chrysochloridae Order: Insectivora Family: Caviidae Order: Rodentia
Number of species: about 20 Number of species: about I 7 Number of species: about I 5
Examples: nine-banded armadillo, pink fairy Examples: Cape golden mole, hottentot Examples: cavy, rock cavy, mara, guinea pig
armadillo, pichis golden mole, giant golden mole

Bandicoots Hedgehogs Elephant-shrews

Family: Peramelidae Order: Marsupialia Family: Erinaceidae Order: Insectivora Family: Macroscelididae Order:
Number of species: about 17 Number of species: about I 7 Macroscelidea
Examples: brown bandicoot, Gunn's Examples: western European hedgehog, Number of species: about I 5
bandicoot, mouse-bandicoot desert hedgehog, moonrat, shrew-hedgehog I Examples: short-eared elephant shrew

194
 A catalog of life

Sea lions Pacas and agoutis Jumping mice

Family: Otariidae Order: Pinnipedia Family: Dasyproctidae Order: Rodentia Family: Zapodidae Order: Rodentia
Number of species: about 14 Number of species: about 12 Number of species: about 10
Examples: California sea lion, northern fur Examples: paca, Brazilian agouti, gray agouti, Examples: meadow jumping mouse, northern
seal, northern sea lion acuchi birch mouse

Dormice Hutias New World porcupines

Family: Gliridae Order: Rodentia Family: Capromyidae Order: Rodentia Family: Erithizontidae Order: Rodentia
Number of species: about 14 Number of species: about 12 Number of species: about 9
Examples: fat dormouse, Japanese dormouse Examples: Ingraham's hutia, coypu/nutria Examples: North American porcupine

Pikas Phalangers African mole-rats

Family: Ochotonidae Order: Lagomorpha Family: Phalangeridae Order: Marsupialia Family: Bathyergidae Order: Rodentia
Number of species: about 14 Number of species: about I I Number of species: about 9
Examples: northern pika, steppe pika, Examples: brush-tailed possum, common Examples: Cape mole-rat! naked mole-rat,
Chinese red pika phalanger, silky phalanger silvery mole-rat

Lorises Slit-faced bats Fforses

Family: Lorisidae Order: Primates Family: Nycteridae Order: Chiroptera Family: Equidae Order: Perissodactyla
Number of species: about I 2 Number of species: about I I Number of species: about 8
Examples: slender loris, potto, angwantibo, Examples: Egyptian slit-faced bat, large slit¬ Examples: Przewaiski’s wild horse, common
greater bushbaby, Demidoff’s galago faced bat zebra, African ass, kiang, onager

Old World porcupines Apes Pigs

Family: Hystricidae Order: Rodentia Family: Pongidae Order: Primates Family: Suidae Order: Artiodactyla
Number of species: about 12 Number of species: about 10 Number of species: about 8
Examples: Indonesian porcupine, crested Examples: hoolock gibbon, siamang, Examples: bush pig, warthog, wild boar, giant
porcupine, Asian brush-tailed porcupine orangutan, chimpanzee, gorilla forest hog, babirusa
Successful families:
birds
Thrushes and allies Pigeons Hawks

Family: Muscfcapidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Columbidae Order: Columbiformes Family: Accipitridae Order: Falconiformes
Number of species: about 1,394 Number of species: about 295 Number of species: about 2 I 7
Examples: robin, nightingale, wheatear, Examples: ground dove, bar-tailed pigeon, Examples: lappet-faced vulture, red kite,
spotted flycatcher, willow warbler collared dove, superb fruit dove bald eagle, goshawk, buzzard, golden eagle

Buntings Parrots Pheasants

Family: Emberizidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Psittacidae Order: Psittaciformes

Number of species: about 569 Number of species: about 243 Family: Phasianidae Order: Galliformes
Examples: yellowhammer, dark-eyed junco, Examples: kea, gray parrot, peach-faced Number of species: about 214
rufous-sided towhee, cardinal lovebird, kakapo, scarlet macaw, budgerigar, Examples: European quail, golden pheasant,
crimson rosella Congo peacock, black grouse, turkey
Tyrant flycatchers
Antbirds Woodpeckers

Family: Tyrannidae Order: Passeriformes

Number of species: about 370 Family: Formicariidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Picidae Order: Piciformes
Examples: eastern kingbird, kiskadee Number of species: about 230 Number of species: about 208
flycatcher, eastern wood peewee Examples: ocellated antbird, streaked Examples: wryneck, great spotted
antwren, great antshrike, chestnut-crowned woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker,
Hummingbirds antpitta common flicker

Ovenbirds Honeyeaters

Family: Trochilidae Order: Apodiformes

Number of species: about 3 19
Examples: bee hummingbird, frilled Family: Furnariidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Meliphagidae Order: Passeriformes
coquette, marvelous spatule-tail, Andean Number of species: about 2 I 9 Number of species: about I 67
hillstar Examples: plain xenops, rufous Examples: brown honeyeater, Kauai o-o,
ovenbird, red-faced spinetail, larklike little friarbird, tui, Cape sugarbird, red
bushrunner wattlebird
 A catalog of life

Finches Cuckoos Starlings

Family: Fringillidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Cuculidae Order: Cuculiformes Family: Sturnidae Order: Passeriformes
Number of species: about 153 Number of species: 127 Number of species: 108
Examples: chaffinch, canary, red crossbill, Examples: cuckoo, common koel, Examples: starling, common myna, yellow¬
pine grosbeak, common redpoll, bullfinch roadrunner, smooth-billed ani, running coua billed oxpecker, metallic starling

Weavers Waxbills Crows

Family: Ploceidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Estrildidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae Order: Passeriformes
Number of species: about 143 Number of species: about I 26 Number of species: 105
Examples: village weaver, red-billed quelea, Examples: zebra finch, red avadavat, Java s Examples: common crow, rook, magpie, blue
house sparrow, snow finch, paradise whydah parrow, blue-faced parrot-finch jay, Hume’s ground jay, piapiac

Ducks American wood warblers Icterids

Family: Anatidae Order: Anseriformes Family: Parulidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae Order: Passeriformes
Number of species: about 140 Number of species: about 125 Number of species: about 93
Examples: Tundra swan, Canada goose, Examples: bananaquit, yellow warbler, Examples: northern oriole, common grackle,
shelduck, mallard, red-breasted merganser northern parula, painted redstart, ovenbird Wagler oropendoia, brown-headed cowbird

Owls Bulbuls Gulls and terns

Family: Strigidae Order: Strigiformes Family: Pycnonotidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Laridae Order: Charadriiformes
Number of species: about I 34 Number of species: about 120 Number of species: about 90
Examples: snowy owl, long-eared owl, tawny Examples: leaflove, red-whiskered bulbul, Examples: herring gull, black-legged
owl, morepork, hawk owl crested finchbill, bristlebi 11, nicator kittiwake, common tern, brown noddy

Rails Sunbirds Kingfishers

Family: Rallidae Order: Gruiformes Family: Nectariniidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Alcedinidae Order: Coraciiformes
Number of species: about I 32 Number of species: about I I 6 Number of species: about 86
Examples: takahe, common moorhen, water Examples: ruby-cheeked sunbird, superb Examples: kingfisher, belted kingfisher,
rail, American coot, corncrake sunbird, long-billed spiderhunter laughing kookaburra
 Cotingas Shrikes
Sandpipers

Family: Cotingidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae Order: Passeriformes

Family: Scolopacidae Order: Charadriiformes
Number of species: 73 Number of species: about 65
Number of species: about 82
Examples: cock-of-the-rock, spangled cotinga, Examples: northern shrike, gray-headed bush
Examples: whimbrel, American woodcock,
bearded bellbird shrike, black-backed puffback
common snipe, ruff, red phalarope

Cuckoo-shrikes and minivets Plovers

Barbets

Family: Campephagidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Charadriidae Order: Charadriiformes

Family: Capitonidae Order: Piciformes
Number of species: about 8 I Number of species: about 70 Number of species: about 63
Examples: double-toothed barbet, Examples: large cuckoo-shrike, cicadabird, Examples: lapwing, American golden plover,
coppersmith, yellow-fronted tinkerbird white-winged triller, scarlet minivet wrybill, killdeer, common dotterel

White-eyes Nightjars Herons and bitterns

Family: Zosteropidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Caprimulgidae Order: Family: Ardeidae Order: Ciconiiformes
Number of species: about 80 Caprimulgiformes Number of species: about 62
Examples: gray-breasted white-eye, Japanese Number of species: about 67 Examples: American bittern, black-crowned
white-eye, Princip<\# I 42> island speirops Examples: common poorwill, nightjar night heron, gray heron, great egret

Swallows and martins Swifts Wrens

Family: Hirundinidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Apodidae Order: Apodiformes Family: Troglodytidae Order: Passeriformes
Number of species: about 78 Number of species: about 67 Number of species: about 60
Examples: barn swallow, blue rough-winged Examples: common swift, brown needletail Examples: house wren, cactus wren, rock
swallow, house martin wren, long-billed marsh wren

Larks Petrels Falcons

Family: Alaudidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Procellariidae Order: Family: Falconidae Order: Falconiformes
Number of species: about 75 Procellarilformes Number of species: 60
Examples: skylark, horned lark, desert lark, Number of species: about 66 Examples: caracara, peregrine falcon, kestrel,
singing bushlark Examples: scaled petrel, northern fulmar hobby, gyrfalcon, collared falconet

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 A catalog of life

Flowerpeckers Titmice Birds of paradise

Family: Dicaeidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Paridae Order: Passeriformes Family: Paradisaeidae Order: Passeriformes
Number of species: about 58 Number of species: about 47 Number of species: about 42
Examples: crimson-breasted flowerpecker, Examples: great tit, sultan tit, black-capped Examples: king bird of paradise, crinkle-
black berrypecker, mistletoe bird chickadee collared manucode, ribbon-tailed astrapia

Manakins Tinamous Toucans

Family: Pipridae Order: Passeriformes Family: Tinamidae Order: Tinamiformes Family: Ramphastidae Order: Piciformes
Number of species: about 56 Number of species: about 47 Number of species: 37
Examples: blue-backed manakin Examples: great tinamou, solitary tinamou, Examples: toco toucan, emerald toucanet,
brown tinamou curl-crested aracari
Lories
Curassows Trogons

Family: Loriidae Order: Psittaciformes Family: Cracidae Order: Galliformes Family: Trogonidae Order: Trogoniformes
Number of species: about 54 Number of species: about 44 Number of species: about 35
Examples: black-capped lory, dusky lory, Examples: great curassow, nocturnal Examples: quetzal, coppery-tailed trogon,
rainbow lorikeet curassow, crested guan, plain chachalaca red-headed trogon

Pipits Hornbills Puffbirds

Family: Motacillidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Bucerotidae Order: Coraciiformes Family: Bucconidae Order: Piciformes
Number of species: about 54 Number of species: about 44 Number of species: about 34
Examples: golden pipit, water pipit, yellow Examples: great Indian hornbill, helmeted Examples: black-fronted nunbird, white¬
wagtail, yellow-throated longclaw hornbill, southern ground hornbill necked puffbird

Woodcreepers Vireos Mockingbirds

Family: Dendrocolaptidae Order: Family: Vireonidae Order: Passeriformes Family: Mimidae Order: Passeriformes
Passeriformes Number of species: about 43 Number of species: about 3 I
Number of species: about 50 Examples: red-eyed vireo, tawny-crowned Examples: mockingbird, gray catbird,
Examples: barred woodcreeper, scythebill greenlet, chestnut-sided shrike-vireo trembler, California thrasher
Threatened
plants
The green kingdom of plants is threatened with decimation. Of resources valuable to industry, such as gums, waxes, fibers,
the roughly 310,000 species so far identified, more than 6 percent timber, oils, or dyes.
are at risk. Destruction of the rain forests and other crucial habi¬ The following list of threatened species, grouped in major
tats is the prime reason so many plants are in jeopardy. But pollu¬ geographical areas, gives an idea of the kind of plants the world is
tion, modern agricultural practices, and urban development also likely to lose if threats to natural environments continue at their
consign species, if less spectacularly, to the threatened categories. present high level. The data for each species include its range, the
Species extinction is natural, but human intervention has accel¬ agent causing its demise, its threatened status as categorized by the
erated the process more than a thousand times. And it is certain World Conservation Monitoring Centre, and (where known) the
that species fiever identified are dying out, vanishing before they value the plant holds for people. The categories are defined as:
have ever been seen, let alone named. Even those known to us are
becoming extinct before their uses are fully explored. ^'Endangered: species in danger of extinction and whose
Wild relatives of crop plants such as rice and corn offer rich survival is unlikely if causal factors continue to operate.
gene pools with the potential to improve yields or develop disease
resistance. Some 40 percent of the world’s drugs are derived from ^Vulnerable: species likely to become endangered in the near
wild sources, suggesting that plants, especially from rain forests, future if causal factors continue to operate.
represent a priceless storehouse of medicines. Yet other species,
whether they are flowers, ferns, palms, or cycads, offer a wide *Rare: species with small world populations which, while not
assortment of horticultural prizes. Finally, plants provide vulnerable or endangered, are at risk.

NORTH AMERICA Status: endangered, Value: unknown, CARIBBEAN ISLANDS

Monterey Cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa Louisiana Quillwort, Isoetes iouisianensis Tree Cactus, Cereus robinii FLORIDA (USA),
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA (USA) Threat: GEORGIA, LOUISIANA (USA) Threat: road CUBA Threat: urbanization, tourist
disease and sea erosion of the cliffs where it construction and canalization, Status: development, and overcollecting. Status:
grows. Status: rare. Value: prized as an endangered. Value: important in the diet of vulnerable. Value: prized as a landscape
ornamental and for its timber; it is also used local duck populations. ornamental.
in hedges and windbreaks.
Tennessee Green Pitcher Plant, Sarracenia Bermuda Cedar, Juniperus bermudiana
Eureka Dune Grass, Swallenia alexandrea oreophila ALABAMA, GEORGIA, BERMUDA Threat: introduced pests (scale
CALIFORNIA (USA) Threat: off-road- TENNESSEE (USA) Threat: urbanization, insects) and tourist pressure. Status:
vehicles, such as trail bikes and dune buggies. mining, and overcollecting. Status: vulnerable. Value: the wood of this
Status: vulnerable. Value: the only member endangered or vulnerable. Value: unknown. evergreen is important in furniture making.
of its genus and so a genetic resource; its
spreading rhizomes stabilize sand and dune Florida Arrowroot, Zamia floridana Tibouchina, Tibouchina chamaecistCk
slopes; it is also an important food source FLORIDA, GEORGIA (USA) Threat: tourist MARTINQUE Threat: flower picking and
for some local fauna. pressure. Status: vulnerable. Value: this cycad overcollecting. Status: vulnerable. Value: this
is an ornamental plant with potential as a twisted dwarf shrub is a prized ornamental.
Texas Wild Rice, Zizania texana TEXAS food source.
(USA) This aquatic grass is a close relative of Palma Corcho, Microcycas calcocoma PINAR
annual wild rice (Z. aquatica), which is grown Agave arizonica, ARIZONA (USA) Threat: DEL RIO (Cuba) Threat: loss of habitat,
as a crop plant in North America. It is overcollecting, grazing by deer and other Status: endangered. Value: this cycad is a
palatable, nutritious, a potential crop, a herbivores, and possibly the use of shoots prized ornamental.
genetic resource, and an important shelter for human consumption. Status: endangered.
for waterfowl. Its population has declined Value: a succulent of horticultural interest. CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
rapidly since it was first described in I 933
and it can only be found along the upper Bandera County Ancistrocactus, Neogomesia Cactus, Arioca.rpus agavoides
reaches of the San Marcos River in south- Ancistrocactus tobuschii TEXAS (USA) MEXICO Threat: overcollecting. Status:
central Texas. Main threats include Threat: overcollecting. Status: endangered. endangered. Value: prized by
commercial collecting, sewage and chemical Value: prized by horticulturalists. horticulturalists.
pollution, water recreation, floating debris,
and silting due to dams. Many of these Knowlton Cactus, Pediocactus knowltonii Caoba, Persea theobromifolia ECUADOR
threats have been reduced and the wild NEW MEXICO, COLORADO (USA) Threat: The tree is a canopy species of mature
rice’s decline is slowing down, though its overcollecting and human disturbance lowland wet forest and is restricted to the
status remains vulnerable. (recreation). Status: endangered. Value: of Rio Palenque Biological Center along the
horticultural interest, western base of the Andes Mountains in
North American Pawpaw, Asimina rugelii central Ecuador. Formerly abundant, forest
FLORIDA (USA) Threat: urbanization. American Yellowwood, Cladrastris lutea USA clearance for the purpose of logging, banana
Status: endangered. Value: a small shrub Threat: flooding by dams and exploitation of and oil palm plantations, and settlement have
cultivated as a garden plant. saplings for nursery stock Status: vulnerable. made the tree an endangered species; in
Value: a deciduous tree of ornamental use; 1978 its population had been reduced to
Virginia Round-leaf Birch. Betula uber its wood was formerly employed in making some 12 individuals. The timber quality of
VIRGINIA (USA) Threat: low population gunstocks, its roots are a source of yellow this fast-growing tree has been recognized—
numbers, vandalism, and overcollecting. dye. it was once an important source of

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 A catalog of life

commercial "mahogany." As a close relative cotyledonis ST HELENA Threat: cultivated and used for fuel, and a potent
of the cultivated avocado (P. americana) it is overgrazing by introduced goats. Status: ornamental.
a genetic source of such characteristics as endangered. Value: a perennial woody herb
blight resistance. with the ability to stay alive for months Caralluma distincta KENYA, TANZANIA
without soil or water (hence the common Threat: agriculture and livestock
Star Cactus, Astrophytum asterias MEXICO name).
Threat: land clearance for agriculture. Status: Wild Rhubarb, Rheum rhaponticum
rare. Value: of potential interest to St Helena Redwood, Trochetiopsis BULGARIA, NORWAY Threat: uprooting.
horticulturalists. erythroxylon ST HELENA Threat: Status: rare. Value: a robust perennial
overgrazing by introduced goats and timber economically and historically important as a
Michay Rojo, Berberidopsis corallina CHILE cutting. Status: endangered. Value: this tree parent of the cultivated rhubarb (R. X
Threat: habitat clearance for eucalyptus has hard, red-brown timber, a bark used in cultorum); it is a potential genetic resource
plantations, Status: endangered. Value: tanning, and potential as an ornamental. and has medicinal and culinary uses.
unknown.
Lundy Cabbage, Rhynchosinapsis wrightii
Bamboo Cycad, Ceratozamia hildae MEXICO EUROPE LUNDY IS. (England) Threat: overgrazing
Threat: overcollecting. Status: rare. Value: a (goats, deer) and competition with bracken.
popular cultivated plant. Sicilian Fir, Abies nebrodensis SICILY Threat: Status: rare. Value: a close relative of the
exploitation, fire, and livestock overgrazing. cultivated cabbages (Brassica spp.), and a
Caiapia, Dorstenia albertorum BRAZIL Status: endangered. Value: a source of wood valuable genetic resource.
Threat: forest clearance for agriculture, for papermaking.
Status: endangered. Value: unknown. Doronicum cataractarum AUSTRIA Threat:
Dwarf Beet, Beta nana GREECE Threat: competition with other plants, grazing by
Aechmea dichlamydea VENEZUELA, livestock overgrazing and pressure from cattle, and overcollecting. Status: rare. Value:
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Threat: road tourists. Status: rare. Value: this hairless an alpine perennial suitable for rock gardens.
building, fire, logging, and settlements, perennial is a potential source of genetic
Status: vulnerable. Value: a bromeliad of variation for crop plants in the beet family. AFRICA
horticultural interest.
Onosma tornensis, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, Spiral Aloe, Aloe polyphylla LESOTHO
Cacaode Monte, Herrania balaensis HUNGARY Threat: overgrazing (sheep, Threat: overcollecting. Status: vulnerable.
ECUADOR Threat: deforestation and road pigs), industrial practices (cement works), Value: a prized garden succulent.
building. Status: endangered. Value: and tourism, Status: vulnerable. Value: a
unknown. flowering plant suitable for rock gardens. Yeheb Nut, Cordeauxia edulis ETHIOPIA,
SOMALIA Threat: livestock overgrazing,
Snow Mimosa, Mimosa lanuginosa BRAZIL Hooded Helleborine Orchid, Cephalanthera shifting cultivation, warfare. Status:
Threat: land development. Status: vulnerable cucullata CRETE Threat: livestock endangered. Value: the bush provides dyes
or endangered. Value: a suitable plant for overgrazing, Status: endangered. Value: and the nuts are a potential source of food.
tropical and subtropical gardens. prized by horticulturalists.
Tarout Cypress, Cupressus dupreziana
Dicliptera dodsonii ECUADOR Threat: Sisymbrium cavanillesianum SPAIN Threat: ALGERIA The tree was a major local source
deforestation (banana and oil palm agriculture and livestock overgrazing. Status: of timber in the I 9th century, but by I 978 its
plantations). Status: endangered, Value: a a potential source of medicinal drugs, population had been reduced to 153 living
vine of potential interest to horticulturalists. specimens. This decline had been
Daphne rodriguezii BALEARIC IS. (Spain) compounded by nomads sheltering beneath
Costa Rican Jatropha, Jatropha costaricensis Threat: tourist pressure. Status: endangered. the trees; they burned the wood and their
COSTA RICA Threat: livestock overgrazing Value: this small, dense, evergreen shrub has livestock ate the seedlings. The tiny
and timber cutting. Status: endangered. potential for rock and alpine gardens. remaining population survives in an area of
Value: unknown. 77sq miles in the Tassili N’Ajjer mountain
Cretan Date Palm, Phoenix theophrasti range in southeast Algeria. The species is still
Chilean Wine Palm, Jubaea chilensis CHILE CRETE This many-stemmed palm, unique to endangered despite attempts to improve its
Threat: tree cutting and land clearance. Europe, can be found only in a few sites on status. The tarout is an important source of
Status: vulnerable. Value: prized as an the island, especially at Vai on the genes, such as those for frost and drought
ornamental and an important domestic and northeastern coast. It is a close relative of tolerance, which can be bred into other
commercial resource: baskets are made from the cultivated date palm (P. dactylifera) and a cypresses. Its medium density, aromatic
leaves; palm honey and palm wine from sap; source of genes governing such wood has commercial value, and the tree
edible oil and food from seeds; sweetmeats characteristics as resistance to pests, rings of dead specimens (some of which are
from fruits. diseases, and cold. The palm, whose status is around 2,000 years old) could provide vital
vulnerable, is threatened mainly by clues to the Sahara Desert's past climate.
Palo de Sal, Pelliciera rhizophorae
tourism—cars, camping, and fires prevent
COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PANAMA, COSTA Wild Olive, Olea laperrinei SOUTHERN
regeneration by destroying seedlings. The
RICA Threat: clearance and development of ALGERIA, NIGER, SUDAN Threat: livestock
palm needs a high water table, so the species
mangrove swamps. Status: vulnerable, Value: overgrazing, woodcutting, and environmental
is also threatened by drainage and the
unknown. changes. Status: vulnerable. Value: a close
pumping of freshwater to urban areas.
relative of the cultivated olive (0. europaea),
Diploperennial Teosinte, Zeo diploperennis and a valuable genetic resource.
MEXICO Threat: land clearance for Dianthus callizonia ROMANIA Threat:
agriculture. Status: vulnerable. Value: this tourism and livestock overgrazing. Status: Nubian Dragon Tree, Dracaena ombet
corn, a wild relative and probably ancestor rare. Value: a perennial herb suitable for rock DJIBOUTI, ETHIOPIA, SOMALIA, SUDAN
of the cultivated variety (Z. mays), is a gardens. Threat: cutting for firewood, drought, and
potential genetic resource. If its perennial livestock overgrazing. Status: vulnerable or
habit and adaptability to cold and damp Lilium rhodopaeum BULGARIA, GREECE rare. Value: the leaves are used for weaving
could be bred into corn cultivars, the Threat: overcollecting and tourism. Status: mats and baskets.
rare. Value: a lily of great horticultural merit.
agriculture of many countries would be
Euphorbia cameronii SOMALIA Threat:
transformed.
Artemisia granatensis SPAIN Threat: livestock overgrazing, warfare, and
overcollecting. Status: endangered. Value: a environmental changes. Status: endangered,
Ariocarpus agavoides MEXICO Threat:
overcollecting. Status: vulnerable. Value: a perennial used as an ingredient in “Artemisia Value: this succulent shrub has economic
Tea" and for alcoholic drinks. potential as livestock fodder; it is a source of
cactus of unusual shape and habit prized by
horticulturalists. moisture for grazing animals in dry periods,
Shrubby Cress-rocket, Vella pseudocytisus and may be used as an ornamental.
SPAIN Threat: overgrazing (sheep, goats),
SOUTH ATLANTIC ISLANDS
destruction of habitat, and overcollecting. Caralluma distincta KENYA, TANZANIA
Old Father Live Forever, Pelargonium Status: vulnerable. Value: a leafy shrub, once Threat: agriculture and livestock

201
 African Violet, Saintpaulia ionantha Big-leaf Palm, Marojeja darianii
overgrazing. Status: endangered. Value: a
TANZANIA Threat: forest clearance and MADAGASCAR Threat: overcollecting for
succulent herb of potential horticultural
habitat disturbance. Status: endangered. food and habitat clearance for agriculture.
interest; it may contain pharmacologically
Value: one of the world's most popular Status: endangered. Value: unknown.
active substances, as do other members of
the Asclepiadaceae (milkweed) family, to perennial houseplants.
Socotran Pomegranate, Punica protopunica
which it belongs.
Flor de Mayo, Senecio hadrosomus CANARY SOCOTRA IS. (possibly SOUTH YEMEN) In
Centaurea junoniana CANARY IS. Threat: IS. Threat: livestock overgrazing and I 953 this small tree was the chief
increasing aridity of the climate. Status: constituent of thickets on Socotra's
volcanic eruptions. Status: endangered.
endangered. Value: a wild relative of florist's limestone slopes, but by 1978 the species
Value: woody perennial of horticultural
cineraria and a potential genetic resource for had become endangered, with only four old
interest.
horticulturalists. specimens surviving. The rapid decline was
caused by heavy overgrazing by introduced
Aeonium nobile CANARY IS. Threat:
agriculture, grazing by goats, and livestock, especially goats and cattle. A
overcollecting. Status: vulnerable. Value: a INDIAN OCEAN ISLANDS relative of the cultivated pomegranate (P.
succulent herb of horticultural potential. granatum), it is an important genetic
Catharanthus coriaceus MADAGASCAR resource; its palatable fruit is eaten by the
Madrono, Arbutus canariensis CANARY IS. Threat: livestock overgrazing and fire. Status: local Bedu people. The tree is one of 2 I 6
Threat: loss of laurel forest habitat endangered. Value: a relative of the rosy flowering plants endemic to Socotra and the
(agriculture, fuel wood). Status: vulnerable. periwinkle (C. roseus), which is used to treat neighboring island of Abd al Kuri; almost half
Value: a tree of horticultural interest; its leukemia, and potentially of great of these are seriously endangered.
edible fruit is rich in vitamin C and is reputed pharmacological value,
to be the Golden Apple of the Hesperides in
Greek mythology.' Mauritian Crinum Lily, Crinum mauritianum ASIA
MAURITIUS Threat: dam and reservoir
Tedera Salvaje, Ruta pinnata CANARY IS. construction. Status: endangered. Value: a Grantham’s Camellia, Camellia granthamiana
Threat: clearing of vegetation (agriculture, large bulbous plant prized by HONG KONG, CHINA Threat: naturally low
livestock overgrazing). Status: vulnerable. horticulturalists. population numbers. Status: endangered.
Value: a relative of the common rue (R. Value: a small tree, favored as a genetic
graveolens) and rich in oil glands which Bois de Prune Blanc, Drypetes caustica resource for the breeding of new garden
produce potentially useful chemicals. MAURITIUS Threat: tree felling and low cultivars.
breeding potential. Status: endangered.
Pininana, Echium pininana CANARY IS, Value: this tree provides good hard timber, Coptis, Coptis teeta BURMA, CHINA, INDIA
Threat: habitat clearance for agriculture, and its mustard oils have potential chemical Threat: overexploitation. Status: vulnerable.
livestock overgrazing, and overcollection value. Value: an herb widely used in local medicine
Status: endangered. Value: this giant herb is a and therefore a potential source of
spectacular garden plant suitable for Cucumber Tree, Dendrosicyos socotranus pharmaceutical drugs.
mediterranean climates. SOCOTRA IS, (possibly SOUTH YEMEN)
Threat: overgrazing by goats and Dawn Redwood, Metasequoia
Dragon Blood Tree, Dracaena draco overcollecting for camel fodder. Status: glyptostroboides SICHUAN PROVINCE
CANARY IS., CAPE VERDE IS., and vulnerable. Value: this giant obese succulent (China) Threat: agriculture and the cropping
MADEIRA Threat: commercial exploitation is a botanical curiosity and the only of seedlings. Status: rare. Value: this tree, a
for its sap. Status: vulnerable. Value: the sap arborescent member of the cucumber family. “living fossil," is of great botanical and
is used to produce red resin for varnishes, horticultural interest.
paper pigments, and pharmaceutical plasters, Saiberbher, Begonia socotrana SOCOTRA IS.
and may also have medicinal properties. (possibly SOUTH YEMEN) Threat: livestock Maxburretia rupicola PENINSULAR
overgrazing. Status: endangered. Value: this MALAYSIA Threat: overcollecting,
Papyrus, Cyperus papyrus hadidi EGYPT The begonia is an important genetic resource, quarrying, and fires. Status: rare. Value: the
habitat of this giant perennial sedge is able to endow begonia hybrids with the palm’s prized flowers are of horticultural
restricted to the Wadi Natroun depression, capacity for winter-flowering. interest.
west of the southernmost part of the Nile
Delta. The papyrus is threatened by the Dirachma, Dirachma socotrana SOCOTRA IS. Palms (Family Palmae) <
extraction of water from the Nile, (possibly SOUTH YEMEN) Threat: livestock Most of the roughly 2,600 species of palm
accompanied by changes in irrigation overgrazing. Status: endangered. Value: the are native to tropical regions, especially to
patterns, which have caused freshwater only member of its family, it is a potential Asia and Central/South America, and to a
ponds and swamps to dry out and become genetic resource. lesser extent Africa. Some 83 percent are
more salty. In Egypt its status is endangered. found only in the wild, while the remaining
The papyrus was the symbol of the ancient Coco de Mer, Lodoicea maldivica 17 percent exist both in cultivation and in
Kingdom of Lower Egypt, where it was used SEYCHELLES Threat: overcollecting of nuts the wild. Their usefulness to man has a long
for making sandals, mats, and paper, and as a for tourists, habitat clearance, fire, and history. In order of importance their uses
source of medicines. competition from introduced plants. Status: are: food, fiber, building materials, fuel wood,
vulnerable. Value: this palm produces the and folk medicines. No palm species has
Jasmine-flowered Heath, Erica jasminifolia biggest seeds in the world (up to 661b); been confirmed as totally extinct, but 9 I are
SOUTH AFRICA Threat: habitat clearance these are considered to have aphrodisiac said to be endangered (45 in the New World
(agriculture, road construction, and fire). properties. and 46 in the Old World). They are
Status: endangered. Value: this evergreen threatened mainly by forest clearance for
shrub has potential as a garden plant, Toxocarpus schimperianus SEYCHELLES agriculture, settlements, the creation of
Threat: habitat loss (fire and forest pastures, mining, and hydroelectric power
Golden Gladiolus, Gladiolus aurea SOUTH exploitation cause erosion, loss of soil operations.
AFRICA Threat: competition from fertility, and drought). Status: vulnerable.
introduced plants, flower picking, and Value: the plant may contain Musa gracilis PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
modified land drainage due to gravel pharmacologically active substances, as do Threat: habitat clearance for agriculture.
extraction. Status: endangered. Value: this other members of the Asclepiadaceae Status: vulnerable, Value: this giant relative of
slender herbaceous plant has horticultural (milkweed) family, to which it belongs. the banana is of botanical interest and a
potential. potential genetic resource.
Bois de Fer, Vateria seychellarum
Dal la, Medemia argun EGYPT SUDAN SEYCHELLES Threat: habitat loss (fire and Low’s Pitcher Plant, Nepenthes lowii
Threat: habitat clearance for agriculture and forest exploitation cause erosion, loss of soil BORNEO Threat: overcollecting. Status:
by irrigation schemes. Status: endangered. fertility, and drought). Status: endangered. rare, Value: this insectivorous plant is a
Value: this palm, the only member of its Value: the tree provides good timber and is a horticultural prize.
genus, is a potential genetic resource. valuable genetic resource.

202
 A catalog of life

Snow Orchid, Diplomeris hirsuta WEST by habitat clearance for agriculture, the Chonta.Juania australis JUAN FERNANDEZ
BENGAL (India) Threat: livestock creation of pastures, settlements, roads, IS. Threat: overgrazing, cutting of wood for
overgrazing and landslips. Status: vulnerable. dams, and tourist developments. They are souvenirs. Status: rare. Value: this palm is the
Value: of great horticultural merit; tubers among the most endangered of plant groups: only member of its genus and is therefore a
may contain useful alkaloids. of the I 68 species, I 4 are thought to be genetic resource; the “heart” of the wood
endangered, 40 vulnerable, 32 rare, 6 can be eaten and the wood itself is used for
Drury’s Slipper Orchid, Paphiopedilum indeterminate, and one extinct. The walking sticks and furniture.
druryi INDIA Threat: overcollecting and remainder are either not threatened or else
forest fires. Status: endangered, possibly their status is insufficiently documented. Miconia, Miconia robinsoniana GALAPAGOS
extinct. Value: a horticultural gem and a IS, Threat: overgrazing by introduced
possible source of alkaloids and medicinal Horseshoe Fern, Marottia salicina LORD mammals and competition from introduced
drugs. HOWE IS. (Australia) Threat: plants. Status: vulnerable, Value: unknown,
overcollecting and grazing by feral pigs.
Giant Rafflesia, Rafflesia arnotdii SUMATRA Status: endangered. Value: prized by
Threat: logging, shifting cultivation, and horticulturalists.
overcollecting. Status: vulnerable. Value: this
parasitic plant has the world’s largest Lobster Claw, Clianthus puniceus NORTH IS.
flowers; locally it is a source of medicines (New Zealand) Threat: overgrazing by
and may be of pharmaceutical interest. introduced mammals (Australian opossums,
goats, deer, pigs). Status: endangered. Value:
Jade Vine, Strongylodon mocrobotrys this woody shrub is an outstanding ■
PHILIPPINES Threat: deforestation. Status: horticultural plant,
vulnerable. Value: a spectacular plant in
cultivation. Three Kings Cabbage Tree, Cordyline kaspar
THREE KINGS IS. (New Zealand) Threat:
Wallich’s Elm, Ulmus wallichiana low population numbers following
AFGHANISTAN, INDIA, NEPAL, PAKISTAN overgrazing by introduced mammals (now
Threat: cutting for animal fodder. Status: removed). Status: rare. Value: a small tree
endangered. Value: the fibrous bark is used useful for planting in coastal districts.
to make rope and the wood could be a
source of timber. Tecomanthe speciosa THREE KINGS IS.
(New Zealand) Threat: low population due
Blue Vanda of Asia, Vanda caerulea BURMA, to past degradation of habitat (humans,
INDIA, NEPAL Threat: overcollecting. Status: goats). Status: endangered. Value: an
vulnerable. Value: an epiphytic orchid prized evergreen vine of potential interest to
by horticulturalists. horticulturalists.

White Gum, Eucalyptus argophloia

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA Threat: forest clearance for
agriculture. Status: endangered. Value: this
Waddy, Acacia peuce AUSTRALIA Threat: tree has hard timber, can act as a windbreak
timber cutting and overgrazing by cattle. or shade, and makes a good cultivated plant.
Status: vulnerable. Value: a tree valued for its
hard, durable wood and its ability to grow in Hamilton’s Gunnera, Gunnera hamiltonii
extreme desert conditions. STEWART IS. (New Zealand) Threat:
quarrying, competition from introduced
Mogumber Bell, Darwinia cornea plants (weeds, duneland stabilizers), and
SOUTHWEST AUSTRALIA Threat: pressure from livestock overgrazing. Status:
overgrazing by sheep and rabbits. Status: endangered. Value: a small stout plant
endangered. Value: a sought-after garden attractive in a rock garden.
plant.
Chatham Island’s Forget-me-not,
Augusta Kennedia, Kennedia macrophylla Myosotidium hortensia CHATHAM IS, (New
SOUTHWEST AUSTRALIA Threat: Zealand) Threat: trampling and grazing by
urbanization, road works, and recreation. introduced mammals (pigs, sheep). Status:
Status: endangered. Value: a member of the endangered, Value: a succulent perennial
pea family, it is a prized garden plant and a prized as a garden plant.
potential genetic resource.

Underground Orchid, Rhizanthella gardneri PACIFIC OCEAN ISLANDS

SOUTHWEST AUSTRALIA Threat: farming
and agriculture. Status: endangered, Value: Kauai Silversword, Argyroxiphium kauense
one of only two underground orchids in the HAWAII Threat: overgrazing by sheep.
world (the other is Cryptanthem.is slateri Status: endangered. Value: unknown.
from NSW and Queensland), it is a popular
plant with great interest for botanists. Kauai Hesperomannia, Hesperomannia
lydgatei HAWAII Threat: deforestation.
Byfield Fern, Bowema serrulata AUSTRALIA Status: endangered. Value: unknown.
Threat: overcollecting and destruction
because toxic to livestock, Status: vulnerable. Neowawraea phyllanthoides HAWAII Threat:
Value: a distinctive cycad prized as an low population due to past overgrazing
ornamental by horticulturalists. (cattle, goats) and rooting by pigs. Status:
endangered. Value: a tree with hard, heavy,
Cycads (Order Cycadales) close-grained timber that is potentially good
for cabinet-making.
Said to be living fossils because they were
thriving at a time when dinosaurs roamed Hayun Lago, Serianthes nelsonii GUAM,
the world (between 150 and 200 million ROTA (Western Pacific) Threat: grazing of
years ago). Cycads are long-lived, palmlike seedlings by introduced deer and land
trees that grow and reproduce at a slow development. Status: endangered. Value: a
rate. They are threatened largely by tree with good timber and potential as an
overcollecting for the horticultural trade or ornamental.
Endangered species:
mammals
The survival of an increasing number of animal species is at risk, thoroughly assessed. The following lists therefore represent only
largely because mankind is destroying their habitats. In 1988, the a selection of the most endangered species, with the mammals
total of known threatened species stood at 4,589. This comprised being the most comprehensive and the invertebrates, about which
555 mammals, 1,073 birds, 186 reptiles, 54 amphibians, 596 fish, least is known, the least. Data for each species include its common
and 2,125 invertebrates. Estimates suggest that if present trends and scientific names, distribution, and the main agents of threat.
continue, several hundred vertebrates and roughly a million Profiles give added detail to the plight of certain species and,
insects will become extinct by 2040. where known, state the CITES appendix to which they have been
The following checklists are composed of endangered animals assigned.
onl—they do not contain species classed as vulnerable, rare, inde¬ CITES (the Convention of International Trade in Endangered
terminate, or insufficiently known. The World Conservation Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) has three appendices: I con¬
Monitoring Centre defines an endangered species as “one in dan¬ tains species that may be threatened with extinction by trade; II
ger of extinction and whose survival is unlikely if the causal fac¬ contains species likely to become threatened with extinction if
tors continue operating.” trade continues; III is little used and contains species protected
Relatively few groups of animal species have had their status nationally but not internationally.

Order Giant Golden Mole, Chrysospalax trevelyani wanton killing by vandals, flooding caused by
MARSUPIALIA (Marsupials) SOUTH AFRICA Threat: uncertain, possibly dams and reservoirs, siltation from open-cast
drought and habitat loss, mining; water pollution, and pesticides.
Brush-tailed Bettong, Bettongia penicillata Protection of its cave habitats has led to
AUSTRALIA Threat: habitat losses (seasonal Order stabilization or increase in populations in the
burning) and predation by introduced CHIROPTERA (Bats) 1980s. Listed as endangered on the USA
mammals (foxes). Endangered Species List.
Chapman Fruit Bat, Dobsonia exoleta
Woodlark Island Cuscus, Phalanger lullulae chapmani NEGROS IS. (Philippines) Threat: Order
WOODLARK IS. (Papua New Guinea) deforestation and hunting (food). Possibly PRIMATES (Monkeys and apes)
Threat: hunting and habitat loss (commercial extinct in the wild.
logging). Broad-nosed Gentle Lemur, Hapalemur
Philippines Tube-nosed Fruit Bat, Nyctlmene simus MADAGASCAR Threat:
Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat, Lasiorhinus rabori NEGROS IS. (Philippines) Threat: deforestation.
kreftii AUSTRALIA Threat: competition with deforestation.
rabbits and cattle, disease, and drought. Sclater Lemur, Lemur macaco flavifrons
Comoro Black Flying Fox, Pteropus MADAGASCAR Threat: deforestation.
Greater Bilby, Macrotis lagotis NORTHERN llvingstonil COMORO IS. (Indian Ocean)
TERRITORY (Australia) Threat: human Threat: uncertain. Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur, Allocebu_s trichotis
disturbance, occasional hunting, and MADAGASCAR Threat: uncertain (human
competition with rabbits. Rodrigues Flying Fox, Pteropus rodricensis interference thought unlikely).
RODRIGUES (Mauritius) Threat: starvation
Numbat, Myrmecobius fasciatus (loss of fruit food in habitat), hunting, and Indris, Indri indrl MADAGASCAR Threat:
AUSTRALIA Threat: land clearance cyclones. deforestation (logging, agriculture).
(agriculture), brush fires, and predation by
introduced mammals (foxes, cats, dogs). Samoan Flying Fox, Pteropus samoensis Aye-aye, Daubentonia madagascariensis
SAMOA, FIJI IS. Threat: uncertain. MADAGASCAR Threat: deforestation and
Brindled Nailtail Wallaby, Onychogalea persecution.
fraenata QUEENSLAND (Australia) Once Seychelles Sheath-tailed Bat, Coleura
common in New South Wales and seychellensis SEYCHELLES Threat: Philippine Tarsier, Tarsius syrichta
Queensland, it was thought to be extinct uncertain. PHILIPPINES Threat: deforestation and
until I 974, when a viable population was capture (export trade).
discovered north of Dingo in central Puerto Rican Flower Bat, Phyllonycteris
Queensland. Its scrub woodland and tall major PUERTO RICO Threat: uncertain, Woolly Spider Monkey, Brachyteles
shrubland habitat is threatened by large- Possibly extinct in the wild. arachnoides SOUTHEAST BRAZIL Threat:
scale pasture development for beef cattle. deforestation (fuel, settlement, agriculture),
The wallaby is also threatened by introduced Tanzanian Woolly Bat, Kerivoula africana and hunting (food).
herbivores (rabbits) and predators (foxes). TANZANIA Threat: uncertain. Possibly
Listed in CITES Appendix I. extinct in the wild. Southern Bearded Saki, Chiropotes satanas
satanas BRAZIL Threat: deforestation
Order Gray Bat, /Vlyotis grisescens SOUTHEAST (settlement).
INSECTIVORA (Insectivores) USA The bat inhabits isolated limestone
caves and by the mid-1 970s had declined to Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey, Lagothrix
Cuban Solenodon, Solenodon cubanus around 1.5 million, one-fifth of the estimated flavicauda ECUADOR, PERU Threat:
CUBA Threat: deforestation. population 20 years previously. In winter, hunting (food, skin), capture (export trade),
nine caves harbor about 95 percent of the and deforestation (pasture lands,
Haitian Solenodon, Solenodon paradoxus total population and more than half occupy a agriculture).
HISPANIOLA Threat: deforestation, land single cave. The species is threatened by
development, and predation (dogs). cave disturbance and commercialization,

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 A catalog of life

Central American Squirrel Monkey, Saimiri Lion-tailed Macque, Macaca silenus SOUTH capture (export trade).
oerstedi COSTA RICA, PANAMA Threat: INDIA Threat: deforestation (plantations,
deforestation (banana and sugarcane hydroelectric power), hunting (food), and Order
plantations, cattle farms) and capture capture (export trade). EDENTATA (Edentates)
(export trade).
Javan Leaf Monkey, Presbytis comata JAVA Maned Sloth, bradypus torquatus
Buffy-tufted-ear Marmoset, Callithrix aurita Threat: loss of forest habitat (settlement). SOUTHWEST BRAZIL Threat:
SOUTHEAST BRAZIL Threat: deforestation.
deforestation. Mentawai Leaf Monkey, Presbytis potenziani
MENTAWAI IS. (Indonesia) Threat: Order
Buffy-headed Marmoset, Callithrix flaviceps deforestation (logging) and hunting (food). LAGOMORPHA (Rabbits and hares)
SOUTHEAST BRAZIL Threat: deforestation
(settlement) and possibly capture (scientific Tonkin Leaf Monkey, Presbytis francoisi Riverine Rabbit, Bunolagus monticularis
research, pets). INDOCHINA, SOUTHWEST CHINA SOUTH AFRICA Threat: habitat loss
Threat: loss of forest habitat (deforestation, (agriculture).
Golden Lion Tamarin, Leontopithecus rosalia warfare) and hunting (medicines).
SOUTHEAST BRAZIL Threat: deforestation Hispid Hare, Caprolagus hispidus
(agriculture, pasturelands, urban Nilgiri Leaf Monkey, Presbytis johni SOUTH FOOTHILLS ofthe HIMALAYAS (Asia)
development). INDIA Threat: deforestation (agriculture, - Threat: habitat loss (forestry, dry season
pasturelands, wood, plantations) and hunting burning, agriculture, settlement) and
Golden-headed Lion Tamarin, (food). hunting (food).
Leontopithecus chrysomelas EAST BRAZIL
Threat: deforestation (cocoa plantations). White-headed Black Leaf Monkey, Tehuantepec Hare, Lepus flavigularis
Trachypithecus leucocephalus SOUTH MEXICO Threat: uncertain.
Golden-rumped Lion Tamarin, CHINA Threat: loss of forest habitat and
Leontopithecus chrysopygus BRAZIL Threat: hunting (medicines). Amami Rabbit, Pentalagus furnessi RYUKI IS.
deforestation. (Japan) Threat: deforestation
Red-shanked Douc Monkey, Pygathrix (settlement) and predation (feral dogs).
Cotton-top Tamarin, Saguinus oedipus nemaeus CENTRAL VIETNAM, LAOS
oedipus NORTHWEST COLOMBIA Threat: Threat: deforestation (warfare, defoliation) Volcano Rabbit, Romerolagus diazi
deforestation (agriculture, pasturelands) and and hunting (food). MEXICO The rabbit inhabits scattered pines
capture (pet trade, btomedical research). and tussocky grasses on the upper-middle
Black-shanked Douc Monkey, Pygathrix slopes of two volcanoes, Popocatepetl and
Tana River Mangabey, Cercocebus galeritus nigripes SOUTHERN VIETNAM, Ixtacihuatl, and several adjacent mountains.
galeritus KENYA Threat: deforestation SOUTHERN LAOS, EASTERN KAMPUCHEA It is threatened by the loss of its habitat and
(agriculture, seasonal flooding, burning). Threat: loss of forest habitat (warfare, wanton shooting. Listed in CITES
agriculture) and hunting (food), Appendix I.
White-throated Guenon, Cercopithecus
erythrogaster BENIN, NIGERIA Threat: Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey, Pygathrix Order
deforestation (commercial logging, avunculus NORTHERN VIETNAM Threat: RODENTIA (Rodents)
agriculture), road building, mining/quarrying, deforestation (warfare, agriculture) and
and hunting (food). hunting (food). Vancouver Island Marmot, Marmota
vancouverensis CANADA Threat:
Russet-eared Guenon, Cercopithecus Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey, Pygathrix deforestation (commercial logging,
erythrotis CAMEROON, BIOKO, NIGERIA roxellana CHINA Threat: hunting (skin). development of ski resorts).
Threat: deforestation and hunting (food). Population very low—around 200.
Delmarva Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger cinereus
Preuss Guenon, Cercopithecus preussi Ghizhou Snub-nosed Monkey, Pygathrix MARYLAND (USA) Threat:
CAMEROON, BIOKO, NIGERIA) Threat: brelichi CHINA Threat: habitat loss and deforestation (logging).
deforestation (commercial logging) and hunting.
hunting (food). San Quintin Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys
Pig-tailed Langur, Simias concolor gravipes BAJA CALIFORNIA (Mexico)
Bl ack Colobus, Colobus satanas MENTAWAI IS. (Indonesia) Threat: Threat: habitat loss (urbanization,
CAMEROON, CONGO, EQUATORIAL deforestation (commercial logging) and development, agriculture).
GUINEA, GABON Threat: deforestation hunting (food),
(commercial logging) and hunting (food, Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys
skin). Kloss Gibbon, Hylobates klossi heermanni morroensis CALIFORNIA (USA)
MENTAWAI IS. (Indonesia) Threat: Threat: habitat loss (changes in vegetation,
Red Colobus, Colobus badius [subspecies] deforestation (commercial logging) and urbanization).
GHANA, IVORY COAST, CONGO, BIOKO, hunting (food).
CAMEROON, KENYA, TANZANIA Threat: Fresno Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys nitratoides
habitat loss. Javan Gibbon, Hylobates moloch JAVA exilis FRESNO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Threat: deforestation (commercial logging) (USA) Threat: habitat loss (agriculture,
Kirk Colobus, Colobus kirki ZANZIBAR and capture (export trade). development, urbanization).
Threat: habitat degradation (woodcutting,
human encroachment). Mountain Gorilla, Gorilla gorilla beringei Tipton Kangaroo Rat, Dipodomys nitratoides
RWANDA, UGANDA, ZAIRE Threat: nitratoides CALIFORNIA (USA) Threat:
Drill, Mandrillus leucophaeus CAMEROON, deforestation, human disturbance, and habitat loss (agriculture, urbanization,
BIOKO, NIGERIA The drill inhabits lowland encroachment. development).
and evergreen rain forest, usually in hilly,
rock-strewn terrain by the coast. One of the Eastern Lowland Gorilla, Gorilla gorilla Salinas Pocket Mouse, Perognathus inornatus
most endangered monkeys in Africa, it is graueri EASTERN ZAIRE Threat: psammophilus CALIFORNIA (USA) Threat:
threatened mainly by the deforestation deforestation, human disturbance, and habitat loss (agriculture, development,
caused by commercial logging and the encroachment. urbanization).
establishment of plantations; it is also hunted
for food and as a crop pest. Listed in CITES West African Chimpanzee, Pan trogolodytes Los Angeles Pocket Mouse, Perognathus
Appendix I. verus WEST AFRICA Threat: habitat loss longimembris brevinasus CALIFORNIA (USA)
(agriculture) and capture (export trade). Threat: habitat loss (urbanization,
Mentawai Macaque, Macaca pagensis development).
MENTAWAI IS. (Indonesia) Threat: Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus BORNEO,
deforestation, hunting (food), and capture SUMATRA Threat: deforestation Saltmarsh Harvest Mouse, Reithrodontomys
(export trade). (commercial logging, agriculture) and raviventris CALIFORNIA (USA) Threat:

205
 Black-footed Ferret, Mustela nigripes USA Saimaa Seal, Phoca hispida saimensis
habitat loss (urban and industrial
Threat: habitat loss (agriculture, pasture), FINLAND Threat: persecution by local
development, diking for salt ponds, water
disease (distemper), poisoning, predation, fishermen and possible pollution.
pollution).
and occasional hunting.
Colorado River Cotton Rat, Sigmodon Order
arizonae plenus CALIFORNIA (USA) Threat: Malabar Large Spotted Civet, Viverra PROBOSCIDEA (Elephants)
habitat loss (agriculture, urbanization). megaspila civettina WESTERN GHATS
(India) Threat: uncertain, probably Asian Elephant, Elephas maximurs ASIA In
Amargosa Vole, Microtus californicus persecution and loss of habitat to the past these elephants inhabited regions
scirpensis CALIFORNIA (USA) Threat: agriculture. from Syria to Southeast Asia and were
habitat loss (agriculture, urbanization). common on the Indian subcontinent during
Sokoke Bushy-tailed Mongoose, Bdeogale the 19th century. Despite their adaptability to
Cabrera Hutia, Capromys angelcabrerai; crassicauda omnivora NORTH TANZANIA, a variety of habitats, their populations have
Large-eared Hutia, Capromys auritus; Little KENYA Threat: uncertain. declined due to deforestation and human
Earth Hutia, Capromys'snafelipensis CUBA settlements. By the late I 970s no more than
Threat: hunting by local fishermen, human Liberian Mongoose, Liberiictis kuhni 42,000 remained; in the early I 980s this
disturbance, and a naturally low population. NORTHEAST LIBERIA (possibly IVORY figure fell to below 30,000. The species is still
COAST, GUINEA) Threat: habitat loss, threatened by deforestation and ivory
Dwarf Hutia, Capromys nanus CUBA Threat: hunting (food). hunters. Listed in CITES Appendix I.
habitat loss (agriculture).
Barbary Hyena, Hyaena hyaena barbara Order
Order ALGERIA, MOROCCO, TUNISIA Threat: PERISSODACTYLA (Odd-toed ungulates)
CETACEA (Whales) habitat loss (settlement, agriculture).
% African Wild Ass, Equus africanus
Indus River Dolphin, Platanista minor Asiatic Cheetah, Acinomyx jubatus venaticus NORTHEAST AFRICA Threat: warfare,
PAKISTAN Threat: habitat loss IRAN, USSR Threat: habitat loss hunting (food), and drought.
(impoundment of water and its withdrawal (agriculture), and hunting (fur and as a stork
for irrigation) and exploitation by local predator). Grevy Zebra, Equus grevyi ETHIOPIA,
fishermen. KENYA (possibly SOMALIA) Threat: hunting
Florida Cougar, Felis concolor coryi USA (skin) and warfare.
Yangtze River Dolphin, Lipotes vexiliifer Threat: hunting, habitat loss, road kills, and
YANGTZE RIVER (China) Threat: reduced prey numbers. Indian Wild Ass, Equus hemionus khur
incidental capture in fishing nets and collision PAKISTAN, INDIA Threat: uncertain,
with boats; decrease in food supply Eastern Cougar, Felis concolor cougar possibly disease, habitat loss (land
(overfishing). CANADA, USA Threat: hunting, reduced development), drought, and human
prey numbers, and habitat loss. disturbance.
Blue Whale, Balaenoptera musculus ALL
OCEANS Threat: overhunting. Iriomote Cat, Felis iriomotensis RYUKU IS. Przewalski Horse, Equus przewalskii CHINA,
(Japan) Threat: deforestation (agriculture). MONGOLIA Threat: hunting, Possibly
Humpback Whale, Megaptera novaeangliae extinct in the wild.
ALL OCEANS. There are thought to be two Pakistan Sand Cat, Felis margarita scheffeli
separate populations, northern and PAKISTAN Threat: capture (export trade). Cape Mountain Zebra, Equus zebra zebra
southern: the former was once some I 5,000 SOUTH AFRICA Threat: habitat loss and
strong and the latter I 00,000. Whaling in the Pardel Lynx, Felis pardina PORTUGAL, competition with domestic stock (leading to
I 9th century and the first half of the 20th SPAIN Threat: habitat loss, disease:reduced persecution).
severely reduced these populations. By the prey numbers, and hunting.
I 980s, the world total was thought to be Malayan Tapir, Tapirus indicus SOUTHEAST
less than 7,000. Despite a moratorium on Asiatic Lion, Panthera leo persica GUJERAT ASIA Threat: deforestation (commercial
whaling, the species is still threatened by (India) Threat: habitat loss (overgrazing by logging, oil exploration, rubber and rice
hunters and by incidental capture in fishing cattle, water buffalo). plantations, mining, settlement).
nets. Listed in CITES Appendix I.
Tiger, Panthera tigris ASIA Threat: habitat Northern Square-lipped Rhinoceros,
Bowhead Whale, Balaena mysticetus loss (commercial logging, tree-planting, Ceratotherium simum cottoni NORTHWEST
ARCTIC, NORTH ATLANTIC, and NORTH farming, settlement) and hunting (sport, skin, ZAIRE, SOUTHERN SUDAN Also known as
PACIFIC OCEANS Threat: overhunting. persecution). the Northern White Rhinoceros, this
subspecies is severely threatened by
Northern Right Whale, Eubalaena glacialis Snow Leopard, Panthera uncia ASIA Threat: poaching for its valuable horn and by the
NORTH ATLANTIC and NORTH PACIFIC hunting (skin, possible persecution). devastation caused by warfare. Trade in the
OCEANS Threat: overhunting. horn amounts to around 1.4 tons per year—
Japanese Sea Lion, Zalophus californianus half of the horn total leaving Africa. In I 984
Order japonicus JAPAN, NORTH and SOUTH its population was some 500 in the wild but
CARNIVORA (Carnivores) KOREA Threat: persecution by local by I 988 this had fallen to less than 50—and
fishermen, human disturbance, and possible these only in Zaire. Listed in CITES
Red Wolf, Corn's rufus TEXAS, LOUISIANA reduction of fish prey. Appendix I.
(USA) Threat: habitat loss, trapping,
poisoning, and hybridization with coyotes. Mediterranean Monk Seal, Monachus Black Rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis AFRICA
monachus MEDITERRANEAN and (south of the Sahara) Threat: poaching
Simien Fox, Canis simensis ETHIOPIA MAURITIAN COASTS Threat: persecution (horn), loss of habitat (settlements), and
Threat: habitat loss (agriculture) and by local fishermen, reduction offish prey, drought.
hunting. incidental drowning in fishing nets, pollution
of the sea, and human disturbance. Sumatran Rhinoceros, Dicerorhinus
Baluchistan Bear, Selenarctos thibetanus sumatrensis SOUTHEAST ASIA Threat:
gedrosianus IRAN, PAKISTAN Threat: Hawaiian Monk Seal, Monachus schauinslandi overhunting and deforestation (commercial
persecution by farmers. HAWAII Threat: past uncontrolled killing, logging, settlements).
and recent disturbance from men, dogs, and
Barbados Raccoon, Procyon gtoveratleni sharks. Javan Rhinoceros, Rhinoceros sondaicus JAVA
BARBADOS Threat: hunting and possible Threat: overhunting, possibly disease.
competition from other raccoon species. Caribbean Monk Seal, Monachus tropicalis
Possibly extinct in the wild. CARIBBEAN Threat: past uncontrolled killing Great Indian Rhinoceros, Rhinocereos
and recent human disturbance. Probably unicornis INDIA, NEPAL Threat: poaching
extinct. (horn) and loss of habitat (agricultural
encroachment, flooding, erosion).

206
 A catalog of life

Order with cattle and horses for forage and water, Arabian Oryx, Oryx leucoryx ARABIA,
ARTIODACTYLA (Even-toed ungulates) and hunting. MIDDLE EAST Threat: hunting (food, hide,
medicines) and human disturbance (related
Pygmy Hog, Sus salvanius INDIA, NEPAL Wild Yak, Bos grunniens CENTRAL ASIA to the oil industry).
(possibly BANGLADESH), Threat: loss of Threat: uncontrolled hunting,
habitat (encroachment, settlement) and Mountain Nyala, Tragelaphus buxtoni
hunting. Kouprey, Bos sauveli INDOCHINA Threat: ETHIOPIA Threat: habitat destruction
hunting (food, horns) and loss of habitat (woodland burning, agriculture), drought,
Visayan Spotted Deer, Cervus alfredi (warfare). hunting, and competition with domestic
VISAYAN IS, (Philippines) Threat: livestock.
uncertain, Wild Asiatic Water Buffalo, Bubalus bubalis
INDIA, NEPAL. Threat: habitat loss, disease, Sumatran Serow, Capricornis sumatraensis
Swamp Deer, Cervus duvauceli INDIA, poaching, and competition with cattle. sumatraensis SUMATRA Threat: hunting
NEPAL Threat: hunting and domestic stock (food, hide, horn) and habitat loss.
grazing. Lowland Anoa, Bubalus depressicornis
SULAWESI (Indonesia) Threat: deforestation Arabian Tahr, Hemitragus jayakari OMAN,
Bactrian Deer, Cervus elaphus bactrianus and uncontrolled hunting. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Threat: hunting
AFGHANISTAN, USSR Threat: hunting, and competition with domestic goats for
habitat loss (flooding from dams, stock Mountain Anoa, Bubalus quarlesi SULAWESI food.
grazing, cultivation), and predation (wolves), (Indonesia) Threat: deforestation and
uncontrolled hunting. Straight-horned Markhor, Capra falconeri
Corsican Red Deer, Cervus elaphus megaceros AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN
corsicanus SARDINIA (possibly CORSICA) Tamaraw, Bubalus mindorensis MINDORO IS. Threat: habitat degradation (overgrazing by
Threat: poaching and loss of habitat (Philippines) Threat: deforestation and domestic sheep).
(burning, road construction, stock grazing), uncontrolled hunting.
Pyrenean Ibex, Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica
Hangul, Cervus elaphus hanglu VALE OF Western Giant Eland, Taurotragus derbianus SPAIN Threat: hunting.
KASHMIR (India) Threat: poaching and stock derbianus WEST AFRICA Threat:
grazing. uncontrolled hunting, disease, and probable Walia Ibex, Capra walie ETHIOPIA Threat:
loss of habitat. loss of habitat (agriculture, overgrazing by
Shou, Cervus elaphus wallichl CHINA, domestic livestock).
BHUTAN Threat: hunting, Addax, Addax nasomaculatus
SAHARA/SAHEL In I 982 population figures Chartreuse Chamois, Rupicapfa rupicapra
Yarkand Deer, Cervus elaphus yarkandensis were below 2,000 and falling, leading to the cartusiana FRANCE Threat: poaching, loss of
CHINESE TURKESTAN Threat: hunting and belief that the addax was dangerously close grazing habitat (sheep), disturbance from
probable habitat loss. to extinction. The few that survive live in tourists, competition for food and space with
desert regions far from water sources. Its introduced herbivores (roe deer, red deer,
Manipur Brow-antlered Deer, Cervus eldi decline has been caused by overhunting and mouflon), and hybridization with R.r.
eldi MANIPUR (India) Threat: hunting and loss of its preferred scrub-grass habitat due rupicapra (the common chamois).
human disturbance. to overgrazing of domestic livestock
belonging to nomadic tribes. Listed in CITES
Th ailand Brown-antlered Deer, Cervus eldi Appendix I.
slamensis SOUTHEAST ASIA Threat: hunting
and habitat loss (warfare, defoliation), Black-faced Impala, Aepyceros melampus
petersi ANGOLA, NAMIBIA Threat: hunting
Shansi Sika, Cervus nippon grassianus and human disturbance.
CHINA Threat: hunting (antlers) and
deforestation (agriculture). Swayne Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus
swaynei ETHIOPIA, SOMALIA Threat:
Ryukyu Sika, Cervus nippon keramae hunting and loss of habitat (overgrazing of
RYUKYU IS, (Japan) Threat: lack of water domestic livestock, settlement, agriculture).
and good-quality food in dry years.
Tora Hartebeest, Alcelaphus buselaphus tora
South China Sika, Cervus nippon kopschi EGYPT, ETHIOPIA, SUDAN Threat: hunting,
CHINA Threat: hunting (antlers). habitat degradation, and disease.

North China Sika, Cervus nippon Jentink Duiker, Cephalophus jentinki

mandarinus CHINA Threat: hunting and IVORY COAST, LIBERIA Threat: hunting
deforestation. and deforestation.

Formosan Sika, Cervus nippon taiouanus Cuvier Gazelle, Gazella cuvieri

TAIWAN Threat: hunting and habitat loss NORTHWEST AFRICA Threat: hunting and
(agriculture). habitat degradation (overgrazing by
domestic livestock, forest plantations),
Persian Fallow Deer, Dama mesopotamica
Saudi Goitred Gazelle, Gazella subguttorosa
MESOPOTAMIA Threat: hunting and loss of
marica ARABIA Threat: hunting and habitat
habitat (woodcutting, stock grazing,
degradation (overgrazing by domestic
agriculture, modernization).
livestock).

South Andean Huemul, Hippocamelus Giant Sable Antelope, Hippotragus niger

bisulcus SOUTHERN ANDES (South
variani ANGOLA Threat: habitat loss
America) Threat: hunting, disease, (warfare, agriculture, pasturelands, burning).
competition with domestic stock and
introduced deer, and habitat loss. Zanzibar Suni, Neotragus moschatus
moschatus ZANZIBAR Threat: hunting and
Fea Muntjac, Muntiacus feae BURMA, habitat loss.
THAILAND Threat: hunting (food).
Scimitar-horned Oryx, Oryx dammah
Argentinian Pampas Deer, Ozotoceros SAHARA/SAHEL Threat: desertification of
bezoarticus celer ARGENTINA Threat: habitat (overgrazing by domestic livestock)
hunting, disease, loss of habitat, competition and hunting.

207
Endangered species:
birds
Crested Ibis, Nipponia nippon CHINA, Djibouti Francolin, Francolinus ochropectus
Order
PODICIPEDIFORMES (Grebes) JAPAN Threat: hunting and deforestation. DJIBOUTI Threat: forest destruction.

Alaotra Grebe, Tachybaptus rufolavatus Western Tragopan, Tragopan melanocephalus

MADAGASCAR Threat: introduced fish Order INDIA, PAKISTAN Threat: hunting, trapping,
(tilapia, bass), which prey on chicks, and FALCONIFORMES (Birds of prey) forest destruction, and disturbance (humans,
hybridization with other grebes. goats).
California Condor, Gymnogyps californianus
Junin Grebe, Podiceps trazanowskii PERU USA Threat: uncertain, possibly food Cabot’s Tragopan, Tragopan caboti CHINA
Threat: Pollution from copper mine washings shortage, pesticides, and human disturbance. Threat: forest destruction (agriculture) and
and changes in water level. persecution.
Spanish Imperial Eagle, Aquila aldalberti
%
SPAIN, PORTUGAL The eagle is restricted Chinese Monal, Lophophorus Ihuysii CHINA
Order to central, western, and southern Spain, and Threat: overhunting.
PROCELLARIIFORMES (Albatrosses and much of Portugal. Fewer than I 00 breeding
petrels) pairs remain—four-fifths of these in Spain, Brown Eared-Pheasant, Crossoptilon
particularly in the Coto Donana National mantchuricum CHINA Threat: persecution
Amsterdam Albatross, Diomedea Park, south of Seville. The species is and deforestation.
amsterdamensis AMSTERDAM IS. (Indian threatened by habitat loss due to forest
Ocean) Threat: habitat loss (fires, clearance and overgrazing by livestock, Cheer Pheasant, Catreus wallichi INDIA,
overgrazing by cattle) and predation by poisoning of mammalian predators of game NEPAL, PAKISTAN Threat: habitat loss and
introduced mammals (cats, rats). species, shooting, pesticides, and flying into hunting.
overhead power cables. Listed in CITES
Short-tailed Albatross, Diomedea albatrus Appendix I. Elliot’s Pheasant, Syrmaticus ellioti CHINA
JAPAN Threat: low breeding potential. Threat: forest destruction and hunting.
Madagascar Fish Eagle, Haiiaeetus
Mascarene Black Petrel, Pterodroma aterrima vociferoides MADAGASCAR Threat: White-breasted Guineafowl, Agelastes
MAURITIUS Threat: predation by introduced persecution. meleagrides WEST AFRICA Threat: hunting
mammals (cats, dogs, rats), hunting (food), and forest destruction (logging).
and possible pesticide pollution of the sea. Madagascar Serpent Eagle, Eutriorchis astur
MADAGASCAR Threat: forest destruction. Order
Cahow, Pterodroma cahow BERMUDA GRUIFORMES (Cranes, rails, and bustards)
Threat: predation by rats, disturbance from Philippine Eagle, Pithecophaga jefferyi
nearby military base, competition for nest PHILIPPINES Threat: forest clearance, Whooping Crane, Grus americana
sites with tropicbirds, and tarring of plumage hunting, and capture (export trade). CANADA, USA Threat: destruction,
from oil slicks. disturbance, and pollution of wetland
Mauritius Kestrel, Falco punctatus habitat.
Magenta Petrel, Pterodroma magentae MAURITIUS Threat: forest destruction and
CHATHAM IS. (New Zealand) Threat: predation by introduced mammals (macaque Lord Howe Island Woodhen, Tricholimnas
predation by introduced mammals (cats, monkeys and feral cats). sylvestris LORD HOWE IS. (Australia)
rats) and forest deterioration by introduced Threat: habitat loss (overgrazing byferal
herbivores (brush-tailed opossums and feral goats, pigs) and predation of eggs by rats.
cattle, sheep, pigs). Order
GALLIFORMES (Pheasants and Curassows) Barred-wing Rail, Nesoclopeus peociloptera
Dark-rumped Petrel, Pterodroma FIJI IS. Threat: predation by introduced
phaeopygia GALAPAGOS IS., HAWAII White-winged Guan, Penelope albipennis mongooses.
Threat: predation by introduced mammals PERU Threat: habitat loss (charcoal burning)
(black rats, dogs, pigs) and short-eared owls, and hunting (food). Takahe, Notornis mantelli NEW ZEALAND
and damage to nest burrows by trampling Threat: competition for food with
Cauca Guan, Penelope persipicax introduced deer and predation by
cattle.
COLOMBIA Threat: forest destruction. introduced stoats.
Black Petrel, Procellaria parkinsoni NEW
Black-fronted Piping Guan, Pipile jacutinga Kagu, Rhynochetosjubatus NEW
ZEALAND Threat: predation by introduced
ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, PARAGUAY Threat: CALEDONIA Threat: predation by
cats.
forest destruction (logging) and hunting. introduced mammals (dogs, cats, pigs, rats),
habitat loss (nickel mining), and trapping.
Order Horned Guan, Oreophasis derbianus
Bengal Florican, Houbaropsis bengalensis
CICONIIFORMES (Storks and herons) GUATEMALA, MEXICO Threat: habitat loss
INDIA, KAMPUCHEA, NEPAL Threat:
(agriculture, pastureland) and hunting.
habitat loss (agriculture) and human
Oriental White Stork, Ciconia boyciana disturbance.
CHINA, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA, USSR Alagoas Curassow, Mitu mitu BRAZIL
Threat: mercury pesticides, drainage, and Threat: forest destruction and hunting. Lesser Florican, Sympheotides indica INDIA
agriculture. Threat: habitat loss (agriculture).
Red-billed Curassow, Crax blumenbachii
Northern Bald Ibis, Geronticus eremita BRAZIL Threat: forest destruction and Order
NORTHWEST AFRICA, TURKEY, hunting. CHARADRIIFORMES (Plovers, gulls, auks)
ETHIOPIA, NORTH YEMEN Threat: hunting,
nest site disturbance, pesticides, and Gorgeted Wood Quail, Odontophorus Chatham Island Oystercatcher, Haematopus
development of land for agriculture. strophium COLOMBIA Threat: uncertain. chathamensis CHATHAM IS. (New Zealand)
Threat: habitat loss.

208
 A catalog of life

Black Stilt, Himantopus novaezeelandia NEW Order disturbance (goats, tortoises) and predation
ZEALAND Threat: habitat loss (dams, CORACIIFORMES (Woodpeckers, toucan) by introduced rats,
irrigation).
Helmeted Woodpecker, Dryocopus galeatus Long-legged Warbler, Trichocichla rufa
New Zealand Shore Plover, Thinornis BRAZIL, ARGENTINA, PARAGUAY Threat: FIJI IS. Threat: predation by introduced
novaeseelandia NEW ZEALAND Threat: forest destruction (agriculture, livestock mammals.
predation by mammals. ranching),
Chatham Island Black Robin, Petroica traversi
Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Campephilus CHATHAM IS. (New Zealand) Threat:
CANADA, USA Threat: loss of feeding principalis USA, CUBA Most of the mature human disturbance.
habitat (agriculture) and shooting of bottomland, hardwood swamp forest that
migrants. this woodpecker inhabits has been cleared Banded Wattle-eye, Platysteira laticincta
and only isolated stands remain in its ill- CAMEROON Threat: habitat loss (forest
defined range in southeast USA. Its clearance, cultivation, woodcutting, fires,
Order population is uncertain and sightings ortape and overgrazing by cattle, goats, sheep,
COLUMBIFORMES (Pigeons) recordings of its call are little publicized or horses).
else treated with scepticism. Threats include
Pink Pigeon, Nesoenas mayeri MAURITIUS continued forest clearance, commercial Marungu Sunbird, Nectarina prigoginei
The pigeon’s population has been critically collection of birds and eggs, and other ZAIRE Threat: habitat loss (logging, erosion
low since 1960 and in I 976 there were only human disturbances. of stream banks due to overgrazing by
30 birds left. Some I 00 zoo-bred individuals cattle).
have since been introduced to the wild, Main Imperial Woodpecker, Campephilus
threats include forest destruction, predation imperialis MEXICO Threat: deforestation White-breasted White-eye, Zosie/ops
by introduced animals (black rats, cats, (logging) and hunting. albogularis NORFOLK IS. (Australia) Threat:
mongooses, crab-eating macaques, Indian deforestation, shooting, and predation by
mynahs) and native birds, hunting, late Okinawa Woodpecker, Sapheopipo noguchii introduced mammals (rats),
winter food shortages, and cyclones. Listed JAPAN Threat: habitat loss (fires, forestry).
in CITES Appendix III for Mauritius. Kauai Oo, Moho braccatus HAWAII Threat:
habitat loss (introduced herbivores,
Marquesas Pigeon, Ducula galeata Order encroachment by exotic plants) and
MARQUESAS IS. (South Pacific) Threat: PASSERIFORMES (Perching birds) introduced predators (black rats),
hunting (food) and habitat loss (overgrazing
by livestock). Black-hooded Antwren, Myrmotherula Bachman’s Warbler, Vermivora bachmanii
erythronotos BRAZIL Threat: forest CUBA, USA Threat: habitat loss (logging,
destruction. agriculture).
Order
PSITTACIFORMES (Parrots) Fringe-backed Fire-eye, Pyriglena atra Kirtland’s Warbler, Dendroica kirtlandii
BRAZIL Threat: forest destruction BAHAMAS, USA Threat: habitat loss and
Paradise Parrot, Psephotus pulcherrimus (agriculture, industry, settlements). brood parasites (brown-headed cowbirds,
AUSTRALIA Threat: uncertain, probably
now removed).
habitat loss and capture (pet trade). Gurney’s Pitta, Pitta gurneyi BURMA,
THAILAND Threat: forest destruction. Semper’s Warbler, Leucopeza semperi ST
Ground Parrot, Pezoporus wallicus
LUCIA (Caribbean) Threat: uncertain,
AUSTRALIA Threat: habitat loss New Zealand Bush Wren, Xenicus longpipes probably predation by introduced
(settlements). NEW ZEALAND Threat: predation by mongooses.
introduced mammals (rats, cats).
Mauritius Parakeet, Psittacula eques
Akialoa, Meignathus obscurus HAWAII
MAURITIUS Threat: deforestation, Raso Lark, Alauda razae RASO (Cape Verde Threat: habitat loss (overgrazing by cattle,
competition for nest sites with introduced Is.) Threat: predation by introduced goats, pigs), introduced diseases, and
birds (mynahs), and nest predation by mammals (rats) and prolonged drought. introduced rats.
introduced mammals (macaque monkeys,
black rats). White-breasted Thrasher, Ramphocinclus Nukupuu, Hemignathus lucidus HAWAII
brachyurus MARTINIQUE, ST LUCIA Threat: habitat disturbance (encroachment
Maroon-fronted Parrot, Rhynchopsitta terrisi (Caribbean) Threat: predation by introduced by exotic plants and animals).
MEXICO Threat: habitat loss (logging), mammals (mongooses, rats).
hunting (food), and capture (pet trade).
Akiapolaau, Hemignathus munroi HAWAII
Thyolo Alethe, Alethe choloensis Threat: habitat loss and introduced diseases,
Puerto Rican Amazon, Amazona vittata MOZAMBIQUE, MALAWI Threat: forest predators, and birds.
PUERTO RICO Threat: habitat loss, heavy clearance and disturbance.
rainfall, disease, competition from other
Ou, Psittirostra psittacea and Palila
birds, and predation (red-tailed hawks, rats). Seychelles Magpie-robin, Copsychus Psittirostra bailleui HAWAII Threat: habitat
sechetlarum SEYCHELLES Threat: predation loss and introduced predators, bird
Red-tailed Amazon, Amazona brasiliensis by introduced mammals (cats) and competitors, and diseases.
BRAZIL Threat: deforestation and capture competition with/nest predation by
(pet trade). introduced birds. Clarke’s Weaver, Ploceus golandi KENYA
Threat: forest destruction (agriculture,
Red-necked Amazon, Amazona arausiaca Puaiohi, Myadestes palmeri HAWAII Threat: exploitation).
DOMINICA (Caribbean) Threat: hunting and habitat disturbance (encroachment by exotic
competition for nest sites with other birds. plants, introduced herbivores), predation by Rodrigues Fody, Foudia fiavicans
introduced mammals and avian diseases. RODRIGUES IS. (Mauritius) Threat:
St Vincent Amazon, Amazona guildingii ST
VINCENT (Caribbean) Threat: hunting and deforestation and introduced bird
Taita Thrush, Turdus helleri KENYA Threat: competitors.
capture (pet trade).
habitat loss (tree felling, agriculture,
Imperial Amazon, Amazona imperialis plantations, wood for fuel). Bali Starling, Leucospar rothschildi
DOMINICA (Caribbean) Threat: hunting INDONESIA Threat: capture (pet trade),
(food, sport) and habitat loss. Rodrigues Warbler, Acrocephalus rodericanus habitat loss (settlements), and competition
RODRIGUES IS. (Mauritius) Threat: habitat with other starlings.
Kakapo, Strigops habroptilus NEW loss, disturbance by cyclones, and predation
ZEALAND Threat: predation by introduced by black rats. Hawiian Crow, Corvus tropicus HAWAII
mammals (stoats, rats) and competition for Threat: habitat loss (overgrazing by feral
food with other herbivores (deer, brush¬ Aldabra Warbler, Nesillas aldabranus pigs, cattle, goats), introduced diseases, and
tailed opossums, chamois). ALDABRA (Seychelles) Threat: habitat predation by introduced rats.

20(j
Endangered species:
fishes
Tylognathus klatti TURKEY Threat: water restricted to five headwater streams of two
Order
table changes (irrigation). New Mexico rivers, the San Francisco and
ACIPENSERIFORMES (Sturgeons)
the Gila. Its estimated total population is
Spotted Loach, Lepidocephalus jonklassi SRI 10,000. Main threats include hybridization
Common Sturgeon, Acipenser sturio
LANKA Threat: habitat changes with introduced rainbow trout (S. gairdneri),
EUROPE Threat: uncertain.
(deforestation). habitat changes due to agriculture and
Pallid Sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus albus USA forestry, competition with introduced brown
An inhabitant of the waters of the Mississippi Ayumodoki, Leptobotia curta JAPAN Threat: and brook trout, as well as droughts, floods,
and Missouri valleys, its numbers have habitat changes (riverbank alteration). and fires. Listed as endangered by the U.S.
declined drastically since 1900. Several states Fish and Wildlife Service.
in its range have provided protection. Main Modoc Sucker, Catastomus microps USA
threats involve»modifications of its habitat: Threat: water pollution, habitat changes (soil
dams and water canalization changes, erosion, siltation, riverbank collapse, Order
siltation, and pollution of spawning and canalization), predation, and hybridization CYPRINODONTIFORMES
feeding grounds. Other threats include with exotic species.
hybridization with S. platyrhynchus and Ginger Pearlfish, Cynolebias marmoratus,
incidental harvest of young individuals in Shortnose Sucker, Chasmistes brevirostris Splendid Pearlfish C. sptendens, Opalescent
commercial sturgeon catches. USA Threat: habitat changes (agriculture, Pearlfish C. opalescens BRAZIL Threat:
dams, drainage), predation, competition, and habitat loss (land reclamation, agriculture).
hybridization with exotic species.
Order Valencia Toothcarp, Valencia hispanica
CYPRINIFORMES (Carps) Cui-ui, Chasmistes cujus USA Threat: water SPAIN Threat: habitat loss.
pollution, disease, overfishing, and habitat
Berg River Redfin, Barbus burgi SOUTH changes (agriculture, logging, dams, siltation, Pescos Gambusia, Gambusia nobilis USA
AFRICA Threat: water pollution, habitat irrigation, fall in water temperature). Threat: habitat changes (dams, irrigation,
changes (irrigation, drainage, drainage), predation, competition, and
mining/quarrying, canalization), competition, June Sucker, Chasmistes liorus USA Threat: hybridization with exotic and natural species.
and predation. exploitation (food, sport), drought, water
table changes (irrigation), predation, Monterrey Platyfish, Xiphophorus couchianus
Barbus srilankensis SRI LANKA Threat: competition, and hybridization with exotic MEXICO Threat: habitat changes (drainage,
habitat changes (siltation, mining/quarrying). species. flooding, urbanization) and hybridization
with exotic species.
Flatjaw Minnow, Dionda mandibularis
MEXICO Threat: competition from four Order Devil’s Hole Pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis
introduced fish species (e.g. Gambusia SILURIFORMES (Catfishes) USA Threat: habitat changes (agriculture,
panuco, Poecilia mexicana) and water table drainage, siltation), human disturbance
changes (irrigation). Tollo de Agua, Diplomystes chilensis CHILE (vandals, divers), and naturally low
Threat: competition with exotic species and populations.
Bonytall, Gila elegans USA Threat: salt naturally low populations.
pollution, habitat changes (dams, irrigation, Desert Pupfish, Cyprinodon macularjiis
drainage, fall in water temperature), Quachita Madtom, Noturus lachneri USA MEXICO, USA Threat: water pollution,
hybridization, predation, and competition Threat: water pollution and habitat changes habitat changes (dams, irrigation, dredging,
with exotic species. (gravel extraction, logging, urbanization, urbanization, agriculture), disease,
dams, canalization). competition, and hybridization with exotic
Green Labeo, Labeo fisheri SRI LANKA species.
Threat: habitat changes (dams), overfishing, Barnard’s Rock Catfish, Austroglanis barnardi
and explosives as means of capture, SOUTH AFRICA Threat: habitat changes
(drainage, siltation, canalization), predation Order
White River Spinedace, Lepidomeda albivallis by exotic species, and naturally low PERCIFORMES (Perchlike fishes)
USA Threat: water pollution, habitat changes populations.
(dams, irrigation, drainage, canalization), Watercress Darter, Etheostoma nuchale
predation, and competition with exotic Nekogigi, Coreobagrus ichikawai JAPAN USA Threat: water pollution, habitat changes
species. Threat: habitat changes (dams). (removal of vegetation, drainage, industrial
practices, roads), and disease.
Cuatro Cienagas Shiner, Notropis xanthicara
MEXICO Threat: habitat changes (drainage, Order Conasauga Logperch, Percina jenkinsi USA
canalization), tourism, predation, and SALMONIFORMES (Salmon) Threat: water pollution and habitat changes
competition with exotic species. (logging, agriculture, dams, siltation,
Swan Galaxias, Galaxias fontanus industrial practices, canalization,
Drakensburg Minnow, Oreodaimon TASMANIA Threat: predation by exotic urbanization).
quathlambae LESOTHO Threat: habitat species.
changes (dams, roads, soil erosion, siltation), Otjikoto Tilapia, Tilapia guinasana NAMIBIA
predation, and competition with exotics. Atlantic Whitefish, Coregonus candensis Threat: water pollution and habitat changes
GREAT LAKES (North America) Threat: acid (irrigation, drainage, mining/quarrying,
Woodfin, Plagopterus argentissimus USA rain, overfishing, habitat changes (dams), agriculture).
Threat: habitat changes (arroyo cutting, predation, and competition with exotic
siltation, water removal, dams, soil erosion). species.

Tokyo Bitterling, Tanakia tanago JAPAN Gila Trout, Salmo giiae USA Formerly
Threat: habitat loss (urbanization). ubiquitous and abundant, the trout is now

2IO
 A catalog of life

Endangered species:
reptiles and amphibians
REPTILES Broad-nosed Caiman, Caiman latirostris St Croix Ground Lizard, Ameiva polops US
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA Threat: VIRGIN IS. Threat: habitat loss and predation
poaching (hide) and habitat loss (drainage, by introduced monogooses.
Order forest clearance, dams, agriculture, ranching,
FESTUDINES (Turtles and tortoises) logging, pollution).
Order
Western Swamp Turtle, Pseudemydura Black Caiman, Melanosuchus niger SOUTH SERPENTES (Snakes)
umbrina WESTERN AUSTRALIA Threat: AMERICA Threat: poaching (hide),
habitat loss (urban development, agriculture, persecution, and habitat loss (logging, Round Island Boa, Bolyeria multocarinata
wildfires), a drier climate, and predation by agriculture, cattle ranching). ROUND IS. (Mauritius) Threat: habitat loss
introduced red foxes. (overgrazing by rabbits and goats leading to
American Crocodile, Crocodylus acutus soil erosion),
Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas TROPICAL CARIBBEAN, CENTRAL AMERICA, USA
SEAS Threat: exploitation of adults and eggs Threat: poaching (hide) and habitat loss Round Island Keel-scaled Boa. Casarea
(food), juveniles (stuffed as curios), and (salinity changes in water, cultivation, dussumieri ROUND IS. (Mauritius) Threat:
adults (hide, oil); also shrimp trawl nets. drainage). habitat loss (overgrazing by rabbits and goats
leading to soil erosion).
Hawksbill Turtle, Eretmochetys imbricata Orinoco Crocodile, Crocodylus intermedius
TROPICAL SEAS Threat: exploitation COLOMBIA, VENEZUELA Threat: Puerto Rican Boa, Epicrates inornatus
(stuffed as curios, tortoiseshell, eggs and exploitation (hide) and persecution. PUERTO RICO Threat: predation by
adults for food). introduced mongooses, persecution, auto
Philippines Crocodile, Crocodylus accidents, and oil spills.
Kemp’s Ridley, Lepidochelys kempii GULF OF mindorensis PHILIPPINES Threat:
MEXICO Threat: exploitation of eggs, exploitation (hide) and habitat loss San Francisco Garter Snake, Thamnophis
juveniles, and adults (food), predation of (agriculture/aquaculture operations). sirtalis tetrataenia WESTERN USA Threat:
eggs by coyotes, shrimp trawl nets, and habitat loss (land development, drainage
pollution. Estuarine Crocodile, Crocodylus porosus systems).
ASIA, AUSTRALIA, WESTERN PACIFIC The
Olive Ridley, Lepidochelys olivacea population of this large crocodile is Latifi’s Viper, Vipera latifii IRAN Threat:
TROPICAL SEAS Threat: exploitation of uncertain. It is mainly threatened by excess habitat loss (hydroelectric power
adults (food, skin), massive harvest of eggs commercial hunting for its hide, which operations).
(food), and shrimp trawl nets. produces the finest leather. Other threats
include mangrove forest destruction,
Leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea collection of eggs and young for "farm" AMPHIBIANS
TROPICAL and TEMPERATE SEAS The rearing and food, and persecution because
world population of breeding females was of occasional human fatalities. Listed in
estimated in 198 1 to be some I 04,000. The CITES Appendix I. Order
main threat to the species is the excessive ANURA (Frogs and toads)
harvest of its eggs for food. Lesser threats Siamese Crocodile, Crocodylus siamensis
include the taking of adults for food, oil, SOUTHEAST ASIA Threat: exploitation Houston Toad, Bufo houstonensis TEXAS
shark bait, and medicinal purposes. The (hide) and habitat loss (rice paddies). (USA) Threat: habitat loss (agriculture,
leatherback is increasingly caught in shrimp urbanization, drainage) and hybridization
trawl nets and squid drift nets. Its nesting False Gavial, Tomistoma schlegelii with other toad species.
habitats are threatened by tourism and SOUTHEAST ASIA Threat: exploitation
marine erosion. Listed in CITES Appendix b (hide), collection of young "farm" rearing), Conondale Gastric-brooding Frog,
and habitat loss (timber, rice paddies, Rheobatrachus silus QUEENSLAND
River Terrapin, Batagur baska SOUTHEAST settlement, pollution). (Australia) Threat: habitat loss (land
ASIA Threat: exploitation of adults and eggs clearance) and disturbance.
(food), habitat destruction (deforestation, Gavial, Gavialis gangeticus SOUTHEAST
mining, sand removal), and human ASIA Threat: habitat loss (dams, irrigation), Vegas Valley Leopard Frog, Rama fisheri USA
disturbance. exploitation (hide), collection of eggs (food), Threat: habitat loss (capping of springs) and
and drowning in nylon set-nets. competition with introduced amphibians.
South American River Turtle, Podocnemis
expansa AMAZON BASIN Threat:
exploitation of eggs (food) and adults (food, Order Order
oil), natural flooding of nests, and habitat SAURIA (Lizards) CAUDATA (Salamander)
loss (forest clearance, dams).
Rodrigues Day Gecko, Phelsuma Desert Slender Salamander, Batrachoseps
Bolson Tortoise, Gopherus flavomarginatus edwardnewtonii RODRIGUES IS. (Mauritius) aridus CALIFORNIA (USA) Threat: habitat
MEXICO Threat: exploitation (food), habitat Threat: predation by introduced mammals loss (destruction of canyon limestone
destruction (overgrazing, agriculture, (cats, rats). sheeting).
irrigation), and capture (export trade).
Culebra Island Giant Anole, Anolis roosevelti Texas Blind Salamander, Typhlomolge
CULEBRA IS. (Puerto Rico) Threat: habitat rathbuni TEXAS (USA) Threat:
Order loss (land development). overcollection, capping of wells, drainage,
CROCODYLIA (Crocodiles and alligators) water pollution, and a reduction of its
San Joaquin Leopard Lizard, Gambelia silus aquatic invertebrate diet.
Chinese Alligator, Alligator sinensis CHINA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (USA) Threat:
Threat: habitat loss (settlements), drought, habitat loss (agriculture, water control
exploitation (hide), and natural flooding. operations).

zn
Endangered species:
invertebrates
Phylum Platyhelminthes Class Turbellaria platysayoides USA Threat: human Subphylum Uniramia Class Insecta
Order disturbance (recreation). Order
TRICLADIDA ODONATA (Dragonflies)
Class Bivalva
Holsinger’s Groundwater Planarian, Order UNIONOIDA Ecchlorolestes nylepytha, E. peringueyi
Sphalloplano holsingeri, and Bigger’s SOUTH AFRICA Threat: agriculture and
Groundwater Planarian, Sphalloplano subtilis Birdwing Pearly Mussel Birdwing, Conradilla ecological changes.
VIRGINIA (USA) (probably extinct) Threat: caelata USA Threat: water pollution and
housing development. dam construction. Small Damselfly, Hemiphlebia mirabilis
VICTORIA (Australia) This primitive
Phylum Mollusca Class Gastropoda Dromedary Pearly Mussel, Dromus dromas damselfly is the only species in its family and
Order * USA Threat: water pollution. is possibly extinct. It relies on seasonal
MESOGASTROPODA inundations of its habita—reedy lagoons on
Epioblasma Mussels, Epioblasma [15 spp.] flood plains, Damming, drainage schemes,
Point of Rocks Spring Snail, Fluminicola USA, Most threatened by water pollution, and agriculture have prevented flooding and
erythopoma USA Threat: habitat loss large-scale waterway systems, and pose the main threat to the species.
(drainage, capping of springs, roads). commercial exploitation. The Green-blossom
Pearly Mussel, E. torulosa gubernaculum, the Amanipodagrion gilliesi TANZANIA Threat:
Giant Columbia River Spire Snail, Tan-blossom Pearly Mussel, E.t. rangiana, and agriculture.
Lithoglyphus columbiana USA Threat: water the Tubercled-blossom Pearly Mussel, E.t.
pollution and dam construction. torulosa, are particularly threatened by water Nososticta pilbara AUSTRALIA Threat:
impoundments, domestic sewage treatment agriculture.
Spiny River Snail, lo fluvialis USA Threat: plant effluents, industrial outfalls, agricultural
water pollution and dam construction. silt and pesticide run-off, dredging, and Platycnemis mauricana MAURITIUS Threat:
canalization of streams. The Tan Riffle Shell drainage.
Mussel, E. walkeri, is particularly threatened
Order
BASOMMATOPHORA by mine acids, municipal wastes, lead and Phylum Annelida Class Oligochaeta
mercury pollution, dams, and stream Order
Tasmanian Freshwater Limpet, Ancylastrum canalization. HAPLOTAXIDA
cumingianus TASMANIA Threat: introduced
Fine-rayed Pigtoe Pearly Mussel, Fusconaia Washington Giant Earthworm, Megascolides
trout as a sport fish.
cuneolus, Shiny Pigtoe Pearly Mussel, F. americanus, Oregon Giant Earthworm,
edgariana USA Threat: water pollution. Megascolides macelfreshi USA Threat: altered
Order
food supply due to conversion of their
STYLOMMATOPHORA
Cracking Pearly Mussel, Hemistena lata USA habitat for crops and pastureland; also
Threat: water pollution. industrialization and urbanization.
Little Agate Shells, Achatinella [ I 9 spp.]
HAWAII Threat: habitat destruction (forest
Higgin’s Eye Pearly Mussel, Lampsilis higginsi Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Chelicerata
fires), introduced plant and animal species
USA Threat: agriculture. Class Arachnida
(the carnivorous snail, Euglandina rosea), and
Order <■
collection.
Subphylum Crustacea ARANEAE (Spiders)
Partulina confusa HAWAII Threat: Order
ISOPODA (Isopods) No-eyed Big-eyed Spider, Adelocosa anops
deforestation, collection (trophies,
KAUAI (Hawaiian Is.) A small but uncounted
specimens), and predation.
Socorro Isopod, Thermosphaeroma population of these blind big-eyed spiders
thermophilum NEW MEXICO (USA) A lives in caves formed by lava tubes after the
Viviparous Tree Snails, Samoana diaphana, S.
population of about 2,500 lives in a single volcanic eruption of Koloa. It is threatened
solitarla, Partula hebe SOCIETY IS. (South
thermal outflow from Sedillo Spring near by general habitat disturbance caused by
Pacific) Threat: the carnivorous snail,
Socorro City. The isopod is of scientific tourist pressure, surface development,
Euglandina rosea, which was introduced to
interest because of its evolutionary withdrawal and pollution of water, waste
Moorea Island to combat the previously
adaptation and behavior. It is threatened by residue from sugarcane plantations, and
introduced Giant African Snail, Achatina
municipal and private water developments deforestation (which causes loss of tree
fulica. E. rosea has already caused the
(which could divert water away from its root—an important source of food to the
extinction of nine Partula species from
habitat), and water pollution. Listed as cave fauna on which the spider feeds).
Moorea Island.
endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. Freya’s Damselfly, Coenagrion hylas freyi
Granulated Tasmanian Snail, Anoglypta
AUSTRIA, GERMANY, SWITZERLAND
launcestonensis TASMANIA Threat: land
Order Threat: habitat loss (alteration of alpine lake
clearances (raising of pasture grasses and
DECAPODA systems leading to reduction in lakeshore
monocultures of pine, wheat, and other crops).
Equisetum beds).
Thaumatodon hystricelloides WESTERN California Freshwater Shrimp, Syncaris
pacifica USA Threat: competition with San Francisco Forktail Damselfly, Ischnura
SAMOA (South Pacific) Threat: predation by
introduced species. gemina SAN FRANCISCO BAY (California,
ants.
USA) Threat: disturbance and modifications
Nashville Crayfish, Orconectes shoupi of habitat; also pollution.
Virginia Fringed Mountain Snail, Polygyriscus
virginianus USA Threat: herbicides, road TENNESSEE (USA) A small but uncounted
population, living in Mill Creek near Teinobasis alluaudi alluaudi SEYCHELLES
building, and mining/quarrying.
Nashville, is threatened by increased Threat: afforestation.
Flat-spired Three-toothed Snail, Triodopsis siltation, water pollution, and habitat loss.
 A catalog of life

Grune Keiljungter, Ophiogomphus cecilia Threat: loss of habitat (woodland Lotis Blue, Lycaeides argyrognomon lotis USA
EUROPE to SIBERIA Threat: uncertain. destruction and intensive management). Threat: uncertain.

Florida Spiketail Dragonfly, Cordulegaster Hawaiian Proterhinus Beetles, Proterhinus Large Copper, Lycaena dispar NORTHERN
sayi USA Threat: urban housing development [72 spp.] HAWAII Threat: uncertain. EUROPE Threat: loss of habitat through
and pesticides. drainage of wetlands, flooding of valleys for
Hawaiian Snout Beetles, Rhynocogonus [22 reservoirs, and vegetational succession.
Ohio Emerald Dragonfly, Somatochlora spp.] HAWAII Threat: uncertain.
hineana OHIO, INDIANA (USA) Threat: Dusky Large Blue, Maculinea nausithous
uncertain. Possibly extinct. Order EUROPE, USSR; Scarce Large Blue, AT
DIPTERA (True flies) teleius EUROPE and NORTHERN ASIA;
Order Scarce Large Blue, A/I.t. burdigalensis
DERMAPTERA (Earwigs) Giant Torrent Midge, Edwardsina gigantea FRANCE Threat: habitat loss (intensive
NEW SOUTH WALES (Australia) Threat: agriculture discourages ants on which the
St Helena Earwig, Labidura herculeana ST changes in river flow (dams) and river large blues depend), fertilizers and
HELENA (South Atlantic Ocean) Probably pollution (sewage effluent), herbicides, and drainage and development of
extinct. Threat: habitat loss (settlement and wetlands.
overgrazing by goats, rabbits), competition Tasmania Torrent Midge, Edwardsina
with three species of introduced earwigs, tasmaniensis TASMANIA Threat: changes in Dickson’s Copper, Oxychaeta dicksoni
and predation by introduced animals (rat, river flow (hydroelectric power operations). SOUTH AFRICA Threat: uncertain.
giant centipede).
Belkin’s Dune Tabinid Fly, Brennariia belkini Tailless Blue, Panchala ganesa loomisi JAPAN
Order MEXICO Threat: habitat loss (encroachment Threat: uncertain.
PLECOPTERA by exotic plants, off-road vehicles, urban
development). Mission Blue, Plebejus icarioides missionensis
Otway Stonefly, Eusthenia nothofagi USA Threat: uncertain.
Order
VICTORIA (Australia) Threat: habitat loss
(streamside forest clearance for agriculture). LEPIDOPTERA. (Butterflies and moths) Nevada Blue, Plebicula golgus SPAIN Threat:
habitat degradation (overgrazing, ski
Dakota Skipper, Hesperia dacotae USA, developments).
Order
CANADA Threat: habitat loss (intensive
ANOPLURA (Sucking lice)
agriculture, ranching, gravel mining, False Ringlet, Coenonympha oedippus
settlements, irrigation). EUROPE and NORTHERN ASIA Threat:
Pygmy Hog Sucking Louse, Haematopinus
habitat loss through land drainage and
Oliveri NORTHWEST ASSAM (India) Threat:
Pawnee Montane Skipper, Hesperia pawnee grassland improvement.
habitat destruction has endangered the louse
montana USA Threat: uncertain.
and its sole host, the pygmy hog.
Lange’s Metalmark, Apodemia mormo langei
Harris’ Mimic Swallowtail, Eurytides lysithous USA Threat: uncertain.
Order harrisianus SOUTHEAST BRAZIL Threat:
COLEOPTERA (Beetles) habitat loss (development of recreational Bay Checkerspot Butterfly, Euphydryas
area). editha bayensis SAN FRANCISCO
Columbia River Tiger Beetle, Cicindela PENINSULA (California, USA) Threat:
columbica IDAHO (USA) Threat: habitat loss Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, Ornithoptera habitat loss (urban development, golf
(dams, flooding). alexandrae PAPUA NEW GUINEA Threat: courses), drought, and pesticide spraying.
habitat loss (logging, oil palm plantations)
American Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus and overcollecting. Natterer’s Longwing, Heliconius nattereri
americanus EASTERN NORTH AMERICA SOUTH BRAZIL Threat: forest destruction,
(possibly restricted to Rhode Island, USA, Schaus’ Swallowtail, Papilio aristodemus overcollection, and competition with other
only) Threat: habitat loss (deciduous forest ponceanus FLORIDA KEYS (USA) Threat: insects.
clearance). habitat loss (urban development), insecticide
spraying, hurricanes, droughts, frost, and Scarce Fritillary, Hypodryas maturna
Kauai Flightless Stag Beetle, Apterochychus overcollecting. EUROPE Threat: habitat loss through
honoluluensis HAWAII Threat: uncertain. drainage of wetlands followed by
Papilio chikae PHILIPPINES Threat: afforestation.
Woodruff’s Dung Beetle, Ataenius woodruff! overcollecting and habitat loss.
USA Threat: uncertain. Great Peacock Moth, Saturnia pyri FRANCE,
Taita Blue-banded Papilio, Papilio desmondi SPAIN Threat: uncertain.
Hermit Beetle, Osmoderma eremita EUROPE teita KENYA Threat: habitat loss (tree-felling,
Threat: loss of habitat through destruction agriculture, settlements). Prairie Sphinx Moth, Euproserpinus wiesti
or intensive management of ancient COLORADO (USA) Threat: overcollecting,
woodland. Homerus Swallowtail, Papilio homerus insecticide spraying, oil and gas exploration,
JAMAICA Threat: habitat loss (timber and competition with other moths (white-lined
Goldstreifiger, Buprestis splendens EUROPE coffee plantations) and overcollecting. sphinx, Hyles lineata).
Threat: loss of habitat through destruction
or intensive management of ancient Corsican Swallowtail, Papilio hospiton
woodland. CORSICA, SARDINIA Threat: habitat loss, Order
commercial collecting, and destruction of HYMENOPTERA (Ants, bees, wasps)
Hawaiian Click Beetles, Eopenthes [17 spp.] food-plants (which are poisonous to sheep).
HAWAII Threat: uncertain. Niih au Vespid Wasp, Odynerus niihauensis,
Parnassus apollo vinningensis FEDERAL Soror Vespid Wasp, 0, soror HAWAII
Cerambyx Longicorn, Cerambys cerdo REPUBLIC of GERMANY Threat: habitat loss Threat: uncertain.
NORTHERN and CENTRAL EUROPE (coniferous afforestation) and possibly
Threat: destruction as a pest of oak trees overcollecting. Hawaiian Sphecid Wasp, Deinomimesa
and loss of habitat (woodland destruction hawaiiensis, Puna Sphecid Wasp, D. punae;
and intensive management). Golden Birdwing, Troides aeacus kaguya Short-foot Sphecid Wasp, Ectemnius
TAIWAN Threat: overcollecting. curtipes, Brown Cross Sphecid Wasp, E.
Mojave Rabbitbrush Longhorn Beetle, fulvicrus, Giffard’s Sphecid Wasp, E. giffardi,
Crossidius mojavensis mojavensis USA Threat: San Bruno Elfin, Callophrys mossii bayensis Haleakala Sphecid Wasp, E haleakalae;
uncertain. USA Threat: uncertain. Kauai Sphecid Wasp, Nesomimesa
kauaiensis, N. perkins, Shade-winged Sphecid
Rosaiia Longicorn, Rosalia alpina Mission Blue, Icaricia icarioides missionensis Wasp, N. sciopteryx, HAWAII Threat:
NORTHERN and CENTRAL EUROPE USA Threat: uncertain. uncertain.
 seasonal forests 60 bay-headed tanager 100, 101 carnations 190 (d.map)

INDEX
swamps 82 beagle, / 42 carrion-eating birds 104, 105, 105
temperate forests 72 beaked whales 195 (d.map) carrots I 89 (d.map)
in cities I 54-5, / 55 bears 5 1, 172 cassowary, common 43
classification of I 84-7 beech 42 Castanea 43
early domestication of 138 (map) range expansion of I 22, I 22 (map), Casuarius casuarius 43 cats I 93
138, 142 122 (d.map)
human diseases and I 61 beeches and oaks 191 (d.map) domestication of 142
endangered species 1:68, 170-1, beggar’s-tick I 27 cattle, antelope, sheep, and goats 192
204-13 bezoar goat I 42 (d.map)
migration of I I 6-7 Bidens I 26 cattle egret 120-1, 121 (map), 121
range expansion of I 20— I "Big Bang” 12, 13 cave dwellers, diseases and 160
Note: Page numbers in italics refer
South American 26-7 bilharzia I 62 cells, development of / 6, 16, 17
to illustrations and their captions,
transportation to new bindweeds 190 (d.map) Cenozoic period 43
Maps are so described,
environments of 152-3 biomass 57 Cercopithecus aethiops 98
d. map = distribution map..
see also birds; diurnal animals; biomes 56-7 (map) see also habitat cereals, domestication of 138, 138
extinction; mammals; marine patterns chamaephytes 52
A
creatures; nocturnal animals; biotechnology I 45 chaparral 68, 69
Aardvark I 08
vertebrates and individual species birds 196-9 (d.maps) Chelonia mydas, migration of I I 8,
acacias 62
Anopheles gambiae 98 in biomes I 19
acanthocephalans 102
Antarctica bogs 83 chitons 88
acanthus 189 (d.map)
evolution, of 24 saltwater wetlands 85 chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) I 67
acid rain, / 64, I 64-5, / 65
ozone hole over I 67, / 74 temperate forests 72 chlorophyll, importance of 17
adaptive radiation, Hawaiian Islands antbirds I 96 (d.map) colonization of islands by I I 3 cholera, transmission of 160, 161
and 38 *
anteater 26, 95, I 08 convergent evolution and 104-5 chromosomes (in wheat cells) 140-1,
adenine 17
antelope jackrabbit 103 distribution of 44 141
Aedes
Antidorcas extinction of I 68 cichlid fishes 130, 130-1
aegypti 44, 44, 98, 99, 148, 162
australis 35 flightless 42 Ciridops anna 39
apicoargenteus 98
bondi 35 migration of I I 2, I I 4-5 Cirsium vulgare 123
Aepyornis 35
Antilocapra americana 22, 23 transportation to new cities, animals adapted to life in
Africa
apes I 95 (d.map) environments of I 52 154-5, 155
animals of 22
Apteryx australis 43 see also individuafspecies civets I 92 (d.map)
future developments in 175 Arabian bustard 44 birds of paradise 199 (d.map) classification
see also East Africa: Southern
archosaurs I 9 bison 7/ of animals I 84-7
Africa
Arctic, ozone layer over / 67 migration of I I 6 of plants I 80-3
African violets 190 (d.map)
arctic hare I 03 overhunting of I 68 Clermontia 38
agoutis and pacas 195 (d.map)
arctic tern, migration of 115 bitterns and herons 198 (d.map) climate 50—1, 54-6
agriculture
Ardeotis arabs 44 black-tailed jackrabbit 103 of Australia 24, 25
expansion of /37
armadillos 26, 108, 194 (d.map) blackbird 155, 155 cooling during Cenozoic period
future developments in 174-5 aroids I 89 (d.map) blackfly 150, 150 (map), 150 of, 43
human diseases and 161
Ascension Island f I 8 bladder fern 4 / desertification and 156
modern intensive 145
Asia, megafauna of 35 Blatta orientalis 149 extinctions and 29
origins of 137, 138-9 (map)
Asiamerica 20 blue-green algae I 6, f 7 factors influencing world 30-1
pests and 148, 15 I
Atacama Desert, Chile 57 blue whale I 68 future changes in 175, 176-7
AIDS 162 (map) 162-3
atmosphere, Earth's boar, wild 142 human interference with 135, 167
United States I 63, / 63
formation of I 3 bogs 83 influence on
Aizoaceae I 06—7
warming of I 66-7 boid snakes 43 distribution of species 44-5
akees I 90 (d.map)
atmospheric pressure 54 booklouse 149 evolution of mankind 136
albatross 45, 45 (map)
atolls 90 boreal forests 74, 75 human diseases I 62
algae 88, 88, 89, 90, 180, 181
auks 105, 1,05 boxwood 19 1 (d.map) plant distribution I 22
blue-green 16,17
auroch I 42 Brachiosaurus 108, 108, 109 see also greenhouse effect; ice age
Allen's Rule I 02
Australia Bradypus tridactylus 22 cycle; rainfall: wind patterns and
alpaca 142
animal life 22, 24 Brazil, conservation in 173 individual habitats eg-desert
Alps, vegetation zones of 79
climate 24, 25 bread wheat 140, 140, 141 clown fish 94
Alvarez, Luis 29
eucalyptus forests 60, 6 I breeding of domesticated animals club mosses I 8, I 06, I 8 I
Alvarez, Walter 29
evolution of 24, 25 142 coast redwood 44
Alzheimer’s disease 164
future movements of landmass of brook saxifrage 44 cockle 89
Amazon rain forest 46, 168
176-7 brown kiwi 43 cocklebur 146 (d.map)
American eel, migration of I I 8, 119
introduction'of new species into brown rat 154 cockroach, oriental 149
Anatosaurus I 08
152-3 brush mouse 45 coconut palm 44, 127
Andes mountains 26
megafauna 35 Bubulcus ibis 120-1,121 Coleodonta 35
angiosperms see flowering plants plants 24 bulbuls I 97 (d.map) collared dove I 20, 120 (map), 121
Anguilla
Australopithecus buntings I 96 (d.map) collared flycatcher 32
anguilla, migration of I 18, I I 9
afarensis 136, 136 burrowing worm 89
rostrata, migration of I 18, 119 common cassowary 43
a fricanus 136 bustard, Arabian 44
animal cell / 6 common (red) crossbill 96, 96, 96
robustus 136, 137 buttercups 182-3, 190 (d.map) (d.map), 97
animal pests see pests
Avicennia 85
animals competition between species 101
avocado I 89 (d.map) C
Australian 24-5 of Barro Compositae 106, 126, 126
Cacti 44, 44, 66, 106, 189 (d.map) condors 105
Colorado I 28
B cairn terrier I 43
in biomes Californian 170, / 70— 1. 175
Baluchitherium I 09 Cakile edulenta I 22
boreal forests 74 coniferous plants 52, 52, 53
bandicoots 194 (d.map) California, endemic plant species of
desert scrub 64 Connochaetes taurinus, migration of
Bantu tribe 137 45
deserts 66 116, 117
baobab 62 calories, average human intake of
grasslands 70 conservation see condors; nature
barbets I 98 (d.map) 145, 145
lakes 80 reserves
barley, domestication of 138, 139 Calvaria trees I 68
mediterranean 68 continents see landmasses
barnacles 88 Canis dingo 152, 153
rain forests 58 Contracaecum aduncum I 02
barrier reefs see coral reefs; Great carbon dioxide, levels in atmosphere
rivers 8 I convergent evolution 104-5
Harrier Reef of 135, 16 6, 167, 174
saltwater wetlands 85 coral reefs 90, 90, 90 (d.map), 91, 94
Barro Colorado 128, 128, 129 Cardaria draba I 47
savanrias 62 I 73
bats 47, 98-9, 108, 109, 154, 192 caribou, migration of I I 6, II 6, 116
seashores 88-9 cord grass 84
(d.maps) (map) Coriolis effect 54

214
Corvidae 40 dogs, domestication of 142, 142 F gophers I 93 (d.map)
Costa Rica, conservation in 173 human diseases and I 6 I Falcons I 98 (d.map) gorilla 32
cotingas I 98 (d.map) dogs and foxes 193 (d.map) farming see agriculture gourds 66
cotton and mallows 191 (d.map) dolphins I 93 (d.map) fauna see animals gradients, environmental 102
couch grass I 46 domestication of animals, early I 38, fens 82-3, 147 grain weevil I 49
crabs 88 138 (map), I 42-3 ferns 41, 107, / 80-1 Gramineae 40, 4 /
Cretaceous period 20, 2 1,28, 29 dormice 23, 194 (d.map) Ficedula grasses 40, 4/, 188 (d.map)
crops see agriculture Drepanididae 38, 39 albicollis 32 annual I 38
crossbill 96-7, 96-7 (map) Drepanis pacifica 39 hypoleuca 32 prairie 70, 71
crowned eagle 95 Dromaius novaehollandiae 43 figs I 89 (d.map) savanna 62
crows 40, I 97 (d.map) Drosophilidae 38 finches 113, 197 (d.map) see also wheat
crust, Earth's 13, 14, 15 drought fire, ecology and 62, 68, 70, I I 2-3 grasslands, temperate 70, 7 /
cuckoo-shrikes and minivets 198 causes of African 156 fireweed (willow herb) 113, 153 gray squirrel 100, 100 (d.map)
(d.map) future developments 174, 175 fish great American interchange 26-7
cuckoos 197 (d.map) ducks I 97 (d.map) of coral reefs 94-5 (map)
Cucullanus minutus 102 duckweed 146 effect of acid rain upon I 64 Great Barrier Reef / 73
curassows 199 (d.map) dwarf hippopotamus 35 evolution in African Great Lakes of Great Lakes of Africa I 30-1. I 30
currants and saxifrages 191 (d.map) dystrophic lakes 80 130-1 (map)
currents, influence on climate of flea 155 greater bushbaby 98
ocean 54, 54 (map), 56 E flightless birds 42, 43 greater horseshoe bat 99
Cuvieronius 35 Eagles, rain forest 95 flora see plants green turtle, migration of I 18. I 19
Cyanea 38, 38 Earth, the floral region's 23 (map) (map), 119 -
angustifolia 38 formation of 12-13 flounder, parasites found in 102, 102 greenhouse effect 135, 166-7, 175
gayana 38 structure of I 4-I 5, 18, 176-7 flour moth I 49 grizzly bear / 72
grimesiana 38 East Africa, Great Lakes of I 30- I flowering plants I 8 I groundsels 106, / 07
leptostegia 38 Echinops dahuricus 106 classification of I 82-3 guanaco 142
rollandoides 38 edentates 26 regional distribution of 23 guanine / 7
shipmanii 38 eelgrass 89 flowerpeckers 199 (d.map) guinea pigs 194 (d.map)
tritomantha 38 eels, migration of I I 8, 118 (map), I 19 flukes (parasites) 102 gulls and terns 197 (d.map)
cycad plants 42-3 Eichornia crassipes 147, 153 flycatchers 32, 32 (map), I 96 (d.map) Gymnogyps californianus 170, / 70— I
Cynognathus I 8 einkorn 140-I food consumption 145, 145 gymnosperms I 06
Cyprinodon 33, 33 Elasmotherium 35 forests Gyps bengalensis 105
diabolis 33 elephant, African 23, 169 acid rain and I 64, / 65
nevadensis 33 elephant bird 35 early distribution of 43 H
salinus 33 elephant-shrews 194 (d.map) see also individual types eg rain Habitat patterns 50-9 I
Cystopteris fragilis 4 I elephantiasis 99 forests see also individual types eg tundra
cytosine / 7 Elephas falconeri 35 forget-me-nots 190 (d.map) Haplomastodon 35
Ellesmere Island, Canada 21 fossil fuels, burning of I 64, I 67 hares I 93 (d.map)
D elms (d.map) I 89 fox, red I 54, / 54 North American 102, 103, 103
Daffodils I 9 I (d.map) Elymus repens I 46 foxes and dogs 193 (d.map) (d.map)
damsel fish 94 emmer I 40, I 4 I foxgloves I 89 (d.map) harpy eagle 95
Danaus plexippus I 14 Emperor Seamount Chain 36 free-tailed bats 192 (d.map) Hawaiian Islands
Darwin, Charles I 42 emu 43 freshwater wetlands 80-3 formation of 36-7
Dead Sea, future role of I 75 endangered species fringing reefs 90 plant and animal life 38-9, I I 3
Death Valley, California 57 animals 204- I 3 fruit bats 192 (d.map) rainfall 55
deer 153, 193 (d.map) plants 200-203 fruit flies 38 hawks I 96 (d.map)
Derogenes varicus 102 Eocene epoch 2 I fuel, motor vehicle, future hazel 122
desert dormouse 23 Ephestia kuehniella 149 developments in 175 heart urchins 89
desert locust 124-5, 125 equatorial forest see tropical rain "fundamental niche" 101 heathers 188 (d.map)
desert pupfish 33, 33 forest furniture beetle /55 hedgehogs 195 (d.map)
desert scrub 64, 65 Equus capensis 35 furrow shells 89 hemi-cryptophytes 52, 72
deserts 66. 67 Eremotherium 35 Hemignathus
spread of 156-7 (map), 156-7 Eryngium maritimum I 06 G lucidus 39
Devonian period I 8 eucalyptus forests 60, 6 / Galapagos Islands I I 3 procerus 39
diatoms I 64 eukaryotes 16 Galapagos penguin 105 wilsoni 39
dicotyledons I 83 Euoplocephalus I 08 Gallinago gallinago 40, 4 I Hemiurus communis 102
digeneans I 02 euphorbias 66, I 06 Gammarus herons and bitterns 198 (d.map)
dingo 152, 153 Euramerica 18, 19, 20 locusta 103 Himalaya Mountains 15
dinoflagellates 90 Europe, megafauna of 35 pulex I 03 vegetation zones 79
dinosaurs eutrophic lakes 80 zaddachi I 03 Himatione sanguinea 39
evolution and spread of 19, 20 evergreen plants 52, 52, 53 garden warbler, migration of I I 4, Homo
similarities with living animals of evolution 115, 115 (map) erectus 136, 137
108-9 Antarctica 24 gardenias I 88 (d.map) sapiens 34 (map), 136, I 37 (map)
skeleton of long-necked 29 Australia 24 garrigue 68 honeycreepers 38, 39, I 13
dioch 148, 148 California 45 gases, atmospheric 167 honeyeaters 196 (d.map)
Diornis maximus 35 convergent I 04-5 Genista hirsuta I 06 hornbills 105, I 99 (d.map)
Diprotodon 35 fish 130-1 geophytes 52 horses 143, 195 (d.map)
diseases, human humankind I 36-7 Germany (West), trees damaged by evolution of 27
acid rain and I 64 Hawaiian Islands 38-9 acid rain in /65 horseshoe bats 192 (d.map)
ancient I 58-9, I 60 mammals I 9, 20- I Ghaie, eruption of 3 I "hotspots" 36-7, 37
future developments 174 plants 21,1 06-7 giant kangaroo 35 house mouse I 49
recent I 60-3 South America 26-7 giant lemur 35 house sparrow / 55
spread of I 62 trees I 06, / 07 gibbons 23 house spider 155
see also individual diseases eg Triassic period I 9 ginger I 90 (d.map) housefly / 55
elephantiasis wheat I 40- I giraffe 108, 108, 109 humans
disjunct distribution of species 42 extinction glacial periods 30, 30, 32, 33 diseases in I 58-63
disotis and medinilla 189 (d.map) of animals 28-9, 128, 134-5, 168-9 glasswort 84 exploitation of the environment
distribution patterns of species 40-5 of birds I 68 Glyptodon I 08 by 134-5, 144-5, 156, 164,
diurnal animals 98 of plants / 69 gold of pleasure I 46 167, 168
DNA molecule 16, 16, 17 of trees 43 golden moles 195 (d.map) future prospects for I 76
Doberman pinscher 142 see also dinosaurs; megafauna and golden retriever I 43 origins and spread of 34, I 36-7,
dodo I 34, I 68 individual species eg dodo Gondwanaland 18, 42, 43 (map) I 37 (map)
 hummingbirds 196 (d.map) lettuces, experimental methods of of insects 114, 114 Oriental region, animals of 22
humpback whale, migration of 118, growing / 44 of mammals I I 6-7 Origin of Species, The 142
I I 9 (map), I I 9 lichens 74, 88 of marine creatures I I 8-9 Ornithosuchus I 9
hunter-gatherers 136, 158, 159 life, origin of 16-17 Milankovich, Milutin 30 Oryctolagus 15 2-3, 153
hutias I 95 (d.map) lilies I 88 (d.map) milkweeds 190 (d.map) ostrich 43
hydatid disease I 6 I limpets 88 milkworts 191 (d.map) Otolemur crassicaudatus 98
Hylobates lar 23 Liposcelis 149 mineral salts, presence in seawater of "outgassing" I 3
Hypericum perforatum 147 Liriodendron 43 86-7 ovenbirds 196 (d.map)
Hypsiiophodon I 9 Lithops I 06-7 minivets and cuckoo-shrikes 198 overgrazing, desertification and 156
livestock, early I 42 (d.map) Ovibos 35
I human diseases and I 6 I mint I 88 (d.map) owis 154, 197 (d.map)
Ice age cycle 30-1 living stones 106-7 mistletoes 190 (d.map) ox, wild I 42
future 177 llama I 42 moa 35 ozone layer I 67, / 67, / 74, / 74
ice caps 30, 3 I Lobelia keniensis I 07 mockingbirds 199 (d.map)
ice sheets 30 (map) lobelias 38, 38, 107, 191 (d.map) mole-rats, African 195 (d.map) P
ichthyosaurs 29 locusts 124-5, 125 (map), 125 moles 194 (d.map), 195 (d.map) Pacas and agoutis 195 (d.map)
Icterids I 97 (d.map) lories I 99 (d.map) monarch butterfly / / 4 Pacific island groups, plant genera of
iguanid lizards 43 ionises I 94 (d.map) monkey-eating eagle 95 I 27 (map)
Iguanodon I 08 Loxia monkeys paleomagnetism I 5
illnesses see diseases curvirostra 96, 96 (d.map), 96, 97 New World 193 (d.map) Palmeria dolei 39.
India, animals of 22 leucoptera 97, 97 (d.map), 97 Old World 192 (d.map) palms I 89 (d.map)
Indian white-backed vulture 105 pytyopsittacus, 97, 97 (d.map), 97 monocotyledons 183 Panama
infectious diseases see diseases Loxodonta africana 23, 169 monsoon rains 136, 137 Barro Colorado 128, 128 (map),
influenza 161,1 V Loxops mosquito 44, 44 (map), 44, 98, 99, 128, 129
insect pests see pests coccinea 39 162 formation of Isthmus 22-3, 26, 42
insecticides, natural I 5 I parva 39 life cycle of / 48 tropical forests of 47
insects, migration of I I 4, 114 virens 39 mosses I 80 Pangaea 18-19
see also individual species eg lugworm 89 mouflon sheep I 42 pangolin 108
mosquito - lycopods I 06 mountains Papilionidae 46
interglacial periods 30, 30 lynx 124, 125 climate 78 parakeet 154
Interior Seaway 20 major ranges of 79 (map) parallel evolution 104-9
intertidal zone 88 M vegetation zones 78-9, 79 parasites, patterns of occurrence in
iris I 90 (d.map) Madagascar, megafauna of 35 mudbanks and mudflats 84-5 flounder of I 02, / 02
islands, colonization of I 13, 126-9 magnolias 43, I 82 muddy shores 89, 89 parrot crossbill 97, 97 (d.map), 97
see also Hawaiian Islands malaria 159, 159 (d.map) murre I 05 parrot fish 94
isopods 88 Malawi, Lake I 30 Mus musculus 149 parrots I 96 (d.map)
mallows and cotton 191 (d.map) mussels 88 Parthenon, erosion of 165
J mammals I 92—5 (d.maps) mustard I 88 (d.map) passenger pigeon I 68
Jackrabbit I 03 Australian 24 myrtles I 89 (d.map) peas I 88 (d.map)
jerboas I 94 (d.map) extinction of early 34-5, 35, I 70 myxomatosis 153 peatlands 82 (d.map), 83, 83
jet stream 156, 156, 157 evolution of I 9 Peltobatrachus I 08, I 09
jumping mice 195 (d.map) future survival of I 77 N penguins I 05, / 05
jungle see tropical rain forest migration of I I 6-7 Nature reserves pepper I 90 (d.map)
South American 26-7 future prospects for I 75 pepper elders 191 (d.map)
K see also dinosaurs; marsupials; list I 73 . periwinkles (marine creatures) 88
Kangaroos 108, 193 (d.map) placental mammals selection and design of 172-3 periwinkles (plants) 190 (d.map)
Karakoram Mountains 143 mammoth 35 Neanderthal man I 36 Peromyscus boylei 45
Kilauea volcano 36 manakins 199 (d.map) Negev Desert, Israel 156 pesticides, future phasing out of I 74
king vulture / 04 mangosteens 191 (d.map) nematodes I 02, I 50 pests, animal and insect 148-9
kingfishers 197 (d.map) mangrove swamps 84, 85, 85 nettles I 9 I (d.map) control of I 50-1
kiwi, brown 43 mantle, Earth's 13,14 New Zealand pests, plant see weeds
koala 23 marine creatures introduction of new species into petrels 198 (d.map)
Krakatoa eruption of 3 I evolution of 42 152-3 pH levels, acid rain and I 64
recolonization following 127 migration of I I 8-9 megafauna of 35 phalangers I 95 (d.map)
of the seashore 88, 88-9, 89 niche patterns 94-1 09 phanerophytes 52
L see also fish and individual species nightjars I 98 (d.map) pharaoh ant I 55
Lakes 80-1, 130-1 marmosets 194 (d.map) nitrates, presence in seawater of 86 Phascolarctos cinereus 23
acidity levels in 164 Mars, characteristics of 13 nocturnal animals 98-9 pheasants I 96 (d.map)
landmasses, Earth's marsupials, evolution of 20, 24 North America phosphates, presence in seawater of
early changes in 18-19, 19 (map) South American 26 animals of 22-3 86
2 I (map), 24 martins and swallows 198 (d.map) megafauna of 22-3 photosynthesis 86
effect on distribution of species Matricaria matricarioides 146. 147 Norway, effect of acid rain in I 64 phytoplankton 86
of 43 Mauritius I 34, I 68 Norway lemming 125 Picea
future changes in 176-7 medinilla and disotis 189 (d.map) Norway spruce 96 abies 96
lappet-faced vulture 104 mediterranean habitat 68, 69 Nothofagus 42 glauca 33
lar gibbon 23 megafauna, extinction of 34-5, 35,
pied flycatcher 32
larch 97, 97 170 O pigeons I 68, 196 (d.map)
Larix decidua 97 Megaladapis 35 Oaks and beeches 191 (d.map) pigs I 95 (d.map)
larks I 98 (d.map) Megaloceros 35 ocean creatures see marine creatures pikas I 94 (d.map)
leaf-nosed bats Megalotragus 35 ocean floor, spreading of I 4, 14 pineapple 190 (d.map)
New World 192 (d.map) Megaptera novaeangliae, migration oceans 86-7 pineapple weed 146, 147
Old World 193 (d.map) of I 18, I 19 influence on climate of 54, 54 pines 52
Leguminosae / 06 Megatherium 35 (map), 56 pipeworts 191 (d.map)
lemming I 24, / 25 Mercury, characteristics of 12 productivity of 86 (map) pipits I 99 (d.map)
Lemna minor 146 mesembryanthemum 189 (d.map) oligotrophic lakes 80 Pittosporum undulatum 122
lemurs I 94 (d.map) meteor impact, as cause of mass Onchocerca 150 placental mammals, evolution of 2 I
lentils, domestication of I 38 extinctions 29 onchocerciasis 150, 150 (map), 150 24
Lepus methane I 67 Control Program (OCP) 150 South American 26
alieni I 03 Metridiochoerus 35 opossums 26, 192 (d.map) planets, origin of I 2, 13
americanus 103, 124, 125 mice see rats and mice Opuntia 147, 152, 153 plankton 80-1, 86
arcticus 103 migration orchids I 88 (d.map) plant cell I 6
californicus 103 of birds 112, II 4-5 oriental cockroach 149 plant pests see weeds

216
Plantago major 40, 40 Pyrotherium, I 08 sea cucumber 94 "sterile male" insect control 151
plantain, broad-leaved 40, 40 sea level, future rising of 175 stinging nettles 19 1 (d.map)
plants I 88-9 I (d.maps) Q sea lions I 94 (d.map) stonecrops 190 (d.map)
acid rain and I 64, / 65 Quagga I 34 sea rocket I 22 stored product pests 149
Australian 24 Quelea quelea 148, 148 seashore 88-9 strawberry tree 53 (map), 53
in biomes sea urchin 88 Streptopelia decaocto 120, 121
boreal forests 74 R seals I 94 (d.map) stromatolites I 6, / 7
desert scrub 64 Rabbits I 93 (d.map) seas see oceans Struthio camelus 43
deserts 66 European 152-3, 153 seasonal forests 60, 6 / succulent plants I 06
grasslands 70 North American 102, 103, 103 seawater, composition of 86-7 sugar beet I 90 (d.map)
lakes 80 (map) seaweed see algae sulfur dioxide, levels in atmosphere of
mediterranean 53, 68 raccoons 154, 195 (d.map) sedges and reeds 188 (d.map) 164, 165
rain forests 53, 58 rails (birds) I 97 (d.map) sediment shores 89 sun, origin of the 12,13
rivers 8 / rain forests 58, 59 seed dispersal of plants I 22-3, sunbirds I 97 (d.map)
saltwater wetlands 84-5, 85 effects of destruction of I 35, I 67, 126-7, 146 sunflowers 188 (d.map)
savannas 62 169 selective breeding of animals 142 Surtsey 4 /
seasonal forests 60 extent of 33 Selevima betpakdalensis 23 swallows and martins 198 (d.map)
swamps 82 rainfall 54 (map) semi-arid scrub 64, 65 swallowtail butterfly 46
temperate forests 72 desertification and 156, 157 Senecio 106, 107 swamps 82
tundra 76 see also acid rain Sequoia sempervirens 44 see also mangrove swamps
Californian 45 Rajasthan Desert, India 156 Serengeti National Park, Tanzania Sweden, effect of acid rain in / 65
chromosomes in 140 range expansion 116,417 sweet chestnut 43 -
classification of 180-3 of animals I 20-1 Shasta ground sloth 34 swifts 155, I 98 (d.map)
climate and 54-7 of plants I 22-3 shearwater, short-tailed I 15 (map), swimming crab 88
domesticated 138 (map), 138-9 Rangifer tarandus, migration of I I 6, sheath-tailed bats 193 (d.map) Sylvia borin, migration of I I 4, 115
early 18,21 116, 116 (map) I 15 Symphonic 53 (map), 53
endangered species of 200-203 Ranunculales 182-3, 190 (d.map) sheep, goats, cattle and antelope 192
evolution of I 06-7 ratite birds 42, 43 (d.map) (d.map) T
extinction of / 69 rats and mice 192 (d.map) shells, sea 89 Taming of animals see domestication
of Pacific island groups 127 (map) as pests 148, I 49 Sheppey, Isle of, prehistoric tanager 100, 101
primary productivity 56, 57 see also individual types eg landscape of 20, 2 I Tanganyika, Lake 130, 131
human diversion of 145-6 pocket mice Shetland sheepdog / 42 Tangara
range expansion of f22-3 Raunkiaer's classification 52 shore 88-9 guttata, 100, 101
seed dispersal of 122-3, 126-7, 146 razor clams 89 shore crab 88 gyrola, 100, 101
spiny / 06, / 07 red-billed queiea (dioch) 148, 148 short-tailed shearwater, migration of mexicana, 100, 101
transportation to new red (common) crossbill 96, 96, 96 I 15 tapirs 43
environments of 153 (d.map), 97 shrews I 92 (d.map) tawny owl 154
tropical 44 red deer, introduction into New shrikes I 98 (d.map) tea I 9 I (d.map)
see also evergreen plants; Zealand of I 53 shrimps, salinity and 103 Telespyza cantons 39
flowering plants; trees; weeds and red-eyed leaf frog 47 Sicily, megafauna of 35 temephos insecticide 150
individual species red squirrel 100, 100 (d.map), 101 silverfish 155 temperate forests 72, 73
Plasmodium 159 reeds and sedges 188 (d.map) Simulium 150, 150 tenrecs I 93 (d.map)
plate tectonics 14 (map), 14-15, 176 reefs see coral reefs Sitophilus granarius 1:49 termites and ants 95
(map), 177 (map), 176-7 Rhea americana 43 skinks 40, 4 / tern, migration of arctic I 15
plovers I 98 (d.map) Rhinolophus ferrumequinum 99 slit-faced bats 195 (d.map) terns and gulls 197 (d.map)
pocket gophers 193 (d.map) Rhizophora 84, 85 sloths 22, 26, 34 thanet cress /47
pocket mice 193 (d.map) rice, domestication of 138 smallpox I 62 theophytes 52
pollution I 64-7 ringtails I 94 (d.map) snipe 40, 4 / Thesodon 108
Pomphorhynchus I 02 river blindness 150, 150 Snow, John / 6 / Thoatherium 108
ponds 80-I rivers 81,8/ snowshoe hare 103, 124, 125 three-toed sloth 22
population rocky shores 88, 88-9 soil, acidity levels in 164, / 65 thrushes and allies 196 (d.map)
explosions in animal 124-5 rodents see rats and mice solar system, birth of I 2, 12 thylacine wolf I 52
future reductions in human 176 rosebay willow herb 113, 153 soursops 189 (d.map) thymine / 7
porcupines 195 (d.map) roses I 88 (d.map) South America tides 88
potatoes I 89 (d.map) roundworms 102, 150 animals of 22 tilt, Earth's 30
pouched mammals see marsupials rye I 38 climate of 26 tinamous 199 (d.map)
prairies 70, 71 early mammals of 26, 27 titmice I 99 (d.map)
pressure, atmospheric 54 S future developments in agriculture toads, migration of I I 6
prickly pear 147, 152, 153 Saint-john's wort 147 of 175 toucans 105, I 99 (d.map)
primates I 58 saltwater wetlands 84-5 megafauna of 35 toxocariasis 161, 161
primrose 191 (d.map) Salvinia 147 movement of landmass 26 Toxodon 35
productivity, human use of Earth’s sand dollars 89 Southern Africa Trapa natans, range of 122
144-5, 145 sand hoppers 89 megafauna of 35 tree ferns I 06. I 07
prokaryotes I 6 sandpipers 198 (d.map) vegetation zones 79 tree lycopods 106, 107
pronghorn antelope 22, 23 sandy shores 89, 89 sparrows, European 153, 155 tree shrews 194 (d.map)
Protea 42, 43 (d.map), 191 (d.map) Sargasso Sea I I 8 spear thistle I 23 trees
protein, average human intake of 145, savannas 62, 63 species, evolution of 32-3 early extinction of some 43
145 Saxifraga rivularis 44 speckled tanager 100, 101 effect of acid rain upon I 64, / 65
protozoans, future inoculation of soil saxifrages and currants 191 (d.map) sphagnum moss 83 evolution of I 06, I 8 I
with 175 scallop 89 spiny anteater I 08 Triassic period 18-19
Pseudonestor xanthophrys 39 Scandinavia, effects of acid rain in spiny-headed worms 102 trigger fish 94
Psittirostra 164, 165 spiny plants / 06, I 07 Triticum
bailleui 39 scavenging birds 104, 105, 105 spiny rats, American 193 (d.map) aestivum 138, 14 0-1
kona 39 Schmidt, Johannes (oceanographer) “splashzone" strip, inhabitants of 88, monococcum 14 0-1
psittacea 39 I 18 88 scarsii. 140-!
pterosaurs I 08, / 09 Scincidae 40, 4 I spruce 33, 33, 96, 96, 122 tauschii I 4 I
puffbirds, 199 (d.map) Sciurus spurges I 88 (d.map) turgidum 140, 141
Puffinus tenuirostris, migration of caroiinensis 100 squirrels 100, 100 (d.map), 101, 192 trogons 199 (d.map)
115 ■ vulgaris 100, 101 (d.map) tropical diseases see diseases
pupfish 33, 33 sclerophyll plants 24, 64 starfish 88 tropical rain forests 58, 59
Pyrethrum, as source of insecticide screw worm 151, 151 starlings 152 (map), 153, 197 (d.map) effects of destruction of I 67, / 69
151 sea anemone 88 Stegomastodon 35 extent of 33

217
 tropical plants 44

Charts
tropical seasonal forests 60, 61
tube worms 88
tuberculosis I 6 I
tuco-tucos 193 (d.map)
Tugai Sea 20
tulip tree 43
tundra 76, 77
turquoise tanager 100, 101
turtle, green, migration of I 18, 19

U
Umbelliferae 106
urban habitat see cities Time chart
Ursos arctos I 72

ERA PERIOD EPOCH MILLIONS OF

Vectors (insects) 148 YEARS AGO
Venus, characteristics of 12
CENOZOIC QUATERNARY Holocene (Recent) 0.01
verbenas I 89 (d.map)
vertebrates Pleistocene 2
classification of / 86 TERTIARY Pliocene 5
early 18-19
vervet monkey 98 Miocene 25
vespertilionid ba^s 192 (d.map) Oligocene 38
Vestiaria coccinea 39
Victoria, Lake I 30
Eocene 55
vireos I 99 (d.map) Paleocene 65
volcanic activity 36-7 MESOZOIC CRETACEOUS
effect on climate of 3 I
Vostock, Antarctica 57 144
vultures / 04, 105, 105
JURASSIC
W 213
Wading birds 83, 85
warblers t 14, 115, 197 (d.map)
TRIASSIC
water chestnut 122 248
water hyacinth 147, 153
PALEOZOIC PERMIAN
waxbills I 97 (d.map)
weasels 193 (d.map)
286
weavers (birds) 197 (d.map)
weeds, origins and spread of 146-7 CARBONIFEROUS Pennsylvanian 320
Welwitschia 66
Mississippian 360
West Indian boxwood 191 (d.map)
wetlands DEVONIAN
freshwater 80-3
saltwater 84-5
408
whales SILURIAN
beaked I 95 (d.map)
blue I 68 438
humpback 118, 119 ORDOVICIAN
wheat, origin and spread of I 38,
140-1 505
'v.
white-eyes (birds) 198 (d.map) CAMBRIAN
white pine 52 (map), 52
white spruce 33 590
white-winged crossbill 97, 97, PRECAMBRIAN PROTEROZOIC EON
97 (d.map)
wild boar 142 2500
wild oat 147 ARCHEAN EON
wild ox I 42
wildebeest, migration of I I 6, 117 4600
willow herb (fireweed) 113, 153
wind patterns 54, 54 (map), In the geological time chart (above) the major units are the eras, starting with the Precambrian.
55 (map), 56 Lach era is further subdivided into periods and epochs. The dates on the chart indicate when each
winnowing 146 unit of time is thought to have begun.
wood warblers, American 197
(d.map)
woodcreepers 199 (d.map)
woodpeckers 196 (d.map) Metric-Imperial equivalents
worms, parasitic 102, 102
wrens I 98 (d.map) Length
Wucheria 99
Weight
I centimeter = 0.393 inch I gram = 0.0353 ounces
I meter = 3.28 feet I kilogram = 2.205 pounds
Xanthium spinosum 146 (d.map)
I kilometer = 0.621 miles I tonne =1.1 tons (US)

Y Area
Miscellaneous
Yellow fever I 62 I sq centimeter = 0.155 sq inch I kilogram/sq meter = 0.2 pounds/sq foot
Z I sq meter = 10.76 sq feet °C multiplied by 9/5 plus 32 = °F
zoogeographic regions 22-3 (map) I hectare (10,000 sq m) = 2.471 acres
zooplankton 86
°F minus 32 multiplied by 5/9 = °C
I sq kilometer = 0.386 sq mile

218
Further
reading

Anderson, S. and Jones, J. Knox Jr. Orders and Halstead, L.B. Hunting the Past Hamish Hamilton, Peter Lowe, London, 1981
Families of Recent Mammals of the World John London, 1982 Thurman, H.V. Introductory Oceanography (3th
Wiley, New York, 11)84 Harrison, C. .4/j Atlas of the Birds of the Western Ed.) Merrill, Columbus, Ohio, 1988
Attenborough, D. The Living Planet Collins & BBC Palearctic Collins, London, 1982 Udvardy, M.D.F. The Audubon Society Field
Publications, London, igS4 Heywood, Professor V.H. (Ed.) Flowering Plants of Guide to North American Birds (Western
Austin, O.L. Jr. Birds of the World Country Life the World Croom Helm, London, 1983 Region) Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1977
Books/Hamlyn, Twickenham, UK, 1987; Golden Hill, J.E. and Smith, J.D. Bats: A Natural History Webb, J.E., Wallwork, J.A. and Elgood, J.H. Guide
Press, New York, it)66 British Museum (Natural History), London, 1984 to Living Mammals (2nd Ed.), Macmillan, Lon¬
Axelrod, H.R. African Cichlids of Lakes Malawi Holm, J. Squirrels WhittetBooks, London, 1987 don, 1979
and Tanganyika T.F.H. Publications, Reigate, Huxley, A. Green Inheritance Collins/Harvell, Whitaker, J.O. Jr. The Audubon Society Field
UK, 1973 London, 1984 Guide to North American Mammals Alfred A.
Baker, R. Migration Paths Through Time and Isler, M.L. and P.R. The Tanagcrs: Natural Histo¬ Knopf, New York, 1980
Space Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1982; The ry, Distribution, and Identification Smithsonian Whitfield, P. (Ed.) Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia
Mystery of Migration (Ed.) Macdonald, London, Institution Press/Oxford University Press, Wash¬ Longman Group, Harlow; Macmillan Publishing;
1980 ington, DC and Oxford, UK, 1987 New York, 1984
Benson, L. The Cacti of the United States and IUCN 1988IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals Zohary, D. Domestication of Plants in the Old
Canada Stanford University Press, California, IUCN, Cambridge, UK, 1988 World: The Origin and Spread of Cultivated
1982 Kimber, G. and Feldman, M. Wild Wheat: An Plants in West Asia, Europe and the Nile Valley
Blij, H.J. De Man Shapes the Earth: A Topical Introduction The Weizmann Institute of Science, Clarendon, Oxford, UK, 1988
Geography Hamilton Publishing, Santa Barbara, Rehovot, Israel, 1987
California, 1974 King, P. Protect Our Planet Qiiiller Press, London,
Burton, J. A. Collins Guide to the Rare Mammals of 1986
the World Collins, London, 1987 Laidler, K. Squirrels in Britain David & Charles,
Campbell, A.C. The Seashore and Shallow Seas of North Pom fret, USA and Newton Abbot, UK,
Britain and Europe Country Life Books/Hamlyn, 1980
Feltham, UK, 1988 Leakey, R.E. The Making of Mankind Michael
Cloudsley-Thompson, J. Animal Migration Orbis, Joseph, London, 1981
London, 1978 Lever, C. Naturalized Birds of the World Longman
Cox, Professor B., Savage, Professor R.J.G., Gar¬ Scientific & Technical, Harlow, UK, 1987; Natu¬
diner, Professor B. and Dixon, D. Macmillan ralized Mammals of the World Longman, Lon¬
Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Ani¬ don and New York, 1983
mals Macmillan Publishing, New York and Lon¬ Little, E.L. The Audubon Society Field Guide to
don, 1988 North American Trees Alfred A. Knopf, New
Cox, C.B. and Moore, Peter D. Biogeography (4th York, 1980
Ed.), Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, Margulis, L. and Schwartz, K.V. Five Kingdoms:
UK, 1985 An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on
Cramp, S. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Earth (2nd Ed.), W.H. Freeman, New York, 1988
Middle East and North America: The Birds of Moore, D.M. (Ed.) Green Planet: The Story of
the Western Palearctic (3 Vols.) Oxford Universi¬ Plant Life on Earth Cambridge University Press,
ty Press, UK, 1977 London and New York, 1982
Croat, T.B. Flora of Barro Colorado Island Stanford Mourier, H. and Winding, O. Collins Guide to
University Press, California, 1978 Wild Life in House and Home (Trans. Vevers,
Diamond, A.W., Schreiber, R.L., Attenborough, D. G.) Collins, London, 1977
and Prestt, I. Save the Birds Cambridge Universi¬ Niering, W.A. The Audubon Society Field Guide
ty Press, London and New York, 1987 to North American Wildflowers (Eastern Region)
Durrell, L. State of the Ark Doubleday, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1979
1986 Perrins, C. Collins New Generation Guide to the
Ehrlich, P. and A. Extinction: The Causes and Con¬ Birds of Britain and Europe Collins, London,
sequences of the Disappearance of Species Ran¬ 1987
dom House, New York, 1981 Secrets of the Seashore: The Living Countryside
Erwin, D. and Picton B. Guide to Inshore Marine Reader’s Digest, London and New York, 1984
Life Immel Publishing, London, 1987 Spellenberg, R. The Audubon Society Field Guide
Fincham, A.A. Basic Marine Biology British Muse¬ to North American Wildflowers (Western
um (Natural Historv)/Cambridge University Region) Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1979
Press, London, 1984 Stanley, M. and Andrykovitch, G. Living: An
Fisher, J. and Peterson, R.T. The World of Birds Introduction to Biology Addison-Wesley, Read¬
Macdonald, London, 1964 ing, Massachusetts, 1982
Fryer, G. and lies, T.D. The Cichild Fishes of the Stott, P. Historical Plant Geography Allen &
Great Lakes of Africa: Their Biology and Evolu¬ Unwin, London, 1981
tion Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh, 1972 Streeter, D. The Wild Flowers of the British Isles
Gooders, J. The Worlds Wildlife Paradises David Macmillan, London, 1983
& Charles, London, 1975 Thomas, B. The Evolution of Plants and Flowers

219
 89 NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC/SDSD

Acknowledgments 91
92-93
96
Ron & Valerie Taylor/Ardea
Hans Wolf/The Image Bank
Wayne Lankinen/Bruce Coleman
99 Stephen Dalton/N.H.P.A.
105 Horus/Zefa Picture Library
io6f Favardin C./Jacana
106c Eric Crichton/Bruce Coleman
106b H. Xavier/Jacana
107 Dr C. Grey-Wilson
iio-ii Pete Turner/The Image Bank
ARTWORK CREDITS 103 Graham Allen
114-15 David Jesse McChesney/Planet Earth
104-105 Michael Woods
Pictures
Land-centered base map by Oxford 108 Graham Allen
117 Y. Arthus-Bartrand/Peter Arnold
Cartographers 109 f to fa, 1 to r. Steve Kirk, Graham Allen.
118-19 Superstock International
Ocean-centered base map by Eugene Fleury Graham Allen, Colin Newman, Steve
121 Julia Sims/Peter Arnold
Line work and map overlays: Kirk
123 K.G. Preston-Mafham/Premaphotos
pp. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 32, 33, 40, 41, 43, 44, 115 t. Paul Richardson; b: bird: Michael
Wildlife
45, 56, 57, 79, 86, 90, 96, 97, 98, 100, 116, 117, Woods; map: Eugene Fleury
124-25 Gianni Tortoli/Photo Researchers
118, 119, 122, 137, 145, 146, 150, 153, 156, 157, 116 Dick Twinney
127 Christian Zuber/Bruce Coleman
159, 161,I63, 176, 177, 188-199 by Technical 126-127 Paul Richardson
128-29 Smithsonian Institution
Art Services 128-129 Ed Stuart
131 Denis-Huot/ Agence Hoa-Qui
PP- 29, 43 (globe), 103, 106, 114, 125, 152, 157 I30“I3I Tony Graham
by ESR Ltd I32_33 S. Wilkes/Zefa Picture Library
i37 Andrew Wheatcroft
140 Tony Stone Associates
PP- 25, 30, 34, 35, 37, 46, 54, 55, 126, 138, 139, 141 Paul Richardson
143 Roland & Sabrina Michaud/The John
156, 157, 166, 167, 180-187 by Ed Stuart 142-143 Paul Richardson
Hillelson Agency
146 Karen Daws
144-45 Terrence Moore
148 Michael Woods
Other artwork 146-47 Liz & Tony Bomford/Survival Anglia
i49 Paul Richardson
t = top; b = bottom; 1 = left; r = right 12-13 110 148 Jen & Des Bartlett/Bruce Coleman
<50-151 Dave Ashby
b: Ed Stuart, Michael Woods, 149 Biophoto Associates/Science Photo
152 Dick Twinney
Ed Stuart Library
* 54-* 55 Paul Richardson
14-15 Line & Line 151 A.P. Paterson/Ardea
<59 Paul Richardson
16-17 Dave Ashby 153 Heidi Ecker/Horizon
164-165 Shirley Felts
18-19 Steve Kirk 154—55 Tom Stack & Associates
166 Ed Stuart
20 Shirley Felts (artwork based on 158-59 Bruce Davidson/Survival Anglia
reconstructions published in The 160 Jeremy Hartley/Panos Pictures
Evolution of Plants and Flowers by Dr PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS 161 Zefa Picture Library
Barry Thomas, Peter Lowe, 1981) 162-63 Zefa Picture Library
22 t to b: Dick Twinney, Graham Allen t = top; c: = center; b = bottom 168-69 R- Ktinkel/The Image Bank
23 Graham Allen 1 Harald Sund/The Image Bank 170-71 P.B. Kaplan/Photo Researchers
24 (clockwise): Graham Allen, Dick 2-3 E. Svensen/Zefa Picture Library 172-73 James M. McCann/Photo Researchers
Twinney, Graham Allen, Graham 4-5 Ulli Seer/The Image Bank 174-75 Daily Telegraph Colour Library
Allen, Keith Brewer, Keith Brewer 6-7 John Garrett/Tony Stone Associates <78-79 Peter Johnson/N.H.P.A.
25 Graham Allen 8-9 Margarette Mead/The Image Bank
26-27 Dave Ashby <5 David Paterson Contributors:
32 gorilla: Graham Allen; others: Tony *7 R. Villarosa/Overseas/Oxford
Graham Scientific Films David Attenborough
33 Tony Graham 21 Dr John Feltwell/Wildlife Matters 10-11, 50-51, 94-95, 112-13, 134-35
35 f to b: Graham Allen, Steve Hollen, 28-29 Shang Mingqi/Xinhua News Agency
Graham Allen, Andrew Robinson, 3* Francois Gohier/Ardea Barry'Cox
Graham Allen, Graham Allen, Graham 36 Soames Summerhays/Science Photo H-29, 36-39, 42-43, 46-47, 108-9, 126-31,
Allen, Malcolm Ellis Library 136-37, 142-43, 152-53, 168-69, 176-77
37 Ed Stuart 40-41 David Ward/Landscape Onlv
38 Karen Daws 42 Tony Rodd/Weldon Trannies Peter Moore
39 Tony Graham 45 Frans Lanting/Bruce Coleman 30-35, 40-4L 44-45, 52-79,82-85, 96-97,
40 Tony Graham 47 Kevin Schafer/Peter Arnold 106-7, 122-23, L38-4L 144-47, 156-57,
41 bird: Michael Woods; skink: Alan Male 48-49 Steve Terrill 164-67, 170-75, 180-83
43 Michael Woods 58-59 Liz & Tony Bomford/Ardea
44 Tony Graham 60-61 J. Grant/Natural Science Photos Philip Whitfield
46 Ed Stuart 62-63 Gunter Ziesler I2~i3, 80-81, 86-91, 98-105, 114-21, 124-25,
47 Ed Stuart 64-65 E. Rekos/Zefa Picture Library *48-51, L54-55, 158-63, 184-87
52-53 t. Shirley Felts; 5: Karen Daws 66-67 Hans Christian Heap/Planet Earth
56-57 Liz Pepperel Pictures The publishers would like to thank the following-
80-81 Paul Richardson 68-69 David Woodfall/N.H.P.A. people for their invaluable help in the making- of
83 Ed Stuart
0

Stan Osolinski/Oxford Scientific Films

1

this book: Blackwell Scientific Publications

84-85 Liz Pepperel 72-73 Peter M. Miller/The Image Bank Limited for their kind permission to base maps
87 Dave Ashby 74-75 Don Landwehrle/The Image Bank and diagrams on pp. 18-19, 20, 39, 47, 57, 103,
88-89 Liz Pepperel 76-77 Stephen Krasemann/N,H.P. A. 152 on material from Cox, *C.B., and Moore,
90 Tony Graham 78 Spencer Swanger/Tom Stack & P.D. (1985) Biogeography.; David Carter of the
96-97 Tony Graham Associates Entomology Department, British Museum
98 Graham Allen 81 Milton Rand/Tom Stack & Associates (Natural History) London, for supplying
100 Michael Woods 84 Nicholas Penn/Planet Earth Pictures reference material; Judith Beadle for preparing
102 Paul Richardson 86-87 Tony Stone Associates the index.

220
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