Research Catalog

Title

Ecology of desert organisms / Gideon Louw and Mary Seely.

Author

Louw, Gideon, 1930-

Publication

• Essex, UK ; New York : Longman Group Limited, [1982]
• ©1982

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Seely, Mary, 1939-

Description

194 pages, 4 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps; 24 cm.

Summary

"In this book the authors consider the ecology of desert organisms. They have illustrated the principles involved with a selection of interesting examples from a wide body of research and from their own experience. In their study they have given equal emphasis to physiological ecology and population ecology. They have looked both at the way organisms avoid the extremes of the desert environment and at adaptations in their morphology, physiology and behaviour which make them better able to tolerate the unfavourable conditions. Reproduction and the dynamics, structure and evolution of desert communities are also discussed in detail, and in the concluding chapter the authors consider the increasingly important role of man in shaping the desert environment. The book provides a broad synthesis of the major principles of ecology, and with its balance between the botanical and zoological aspects of the subject, it will be of value to life scientists in general. Students wishing to broaden their knowledge of ecology as well as the reader interested in desert biology will find here a wealth of fascinating material in a clear and concise form"--Back cover.

Series Statement

Tropical ecology series

Uniform Title

Tropical ecology series

Subject

• Desert ecology
• Wüste
• Ökologie
• Woestijnen
• Ecologie
• Écologie des déserts

Note

• Includes index.

Bibliography (note)

• Bibliography: p. 174-183.

Contents

Preface -- Introduction -- The desert environment and principles of adaptation -- Escape from the desert environment -- Tolerance from the desert environment: morphological adaptations -- Tolerance of the desert environment: physiological and behavioural adaptations -- Reproduction in the desert environment -- Structure of some typical desert communities -- Functional aspects of desert communities -- Evolutionary ecology of deserts -- Man and the desert -- Bibliography -- Index.

ISBN

• 0582443938
• 9780582443938
• 0470205326
• 9780470205327

LCCN

81006027

OCLC

• ocm07464558
• 7464558
• SCSB-9626296

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library