This textbook provides a fresh, up-to-date, introduction to biogeography. Examining where different animals and plants live and how they came to be living there it investigates how populations grow, interact and survive. It explores how equilibrium communities are formed, how communities change and looks at the likely shape of communities in the twenty-first century.
Stressing the role of ecological, geographical, historical and human factors in fashioning animal and plant distributions, Huggett reveals how life has, and is, adapting to its biological and physical surroundings. The book includes several sections on how human attitudes to nature differ, and how biogeography can affect conservation practice. Huggett tackles many topical and controversial environmental and ethical concerns including:
* animal rights
* species exploitation
* habitat fragmentation
* biodiversity
* metapopulations
Illustrated throughout with informative diagrams and photos, and including chapter summaries, guides to further reading and an extensive glossary of key terms Fundamentals of Biogeography presents an engaging introduction for students.