Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology, and Evolution by Alan C. Ziegler (Author). Not since William A. Bryan’s 1915 landmark compendium, Hawaiian Pure Historical past, has there been a single-quantity work that provides such in depth coverage of this complex but fascinating subject. Illustrated with more than two dozen coloration plates and a hundred photographs and line drawings, Hawaiian Natural Historical past, Ecology, and Evolution updates both the sooner publication and subsequent works by compiling and synthesizing in a uniform and accessible style the extensively scattered data now available.
Readers can trace the natural historical past of the Hawaiian Archipelago via the e-book’s twenty-eight chapters or give attention to particular matters comparable to island formation by plate tectonics, plant and animal evolution, flightless birds and their fossil websites, Polynesian migrational historical past and ecology, the consequences of humans and exotic animals on the surroundings, current conservation efforts, and the contributions of the various naturalists who visited the islands over the centuries and the stories behind their discoveries. An extensive annotated bibliography and a listing of audio-visible materials will assist readers locate extra sources of information. Those concerned with Hawaiian natural history will discover this a thoroughly pleasant overview and a priceless reference. Instructors and students will profit from its up-to-date abstract and synthesis of the subject.
Ziegler covers each topic in Hawaiian Natural Historical past: Invertebrates, vertebrates and plants. Additionally there are interesting chapters on Geology as well. If you’re questioning where the evolution is in the e-book, there is a good chapter on evolution’s history and concepts. It has been talked about that Ziegler devotes specific care to the traditional Hawaiian names of animals and vegetation and that is the case. There may be additionally a chapter on the historical past of the Polynesians and another on their ecology. There are separate chapters for birds, mammals and even snails. Nice tables list endemic species in addition to indigenous and alien. I discovered the guide fairly boring to read cover to cowl but that’s my specific taste. I am a biology student but not working in the field. Perhaps this guide would function a reference.
Many guests arrive in Honolulu from Japan on planes adorned with one of the vital unique of Hawaiian birds, the scarlet i’iwi. But they won’t see an i’iwi on Oahu. To see one they will have to treck to a distant tract of forest on one of many outer islands. Why are there virtually no native Hawaiian birds left outside mountain forests? How did the i’iwi develop its spectacular form? And what occurred to the flightless birds whose remains have gathered in lava tubes? To understand such issues requires some understanding of the geology, local weather, and flora in addition to the history of the islands. Ziegler’s e-book makes all of these things accessible, especially to readers with some prior information of a number of of these fields. It covers every part from the volcanic origins of the islands to the agricultural practices of the Polynesian settlers and the influence of alien species.
It features greatly from being written by a single writer with a constant, learned however readable style and format. As a linguist I used to be impressed by the care taken with the Hawaiian language: Hawaiian terms and names for species are offered and explained wherever possible. The ebook thus makes an unexpected however welcome contribution to the continued revival of the Hawaiian language, in addition to to ecology and island biogeography. A paperback version would help vastly to advertise wider appreciation of the delicate pure world of the Hawaiian islands.
Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology, and Evolution
Alan C. Ziegler (Author)
477 pages
Univ of Hawaii Pr; annotated edition edition (October 2002)
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