The book reaches out to palaeoanthropologists to explain how evolutionary adaptations were necessarily related to ecological shifts in savannas governed by seasonal dryness. For ecologists, it both outlines the fundamentals of savanna ecology and shows how its features nurtured the evolutionary transitions leading to modern humans.
The book reaches out to palaeoanthropologists to explain how evolutionary adaptations were necessarily related to ecological shifts in savannas governed by seasonal dryness. For ecologists, it both outlines the fundamentals of savanna ecology and shows how its features nurtured the evolutionary transitions leading to modern humans.
Norman Owen-Smith headed the Centre for African Ecology at the University of the Witwatersrand before his retirement as Emeritus Professor there. He is an A-rated scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa. He received Gold Medals from the Zoological Society of Southern Africa and the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, Wildlife Excellence Award from the Southern African Wildlife Management Association, Honorary Life Membership in the Ecological Society of America, and was awarded a Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship in 2005. He has written or edited six books, including Megaherbivores: The Influence of Very Large Body Size on Ecology (Cambridge, 1988) and Adaptive Herbivore Ecology: From Resources to Populations in Variable Environments (Cambridge, 2002).
Inhaltsangabe
Preface Foreword List of abbreviations Part I. The physical cradle: Land forms, geology, climate, hydrology and soils: 1. High Africa: Eroding surfaces 2. Climate: Rainfall seasonality 3. Water in rivers, lakes and wetlands 4. Bedrock geology: Volcanic influences 5. Soils: Foundations of fertility Part II. The savanna garden: Grassy vegetation and plant dynamics: 6. Forms of savannah 7. How savanna trees and grasses grow and compete 8. Plant demography and dynamics: Fire traps 9. Paleo-savannas: Expanding grasslands Part III. The big mammal menagerie: Herbivores, carnivores and their ecosystem impacts: 10. Niche distinctions: resources versus risks 11. Big fierce carnivores: Hunting versus scavenging 12. Herbivore abundance: Bottom-up and top-down 13. How large herbivores transform savanna ecosystems 14. Paleo-faunas: Rise and fall of the biggest grazers Part IV. Evolutionary transitions: From primate ancestors to modern humans: 15. Primate predecessors: From trees to ground 16. Primate ecology: From forests into savannas 17. How an ape became a hunter 18. Cultural evolution: From tools to art and genes 19. Reticulate evolution through turbulent times 20. Prospects for a lonely planet Index.
Preface Foreword List of abbreviations Part I. The physical cradle: Land forms, geology, climate, hydrology and soils: 1. High Africa: Eroding surfaces 2. Climate: Rainfall seasonality 3. Water in rivers, lakes and wetlands 4. Bedrock geology: Volcanic influences 5. Soils: Foundations of fertility Part II. The savanna garden: Grassy vegetation and plant dynamics: 6. Forms of savannah 7. How savanna trees and grasses grow and compete 8. Plant demography and dynamics: Fire traps 9. Paleo-savannas: Expanding grasslands Part III. The big mammal menagerie: Herbivores, carnivores and their ecosystem impacts: 10. Niche distinctions: resources versus risks 11. Big fierce carnivores: Hunting versus scavenging 12. Herbivore abundance: Bottom-up and top-down 13. How large herbivores transform savanna ecosystems 14. Paleo-faunas: Rise and fall of the biggest grazers Part IV. Evolutionary transitions: From primate ancestors to modern humans: 15. Primate predecessors: From trees to ground 16. Primate ecology: From forests into savannas 17. How an ape became a hunter 18. Cultural evolution: From tools to art and genes 19. Reticulate evolution through turbulent times 20. Prospects for a lonely planet Index.
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