Description
Book SynopsisA deep-dive into the evolutionary biology, biogeography, and conservation of the most elusive subterranean creatures in the world. Far from the austere, sparsely populated ecosystems often conjured in the imagination, caves host some of the most mysterious and biodiverse natural systems in the world. Subterranean environments, however, are the least explored terrestrial habitats, contributing to misconceptions about their inhabitants. Edited by cave scientist and conservation ecologist Dr. J. Judson Wynne, Cave Biodiversity explores both the evolution and the conservation of subterrestrial-dwelling fauna. Covering both vertebrates and invertebrates, including mollusks, fishes, amphibians, arthropods, and other troglobionts, this volume brings together ichthyologists, entomologists, ecologists, herpetologists, and conservationists to provide a nuanced picture of life beneath the earth's surface. Broad chapters covering biotic and abiotic factors that influence evolution and support bi
Table of ContentsList of Contributors
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. Influence of the Physical Environment on Terrestrial Cave Diversity
Chapter 2. Evolutionary Models Influencing Subterranean Speciation
Chapter 3. Biology and Ecology of Subterranean Mollusca
Chapter 4. The Subterranean Cholevinae of Italy
Chapter 5. Cave Trechine (Coleoptera: Carabidae) Radiation and Biogeography in Eastern North America,
Chapter 6. Subterranean Colonization and Diversification of Cave-dwelling Salamanders
Chapter 7. Diversity, Distribution, and Conservation of Cavefishes in China
Index
