- Email: [email protected]
Comparative plant ecology: A functional approach to common British species
TREE vol. 4, no. 6, June 1989
those who, like the editors, embrace molecular data as a virtual panacea for phylogenetics. To paraphrase Ne?, among others, gene trees and species trees in many cases are expected to be incongruent, and thus molecular characters, no less than other characters, should be used with caution. On the other hand, the rapid progress being made in elucidating the molecular basis of morphological evolution, particularly through the study of homeotic and transposonmediated mutation, clearly justifies the excitement that the editors convey in their commentary to the section ‘Development and Evolution’. Given the pre-eminence ascribed to developmental genetics by Stebbins in his introduction, it is surprising that this section includes only one chapter, a rather speculative treatise by T. Sachs on the importance of ontogenetic constraints in morphological evolution. The editors’ commentary, however, largely makes up
for this imbalance, discussing how classical and molecular genetics are being integrated to address longstanding questions concerning the evolution of form. The remainder of the book deals with subjects that dominate the pages of journals such as Evolutionthe ecological and genetic facets of adaptation and selection. Sections on morphological and physiological adaptations (K. Niklas; J. R. Ehleringer and C. Clark), population genetics and ecology (MT. Clegg and B. Epperson; J. Antonovics, N.C. Ellstrand and R.N. Brandon: D. Levin) and community level interactions (R.L. Jeffries; J.P. Grime) in many cases restate what is a major theme of the entire book: those who underestimate the complexity of natural systems, at whatever level, do so at their own peril. In this era of increasing specialization it is often difficult to keep up with advances in the many fields that contribute to our understanding of
evolution. This collection of uniformly well-written papers will be welcomed by those who believe that, if evolution is central to all biology, then there is almost no new biological discovery that does not impinge on evolutionary studies. The work of G. Ledyard Stebbins has embodied that philosophy for half a century, and has done much to shape our field. This book is a fitting tribute to his long and fertile labors. Jeff J. Doyle L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. USA
References 1 Stebbins, G.L. (1974) flowering Plants: Evolution above the Species Level, Belknap Press 2 Pamilo, P. and Nei, M. (1988) Mol. Viol. Evol. 5,588-583
Species and Communities ComparativePlantEcology:A Functional accounts of the ecology of the 281 Approachto CommonBritishSpecies most abundant species of higher plant in the region around Sheffield, north England. The information by J.P. Grime, J.G. Hodgson and R. comes partly from the published Hunt, Unwin Hyman, 1988. f85 (742 literature (and to that extent reflects the full genetic and phenotypic range + ix pages) ISBN 004 581028 1 of the species), but more importantly The taxonomic classification of from extensive surveys of the distribution and biology of these species organisms reflects their evolutionary history. It is a record of descent and in the Sheffield region. For each species, certain standardancestry. Biologists have long recogized data are given, including mornized, however, that in the course of evolution, convergence occurs phological details where these are ecologically important. Some of this between taxonomically unrelated is easily obtained elsewhere (lifeorganisms. To the taxonomist, maptime, distribution) ping divergence, this convergence is form, flowering a problem that merely obscures the and is presumably included for the evolutionary tree; to the ecologist, in sake of completeness, but much of it contrast, convergence represents the is not: seedling relative growth rates, nuclear DNA content, germination responses of organisms to common weights are environmental pressures, and so times and germinule offers a key to fundamental prob- good examples. In addition, the community ecollems in community structure. The ogy of each species as expressed in recognition of convergence requires the comparison of many taxa, so that the Sheffield region (habitat selecsoil pH, hydrology, slope, tion, the patterns of common response aspect, etc.) is summarized in a can be perceived. It is an approach series of attractive diagrams, among that would have left Darwin feeling comfortable, but more recently it has which pride of place is given to of the species’ been a controversial area, leading to a representation accusations of ‘adaptationist story- strategy in terms of the familiar C-S-R strategy triangle. There are telling’ and ‘Panglossian optimism’. introductory chapters explaining the Comparative Plant Ecology, therefore, as a weighty (in all senses, at origin and use of the individual accounts, and appendices giving 2.2 kg) contribution to that debate, must be judged in the light of the abbreviated ecological details of a further 221 species. controversy. It comprises detailed
Users of this volume will certainly hold differing views about the intellectual basis of the approach, but the information provided here will surely be of enormous value to ecologists. Such systematization of ecological knowledge is an essential stage in the formalization of the science. Unless we know these details, we shall not be able to perceive the patterns that inevitably must underlie them. Ecologists therefore owe the Sheffield team a debt of gratitude for that alone. Mere systematization without an intellectual framework that can elucidate those evolutionary patterns would, however, be a dull, if worthy, exercise. The Sheffield school has provided such a framework, though it has not escaped controversy. The cardinal features of this approach are the recognition of two major constraints to plant growth: physical disturbance, usually involving the destruction of tissue, and shortage of resources or metabolic constraints temperature). The two (toxins, together offer a matrix of potential environments; one corner, however, where both conspire against growth, is uninhabitable, reducing the square to the C-S-R triangle. The opposite corner represents the most favourable set of conditions for growth, and here competition for resources dominates as an evolutionary force. This concept implies that, in 189
TREE vol. 4, no. 6, June 1989
and below-ground resources are negatively2 or positively3 correlated, for example), but the underlying model has been fruitful in enabling ecologists to look for common ecological patterns. The final section of the book indicates one approach to this search for patterns: the use of cluster analysis of the data in the species accounts to test the generality of the theory. The use of large-scale comparisons seems destined to provoke active debate, whether in systematics4 or ecology5, but must remain an essential part of the total research strategy. The detailed study of individual species or even communities is valuable for testing hypotheses, but a poor way to generate them. In science, as elsewhere6, asking the right question is often more difficult than answering it. The comparative approach is superb for the raising of questions; the controversy often seems to arise when it is felt that it is also being used to answer them, hence achieving circularity. Ideally, the comparative ecologist
will test ideas by manipulative experimentation; sometimes that ideal is hard to achieve. Even though in particular circumstances certain sorts of evidence are more persuasive than others, in the end, all evidence is evidence, whether it derives from observation, comparative survey or manipulative experiment. Scientists reach their conclusions by assessing that evidence, and Comparative Plant Ecology provides plenty of it.
Review copies of the following books have been received. Books that have been reviewed in Trends in Ecology and Evolution are not included. The appearance of a book in the lit does not preclude the poeeibilii of it being reviewed in the future.
Else Marie Friis, Peter R. Crane and Kaj Raunsgaard Pedersen Reproductive Structures of Creraceous Plaranaceae (Biologiske Skrifter 31) The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 1988. Dkr. 100 (55 pages) ISBN 87 7304 188 2
C.G.N. Mascie-Taylor and A.J. Boyce (edsJ Human Mating Patterns (Society for the Study of Human Biology Symposium 28) Cambridge University Press, 1988. $49.5O/f25.00 (vi+237 pages) ISBN 0 521 33432 2
John Alcock Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach (4th edn) Sinauer Associates, 1989. $34.95 (xvii+596 pages) ISBN 0 87893 020 5
Neil Gilbert Biometrical Interpretation: Making Sense of Statistics in Bioloav (2nd edn) Oxford University Press, 1989. f9.55 ‘(viii+146 pages) ISBN 0 19 864250 X
environments that can be classified in these terms, there will indeed be common selection pressures and hence convergence. In disturbed environments, unsurprisingly, species with the ability to complete their life cycle rapidly or to regenerate from parts will be favoured; alternatively there will be selection for such characters in some genotypes, a phenomenon well documented in foa annua, for example’. This set of traits differs little from those associated with r-selection. Grime’s ‘stresstolerant strategy’, however, more familiar to animal ecologists as ‘adversity selection’, is not a part of r-K theory, and brings some unity to an exceedingly disparate but widespread set of traits. In contrast to these, in the most productive environments, characters that promote the acquisition of resources will be favoured, and consequently competition will be intense. There may be debate about the features that are associated with the ability to capture resources (whether the abilities to compete for above-
AM Fitter Universityof York, York YOl Deptof Biology,
5DD. UK
1 Law,R.(1977)Am.Nat.113,3-16 2 Tilman, D. (1987) Funct. Ecol. 1,304-316 3 Thompson, K. and Grime, J.P. (1988) Funct. Ecol. 2,114-l 16 4 Pagel, M.D. and Harvey, P.H. (1988) Q. Rev. t?io/. 63,413-440 5 Harper, J.L. (1982) in The Want Community as a Working Mechanism (Newman. E.I.. ed.). DD. 11-25. Blackwell 6 CoIlingwood. R.&‘(i939) Ai Autobiography, Penguin (p. 26)
BooksReceived
R.M. Anderson and J.M. Thresh (eds) The Epidemiology and Ecology of infectious Disease Agents The Royal Society, 1988. f55.00 in UK (f58.90 elsewhere) (vii+281 pages) ISBN 0854033645 J. Balogh and P. Balogh Oribatid Mires of the Neotropical Region I (Soil Mites of the World, Vol. 2) Elsevier, 1988. $126.7YDfI. 260.00 (5+335 pages) ISBN 0 444 98935 8 Michael Barnsley fractals Everywhere Academic Press, 1988. $39.95 (xii+394 pages) ISBN 0 12 079062 9 W.J.J.O. de Wilde ted.) Flora Malesiana Series I: Spermatophyta (Flowering Plants) Vol 70, Part 3 Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988. MI. 190/$100/f59.50 (297 pages) ISBN 90 247 3736 2 H.J. During, M.J.A. Werger and H.J. Willems teds) Diversity and Pattern in Plant Communities SPB Academic, 1988. Dfl. 85/$45 (viii+276 pages) ISBN 90 5103 021 5 H. Eijsackers and A. Quispel teds) Ecological lmplicarions of Contemporary Agriculture (Ecological Bulletins 391 Munksgaard International, 1988. DKK 250 (212 pages) ISBN 67 16 10227 4 Ronald F. Fox Energy and the Evolurion of Life W.H. Freeman & Co., 1988. f21.95 (xi+182 pages) ISBN 0 7167 1849 9
190
James L. Gould and Carol Grant Gould The Honey Bee Scientific American Library, 1988. f14.95 (xii+239 pages) ISBN 0 7167 5023 6 A. Hastings ted.) Lecture Notes in Biomathemadcs 77: Community Ecology SpringerVerlag, 1988. DM28.60 pbk (vii+131 pages) _ lSBN3 540 50398 6 Josef Hofbauer and Karl Sigmund The Theory of Evolution and Dynamical Systems: Mathematical Aspects of Selection (London Mathematical Society Student Texts 7) (English translation) Cambridge University Press, 1988. f35/$65 hbk, fl1.95/$19.95 pbk (viii+341 pages) ISBN 0 521 35838 8 Jack Ralph Kloppenburg, Jr First The Seed: The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology, 7492-2000 Cambridge University Press, 1968. f27.50/$37.50 (x+349 pages) ISBN 0521326915 Gordon MacCreaoh White Waters and Black (Reprint of 1926Ibook, with new Foreword) University of Chicago Press, 1985. $13.76/f9.50 pbk (xix+335 pages) ISBN 0 226 50016 0 Marc Mangel and Colin W. Clark Dynamic Modeling in Behavioral Ecology Princeton University Press (Monographs in Behavior and Ecology), 1988. $45.00 hbk, $15.95 pbk (xii+308 pages) ISBN 0 691 06506 4
Glen R. Needham, Robert E. Page, Jr, Mercedes Delfinado-Baker and Clive E. Bowman (eds) Africanized Honey Bees and Bee Mites Ellis Horwood (Series in Entomoloav and Acarology), ‘1988. f69.50 (xviii+571’ pages) ISBN 0 7458 0319 9 G.T. Prance and F. White The Genera of Chrysobalanaceae: A Study in Practical and Theoretica/ Taxonomy and its Relevance to Evolutionary BiologyThe Royal Society (Phi/OS. Trans. B Vol. 320), 1988. f32.15 in UK (f34.25 eleswhere) (184
pages) A.D.M. Rayner and Lynne Boddy Fungal Decomposition of Wood: Its Biology and Ecology John Wiley & Sons, 1988. f60.00 (xiv+587 pages) ISBN 0 471 10310 1 A. So& and L. Papp (eds) Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera Vol. 5: Athericidae-Asilidae Elsevier, 1988. $202.75/Dfl. 385 (446 pages) ISBN 0 444 98968 4 A. So& and L. Papp teds) Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera Vol. 8: SyrphidaeConopidae Elsevier, 1988. $118.5O/Dfl. 225.00 (363 pages) ISBN 0 444 98932 3 Fiona Sunquist and Mel Sunquist Tiger Moon The University of Chicago Press, 1988. f19.95 (xii+187 pages) ISBN 0 226 78001 5 J.T.A. Verhoeven, G.W. Heil and M.J.A. Werger teds) Vegetation Structure in Relation to Carbon and Nutrient Economy: Production, Decomposition andAtmospheric interception SPB Academic, 1988. Dfl. 66/$34 (viii+198 pages) ISBN 90 5103 020 7
those who, like the editors, embrace molecular data as a virtual panacea for phylogenetics. To paraphrase Ne?, among others, gene trees and species trees in many cases are expected to be incongruent, and thus molecular characters, no less than other characters, should be used with caution. On the other hand, the rapid progress being made in elucidating the molecular basis of morphological evolution, particularly through the study of homeotic and transposonmediated mutation, clearly justifies the excitement that the editors convey in their commentary to the section ‘Development and Evolution’. Given the pre-eminence ascribed to developmental genetics by Stebbins in his introduction, it is surprising that this section includes only one chapter, a rather speculative treatise by T. Sachs on the importance of ontogenetic constraints in morphological evolution. The editors’ commentary, however, largely makes up
for this imbalance, discussing how classical and molecular genetics are being integrated to address longstanding questions concerning the evolution of form. The remainder of the book deals with subjects that dominate the pages of journals such as Evolutionthe ecological and genetic facets of adaptation and selection. Sections on morphological and physiological adaptations (K. Niklas; J. R. Ehleringer and C. Clark), population genetics and ecology (MT. Clegg and B. Epperson; J. Antonovics, N.C. Ellstrand and R.N. Brandon: D. Levin) and community level interactions (R.L. Jeffries; J.P. Grime) in many cases restate what is a major theme of the entire book: those who underestimate the complexity of natural systems, at whatever level, do so at their own peril. In this era of increasing specialization it is often difficult to keep up with advances in the many fields that contribute to our understanding of
evolution. This collection of uniformly well-written papers will be welcomed by those who believe that, if evolution is central to all biology, then there is almost no new biological discovery that does not impinge on evolutionary studies. The work of G. Ledyard Stebbins has embodied that philosophy for half a century, and has done much to shape our field. This book is a fitting tribute to his long and fertile labors. Jeff J. Doyle L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. USA
References 1 Stebbins, G.L. (1974) flowering Plants: Evolution above the Species Level, Belknap Press 2 Pamilo, P. and Nei, M. (1988) Mol. Viol. Evol. 5,588-583
Species and Communities ComparativePlantEcology:A Functional accounts of the ecology of the 281 Approachto CommonBritishSpecies most abundant species of higher plant in the region around Sheffield, north England. The information by J.P. Grime, J.G. Hodgson and R. comes partly from the published Hunt, Unwin Hyman, 1988. f85 (742 literature (and to that extent reflects the full genetic and phenotypic range + ix pages) ISBN 004 581028 1 of the species), but more importantly The taxonomic classification of from extensive surveys of the distribution and biology of these species organisms reflects their evolutionary history. It is a record of descent and in the Sheffield region. For each species, certain standardancestry. Biologists have long recogized data are given, including mornized, however, that in the course of evolution, convergence occurs phological details where these are ecologically important. Some of this between taxonomically unrelated is easily obtained elsewhere (lifeorganisms. To the taxonomist, maptime, distribution) ping divergence, this convergence is form, flowering a problem that merely obscures the and is presumably included for the evolutionary tree; to the ecologist, in sake of completeness, but much of it contrast, convergence represents the is not: seedling relative growth rates, nuclear DNA content, germination responses of organisms to common weights are environmental pressures, and so times and germinule offers a key to fundamental prob- good examples. In addition, the community ecollems in community structure. The ogy of each species as expressed in recognition of convergence requires the comparison of many taxa, so that the Sheffield region (habitat selecsoil pH, hydrology, slope, tion, the patterns of common response aspect, etc.) is summarized in a can be perceived. It is an approach series of attractive diagrams, among that would have left Darwin feeling comfortable, but more recently it has which pride of place is given to of the species’ been a controversial area, leading to a representation accusations of ‘adaptationist story- strategy in terms of the familiar C-S-R strategy triangle. There are telling’ and ‘Panglossian optimism’. introductory chapters explaining the Comparative Plant Ecology, therefore, as a weighty (in all senses, at origin and use of the individual accounts, and appendices giving 2.2 kg) contribution to that debate, must be judged in the light of the abbreviated ecological details of a further 221 species. controversy. It comprises detailed
Users of this volume will certainly hold differing views about the intellectual basis of the approach, but the information provided here will surely be of enormous value to ecologists. Such systematization of ecological knowledge is an essential stage in the formalization of the science. Unless we know these details, we shall not be able to perceive the patterns that inevitably must underlie them. Ecologists therefore owe the Sheffield team a debt of gratitude for that alone. Mere systematization without an intellectual framework that can elucidate those evolutionary patterns would, however, be a dull, if worthy, exercise. The Sheffield school has provided such a framework, though it has not escaped controversy. The cardinal features of this approach are the recognition of two major constraints to plant growth: physical disturbance, usually involving the destruction of tissue, and shortage of resources or metabolic constraints temperature). The two (toxins, together offer a matrix of potential environments; one corner, however, where both conspire against growth, is uninhabitable, reducing the square to the C-S-R triangle. The opposite corner represents the most favourable set of conditions for growth, and here competition for resources dominates as an evolutionary force. This concept implies that, in 189
TREE vol. 4, no. 6, June 1989
and below-ground resources are negatively2 or positively3 correlated, for example), but the underlying model has been fruitful in enabling ecologists to look for common ecological patterns. The final section of the book indicates one approach to this search for patterns: the use of cluster analysis of the data in the species accounts to test the generality of the theory. The use of large-scale comparisons seems destined to provoke active debate, whether in systematics4 or ecology5, but must remain an essential part of the total research strategy. The detailed study of individual species or even communities is valuable for testing hypotheses, but a poor way to generate them. In science, as elsewhere6, asking the right question is often more difficult than answering it. The comparative approach is superb for the raising of questions; the controversy often seems to arise when it is felt that it is also being used to answer them, hence achieving circularity. Ideally, the comparative ecologist
will test ideas by manipulative experimentation; sometimes that ideal is hard to achieve. Even though in particular circumstances certain sorts of evidence are more persuasive than others, in the end, all evidence is evidence, whether it derives from observation, comparative survey or manipulative experiment. Scientists reach their conclusions by assessing that evidence, and Comparative Plant Ecology provides plenty of it.
Review copies of the following books have been received. Books that have been reviewed in Trends in Ecology and Evolution are not included. The appearance of a book in the lit does not preclude the poeeibilii of it being reviewed in the future.
Else Marie Friis, Peter R. Crane and Kaj Raunsgaard Pedersen Reproductive Structures of Creraceous Plaranaceae (Biologiske Skrifter 31) The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 1988. Dkr. 100 (55 pages) ISBN 87 7304 188 2
C.G.N. Mascie-Taylor and A.J. Boyce (edsJ Human Mating Patterns (Society for the Study of Human Biology Symposium 28) Cambridge University Press, 1988. $49.5O/f25.00 (vi+237 pages) ISBN 0 521 33432 2
John Alcock Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach (4th edn) Sinauer Associates, 1989. $34.95 (xvii+596 pages) ISBN 0 87893 020 5
Neil Gilbert Biometrical Interpretation: Making Sense of Statistics in Bioloav (2nd edn) Oxford University Press, 1989. f9.55 ‘(viii+146 pages) ISBN 0 19 864250 X
environments that can be classified in these terms, there will indeed be common selection pressures and hence convergence. In disturbed environments, unsurprisingly, species with the ability to complete their life cycle rapidly or to regenerate from parts will be favoured; alternatively there will be selection for such characters in some genotypes, a phenomenon well documented in foa annua, for example’. This set of traits differs little from those associated with r-selection. Grime’s ‘stresstolerant strategy’, however, more familiar to animal ecologists as ‘adversity selection’, is not a part of r-K theory, and brings some unity to an exceedingly disparate but widespread set of traits. In contrast to these, in the most productive environments, characters that promote the acquisition of resources will be favoured, and consequently competition will be intense. There may be debate about the features that are associated with the ability to capture resources (whether the abilities to compete for above-
AM Fitter Universityof York, York YOl Deptof Biology,
5DD. UK
1 Law,R.(1977)Am.Nat.113,3-16 2 Tilman, D. (1987) Funct. Ecol. 1,304-316 3 Thompson, K. and Grime, J.P. (1988) Funct. Ecol. 2,114-l 16 4 Pagel, M.D. and Harvey, P.H. (1988) Q. Rev. t?io/. 63,413-440 5 Harper, J.L. (1982) in The Want Community as a Working Mechanism (Newman. E.I.. ed.). DD. 11-25. Blackwell 6 CoIlingwood. R.&‘(i939) Ai Autobiography, Penguin (p. 26)
BooksReceived
R.M. Anderson and J.M. Thresh (eds) The Epidemiology and Ecology of infectious Disease Agents The Royal Society, 1988. f55.00 in UK (f58.90 elsewhere) (vii+281 pages) ISBN 0854033645 J. Balogh and P. Balogh Oribatid Mires of the Neotropical Region I (Soil Mites of the World, Vol. 2) Elsevier, 1988. $126.7YDfI. 260.00 (5+335 pages) ISBN 0 444 98935 8 Michael Barnsley fractals Everywhere Academic Press, 1988. $39.95 (xii+394 pages) ISBN 0 12 079062 9 W.J.J.O. de Wilde ted.) Flora Malesiana Series I: Spermatophyta (Flowering Plants) Vol 70, Part 3 Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988. MI. 190/$100/f59.50 (297 pages) ISBN 90 247 3736 2 H.J. During, M.J.A. Werger and H.J. Willems teds) Diversity and Pattern in Plant Communities SPB Academic, 1988. Dfl. 85/$45 (viii+276 pages) ISBN 90 5103 021 5 H. Eijsackers and A. Quispel teds) Ecological lmplicarions of Contemporary Agriculture (Ecological Bulletins 391 Munksgaard International, 1988. DKK 250 (212 pages) ISBN 67 16 10227 4 Ronald F. Fox Energy and the Evolurion of Life W.H. Freeman & Co., 1988. f21.95 (xi+182 pages) ISBN 0 7167 1849 9
190
James L. Gould and Carol Grant Gould The Honey Bee Scientific American Library, 1988. f14.95 (xii+239 pages) ISBN 0 7167 5023 6 A. Hastings ted.) Lecture Notes in Biomathemadcs 77: Community Ecology SpringerVerlag, 1988. DM28.60 pbk (vii+131 pages) _ lSBN3 540 50398 6 Josef Hofbauer and Karl Sigmund The Theory of Evolution and Dynamical Systems: Mathematical Aspects of Selection (London Mathematical Society Student Texts 7) (English translation) Cambridge University Press, 1988. f35/$65 hbk, fl1.95/$19.95 pbk (viii+341 pages) ISBN 0 521 35838 8 Jack Ralph Kloppenburg, Jr First The Seed: The Political Economy of Plant Biotechnology, 7492-2000 Cambridge University Press, 1968. f27.50/$37.50 (x+349 pages) ISBN 0521326915 Gordon MacCreaoh White Waters and Black (Reprint of 1926Ibook, with new Foreword) University of Chicago Press, 1985. $13.76/f9.50 pbk (xix+335 pages) ISBN 0 226 50016 0 Marc Mangel and Colin W. Clark Dynamic Modeling in Behavioral Ecology Princeton University Press (Monographs in Behavior and Ecology), 1988. $45.00 hbk, $15.95 pbk (xii+308 pages) ISBN 0 691 06506 4
Glen R. Needham, Robert E. Page, Jr, Mercedes Delfinado-Baker and Clive E. Bowman (eds) Africanized Honey Bees and Bee Mites Ellis Horwood (Series in Entomoloav and Acarology), ‘1988. f69.50 (xviii+571’ pages) ISBN 0 7458 0319 9 G.T. Prance and F. White The Genera of Chrysobalanaceae: A Study in Practical and Theoretica/ Taxonomy and its Relevance to Evolutionary BiologyThe Royal Society (Phi/OS. Trans. B Vol. 320), 1988. f32.15 in UK (f34.25 eleswhere) (184
pages) A.D.M. Rayner and Lynne Boddy Fungal Decomposition of Wood: Its Biology and Ecology John Wiley & Sons, 1988. f60.00 (xiv+587 pages) ISBN 0 471 10310 1 A. So& and L. Papp (eds) Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera Vol. 5: Athericidae-Asilidae Elsevier, 1988. $202.75/Dfl. 385 (446 pages) ISBN 0 444 98968 4 A. So& and L. Papp teds) Catalogue of Palaearctic Diptera Vol. 8: SyrphidaeConopidae Elsevier, 1988. $118.5O/Dfl. 225.00 (363 pages) ISBN 0 444 98932 3 Fiona Sunquist and Mel Sunquist Tiger Moon The University of Chicago Press, 1988. f19.95 (xii+187 pages) ISBN 0 226 78001 5 J.T.A. Verhoeven, G.W. Heil and M.J.A. Werger teds) Vegetation Structure in Relation to Carbon and Nutrient Economy: Production, Decomposition andAtmospheric interception SPB Academic, 1988. Dfl. 66/$34 (viii+198 pages) ISBN 90 5103 020 7