- Email: [email protected]
Modern planktonic foraminifera
TREE vol. 4, no, IO, October 1989
ecosystem has been pursued at on nonother sites, especially Department of Energy facilities. It is a pity that little reference is made to ideas from other semi-arid regions of the world. For instance, LeHouerou2 has developed a theory of rainfall use efficiency by plants that is exactly counter to Rickard and Vaughan’s notions in Chapter 6. The Hanford group also appears to have the data to test some of Whitford’s ideas3 on food webs in degraded and
reconstructed ecosystems of semiarid regions. One distinct disadvantage of research on areas requiring security clearance is the difficulty of hosting visitors. However, this does not exonerate the researchers from keeping abreast of the literature. Perhaps a similar volume, about 20 years hence, can deliver a more complete story, including how Hanford differs from other ecosystems of semi-arid landscapes.
Neil E. West Dept of Range Science and the Ecology Center, Utah State Universiw, Logan, UTB4322-5230, USA 1 West, N.E. (1983) in TemperateDeserts andsemideserts (West, N.E., ed.), pp. 351-374, Elsevier 2 LeHouerou, l-l. (1984) J. Arid Environ. 7, 213-247 3 Whitford,
W.G. (1986) in Pattern and Process in Desert Ecosystems (Whitford, W.G., ed.), pp. 93-l 17, University of New Mexico
Press
Ecologyand PestControl Dynamics of ForestInsectPopulations: Pattams, Causes, Implications edited by Alan A. Berryman, Plenum Press, 1988. $97.50 hbk (ix + 603 pages) ISBN 0 306 42745 1 Control of forest insect pests has always been considered as an important task of applied ecology. It seems that population outbreaks as well as all kinds of population cycle and oscillation are amongst the main issues that prompted the development of ecology as a separate branch of science. The mere existence of such complicated systems as forests or lakes is a good reason for studying them, but spectacular outbreaks of some insect populations and their harmful effects on forest makes necessary the studies of such systems. Dynamics of Forest Insect Populations is written by 44 authors and consists of 27 chapters, each one concerning a single insect pest species studied in the forests of North America (12 chapters), Europe (IO chapters), Asia (4 chapters) and Australia (2 chapters). All chapters are organized in the same way. Each has a short introduction on the taxonomy and geographical distribution of the species concerned, followed by a section about its biology and life history. Then follows the section concerned with interspecific relationships with host, parasites and predators and sometimes with some competing species. The descriptions of population dynamics are followed by the presentation of the hypothesis of the mechanism of population fluctuations. The concluding sections usually give some suggestions on how to manage the forest to prevent harmful effects of the population outbreaks. One may guess that there was some hard work on the part of the editor behind the united organization of chapters, but it was worth doing: the result is
easy access to information and a clear view of the similarities as well as differences between the species described. On the other hand, there are no serious attempts to summarize or to give a general view of the problems presented in the book. This is a good and useful book. For those engaged in the study of forest insect pests it presents the state of the art. It should also be of interest to all ecologists as a set of examples showing how general ecological knowledge can be applied to particular species of economic importance. However, students accustomed to textbooks of general ecology will find out that studies of insect pests are not easy and rarely give unequivocal results.
Thirty years ago our approach to ecology was holistic. At that time ecologists seemed to believe that only the study of population dynamics coupled with one general ecological theory would explain all kinds of population fluctuations and outbreaks. This book demonstrates that a detailed knowledge of the natural history of a given species (biology and life history) is of paramount importance for understanding its population processes. The impact of recent developments in evolutionary ecology is also evident. Many authors in this volume explicitly consider both the insects and their hosts as evolving entities, subjected to selective pressures to maximize individual fitness. The book proves that evolutionary and behavioral ecology can actually help in managing insect pests.
Adam Lomnicki Instituteof Environmental Biology, Jagiellonian University, IA. Karasia 6,3&O&l Krakow, Poland
-Biology and Pahemtology Modern Planktonic Foraminifera
by C. Hemleben, M. Spindler and 0. R. Anderson, Springer-Verlag, 1989. DM178 hbk (xiii + 363 pages) ISBN 3 540 96815 6 The empty shells of the marine protozoan planktonic foraminifera provide arguably the best fossil record of any group - a record that improves with every new sediment core extracted from the deep sea. This record has to meet the requirements of the diverse fields of biostratigraphy, palaeoceanography and palaeobiology. Consequently, there is a great demand from various quarters for information on the living
counterparts, a demand that Hemleben, Spindler and Anderson are attempting to satisfy. They have built considerably on the pioneering work of Allan Be’, and have now chosen to summarize their studies in this textbook. Virtually everything within the book has in fact been published before, but its appearance offers a welcome general perspective. The book’s authority arises precisely because it is not a ‘one-off study, but is based on observations of many thousands of cultured specimens of about half the 44 known species in a series of coordinated studies over many years. Chapters are varied, concise and stimulating. The influence of palaeontology is felt from the counterpoint of the title
TREE vol. 4, no. 10, October 1989
onwards, and is expressed as a bias towards shell morphology and global distributions, capped by an interesting treatment of sedimentation and dissolution processes. The authors have used some spectacular pictures when dealing with topics such as shell formation, resorption and repair, cellular ultrastructure, feeding, symbiosis and gametogenesis. Pictures of the fibrillar bodies, peculiar to the planktonic foraminifera and probably used in flotation, are of special interest. Thriving on a strong visual presentation that distinguishes it from earlier treatments, the book carries the reader to that frustrating gap in scale between cellular ultrastructure and molecules. However, I think it fair to say that we are still some way off a consistent functional morphology of the foraminiferal test that might safely apply to extinct species. The authors have chosen to separate their observations on spinose and non-spinose species. In doing so they have been able to highlight many differences, not just in shell structure but also in life cycle, feeding, symbiotic relationships, ecology, and even amino acid ratios. Tracing the origin of these and other groups is a challenge to those palaeontologists who enjoy electron microscopy. Despite ever-growing interest, however, the use of wall ultrastructure has still to come into its own as a phylogenetic tool*. Perhaps electrons might soon be cast on the intriguing suggestion
that the planktonic habit has arisen separately and iteratively from benthonic stock. It is in the realm of taxonomy, though, that work on modern planktonic foraminifera has the greatest implications. One is struck by their extreme variability of form, which is considerably greater than the morphological resolution used by palaeontologists in the erection of new taxa. Thus, during ontogeny, Orbolina universa grows through four different ‘generic’ morphologies. Globigerinoides sacculifer shows extreme variability in those favourite characters of traditional taxonomy, namely chamber shape and apettural position. The greatest limitation to the work of Hemleben et al. is their present lack of success in achieving gametic fusion, culturing a second generation and hence observing somatic continuity. One hopes that the stork will soon call. However, from the experiments they have been able to conduct, it appears that ecophenotypic variability is equally as striking as ontogenetic. The taxonomy of fossil planktonic foraminifera is now at a critical stage. It is evident that the group must have been considerably oversplit in the pursuit of the tight temporal control within and between different regions demanded by biostratigraphers. Traditional ‘species’ can only be regarded as crude morphotypes unless proven otherwise3r4. From a palaeobiological point of view, the morphological treasures of
each new core recovered seem to be ‘identified’ only in so far as they are squeezed into this falsely restrictive taxonomy. However, by paying close reference to the variability shown by modern forms, it is becoming possible to identify ‘biological’ populations in the record and their evolutionary lineages and relationships5. This book summarizes a delightfully creative series of experiments and studies. It is well written, patient and interesting, and carries to palaeontology the challenge of biology. On the negative side, it is expensive and in some ways disappointingly brief. One hopes that a larger, more comprehensive work is brewing. Nevertheless Hemleben, Spindler and Anderson and their various coworkers should be congratulated for this, the most stimulating summary so far, by far, of research on modern planktonic foraminifera. Paul Pearson Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK Ilefurences 1 BB, A.W.H.
(1977) in Oceanic Micropalaeontology (Vol. I) (Ramsay,
A.T.S., ed.), pp. l-100, Academic Press 2 Steineck, P.L. and Fleischer, R.L. (1978) J. Paleontol. 52,618-638 3 Fleischer, R. (1974) InitialRep. Deep Sea
Drill. Proj. 23,1001-1072 4 McGowran,
B. (1968)
Micropa/eonto/og y 14,179-l 5 Fordham, l-200
B.G. (1986)
98 Evol. Monogr. 6,
Thoughtful Environmendism Ecology,Communityandlifestyle:Outlineof by the science of ecology and the of the deep ecological an Ecosophy activities movement’. Recognizing the limitations of by Arne Naess, translated and re- academic philosophy in offering vised by David Rothenberg, Cam- ethical guidelines, Naess begins his bridge University Press, 1989. analysis with ‘deep’ intuitions that f25.OO/$44.50 hbk (xiii + 223 pages) spring from his ‘spontaneous experiISBN 0 52134406 9 encei of nature as a mountain climber and desert roamer. These This long-awaited work is an up- form the basis of a pyramid of norms dated and thoroughly revised trans(standards or principles) and hypothlation of Okologi, Samfuun, og eses that lead eventually to very Livsstil in Norwegian. Naess is the specific suggestions about economic acknowledged founder of ‘deep ecol- behavior, life style, and political ogy’, and a respected authority in action. The roots of such an analysis, semantics, the philosophy of sci- according to Naess, are metaphysical or spiritual, in the sense that they ence, and the thinking of Spinoza and Gandhi. This book is both a derive from gestalt-like perceptions. philosophical primer and a hand- These deepen and change as the book on strategy and tactics for ‘Self’ matures. Here, Naess follows thoughtful environmentalists. It rep- the psychological description of the resents a philosopher’s struggle to human life cycle in terms of an excreate ‘a total view inspired in part panding identity or Self. As Naess
puts it, the ‘Self’ is not just this separate organism, but gradually expands, ontogenetically, to include those of family, tribe, race and humankind, and beyond to include all species, landscapes and ecosystems. This developmental process he calls ‘Self-realization’. Self-realization in a thoughtful personcangiverisetoacontinuinganalysis leading to an ecosophy - a world view and set of values that guide life style and other decisions. Yet Naess does not tell us what to do, what is moral, what is ethical. As he says, it is a question ‘of ontology, not ethics’, an examination of what it means to be a member of a dominant species. Naess is no guru, and he prescribes no disciplines or mantras; only the oft-repeated maxim ‘simple in means, rich in ends’. The book begins with a brief analysis of how population growth 323
ecosystem has been pursued at on nonother sites, especially Department of Energy facilities. It is a pity that little reference is made to ideas from other semi-arid regions of the world. For instance, LeHouerou2 has developed a theory of rainfall use efficiency by plants that is exactly counter to Rickard and Vaughan’s notions in Chapter 6. The Hanford group also appears to have the data to test some of Whitford’s ideas3 on food webs in degraded and
reconstructed ecosystems of semiarid regions. One distinct disadvantage of research on areas requiring security clearance is the difficulty of hosting visitors. However, this does not exonerate the researchers from keeping abreast of the literature. Perhaps a similar volume, about 20 years hence, can deliver a more complete story, including how Hanford differs from other ecosystems of semi-arid landscapes.
Neil E. West Dept of Range Science and the Ecology Center, Utah State Universiw, Logan, UTB4322-5230, USA 1 West, N.E. (1983) in TemperateDeserts andsemideserts (West, N.E., ed.), pp. 351-374, Elsevier 2 LeHouerou, l-l. (1984) J. Arid Environ. 7, 213-247 3 Whitford,
W.G. (1986) in Pattern and Process in Desert Ecosystems (Whitford, W.G., ed.), pp. 93-l 17, University of New Mexico
Press
Ecologyand PestControl Dynamics of ForestInsectPopulations: Pattams, Causes, Implications edited by Alan A. Berryman, Plenum Press, 1988. $97.50 hbk (ix + 603 pages) ISBN 0 306 42745 1 Control of forest insect pests has always been considered as an important task of applied ecology. It seems that population outbreaks as well as all kinds of population cycle and oscillation are amongst the main issues that prompted the development of ecology as a separate branch of science. The mere existence of such complicated systems as forests or lakes is a good reason for studying them, but spectacular outbreaks of some insect populations and their harmful effects on forest makes necessary the studies of such systems. Dynamics of Forest Insect Populations is written by 44 authors and consists of 27 chapters, each one concerning a single insect pest species studied in the forests of North America (12 chapters), Europe (IO chapters), Asia (4 chapters) and Australia (2 chapters). All chapters are organized in the same way. Each has a short introduction on the taxonomy and geographical distribution of the species concerned, followed by a section about its biology and life history. Then follows the section concerned with interspecific relationships with host, parasites and predators and sometimes with some competing species. The descriptions of population dynamics are followed by the presentation of the hypothesis of the mechanism of population fluctuations. The concluding sections usually give some suggestions on how to manage the forest to prevent harmful effects of the population outbreaks. One may guess that there was some hard work on the part of the editor behind the united organization of chapters, but it was worth doing: the result is
easy access to information and a clear view of the similarities as well as differences between the species described. On the other hand, there are no serious attempts to summarize or to give a general view of the problems presented in the book. This is a good and useful book. For those engaged in the study of forest insect pests it presents the state of the art. It should also be of interest to all ecologists as a set of examples showing how general ecological knowledge can be applied to particular species of economic importance. However, students accustomed to textbooks of general ecology will find out that studies of insect pests are not easy and rarely give unequivocal results.
Thirty years ago our approach to ecology was holistic. At that time ecologists seemed to believe that only the study of population dynamics coupled with one general ecological theory would explain all kinds of population fluctuations and outbreaks. This book demonstrates that a detailed knowledge of the natural history of a given species (biology and life history) is of paramount importance for understanding its population processes. The impact of recent developments in evolutionary ecology is also evident. Many authors in this volume explicitly consider both the insects and their hosts as evolving entities, subjected to selective pressures to maximize individual fitness. The book proves that evolutionary and behavioral ecology can actually help in managing insect pests.
Adam Lomnicki Instituteof Environmental Biology, Jagiellonian University, IA. Karasia 6,3&O&l Krakow, Poland
-Biology and Pahemtology Modern Planktonic Foraminifera
by C. Hemleben, M. Spindler and 0. R. Anderson, Springer-Verlag, 1989. DM178 hbk (xiii + 363 pages) ISBN 3 540 96815 6 The empty shells of the marine protozoan planktonic foraminifera provide arguably the best fossil record of any group - a record that improves with every new sediment core extracted from the deep sea. This record has to meet the requirements of the diverse fields of biostratigraphy, palaeoceanography and palaeobiology. Consequently, there is a great demand from various quarters for information on the living
counterparts, a demand that Hemleben, Spindler and Anderson are attempting to satisfy. They have built considerably on the pioneering work of Allan Be’, and have now chosen to summarize their studies in this textbook. Virtually everything within the book has in fact been published before, but its appearance offers a welcome general perspective. The book’s authority arises precisely because it is not a ‘one-off study, but is based on observations of many thousands of cultured specimens of about half the 44 known species in a series of coordinated studies over many years. Chapters are varied, concise and stimulating. The influence of palaeontology is felt from the counterpoint of the title
TREE vol. 4, no. 10, October 1989
onwards, and is expressed as a bias towards shell morphology and global distributions, capped by an interesting treatment of sedimentation and dissolution processes. The authors have used some spectacular pictures when dealing with topics such as shell formation, resorption and repair, cellular ultrastructure, feeding, symbiosis and gametogenesis. Pictures of the fibrillar bodies, peculiar to the planktonic foraminifera and probably used in flotation, are of special interest. Thriving on a strong visual presentation that distinguishes it from earlier treatments, the book carries the reader to that frustrating gap in scale between cellular ultrastructure and molecules. However, I think it fair to say that we are still some way off a consistent functional morphology of the foraminiferal test that might safely apply to extinct species. The authors have chosen to separate their observations on spinose and non-spinose species. In doing so they have been able to highlight many differences, not just in shell structure but also in life cycle, feeding, symbiotic relationships, ecology, and even amino acid ratios. Tracing the origin of these and other groups is a challenge to those palaeontologists who enjoy electron microscopy. Despite ever-growing interest, however, the use of wall ultrastructure has still to come into its own as a phylogenetic tool*. Perhaps electrons might soon be cast on the intriguing suggestion
that the planktonic habit has arisen separately and iteratively from benthonic stock. It is in the realm of taxonomy, though, that work on modern planktonic foraminifera has the greatest implications. One is struck by their extreme variability of form, which is considerably greater than the morphological resolution used by palaeontologists in the erection of new taxa. Thus, during ontogeny, Orbolina universa grows through four different ‘generic’ morphologies. Globigerinoides sacculifer shows extreme variability in those favourite characters of traditional taxonomy, namely chamber shape and apettural position. The greatest limitation to the work of Hemleben et al. is their present lack of success in achieving gametic fusion, culturing a second generation and hence observing somatic continuity. One hopes that the stork will soon call. However, from the experiments they have been able to conduct, it appears that ecophenotypic variability is equally as striking as ontogenetic. The taxonomy of fossil planktonic foraminifera is now at a critical stage. It is evident that the group must have been considerably oversplit in the pursuit of the tight temporal control within and between different regions demanded by biostratigraphers. Traditional ‘species’ can only be regarded as crude morphotypes unless proven otherwise3r4. From a palaeobiological point of view, the morphological treasures of
each new core recovered seem to be ‘identified’ only in so far as they are squeezed into this falsely restrictive taxonomy. However, by paying close reference to the variability shown by modern forms, it is becoming possible to identify ‘biological’ populations in the record and their evolutionary lineages and relationships5. This book summarizes a delightfully creative series of experiments and studies. It is well written, patient and interesting, and carries to palaeontology the challenge of biology. On the negative side, it is expensive and in some ways disappointingly brief. One hopes that a larger, more comprehensive work is brewing. Nevertheless Hemleben, Spindler and Anderson and their various coworkers should be congratulated for this, the most stimulating summary so far, by far, of research on modern planktonic foraminifera. Paul Pearson Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK Ilefurences 1 BB, A.W.H.
(1977) in Oceanic Micropalaeontology (Vol. I) (Ramsay,
A.T.S., ed.), pp. l-100, Academic Press 2 Steineck, P.L. and Fleischer, R.L. (1978) J. Paleontol. 52,618-638 3 Fleischer, R. (1974) InitialRep. Deep Sea
Drill. Proj. 23,1001-1072 4 McGowran,
B. (1968)
Micropa/eonto/og y 14,179-l 5 Fordham, l-200
B.G. (1986)
98 Evol. Monogr. 6,
Thoughtful Environmendism Ecology,Communityandlifestyle:Outlineof by the science of ecology and the of the deep ecological an Ecosophy activities movement’. Recognizing the limitations of by Arne Naess, translated and re- academic philosophy in offering vised by David Rothenberg, Cam- ethical guidelines, Naess begins his bridge University Press, 1989. analysis with ‘deep’ intuitions that f25.OO/$44.50 hbk (xiii + 223 pages) spring from his ‘spontaneous experiISBN 0 52134406 9 encei of nature as a mountain climber and desert roamer. These This long-awaited work is an up- form the basis of a pyramid of norms dated and thoroughly revised trans(standards or principles) and hypothlation of Okologi, Samfuun, og eses that lead eventually to very Livsstil in Norwegian. Naess is the specific suggestions about economic acknowledged founder of ‘deep ecol- behavior, life style, and political ogy’, and a respected authority in action. The roots of such an analysis, semantics, the philosophy of sci- according to Naess, are metaphysical or spiritual, in the sense that they ence, and the thinking of Spinoza and Gandhi. This book is both a derive from gestalt-like perceptions. philosophical primer and a hand- These deepen and change as the book on strategy and tactics for ‘Self’ matures. Here, Naess follows thoughtful environmentalists. It rep- the psychological description of the resents a philosopher’s struggle to human life cycle in terms of an excreate ‘a total view inspired in part panding identity or Self. As Naess
puts it, the ‘Self’ is not just this separate organism, but gradually expands, ontogenetically, to include those of family, tribe, race and humankind, and beyond to include all species, landscapes and ecosystems. This developmental process he calls ‘Self-realization’. Self-realization in a thoughtful personcangiverisetoacontinuinganalysis leading to an ecosophy - a world view and set of values that guide life style and other decisions. Yet Naess does not tell us what to do, what is moral, what is ethical. As he says, it is a question ‘of ontology, not ethics’, an examination of what it means to be a member of a dominant species. Naess is no guru, and he prescribes no disciplines or mantras; only the oft-repeated maxim ‘simple in means, rich in ends’. The book begins with a brief analysis of how population growth 323