Evolution's Wedge: Competition and the Origins of Diversity
David W. Pfennig and Karin S. Pfennig
Abstract
Among evolutionary biology's most persistent challenges is the challenge to explain why there are so many different species and why they tend to differ in ecologically relevant traits. This book, written by two evolutionary ecologists, reviews and synthesizes the role of competition in generating and maintaining biodiversity. The authors describe how trait evolution often arises as an adaptive response to resource competition or deleterious reproductive interactions between species. They also discuss how this process—known as “character displacement”—comes about and consider its myriad consequ ... More
Keywords: biodiversity, character displacement, competition, macroevolution, speciation
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2012 | Print ISBN-13: 9780520274181 |
| Published to California Scholarship Online: May 2013 | DOI:10.1525/california/9780520274181.001.0001 |
