Description: Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. It is an integrative field of inquiry that unites concepts and information from ecology, evolutionary biology, and other biological sciences as well as geography and geology. This book provides the first in-depth treatment of
Review Quotes:
I believe this to be a significant, and comprehensive, account of the plants and animals of New Zealand. It is replete with distribution maps done in an original style. Heads's approach to biogeography is notable for its originality, and this manuscript is an especially good example. There is nothing like it. Forty years ago I wrote (and am quoted by Heads): 'With regard to general problems of biogeography, the biota of New Zealand has been, perhaps, the most important of any in the world. ...all notable authorities have felt obliged to explain its history: explain New Zealand and the world falls into place around it.'And so it is with Heads' manuscript!
--Gareth Nelson, School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Australia
The author has made a significant contribution by drawing together information on the New Zealand biota and its relationships from around 2000 primary sources. As a compendium, it has no equal. Although its theoretical content will be challenged, Heads has provided an accessible entrée to the diversity of the New Zealand biota.
-- Richard N. Holdaway, Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, in The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol 93, 2018