A Natural History of the New World The Ecology and Evolution of Plants in the Americas

About this book

The paleoecological history of the Americas is as complex as the region is broad: stretching from the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego, the New World features some of the most extraordinary vegetation on the planet.

In this book, the author traces the evolution of plant ecosystems, beginning in the Late Cretaceous period and ending in the present, charting their responses to changes in geology and climate.

Contents

1 Getting Started
2 Location, Location, Location
3 Floods, Temperature, Evolution, and It's about Time
4 How Do They Do That?
5 Early On: Middle Cretaceous through the Early Eocene
6 Transition: Middle Eocene through the Early Miocene
7 Modernizing: Middle Miocene through the Pliocene
8 Latest Touch: The Great Ice Ages
9 The Bigger Picture: Implications of Past Environmental Changes in the New World
10 Pole to Pole: A Walk over the Landscape, a Walk through Time

Customer Reviews

Biography

Alan Graham is curator of paleobotany and palynology at the Missouri Botanical Garden.