Island Africa: The Evolution of Africa's Rare Animals and Plants - Hardcover

Kingdon, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691085609 ISBN 13: 9780691085609

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1990

Synopsis

The vastness of Africa and the variety of animals it contains overwhelm any visitor with colors and patterns. Contrary to superficial appearances, however, this monolithic continent is a complex mosaic of landlocked islands--islands which vary from isolated forests in oceans of grassland to lakes in seas of land. The flora and fauna of each of these islands represent a snapshot of millions of years of evolution and the biological reaction to the environment of the past. In this richly illustrated book Jonathan Kingdon takes these island communities one by one and delves back into their history to explain why and how they may have evolved as they have and thus the reason why the community is there. As the reader is led through continental Africa, a pattern begins to take shape, providing an understanding of Africa's complexities and putting the continent's biology in a new and dynamic perspective. Kingdon's book is also a fervent plea to conserve these "islands." It will be of surpassing interest to anyone concerned with working in African conservation as well as to a wide audience of other general readers.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Increasingly African conservation has become a question of saving species-rich areas that tend to be fairly discrete regions, which differ from each other and from their less-favored surroundings. Jonathan Kingdon's book is a wealth of information on the whereabouts and resident species of these African `islands,' and a passionate call to preserve them. In a sense, this is an action plan for the biodiversity of a whole continent. The explicit accounts of human impact, and points of influence, in the final chapters mean that any reader can join in the action. . . . Kingdon's paintings are instant classics, already collectors' items."--Alison Jolly, Princeton University

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691085609
• ISBN 13: 9780691085609
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 287