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Islands have captured the imagination of scientists and the public for centuries--unique and rare environments, their isolation makes them natural laboratories for ecology and evolution. This authoritative, alphabetically arranged reference, featuring more than 200 succinct articles by leading scientists from around the world, provides broad coverage of all the island sciences. But what exactly is an island? The volume editors define it here as any discrete habitat isolated from other habitats by inhospitable surroundings. The Encyclopedia of Islands examines many such insular settings--oceanic and continental islands as well as places such as caves, mountaintops, and whale falls at the bottom of the ocean. This essential, one-stop resource, extensively illustrated with color photographs, clear maps, and graphics will introduce island science to a wide audience and spur further research on some of the planet's most fascinating habitats.

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Library Journal Review

Gillespie (Univ. of California, Berkeley) and Clague (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Inst.) have here compiled close to 250 topics in "island science" written by 300-plus international scholars. These articles, arranged alphabetically by title, are intended for the informed public, and each begins with an introduction that gives the reader a definition of the topic and its significance. The areas covered include geography, island types, geologic processes, biogeography, ecology and evolution, oceanography and climatology, plants and animals, human impact, history, and prehistory. The content throughout is enriched by color illustrations and maps, cross-references, a glossary, a list of contents by subject, and a subject index with more than 3200 entries. Oddly, under the topic section "Important Islands," Cyprus, Cozumel, and Surtsey have their own entries, while Greenland, New Guinea, and Crete do not. However, discussion of these islands in various articles is readily found through the index. Bottom Line For patrons requiring information about various islands not easily located online in a packaged format, this distinctive resource offers one-stop access to current studies and is recommended for researchers in public and academic libraries.-Edward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Pierce, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Written for the general public, this excellent interdisciplinary reference work is useful for anyone interested in island science, including scholars and researchers. Based on the concept that an island is "an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by dramatically different habitat," the encyclopedia covers processes such as geology that create isolation, and the biologic consequences. The 236 topical entries are written by over 300 authorities from around the world and are arranged alphabetically. Useful entries into the information include an alphabetic table of contents, contents by subject area, and a detailed index. Other useful features include an index of contributors, cross-references, a short bibliography for further reading at the end of each entry, and numerous high-quality tables and color photographs, maps, and graphics. This encyclopedia will appeal to a wide audience. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. L. Joseph University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Rosemary G. Gillespie is Schlinger Chair of Systematics, Professor in the Division of Insect Biology, and Director of the Essig Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Berkeley. David A. Clague is Senior Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.