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Based on observational and experimental data, in natural populations of plants and animals studied in the field and in the laboratory, this perspective unravels the hidden and often poorly founded assumptions underlying some of the more troublesome controversies in evolutionary biology today
What is the lifetime of a corporation? This is a critical question for it impacts not only how we make longer term investments in established corporations, it also impacts how often we need to restructure an investment portfolio.Large, established, and once successful corporations and their associated brands continually emerge and disappear in any healthy, competitive business environment. However an important trend is emerging in that the mean life time for large established corporations has more than halved in the last 50 years. This observation is of critical importance to business analysts, investors, executives and corporate directors, for it is a core parameter in determining the long term valuation of a business.In Half Life Forster documents a detailed study of corporate survival trends, and examines and extends the existing landscapes, tools, models and indexes used to monitor the corporate life cycle. Forster goes on to describe the creation of a new business fitness landscape model, introduces two new business risk parameters, creates a new business diversity fitness index, and completes a macro analysis of the extinction rates associated with the 100 largest corporations in the United States.With these new tools Forster establishes a new model for viewing the mean life and half life of large corporations and for studying the impact that related and unrelated diversification in industry participation has on a corporation's effective lifespan. Forster suggests that established corporations don't survive just by being the fittest, but that they survive rapid discontinuous change by finding a new optimum position in a new business fitness landscape.
Seascape Ecology provides a comprehensive look at the state-of-the-science in the application of landscape ecology to the seas and provides guidance for future research priorities. The first book devoted exclusively to this rapidly emerging and increasingly important discipline, it is comprised of contributions from researchers at the forefront of seascape ecology working around the world. It presents the principles, concepts, methodology, and techniques informing seascape ecology and reports on the latest developments in the application of the approach to marine ecology and management. A growing number of marine scientists, geographers, and marine managers are asking questions about the marine environment that are best addressed with a landscape ecology perspective. Seascape Ecology represents the first serious effort to fill the gap in the literature on the subject. Key topics and features of interest include: The origins and history of seascape ecology and various approaches to spatial patterning in the sea The links between seascape patterns and ecological processes, with special attention paid to the roles played by seagrasses and salt marshes and animal movements through seascapes Human influences on seascape ecology—includes models for assessing human-seascape interactions A special epilogue in which three eminent scientists who have been instrumental in shaping the course of landscape ecology offer their insights and perspectives Seascape Ecology is a must-read for researchers and professionals in an array of disciplines, including marine biology, environmental science, geosciences, marine and coastal management, and environmental protection. It is also an excellent supplementary text for university courses in those fields.
Adaptive Individuals In Evolving Populations by Richard K. Belew Pdf
This book is out of a workshop organized to address questions like these. The meeting was sponsored by the Santa Fe Institute and held at Sol y Sam- bra in Santa Fe, New Mexico, during July, 1993. It brought together a group of about 20 scientists from the disciplines of biology, psychology, and computer science, all studying interactions between the evolution of populations and individuals’ adaptations in those populations, and all of whom make some use of computational tools in their work.
What happens when we let robots play the game of life? The challenge of studying evolution is that the history of life is buried in the past—we can’t witness the dramatic events that shaped the adaptations we see today. But biorobotics expert John Long has found an ingenious way to overcome this problem: he creates robots that look and behave like extinct animals, subjects them to evolutionary pressures, lets them compete for mates and resources, and mutates their ‘genes’. In short, he lets robots play the game of life. In Darwin’s Devices, Long tells the story of these evolving biorobots—how they came to be, and what they can teach us about the biology of living and extinct species. Evolving biorobots can replicate creatures that disappeared from the earth long ago, showing us in real time what happens in the face of unexpected environmental challenges. Biomechanically correct models of backbones functioning as part of an autonomous robot, for example, can help us understand why the first vertebrates evolved them. But the most impressive feature of these robots, as Long shows, is their ability to illustrate the power of evolution to solve difficult technological challenges autonomously—without human input regarding what a workable solution might be. Even a simple robot can create complex behavior, often learning or evolving greater intelligence than humans could possibly program. This remarkable idea could forever alter the face of engineering, design, and even warfare. An amazing tour through the workings of a fertile mind, Darwin’s Devices will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about evolution, robot intelligence, and life itself.
Population Genomics: Marine Organisms by Marjorie F. Oleksiak,Om P. Rajora Pdf
Population genomics has provided unprecedented opportunities to unravel the mysteries of marine organisms in the oceans' depths. The world's oceans, which make up 70% of our planet, encompass diverse habitats and host numerous unexplored populations and species. Population genomics studies of marine organisms are rapidly emerging and have the potential to transform our understanding of marine populations, species, and ecosystems, providing insights into how these organisms are evolving and how they respond to different stimuli and environments. This knowledge is critical for understanding the fundamental aspects of marine life, how marine organisms will respond to environmental changes, and how we can better protect and preserve marine biodiversity and resources. This book brings together leading experts in the field to address critical aspects of fundamental and applied research in marine species and share their research and insights crucial for understanding marine ecosystem diversity and function. It also discusses the challenges, opportunities and future perspectives of marine population genomics.
Managing Socio-ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes for Sustainable Communities in Asia by Osamu Saito,Suneetha M Subramanian,Shizuka Hashimoto,Kazuhiko Takeuchi Pdf
This open access book presents up-to-date analyses of community-based approaches to sustainable resource management of SEPLS (socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes) in areas where a harmonious relationship between the natural environment and the people who inhabit it is essential to ensure community and environmental well-being as well as to build resilience in the ecosystems that support this well-being. Understanding SEPLS and the forces of change that can weaken their resilience requires the integration of knowledge across a wide range of academic disciplines as well as from indigenous knowledge and experience. Moreover, given the wide variation in the socio-ecological makeup of SEPLS around the globe, as well as in their political and economic contexts, individual communities will be at the forefront of developing the measures appropriate for their unique circumstances. This in turn requires robust communication systems and broad participatory approaches. Sustainability science (SuS) research is highly integrated, participatory and solutions driven, and as such is well suited to the study of SEPLS. Through case studies, literature reviews and SuS analyses, the book explores various approaches to stakeholder participation, policy development and appropriate action for the future of SEPLS. It provides communities, researchers and decision-makers at various levels with new tools and strategies for exploring scenarios and creating future visions for sustainable societies.
Biodiversity-Health-Sustainability Nexus in Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes (SEPLS) by Maiko Nishi,Suneetha M. Subramanian,Himangana Gupta Pdf
This is an open access book. It is a compilation of case studies that provide useful knowledge and lessons that derive from on-the-ground activities and contribute to policy recommendations, focusing on the interlinkages between biodiversity and multiple dimensions of health (e.g., physical, mental, and spiritual) in managing socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes (SEPLS). This book provides insights on how SEPLS approaches can contribute to more sustainable management of natural resources, achieving global biodiversity and sustainable development goals, and good health for all. It is also expected to offer useful knowledge and information for an upcoming three-year thematic assessment of “the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food, and health” (the so-called “nexus assessment”) by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The book begins with an introductory chapter followed by eleven case study chapters demonstrating the nexus between biodiversity, health, and sustainable development, and then a synthesis chapter clarifying the relevance of the case study findings to policy and academic discussions. It will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and professionals in the field related to sustainable development.
African ocean stewardship: Navigating ocean conservation and sustainable marine and coastal resource management in africa by Jaco Barendse,Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood,Serge Raemaekers,Judy Mann-Lang,Pierre Failler Pdf
How and Why Species Multiply by Peter R. Grant,B. Rosemary Grant Pdf
Charles Darwin's experiences in the Galápagos Islands in 1835 helped to guide his thoughts toward a revolutionary theory: that species were not fixed but diversified from their ancestors over many generations, and that the driving mechanism of evolutionary change was natural selection. In this concise, accessible book, Peter and Rosemary Grant explain what we have learned about the origin and evolution of new species through the study of the finches made famous by that great scientist: Darwin's finches. Drawing upon their unique observations of finch evolution over a thirty-four-year period, the Grants trace the evolutionary history of fourteen different species from a shared ancestor three million years ago. They show how repeated cycles of speciation involved adaptive change through natural selection on beak size and shape, and divergence in songs. They explain other factors that drive finch evolution, including geographical isolation, which has kept the Galápagos relatively free of competitors and predators; climate change and an increase in the number of islands over the last three million years, which enhanced opportunities for speciation; and flexibility in the early learning of feeding skills, which helped species to exploit new food resources. Throughout, the Grants show how the laboratory tools of developmental biology and molecular genetics can be combined with observations and experiments on birds in the field to gain deeper insights into why the world is so biologically rich and diverse. Written by two preeminent evolutionary biologists, How and Why Species Multiply helps to answer fundamental questions about evolution--in the Galápagos and throughout the world.
Computational Intelligence by Kurosh Madani,Antonio Dourado Correia,Agostinho Rosa,Joaquim Filipe Pdf
The present book includes a set of selected extended papers from the second International Joint Conference on Computational Intelligence (IJCCI 2010), held in Valencia, Spain, from 24 to 26 October 2010. The conference was composed by three co-located conferences: The International Conference on Fuzzy Computation (ICFC), the International Conference on Evolutionary Computation (ICEC), and the International Conference on Neural Computation (ICNC). Recent progresses in scientific developments and applications in these three areas are reported in this book. IJCCI received 236 submissions, from 49 countries, in all continents. After a double blind paper review performed by the Program Committee, only 30 submissions were accepted as full papers and thus selected for oral presentation, leading to a full paper acceptance ratio of 13%. Additional papers were accepted as short papers and posters. A further selection was made after the Conference, based also on the assessment of presentation quality and audience interest, so that this book includes the extended and revised versions of the very best papers of IJCCI 2010. Commitment to high quality standards is a major concern of IJCCI that will be maintained in the next editions, considering not only the stringent paper acceptance ratios but also the quality of the program committee, keynote lectures, participation level and logistics.
40 Years of Evolution by Peter R. Grant,B. Rosemary Grant Pdf
An important look at a groundbreaking forty-year study of Darwin's finches Renowned evolutionary biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant have produced landmark studies of the Galápagos finches first made famous by Charles Darwin. In How and Why Species Multiply, they offered a complete evolutionary history of Darwin's finches since their origin almost three million years ago. Now, in their richly illustrated new book, 40 Years of Evolution, the authors turn their attention to events taking place on a contemporary scale. By continuously tracking finch populations over a period of four decades, they uncover the causes and consequences of significant events leading to evolutionary changes in species. The authors used a vast and unparalleled range of ecological, behavioral, and genetic data—including song recordings, DNA analyses, and feeding and breeding behavior—to measure changes in finch populations on the small island of Daphne Major in the Galápagos archipelago. They find that natural selection happens repeatedly, that finches hybridize and exchange genes rarely, and that they compete for scarce food in times of drought, with the remarkable result that the finch populations today differ significantly in average beak size and shape from those of forty years ago. The authors' most spectacular discovery is the initiation and establishment of a new lineage that now behaves as a new species, differing from others in size, song, and other characteristics. The authors emphasize the immeasurable value of continuous long-term studies of natural populations and of critical opportunities for detecting and understanding rare but significant events. By following the fates of finches for several generations, 40 Years of Evolution offers unparalleled insights into ecological and evolutionary changes in natural environments.
Introduction to Genetic Algorithms by S.N. Sivanandam,S. N. Deepa Pdf
This book offers a basic introduction to genetic algorithms. It provides a detailed explanation of genetic algorithm concepts and examines numerous genetic algorithm optimization problems. In addition, the book presents implementation of optimization problems using C and C++ as well as simulated solutions for genetic algorithm problems using MATLAB 7.0. It also includes application case studies on genetic algorithms in emerging fields.
Author : James W. Valentine Publisher : University of Chicago Press Page : 504 pages File Size : 43,7 Mb Release : 1996-12-15 Category : Science ISBN : 0226389111
Evolutionary Paleobiology by James W. Valentine Pdf
Representing the state of the art in evolutionary paleobiology, this book provides a much-needed overview of this rapidly changing field. An influx of ideas and techniques both from other areas of biology and from within paleobiology itself have resulted in numerous recent advances, including increased recognition of the relationships between ecological and evolutionary theory, renewed vigor in the study of ecological communities over geologic timescales, increased understanding of biogeographical patterns, and new mathematical approaches to studying the form and structure of plants and animals. Contributors to this volume—a veritable who's who of eminent researchers—present the results of original research and new theoretical developments, and provide directions for future studies. Individually wide ranging, these papers all share a debt to the work of James W. Valentine, one of the founders of modern evolutionary paleobiology. This volume's unified approach to the study of life on earth will be a major contribution to paleobiology, evolution, and ecology.
