Abstract
More than any other attribute, except perhaps pure aesthetics, discovery is what makes natural history so irresistible to naturalists. Given its impressive biodiversity, the South holds many rewards for professional and amateur naturalists who take the time to explore their backyards and beyond. The South has been traveled extensively by botanists, zoologists, and other naturalists for centuries, yet every year species new to science are discovered here. Whereas some new species are “split” from previously recognized taxa on the basis of newly discovered differences, other new species are completely new in the sense of never having been recorded before. These are usually narrow endemics discovered in a place that no previous naturalist with sufficient taxonomic expertise had explored intensively.
The grass grows three feet high. And hill and valley are studded all over with flowers of every hue. The flora of this section of the State and thence down to the sea board is rich beyond description.
Mississippi Congressman John F. H. Clairborne (1841)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Ketona glades: Allison and Stevens 2001, Garland 2008, http://jimbotany.com/01a-Title-Abstract-Intro-PhysChar.htm, Lawless et al. 2006
Cane: Triplett et al. 2006
Pine barrens tree frog: Christman 1970, Means and Longden 1976, Means 1983
Endemics, endemism, rarity, and hotspots: Harper 1907, Neill 1957, James 1961, Axelrod 1985, Gentry 1986, Rabinowitz et al. 1986, McCoy and Mushinsky 1992, Myers et al. 2000, Stein et al. 2000, Estill and Cruzan 2001, LeBlond 2001, Sorrie and Weakley 2001, Orme et al. 2005, Lamoreux et al. 2006, Peet 2006, Sorrie and Weakley 2006, Harrison et al. 2008, Bond and Parr 2010, Sandel et al. 2011
Conservation International hotspots: http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/
Kareiva interview: http://www.nature.org/ourscience/ourscientists/q.xml
Sea-level rise: Pilkey and Young 2009, Noss 2011, Zhang et al. 2011
Florida panther and puma distribution and genetics: Culver 2010
Irreplaceability: Pressey et al. 1994, Noss et al. 2002
Peripheral and disjunct populations: Lesica and Allendorf 1995, Lomolino et al. 2006
Species richness: MacArthur and MacArthur 1961, MacArthur and Wilson 1967, MacArthur 1972, Connell 1978, Shmida and Wilson 1985, Means and Simberloff 1987, Engstrom 1993, Platt 1999, Grace et al. 2000, Zobel et al. 2000, Mackey and Currie 2001, Schmitz et al. 2002, Hawkins et al. 2003, Orzell and Bridges 2006a and 2006b, Peet 2006, Platt, Carr, et al. 2006, Qian et al. 2007, Weakley 2008, Carr et al. 2009, Myers and Harms 2009, Carr et al. 2010, Isbell et al. 2011, Myers and Harms 2011, Peet et al., forthcoming
Fire effects on species richness: Walker and Peet 1984, Streng et al. 1993, Collins et al. 1995, Beckage and Stout 2000, Goldman and Orzell 2000, Peet 2006, Myers and Harms 2011, Gagnon et al. 2012
Species richness in tropical forests: Gentry and Dodson 1987, Gentry 1988, Phillips et al. 1994
Venus fly-trap: Forterre et al. 2005
Island biogeography, habitat fragmentation: MacArthur and Wilson 1967, Noss and Cooperrider 1994, Duncan and Schmalzer 2004, Noss et al. 2006, Laurance 2008
Ants and other invertebrates: Deyrup and Trager 1986, Deyrup 1989, Deyrup 1990, Landau and Prowell 1999, Capinera et al. 2001, Brown 2003, Deyrup 2003, Lubertazzi and Tschinkel 2003, Provencher et al. 2003
Vertebrates: Engstrom 1993, Stout and Marion 1993, Helzer and Jelinski 1999, Martin and Means 2000, Herkert et al. 2003, Hamer et al. 2006, Means 2006, Waldron et al. 2008
Human response to species richness and endemism: Wilson 1984, Fuller et al. 2007, Meuser et al. 2009, Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates 2010, Lindemann-Mathiess et al. 2010, Lerman and Warren 2011, Luck et al. 2011
Diversity and stability: May 1974, Pimm 1984, Loreau et al. 2002, Tilman et al. 2006, Ives and Carpenter 2007, Isbell et al. 2011
Ultimate and proximate threats, endangered ecosystems: Means and Grow 1985, Noss 1988, Noss and Cooperrider 1994, Noss et al. 1995, Noss and Peters 1995, Samson and Knopf 1996, White et al. 2000, Hoekstra et al. 2005, Dietz et al. 2007
TNC poll on ecosystem services: Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates 2010
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Island Press
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Noss, R.F. (2013). Biological Hotspots and Endangered Ecosystems. In: Forgotten Grasslands of the South. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-225-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-225-9_3
Publisher Name: Island Press, Washington, DC
Print ISBN: 978-1-59726-362-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-61091-225-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)