The Flowering of Australia's Rainforests

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Pollination Ecology and Plant Evolution

Second Edition By: Geoff Williams

eBook - May 2021 - eRetailers

An introduction to pollination ecology in Australian rainforests, especially subtropical rainforests.

The Flowering of Australia’s Rainforests provides a comprehensive introduction to the pollination ecology, evolution and conservation of Australian rainforest plants, with particular emphasis on subtropical rainforests and their associated pollinators. This significantly expanded second edition includes new information on the impact of climate change, fire, fragmentation and invasive species. + Full description

Rainforests continue to be a focus of global conservation concern, not only from threats to biodiversity in general, but to pollinators specifically. Within Australia, this has been emphasised by recent cataclysmic fire impacts, ongoing extreme drought events, and the wider consideration of climate change. This second edition strengthens coverage of these issues beyond that of the first edition.

The Flowering of Australia’s Rainforests makes timely contributions to our understanding of the nature and function of the world’s pollinator fauna, plant-reproduction dependencies, and the evolutionary pathway that has brought them to their current state and function. Illustrated with 150 colour plates of major species and rainforest formations, this reference work will be of value to ecologists and field naturalists, botanists, conservation biologists, ecosystem managers and community groups involved in habitat restoration.

- Short description

Reviews

"This excellent book underlines the complex relationships between rainforest plants and their pollinators (insects, birds, mammals, etc) and is highly recommended to anyone interested in ecology and the complexities of our rainforests."
Glenn Leiper, Native Plants Queensland, 2021

"The Flowering of Australia’s Rainforests gathers together virtually all of our current knowledge in this area, places that knowledge into its evolutionary and ecological contexts, and, by so doing, provides us with a vital handbook for looking after our richest ecosystems into the future."
Roger Kitching, Metamorphosis Australia Issue 102, December 2021

"This book does a superb job of setting the scene through chapters on the origins of flowering plants alongside the more ancient plants such as cycads, the nature of flowers and the structures of rainforests that influence pollination strategies."
Ian Fraser Natural History Reviews #30, January 2022

Details

Features

Gives an overview of the pollination ecology of Australia’s rainforests in a world rainforest context.
Provides an introductory review of plant evolution and plant-pollinator relationships.
Covers pollination syndromes and the role and function of pollinator groups.
Discusses the pollination ecology of threatened subtropical rainforests, including impacts from climate change, fragmentation, fire and invasive species.
Serves as a companion volume to The Invertebrate World of Australia’s Subtropical Rainforests.

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction

1: Categorising rainforest plants
2: Rise of the angiosperms, and archaic vascular plants in Australia’s rainforests
3: Being a flower
4: Introduction to breeding systems
Colour plates
5: Spatial and temporal structure of rainforest: general mechanisms that influence pollination and reproductive ecology
6: Australian vegetation history and its influence on plant–pollinator relationships
7: Pollination and the Australian flora
8: Pollination syndromes: who brings the ‘flower children’ in rainforest?
9: Pollination ecology of Australian subtropical rainforests: implications for the conservation of remnant communities

Appendix 1: Case studies of pollination in the Australian rainforest flora
Appendix 2: Large insects and their place in the scheme of things
Appendix 3: Generalised pollen groups based on exine sculpture
Appendix 4: Captions to photographs
Appendix 5: Divisions of geologic time

Glossary
Bibliography
Index

View the full table of contents (PDF, 43 KB)

Authors

Geoff Williams OAM, AM is a pollination ecologist and conservation biologist with a PhD from the University of New South Wales and a specialist background in entomology and invertebrate biogeography. He is an Honorary Research Associate with the Australian Museum, Sydney, and has particular interest in the pollination of rainforest plants, ecosystem management and forest rehabilitation. He has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal as well as honorary membership in the General Division of the Order of Australia in recognition of his contributions to science and biodiversity conservation. Geoff's research has been widely published, including in his recent book The Invertebrate World of Australia’s Subtropical Rainforests (2020).