About Book

Geography is the science that deals with the description of the Earth’s surface. It is much more than cartography, the study of maps. It not only investigates what is where on the Earth, but also why it’s there not somewhere else, sometimes referred to as “location in space”. Geography studies this whether the cause is natural or human. It also studies the consequences of those differences. Geography is divided into two main areas: physical geography and human geography. It examines how human culture interacts with the natural environment and the way those locations and places can have an impact on people. The continued development of applied physical geography is for the analysis and correction of human-induced environmental problems. Advances in technology have caused the development of many new instruments for the monitoring of the Earth's resources and environment from airborne and space platforms. This book elucidates the concepts and innovative models around prospective developments with respect to geography. It unfolds the innovative aspects of Earth science, which will be crucial for the progress of this field in the future. It includes some of the vital pieces of work being conducted across the world, on various topics related to the subject. It deals with biogeography, phylogeography, zoogeography, parascript, applied biogeography and hydrometeorological pattern. It also focuses on patterns of species, and taxonomic data. Through discussions and highlighted case studies, this book illustrates geography's impact on environmental change, population growth, information infrastructure, the condition of cities and much more. It will be of great help to students and researchers in the fields of earth sciences, climatology and physical geography.

Preface............................................................................................................v

Chapter 1 Introductory Chapter: The Main Directions and Tasks of Pure and Applied Biogeography in Solving the Global Problems of Our Time...............................................................................................................1

1. Global problems....................................................................................2

2. Biodiversity.............................................................................................3

3. Climate change......................................................................................4

4. Water and aquatic habitats.................................................................6

5. Sustainable agriculture.........................................................................6

Chapter 2 Parascript, Parasites and Historical Biogeography...........................13

1. Introduction..........................................................................................13

2. Objectives..............................................................................................15

3. Definitions.............................................................................................16

4. Methods................................................................................................16

5. Results...................................................................................................21

6. Discussion.............................................................................................31

7. Conclusions..........................................................................................32

Acknowledgements.............................................................................33

Chapter 3 Composition and Distribution Patterns of Species at a Global Biogeographic Region Scale: Biogeography of Aphodiini Dung Beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) Based on Species Geographic and Taxonomic Data.................................................................................41

1. Introduction..........................................................................................41

2. Material and methods .......................................................................43

3. Results ..................................................................................................49

4. Discussion ...........................................................................................58

5. Conclusions .........................................................................................67

6. Acknowledgment................................................................................68

Chapter 4 Biogeography of Dragonflies and Damselflies: Highly Mobile

Predators ....................................................................................................84

1. Introduction..........................................................................................84

2. What are dragonflies and damselflies? Real hunters .................85

3. Anisoptera phylogeny .......................................................................91

4. Biogeography of Zygoptera .............................................................93

5. Conclusion ...........................................................................................98

6. Acknowledgments ............................................................................98

Chapter 5 Biogeography of Flowering Plants: A Case Study in Mignonettes

(Resedaceae) and Sedges (Carex, Cyperaceae).................................105

1. Introduction........................................................................................105

2. Methods in molecular biogeographic and phylogeographic

studies..................................................................................................106

3. A case study in Resedaceae and Carex L. (Cyperaceae)..........114

4. Conclusions........................................................................................129

5. Acknowledgments.............................................................................130

Chapter 6 Ecology and Zoogeography of Parasites ..........................................152

1. Introduction ......................................................................................152

2. Ecology of parasitism .....................................................................153

3. Transmission of marine parasites .................................................160

4. Zoogeography of marine parasites ..............................................163

5. Host range and distribution ..........................................................167

Chapter 7 Hybridisation, Introgression and Phylogeography of Icelandic

Birch...........................................................................................................188

1. Introduction........................................................................................188

2. Birch (Betula L.).................................................................................191

3. Introgressive hybridisation as a major player in the maintenance

of genetic variation in Icelandic birch..........................................195

4. Introgression, origin and molecular phylogeography of Icelandic

birch.....................................................................................................202

5. Conclusions .......................................................................................211

6. Acknowledgments.............................................................................211

Chapter 8 Microbial Biodiversity and Biogeography on the Deep

Seafloor .....................................................................................................224

1. Introduction........................................................................................224

2. Analytical methods ..........................................................................227

3. Microbial biodiversity and biogeography of microbial

communities on deep seafloor.......................................................232

4. Concluding remarks ........................................................................240

Chapter 9 Geography of Udi Cuesta Contribution to Hydro-Meteorological Pattern of the South Eastern Nigeria.................................................247

Abstract...............................................................................................247

1. Introduction........................................................................................248

2. The study area...................................................................................254

3. Materials and methods....................................................................257

4. Results and discussions...................................................................262

5. Conclusions........................................................................................269

Conflict of interest............................................................................269

Citation......................................................................................................273

Index...........................................................................................................275

About Author

Dave Rickman pursued his Ph.D. Degree in Atmospheric Science from Public University of Science, Birmingham. He served as a Principal Lecturer at Public Research University, Leuven. His academic and research interests lie in global climate change and atmospheric dynamics. Rickman is an active member of several scientific committees. He is a regular contributor to scientific journals; and has many articles and book chapters to his credit. He has been the recipient of two awards for his research work in the field of global climate models, weather forecasting and urban climatology.