Paleontology in Ecology and Conservation
The fossil record contains unique long-term insights into how ecosystems form and function which cannot be determined simply by examining modern systems. It also provides a record of endangered species through time, which allow us to make conservation dec
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Springer Earth System Sciences
For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/10178
Julien Louys Editor
Paleontology in Ecology and Conservation
Editor Julien Louys Geosciences Queensland Museum Hendra Australia
ISBN 978-3-642-25037-8 ISBN 978-3-642-25038-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-25038-5 Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2012936973 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword
Paleontology is no longer about just the biggest or oldest specimen. The science has come of age in the respect that now abundant fossils of many kinds of plants and animals have been recovered, identified, and cataloged in massive, easily accessible databases such that community attributes and dynamics can be traced through hundreds, thousands, and millions of years. Even a decade ago, the prevailing wisdom about fossil accumulations was that they were hopelessly biased, to the extent that it would be difficult to ever meaningfully compare fossil communities to modern ones. That has luckily proved not to be the case. Meticulous work, much of it accomplished in the past 10 years, compared the samples obtained from modern communities by zoologists and botanists, with sample
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