The Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia) are an isolated group of volcanic hot spot islands in the SE Pacific Ocean. Intensive botanical exploration of the Marquesas for the Vascular Flora of the Marquesas Islands and Flore de la Polyn?sie fran?aise projects has resulted in numerous new collections. The nine precursor papers in this issue include three new combinations and descriptions of 18 new species and one new variety of ferns and flowering plants, bringing the total number of new species described in conjunction with these projects to 62. Most of these new species are extremely rare and localized, and they have been assigned preliminary IUCN Red List ratings of Endangered or Critically Endangered. This clearly demonstrates that field work and biological inventories are essential to enhance our knowledge of insular biodiversity and provide critical information for conservation of organisms and habitats. The Vascular Flora of the Marquesas Islands is a collaborative project between the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Smithsonian Institution, and D?l?gation ? la Recherche (French Polynesia) under the direction of David H. Lorence and Warren L. Wagner.

This volume contains a complete systematic treatment of the flowering plant order Asterales. This comprises 12 families with approx. 1,720 genera and about 26,300 species. Identification keys are provided for all genera, and likely phylogenetic relationships are discussed extensively. The wealth of information contained in this volume makes it an indispensable source for all working in the fields of pure and applied plant sciences.

A project spanning over three decades has come to fruition with the publication of the Flora of the Marquesas Islands authored by David H. Lorence (NTBG) and Warren L. Wagner (Smithsonian Institution). This two volume, 1135 page opus is a complete account of all of the vascular plants found in the Marquesas Islands and was developed and written on a web site format. The Marquesas are a volcanic archipelago of 12 islands and numerous islets situated within the eastern part of French Polynesia, making it one of the most isolated groups of oceanic islands. This collaborative project between the National Tropical Botanical Garden, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Délégation à la Recherche de la Polynésie française is intended to further knowledge of the flora of this remote archipelago.Volume 1 (411 pages, published in December 2019) includes introductory chapters covering the project's history, Marquesas geology and climate, history of plant collecting in the islands, flora and vegetation, plant communities, threats to the flora, conservation status of species including IUCN Red List recommendations, critical conservation considerations, and many other aspects, as well as taxonomic treatments of the native and naturalized lycophytes (fern allies), ferns, and monocots. Volume 1 is richly illustrated with 134 figures including 111 color plates, 21 elegant line drawings by Smithsonian illustrator Alice Tangerini, and two maps. A complete list of all exsiccatae (specimens studied) is given in the Exsiccatae section. Volume 2 (722 pages, published in September 2020) covers the dicots, dicot exsiccatae, a list of cultivated plants, a list of all literature cited, and an index to both volumes. Volume 2 comprises is richly illustrated with 252 color figures and line drawings.

"This is the second issue in the Global Re-introduction Perspectives series and has been produced in the same standardized format as the previous one. The case-studies are arranged in the following order: Introduction, Goals, Success Indicators, Project Summary, Major Difficulties Faced, Major Lessons Learned, Success of Project with reasons for success or failure. For this second issue we received a total of 72 case-studies compared to 62 in the last issue. These case studies cover the following taxa as follows: invertebrates (9), fish (6), amphibians (5), reptiles (7), birds (13), mammals (20) and plants (12) ... We hope the information presented in this book will provide a broad global perspective on challenges facing re-introduction projects trying to restore biodiversity."--Pritpal S. Soorae.

Sundaland is a bio-geographical region of Southeastern Asia which encompasses the Sunda Shelf, the part of the Asian continental shelf that was exposed during the Last Ice Age. It included the Malay Peninsula on the Asian mainland, as well as the large islands of Kalimantan, Java and Sumatera, and their surrounding islands. Sundaland is in the tropics, surrounded by oceans, and within the Ring of Fire. Benefitting from the heavy precipitation, volcanic deposits in Sundaland develop into some of the richest forestry and agricultural lands, and developed into some of the richest fauna on Earth. The vast majority of scholars accept that every living human being is descended from a small group in Africa, who then dispersed into the wider world. Archaeological and fossil evidence support an early migration of modern humans left Africa and followed the coastlines of Africa, Arabia, India and Sundaland. After migrating from the semi-deserted savannas of Africa, man first found a place in Sundaland where food was abundant and it was there that they left hunter-gatherer culture and invented farming, agriculture, trading and civilization, which made humanity first flourished. All this took place during the Last Glacial period. The sea levels continued to rise gradually to peak levels about 5,500 years ago, causing land loss on tropical coasts with flat continental shelves. Cracks in the earth’s crust as the weight of the ice shifted to the seas set off catastrophic events compounded by earthquakes, volcano eruptions, super waves and floods drowned the coastal cultures and all the flat continental shelves of Southeast Asia, and wiped out many populations. As the sea rolled in, there was a mass migration from the sinking continent. Genetic studies show that there has been a sharp decline in the population of the world, and population turnovers from Southeast, East and South Asia to Europe, Near East and the Caucasus beginning at the the end of the Younger Dryas period. The Younger Dryas disasters are also documented as legends, myths or tales in almost every region on Earth, observable with tremendous similarities. They are common across a wide range of cultures, extending back into Bronze Age and Neolithic prehistory. The overwhelming consistency among legends and myths of flood and the repopulation of man from a flood hero similar to the Noah Flood are found in distant parts of the Earth. The myths similar to the Garden of Eden, Paradise or Divine Land echo among the populations around the world. Memories of their origin are documented in their legends, such as the stories of Atlantis, Neserser, Land of Punt, Land of Ophir, Kumari Kandam, Kangdez and Taprobana. Pyramids spread in many parts of the world and emerged separately from one another by oceans who supposedly never discovered each other’s existence. Those indicate that they were derived from a common origin. Further, scholastic belief by etymologists and linguists are positive that all world languages sprang from a common source.

Complete Atlas of the World, 3rd Edition is now fully revised and updated to reflect the latest changes in world geography, including the annexation of Crimea and the new nation of South Sudan. Bringing each featured landscape to life with detailed terrain models and color schemes and offering maps of unsurpassed quality, this atlas features four sections: a world overview, the main atlas, fact files on all the countries of the world, and an easy-to-reference index of all 100,000 place names. All maps enjoy a full double-page spread, with continents broken down into 330 carefully selected maps, including 100 city plans. You will also find a stimulating series of global thematic maps that explore Earth's place in the universe, its physical forms and processes, the living world, and the human condition. From Antarctica to Zambia, discover the Earth continent-by-continent with Complete Atlas of the World, 3rd Edition.