Wallace's Island Life is one of the foundation works of zoogeography. It focused on the detailed problems of animal dispersal and speciation. Like Darwin, Wallace classified islands as either oceanic (no previous connection to a land mass) or continental (previously connected to a land mass). He considered the means by which each class of island might become colonized, the types of animals most likely to perform the necessary migrations, and the conditions-such as major climactic or geologic change-under which the migrations might have been made. Wallace was the first to use the new knowledge of Pleistocene ice ages to explain certain phenomena of animal distribution, and in Island Life he speculated about the possible causes of glaciation. He was one of the few 19th-century scientists to realize that astronomical causes alone would not suffice, but had to be combined with a corresponding elevation in the northern land mass -- Abe books website.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1881.

Alfred Russel Wallace is best known as the codiscoverer, with Charles Darwin, of natural selection, but he was also history’s foremost tropical naturalist and the father of biogeography, the modern study of the geographical basis of biological diversity. Island Life has long been considered one of his most important works. In it he extends studies on the influence of the glacial epochs on organismal distribution patterns and the characteristics of island biogeography, a topic as vibrant and actively studied today as it was in 1880. The book includes history’s first theory of continental glaciation based on a combination of geographical and astronomical causes, a discussion of island classification, and a survey of worldwide island faunas and floras. The year 2013 will mark the centennial of Wallace’s death and will see a host of symposia and reflections on Wallace’s contributions to evolution and natural history. This reissue of the first edition of Island Life, with a foreword by David Quammen and an extensive commentary by Lawrence R. Heaney, who has spent over three decades studying island biogeography in Southeast Asia, makes this essential and foundational reference available and accessible once again.

Excerpt from Island Life: Or, the Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras: Including a Revision and Attempted Solution of the Problem of Geological Climates This edition has been carefully revised throughout, and owing to the great increase to our knowledge Of the Natural History of some of the islands during the last twelve years considerable additions or alterations have been required. The more important of these changes are the following: Chapter VII. The account of the migrations of animals and plants during and since the Glacial Epoch, has been modified to accord with newer information. Chapters VIII and IX. The discussion of the causes of Glacial Epochs and Mild Arctic Climates has been some what modified in view of the late Dr. Croll's remarks, and the argument rendered clearer. Chapter XIII. Several additions to the Fauna of the Galapagos have been noted. Chapter XV. Considerable additions have been made to this chapter embodying the recent discoveries of birds and insects new to the Sandwich Islands, while a much fuller account has been given of its highly peculiar and very interesting flora. Chapter XVI. Important additions and corrections have been made in the lists Of peculiar British animals and plants embodying the most recent information. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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