Demons in Eden: The Paradox of Plant Diversity

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AuthorJonathan Silvertown
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
PublishedOct 10 2005
Book FormatHardcover
ISBN-139780226757711
Dimensions8.72 X 5.88 X 0.81 inches
Weight 0.83 pounds
BISAC
CategoriesScience > Life Sciences - Botany
LanguageEnglish

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Book Description

At the heart of evolution lies a bewildering paradox. Natural selection favors above all the individual that leaves the most offspring--a superorganism of sorts that Jonathan Silvertown here calls the Darwinian demon. But if such a demon existed, this highly successful organism would populate the entire world with its own kind, beating out other species and eventually extinguishing biodiversity as we know it. Why then, if evolution favors this demon, is the world filled with so many different life forms? What keeps this Darwinian demon in check? If humankind is now the greatest threat to biodiversity on the planet, have we become the Darwinian demon?

Demons in Eden considers these questions using the latest scientific discoveries from the plant world. Readers join Silvertown as he explores the astonishing diversity of plant life in regions as spectacular as the verdant climes of Japan, the lush grounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, the shallow wetlands and teeming freshwaters of Florida, the tropical rainforests of southeast Mexico, and the Canary Islands archipelago, whose evolutionary novelties--and exotic plant life--have earned it the sobriquet the Galapagos of botany. Along the way, Silvertown looks closely at the evolution of plant diversity in these locales and explains why such variety persists in light of ecological patterns and evolutionary processes. In novel and useful ways, he also investigates the current state of plant diversity on the planet to show the ever-challenging threats posed by invasive species and humans.

Bringing the secret life of plants into more colorful and vivid focus than ever before, Demons in Eden is an empathic and impassioned exploration of modern plant ecology that unlocks evolutionary mysteries of the natural world.

Author Bio

I joined the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Edinburgh in October 2014 and before that I was at the Open University. My research specialism is plant population biology, covering a large number of topics. My H-index on Google Scholar is 68.

Affiliations and Awards

Founding Chair of Trustees and now Trustee of the Ecological Continuity Trust
On the Editorial Board of the New Naturalist library
Recipient of the British Ecological Society's Ecological Engagement Award, 2011.

Education