Noted with interest

book reviews ISSN 1948-6596 books noted with interest Dispersal, Individual Movement and Spatial Ecology: A Mathematical Perspective Mark A. Lewis, Philip K. Maini & Sergei V.Petrovskii 2013, Springer, 385pp. £62.99 (Paperback) ISBN: 978-3-642-35496-0 http://www.springer.com Understanding how the behav- iour of individuals leads to the distribution of populations in space is a challeng- ing topic, and one that has attracted the interest of mathematicians, both theoretical and applied. The sophistication of the approaches presented here goes far beyond the standard in the current biological literature and is not for the faint- hearted or mathematically illiterate. As we in- creasingly recognise that the emergent properties of natural systems depend upon the actions of individuals, it is worth engaging with this research and bridging the divide between disciplines. Chap- ters on invasions and range shifts will be of most relevance to biogeographers. Earth and Life: Global biodiversity, extinction inter- vals and biogeographic perturbations through time John A. Talent (editor) 2012, Springer, 1107 pp. £90 (Hardback), ISBN: 978-90-481-3427-4 http://www.springer.com The key to understanding future changes in the natural world is contained in the past, a perspective to which this substantial tome makes an impressive contribu- tion. An open editorial approach has led to highly variable chapters, best viewed as a series of 36 reviews which range from overarching summaries to focussed investigations of particular time peri- ods, taxa or localities. Together they succeed in documenting not only the ever-increasing diver- sity of life but its many setbacks, probing far be- yond the standard 'big five' mass extinctions and explaining not only what was lost (and why) but what survived and the long-term repercussions. Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs: Struc- ture, Form and Process David Hopley (editor) 2011, Springer, 1236 pp. £359.30 (Hardback) ISBN: 978-90-481-2638-5 http://www.springer.com Another addition to Springer's range of mammoth tomes ad- dressing important fields across the sciences, this cov- ers the geology, biotic composition and physical geog- raphy of coral reefs around the world though 260 fully referenced entries. These are dedicated to reef features, descriptions of specific regions, methodo- logical approaches, and biographies of notable figures in the history of coral reef science from Darwin on- wards. Presented largely from the perspective of earth sciences, this will nonetheless prove to be a valuable reference for biogeographers working in these systems. Climate change has become a domi- nant theme of reef research in recent years and is well-represented here. Sharks of the World: A Fully Illustrated Guide David A. Ebert, Sarah Fowler & Leonard Compagno 2013, Wild Nature Press, 528 pp. £45 (Hardback) ISBN: 978-0-9573946-0-5 http://wildnaturepress.com The importance of predation by sharks in regulating marine systems is now well established, as are the threats to their persistence, thanks to the recent completion of the conservation status of all species by IUCN. What has been lacking to date, however, has been a global-scale assessment of the distribution of the more than 500 shark species (over a third de- scribed in the last decade). After an outline of their overall biology and taxonomy, the appearance, distri- bution, characteristic habitat and behaviour of each species is outlined. Excellent illustrations make this useful as a field guide as well as a data mine. Markus Eichhorn University of Nottingham, UK frontiers of biogeography 5.3, 2013 — © 2013 the authors; journal compilation © 2013 The International Biogeography Society