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Rare—common differences: an overview

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The Biology of Rarity

Part of the book series: Population and Community Biology Series ((PCBS,volume 17))

Abstract

Comparative studies of the biological traits of taxonomically related rare and common species are scarce. The past couple of decades, however, have seen a growing number of attempts to rectify this situation. In the main (though not exclusively), these studies have concerned small numbers of species, in one or a few genera, and have examined at most a few features of their biologies. Nonetheless, some potentially important regularities have begun to emerge. In this chapter we will consider several of these patterns and review the evidence for them. Discussion of possible mechanisms and related theory is left to later chapters in the book (many of the studies cited here will thus make later reappearances).

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Authors
  1. Kevin J. Gaston
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  2. William E. Kunin
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    William E. Kunin (Lecturer in Ecology) (Lecturer in Ecology)

  2. Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK

    Kevin J. Gaston (Royal Society University Research Fellow) (Royal Society University Research Fellow)

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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Gaston, K.J., Kunin, W.E. (1997). Rare—common differences: an overview. In: Kunin, W.E., Gaston, K.J. (eds) The Biology of Rarity. Population and Community Biology Series, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5874-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5874-9_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6483-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5874-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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