Neotropical

The importance of the Neotropics to the world's climate, biogeochemical cycling and biodiversity cannot be questioned.  This book suggests that gradients are key to understanding both these issues and Neotropical ecosystem structure, function and dynamics in general.  Those gradients are either spatial, temporal or spatio-temporal, where many temporal and spatio-temporal gradients are initiated by disturbances (e.g., tree-fall, landslide, cultivation).  And in particular for the Neotropics, three large spatial gradients - latitude, longitude, altitude (elevation) - are of critical importance…

Within the last few decades, arachnology in the Neotropical region has experienced a great development filling the knowledge gap in one of the most diverse regions of the world. Nevertheless, large geographical areas remain

This book examines the biology of tuco-tucos (Ctenomys) from an evolutionary perspective. Historically, these subterranean rodents have long attracted the attention of scientists due to its remarkable chromosomes variability and rapid diversification. A wealth of knowledge on physiology, ecology, genetics, morphology, paleontology, and taxonomy has been documented in the last 70 years through numerous single publications.

This book aims to address the importance of natural enemies and functional diversity for biological control in Neotropical agroecosystems. Several aspects related to the conservation of natural enemies, such as vegetation design and climate change, are discussed in Part 1 and the bioecology of several insects groups used in biological control in Latin America is presented in Part 2. Part 3 is devoted to mass production of natural enemies while Part 4 describes how these insects have been used to control of pests in major crops, forests, pasture, weeds and plant diseases. Lastly, Part 5 reports Latin-American experiences of integration of biological in pest management programs.