Conservation Genetics by V. Loeschcke; J. Tomiuk; S. K. JainReview by: Jan KirschnerFolia Geobotanica & Phytotaxonomica, Vol. 31, No. 4 (1996), p. 533Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4181495 .

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Bookreviews 533

V. Loeschcke, J. Tomiuk & S. K. Jain (eds.): CONSERVATION GENETICS; Birkhauser Verlag, Basel, Boston, Berlin, 1994, 440 pp. Price SFR 138.-, DEM 158.-, ISBN 3-7643-2939-4

It is a generally known fact that, in nature conservation practice, conventional wisdom and empirical experience prevail as the background for important decisions, and protection of habitats in reserves is a basic approach. In the last decade, population and evolutionary genetics have contributed to conservation biology in numerous ways, and provided surveys of genetic diversity, a basic theory to understand the mechanisms that bring about evolutionary changes, and allow us to analyse the evolutionary fate of small populations and to develop management guidelines for the protection of endangered taxa in situ and ex situ. Population and evolutionary genetics can significantly contribute to an integrated concept of biodiversity conservation.

An important account of basic concepts in the above field is provided in the volume under review. The introduction by G. Vida stresses the utmost importance of preserving genetic variation in our changing world.

Part II is concerned with the relationships between genetic variation and fitness and its implication for conservation. A contribution by W. Gabriel & R. Buirger, Extinction risk by mutational meltdown: synergistic effects between population regulation and genetic drift, should be mentioned as a very stirnulating study. Part III deals with inbreeding, population structure, and social interactions. The importance of this section can be demonstrated by merely citing some of the contributions: C. Glidden & J. Goulet, The genetic structure of metapopulations and conservation biology; T. P. Hauser et al., Effects of inbreeding in small plant populations. In Part IV molecular approaches to conservation are presented. With reference to the explosive progress in this particular field, none of the contributions in this section seems to be able to "survive" more than a few years. However, L. Witting et al. give an interesting theoretical framework to efforts to minimize the loss of biodiversity.

The concluding three sections are devoted to selected case studies, some of them of great interest for plant conservationists, and to practical aspects of diversity conservation (sampling strategies, botanical gardens). The final part contains a selection of scenarios as outlines of some important topics illustrating significant ecological and population genetic options and developments in conservation biology.

Jan Kirschner

J. Maynard Smith & E. Szathmary: THE MAJOR TRANSITIONS IN EVOLUTION; WH. Freeman, Oxford, New York, Heidelberg, 1995, xiv + 346pp. Price GBP 16.99, ISBNO-7167-4525

Living organisms are highly complex, and are composed of parts that function to ensure the survival and reproduction of the whole. In their new book, Maynard Smith and Szathmary address the question of how and why this complexity has increased in the course of evolution. The basic thesis is that the increase depended on a small number of major transitions in the way in which genetic information is transmitted between generations. The major transitions have certain features in common. The most important of these is that entities capable of independent replication can replicate only as part of a larger whole after the transition.

The major transitions discussed in the book include changes from replicating molecules to populations of molecules in compartments; from independent replicators to chromosomes; from RNA as gene and enzyme to DNA and protein system; from prokaryotes to eukaryotes; from asexual clones to sexual populations; from protists to complex multicellular organisms; from solitary individuals to colonies; from primate societies to human society with language ability. The idea of levels of organization, and hence levels of selection, is central to this book. Perhaps the most important transition of all is that between organisms in which both genetic material and enzymes were RNA (the RNA world) and modern organisms in which the genetic material is DNA and enzymes are proteins. In this transition, a division of labour has evolved that requires that there be coding and translation. A second transition of extreme importance, which also involves a change in the language whereby information is transmitted and in the physical medium that carries the language, is the origin of human speech. The authors accept this as being the decisive step in the origin of specifically human society.

The book is the first comprehensive review of the major transitions in the evolution of life. It is written in a clear style and readers can learn a lot about various questions of current evolutionary biology, in spite of the fact that many answers still remain speculative. It seems to me that there are several reasons to consider the

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