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Evolutionary biology has long sought to explain how new traits and new species arise. Darwin maintained that competition is key to understanding this biodiversity and held that selection acting to minimize competition causes competitors to become increasingly different, thereby promoting new traits and new species. Despite Darwin's emphasis, competition's role in diversification remains controversial and largely underappreciated. In their synthetic and provocative book, evolutionary ecologists David and Karin Pfennig explore competition's role in generating and maintaining biodiversity. The authors discuss how selection can lessen resource competition or costly reproductive interactions by promoting trait evolution through a process known as character displacement. They further describe character displacement's underlying genetic and developmental mechanisms. The authors then consider character displacement's myriad downstream effects, ranging from shaping ecological communities to promoting new traits and new species and even fueling large-scale evolutionary trends. Drawing on numerous studies from natural populations, and written for a broad audience, Evolution's Wedge seeks to inspire future research into character displacement's many implications for ecology and evolution.

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The long-term productivity of forest ecosystems depends on the cycling of nutrients. The effect of carbon dioxide fertilization on forest productivity may ultimately be limited by the rate of nutrient cycling. Contemporary and future disturbances such as climatic warming, N-deposition, deforestation, short rotation sylviculture, fire (both wild and controlled), and the invasion of exotic species all place strains on the integrity of ecosystem nutrient cycling. Global differences in climate, soils, and species make it difficult to extrapolate even a single important study worldwide. Despite advances in the understanding of nutrient cycling and carbon production in forests, many questions remain. The chapters in this volume reflect many contemporary research priorities. The thirteen studies in this volume are arranged in the following subject groups: • N and P resorption from foliage worldwide, along chronosequences and along elevation gradients; • Litter production and decomposition; • N and P stoichiometry as affected by N deposition, geographic gradients, species changes, and ecosystem restoration; • Effects of N and P addition on understory biomass, litter, and soil; • Effects of burning on soil nutrients; • Effects of N addition on soil fauna.

leaf stoichiometry --- Cyclocarya paliurus --- geographic variations --- natural populations --- climate variables --- nitrogen --- phosphorus --- N:P ratio --- soil stoichiometry --- soil nutrient --- nutrient limitations --- natural grassland --- natural forest --- soil fauna --- N addition --- soil profile --- community structure --- food resources --- poplar plantations --- experimental nitrogen addition --- understory plant growth --- plant nutrient --- nonstructural carbohydrates --- Alpine treeline --- Nitrogen --- Non-structural carbohydrates --- Phosphorus --- Potassium --- Remobilization --- Storage --- Upper limits --- nutrient resorption --- nitrogen and phosphorous --- planted forests --- climate zones --- plant functional types --- precipitation --- green leaf nutrient --- nitrogen deposition --- N and P colimitation --- leaf N:P stoichiometry --- soil N:P stoichiometry --- seasonal variations --- nutrition resorption --- ecological stoichiometry --- plant-soil feedback --- stand age --- Robinia pseudoacacia L. --- forests --- nutrients --- disturbance --- management --- diversity --- biomass --- soil properties --- experimental fires --- UV-spectroscopy analysis --- thermal infrared thermometer --- nitrogen and phosphorus addition --- understory plants --- stoichiometric ratio --- litter decomposition --- litter standing crop carbon --- conversion coefficient --- climatic factors --- Tibetan Plateau --- shrublands --- Cunninghamia lanceolata --- mixture effect --- nutrient cycling --- rhizosphere effect --- species competition