Table of Contents

Introduction
Part 1: Northern Melanesia's Physical and Biological Environment
1: Geology and Geological History
2: Climate
3: Habitats and Vegetation
4: Terrestrial Vertebrates Other Than Birds
Part 2: Human History and Impacts
5: Human History
6: Ornithological Exploration of Northern Melanesia
7: Exterminations of Bird Populations
Part 3: The Northern Melanesian Avifauna
8: Family Composition
9: Determinants of Island Species Number
10: Level of Endemism, Habitat Preference, and Abundance of Each Species
11: Overwater Dispersal Ability of Each Species
12: Distributional Ecology
Part 4: Colonization Routes
13: Proximate Origins of Northern Melanesian Populations
14: Upstream Colonization and Fuanal Dominance
15: Ultimate Origins of Northern Melanesian Populations
Part 5: Taxonomic Analysis: Differences Among Species
16: The Problem of Speciation
17: Stages of Geographical Speciation Among the Birds of Northern Melanesia
18: Absence of Geographic Variation
19: Geographic Variation: Subspecies
20: Geographic Variation: Megasubspecies
21: Geographic Variation: Allospecies
22: Completed Speciation
23: Hybridization
24: Endemic Species and Genera
Part 6: Geographic Analysis: Differences Among Islands
25: Endemism Index
26: Pairwise Differentiation Index
27: Pairwise Nonsharing Indices: Differences in Island Species Compositions
28: The Establishment of Geographic Isolates
29: Interarchipelagal Barriers
30: Barriers Within the Bismarcks
31: Barriers Within the Solomons
32: Speciation on Fragmented Solomon Islands
33: Differential Extinction and Species Occurrences on Fragmented Pleistocene Islands
Part 7: Synthesis, Conclusions, and Prospects
34: Conclusions about Speciation
35: Species Differences, Taxon Cycles, and the Evolution of Dispersal
36: Promising Directions for Future Research
Maps
Appendices
Appendix 1: Systematic List: Breeding Land and Freshwater Native Birds of Northern Melanesia
Appendix 2: Nonbreeding Visitors to Northern Melanesia
Appendix 3: Introduced Bird Species in Northern Melanesia
Appendix 4: Chronologies of Ornithological Exploration
Appendix 5: Attributes of Each Bird Species
Appendix 6: Evidence of Overwater Dispersal Ability of Each Species and Allospecies in the Bismarcks and Solomons
Appendix 7: Distributions and Origins of Northern Melanesian Bird Populations
References
Index

Reviews

Abundance of illustrations ... superb series of nine plates by Douglas Pratt that, for the first time, depict many of the forms in colour ... This definitive volume will inspire a new set of studies based on genetics and DNA, before too many of the unique island forms disappear. It will remain the ultimate work on island speciation. The Quarterly Review of Biology A unique and powerful data set with which to examine critical issues in ecology and evolution. Nature