Contents xiii Near East Ecosystems, Animal Diversity Joseph Heller 459 Near East Ecosystems, Plant Diversity Avinoam Danin 478 Neotropical Seasonally Dry Forests Julio Calvo-Alvarado, Arturo Sa´nchez-Azofeifa, and Carlos Portillo-Quintero 488 Nest Parasitism Scott K Robinson, Stephen I Rothstein, and Brian D Peer 501 Neutral Theory and Beyond James O’Dwyer and Ryan Chisholm 510 Nitrogen Deposition and Terrestrial Biodiversity Christopher M Clark, Yongfei Bai, William D Bowman, Jane M Cowles, Mark E Fenn, Frank S Gilliam, Gareth K Phoenix, Ilyas Siddique, Carly J Stevens, Harald U Sverdrup, and Heather L Throop 519 Nitrogen, Nitrogen Cycle Sandy L Tartowski and Robert W Howarth 537 Nomenclature, Systems of David L Hawksworth 547 North America, Patterns of Biodiversity in Martin J Lechowicz 560 Nucleic Acid Biodiversity: Rewriting DNA and RNA in Diverse Organisms Laura F Landweber, Tamara L Horton, and Jonatha M Gott 568 O Ocean Ecosystems Richard T Barber 581 Oceanic Islands: Models of Diversity Rosemary G Gillespie 590 Oil-Palm Plantations in the Context of Biodiversity Conservation Erik Meijaard and Douglas Sheil 600 Origin and Diversification of Angiosperms William L Crepet 613 Origin of Life, Theories of Susanne Brakmann 628 Origins, Evolution, and Breakdown of Bacterial Symbiosis Joel L Sachs 637 P Paleoecology Thompson Webb 645 Parasitism Klaus Rohde 656 Parasitoids HCJ Godfray 674 Pelagic Ecosystems Andrea Belgrano, Sonia D Batten, and Philip C Reid 683