Essentials of Ecology

Name: Essentials of Ecology
Price: 6.99 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9781405156585

ISBN-10: 1405156589

ISBN-13: 9781405156585

Edition: 3rd 2008 (Revised)

Authors: Colin R. Townsend, Michael Begon, John L. Harper, Colin R. Townsend, John L. Harper

List price: $124.95

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Description:

Essentials of Ecology presents introductory ecology in an accessible, state-of-the-art format designed to cultivate the novice student's understanding of, and fascination with, the natural world. In a concise, engaging style, this text outlines the essential principles of ecology from the theoretical fundamentals to their practical applications. Full color artwork, simple pedagogical features, and a wide range of carefully-chosen examples make this book an ideal introduction to ecology for students at all levels. The third edition of this successful text is much more than a simple update, reflecting the vibrancy of the field. With hundreds of new examples, it contains for the first time a…

Book details

List price: $124.95
Edition: 3rd
Copyright year: 2008
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
Publication date: 2/26/2008
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 532
Size: 10.00" wide x 7.50" long x 1.25" tall
Weight: 1.188
Language: English

Born in London in 1951 and a student at the University of Leeds, Mike Begon has spent his whole scientific career at the University of Liverpool, where he is now Professor of Ecology, specializing in the population and community ecology of infectious diseases in wildlife.Colin Townsend obtained his DPhil at the University of Sussex before taking up teaching positions at Oxford University and the University of East Anglia. In 1989 he moved from the UK to New Zealand to the University of Otago where he was chair of the Zoology Department, and is now Director of the Ecology, Conservation and Biodiversity Research Group. He was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand in…



Preface


Acknowledgments



Introduction



Ecology and how to do it



Introduction



Scales, diversity and rigor



Ecology in practice



Ecology's evolutionary backdrop



Introduction



Evolution by natural selection



Evolution within species



The ecology of speciation



Effects of climatic change on the evolution and distribution of species



Effects of continental drift on the ecology of evolution



Interpreting the results of evolution: convergents and parallels



Conditions and Resources



Physical conditions and the availability of resources



Introduction



Environmental conditions



Plant resources



Animals and their resources



Effects of intraspecific competition for resources



Conditions, resources and the ecological niche



Conditions, resources and the world's communities



Introduction



Geographic patterns at large and small scales



Temporal patterns in conditions and resources



Terrestrial biomes



Aquatic environments



Individuals, Populations, Communities and Ecosystems



Birth, death and movement



Introduction



Life cycles



Monitoring birth and death: life tables and fecundity schedules



Dispersal and migration



The impact of intraspecific competition on populations



Life history patterns



Interspecific competition



Introduction



Ecological effects of interspecific competition



Evolutionary effects of interspecific competition



Interspecific competition and community structure



How significant is interspecific competition in practice?



Predation, grazing and disease



Introduction



Prey fitness and abundance



The subtleties of predation



Predator behavior: foraging and transmission



Population dynamics of predation



Predation and community structure



Evolutionary ecology



Introduction



Molecular ecology: differentiation within and between species



Coevolutionary arms races



Mutualistic interactions



From populations to communities



Introduction



Multiple determinants of the dynamics of populations



Dispersal, patches and metapopulation dynamics



Temporal patterns in community composition



Food webs



Patterns in species richness



Introduction



A simple model of species richness



Spatially varying factors that influence species richness



Temporally varying factors that influence species richness



Gradients of species richness



Patterns in taxon richness in the fossil record



Appraisal of patterns in species richness



The flux of energy and matter through ecosystems



Introduction



Primary productivity



The fate of primary productivity



The process of decomposition



The flux of matter through ecosystems



Global biogeochemical cycles



Applied Issues in Ecology



Sustainability



Introduction



The human population 'problem'



Harvesting living resources from the wild



The farming of monocultures



Pest control



Integrated farming systems



Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change



Habitat degradation



Introduction



Degradation via cultivation



Power generation and its diverse effects



Degradation in urban and industrial landscapes



Maintenance and restoration of ecosystem services



Conservation



Introduction



Threats to biodiversity



Conservation in practice



Conservation in a changing world



Finale


References


Index