This book presents evolutionary ecology as a unified discipline rooted in Darwin’s work, emphasizing the interplay between ecological processes and evolution by natural selection, both operating within Earth’s physical systems. While it covers core topics such as population dynamics, species interactions, and ecological succession, it distinguishes itself through its focus on evolutionary game theory, life-history strategies, and foraging ecology. Complex ideas are accessible through natural-history examples and clear, intuitive graphics with minimal mathematics. The narrative extends into applied areas—including biodiversity, climate change, human evolution, and cancer biology—demonstrating how an eco-evolutionary perspective provides a coherent framework for understanding the natural world.
Table of Contents:
Foreword. Preface. Relationships Between Organisms and Their Environment. Population Dynamics. Species Interaction: Competition. Species Interaction: Predation. Foraging Dynamics. Life Histories and Life History Tradeoffs. Light Competition in Forests and Evolutionary Game Theory. Food Webs. Ecological Succession. Nutrient Cycling. Biodiversity. Climate Change. Evolutionary Ecology. Human Evolutionary Ecology. Cancer as Ecology and Evolution. Index.
About the Author :
Dr. Som B. Ale, a Clinical Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago, has spent 15 years teaching a wide range of courses, from introductory biology to ecology and evolution. Complementing his academic role, he brings decades of experience in biodiversity conservation. His research—spanning from the lemmings of Arctic Canada to the snow leopards of the Himalayas—has focused on foraging behavior, ethology, and predator-prey dynamics, all relevant to conservation science.
Dr. Tania L. S. Vincent currently works for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as a fishery biologist and remains actively involved in ecological research on the intertidal denizens of Southcentral Alaska and in eco-evolutionary game theory modeling. Prior to her work in resource management, she spent over a decade teaching courses ranging from general and community ecology to botany and plant-animal interactions, as well as introductory biology and environmental science, at universities in Alaska, New York, and Wisconsin.
Dr. Joel S. Brown, Senior Member of Integrated Mathematical Oncology at the Moffitt Cancer Center and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois Chicago, is a leading evolutionary ecologist turned cancer researcher with more than 350 publications. He has contributed to evolutionary game theory, the ecology of fear, foraging ecology and behavioral indicators for conservation biology. For over three decades, his lab has studied species from squirrels and kangaroos to aardvarks and zebras across multiple continents. He now applies ecological and evolutionary principles to define, understand and treat cancer using evolutionarily-informed therapies.
