Structured-population Models in Marine, Terrestrial and Freshwater Systems: (No. 18 Population and Community Biology Series)

This volume describes the biology of the life cycle (age, size, development stage, for example) and follows the transitions of individuals through stages in the life cycle (survival, growth, development, and reproduction). They are an alternative to models that describe populations in terms of total numbers or biomass. Such models, which depend much more intensively on computer firepower than aggregate or logistic models, have taken a central place in ecological investigations in the last decade. Making appropriate assumptions about their parameters, the ecologist can describe constant environments, time-varying environments, density-dependent populations, and species-species or species-resource interactions with these models.

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Theory and methods: Structured population models: basic concepts and contrasting methods, H. Casweell, S. Tuljapurkar, R. Nisbet, and A. de Roos; Methods in matrix population models, Hal Caswell; Stochastic matrix population models, Shripad Tuljapurkar; Nonlinear matrix models in population dynamics, J.M. Cushing; Delay differential equations for structured populations, Roger Nisbet; Partial differential equation models for physiologically structured populations, Andre de Roos. Part 2: Applications: Spatio-temporal variation in demography of a tropical herb: empirical data and projection matrix analysis, Carol Horvitz; Stochastic models, life history evolution, and extinction, Steve Orzack; Population and genetic dynamics of Tribolium, Robert Desharnais; Structured population models in genetics and evolution; Ocean physics and population dynamics, Tom Powell; Density-dependent recruitment and age structure in marine fisheries, Lou Botsford; Structured population models in the marine plankton, Eileen Hofmann; Marine polychaetes: effects of developmental mode and pollution, Lisa Levin; Structured population models: marine-terrestrial comparisons; Stochastic demography for conservation, C.S. Nations and Mark Boyce; Structured population models in conservation and management; Nonlinear ergodic theorems and symmetric versus asymmetric competition, Kathleen Crowe; It takes two to tango: pair formation in demography and epidemology, Carlos Castillo-Chavez; Parameter estimation and inverse problems in structured models, Simon Wood. (Part contents).