About the Book
Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems, 4e
Begon, Townsend, and Harper's Ecology has long been regarded as the definitive textbook on all aspects of ecology. This new edition provides a comprehensive treatment of the subject, from the first principles of ecology to the current state of the field, and aims to improve students' preparedness to address the environmental problems of the new millennium.
Thoroughly revised and updated, this fourth edition includes:
three new chapters on applied ecology, reflecting a rigorous, scientific approach to the ecological problems now facing mankind
discussion of over 800 new studies, updating the text throughout
an updated, user-friendly design with margin notes and chapter summaries that serve as study aids
The resulting textbook is easy to use, lucid and up-to-date, and is the essential reference for all students whose degree program includes ecology and for practicing ecologists.
Practical Statistics for Field Biology, 2e
Provides an excellent introductory text for students on the principles and methods of statistical analysis in the life sciences, helping them choose and analyse statistical tests for their own problems and present their findings.
An understanding of statistical principles and methods is essential for any scientist but is particularly important for those in the life sciences. The field biologist faces very particular problems and challenges with statistics as "real-life" situations such as collecting insects with a sweep net or counting seagulls on a cliff face can hardly be expected to be as reliable or controllable as a laboratory-based experiment. Acknowledging the peculiarites of field-based data and its interpretation, this book provides a superb introduction to statistical analysis helping students relate to their particular and often diverse data with confidence and ease.
To enhance the usefulness of this book, the new edition incorporates the more advanced method of multivariate analysis, introducing the nature of multivariate problems and describing the the techniques of principal components analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis which are all applied to biological examples. An appendix detailing the statistical computing packages available has also been included.
It will be extremely useful to undergraduates studying ecology, biology, and earth and environmental sciences and of interest to postgraduates who are not familiar with the application of multiavirate techniques and practising field biologists working in these areas.
Table of Contents:
Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems, 4e
Preface, vii
Introduction: Ecology and its Domain, xi
Part 1: Organisms
1 Organisms in their Environments: the Evolutionary Backdrop, 3
2 Conditions, 30
3 Resources, 58
4 Life, Death and Life Histories, 89
5 Intraspecific Competition, 132
6 Dispersal, Dormancy and Metapopulations, 163
7 Ecological Applications at the Level of Organisms and Single-Species Populations: Restoration, Biosecurity and Conservation, 186
Part 2: Species Interactions
8 Interspecific Competition, 227
9 The Nature of Predation, 266
10 The Population Dynamics of Predation, 297
11 Decomposers and Detritivores, 326
12 Parasitism and Disease, 347
13 Symbiosis and Mutualism, 381
14 Abundance, 410
15 Ecological Applications at the Level of Population Interactions: Pest Control and Harvest Management, 439
Part 3: Communities and Ecosystems
16 The Nature of the Community: Patterns in Space and Time, 469
17 The Flux of Energy through Ecosystems, 499
18 The Flux of Matter through Ecosystems, 525
19 The Influence of Population Interactions on Community Structure, 550
20 Food Webs, 578
21 Patterns in Species Richness, 602
22 Ecological Applications at the Level of Communities and Ecosystems: Management Based on the Theory of Succession, Food Webs, Ecosystem Functioning and Biodiversity, 633
References, 659
Organism Index, 701
Subject Index, 714
Color plate section
Practical Statistics for Field Biolog, 2e
Preface xi
1 Introduction 1
2 Measurement and Sampling Concepts 3
3 Processing Data 8
4 Presenting Data 18
5 Measuring the Average 26
6 Measuring Variability 35
7 Probability 42
8 Probability Distributions as Models of Dispersion 62
9 The Normal Distribution 74
10 Data Transformation 83
11 How Good are Our Estimates? 90
12 The Basis of Statistical Testing 104
13 Analysing Frequencies 111
14 Measuring Correlations 130
15 Regression Analysis 142
16 Comparing Averages 165
17 Analysis of Variance - ANOVA 179
18 Multivariate Analysis 210
Appendices
Bibliography and Further Reading 256
Index 257
About the Author :
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 1997.
John Harper is an award-winning biologist and a leading figure in plant population biology. He has served as a council member of the fellowship of the Royal Society and received the Darwin Award in 1990. He is also the author of Population Biology of Plants and co-author of Essentials of Ecology.
Jim Fowler, Principal Lecturer, Department of Biological Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK.
Lou Cohen, Emeritus Professor of Education, Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough, UK.
Phil Jarvis, Senior Statistician, Safety of Medicines, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Macclesfield, UK.
