Essentials of Ecology

"Essentials of Ecology" presents introductory ecology in an accessible format designed to cultivate the novice student's understanding of, and fascination with, the natural world. In a concise style, the text outlines the essential principles of ecology from the theoretical fundamentals to their practical applications. Full colour artwork, simple pedagogical features and a wide range of timely examples make this a useful introduction to ecology for students at all levels. This second edition provides expanded coverage and over 100 examples reflecting the vibrancy of the field. More than a simple update, the new edition also features new artwork, an enhanced design and additional integrated applications. Outstanding features of the second edition include: a dedicated website - study resources and web research questions provide students and instructors with an enhanced, interactive experience of the book; key concepts - summarized at the beginning of each chapter; unanswered questions - highlighted throughout, an emphasis that in ecology, as in any science, we have much left to learn; history boxes - outlining key landmarks in the development of ecology; quantitative boxes - allowing mathematical aspects of ecology to be explained thoroughly without interrupting the flow of the text; topical ECOncerns boxes - highlighting ethical, social and political questions in ecology; and review questions - included at the end of each chapter.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Ecology and How to Do It 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Scales, diversity and rigor 1.2.1 Questions of scale 1.2.2 The diversity of ecological evidence 1.2.3 Statistics and scientific rigor 1.3 Ecology in practice 1.3.1 The brown trout in New Zealand - effects on individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems 1.3.2 Successions on old fields in Minnesota - a study in time and space 1.3.3 Hubbard Brook - a long-term commitment of large-scale significance 1.3.4 A model study: Genetically modified crops - bad for biodiversity? Summary Review Questions Chapter 2: The Ecology of Evolution 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Evolution by natural selection 2.3 Evolution within species 2.3.1 Geographical variation within species 2.3.2 Variation within a species with man-made selection pressures 2.3.3 Adaptive peaks and specialized abysses 2.4 The ecology of speciation 2.4.1 What do we mean by a "species"? 2.4.2 Islands and speciation 2.5 The effects of climate change on the evolution and distribution of species 2.6 The effects of continental drift on the ecology of evolution 2.7 Interpreting the results of evolution: convergent and parallel evolution Summary Review Questions Chapter 3: Physical Conditions and the Availability of Resources 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Environmental conditions 3.2.1 What do we mean by "harsh," "benign," and "extreme"? 3.2.2 Effects of conditions 3.2.3 Conditions as stimuli 3.2.4 The effects of conditions on interactions between organisms 3.2.5 Responses by sedentary organisms 3.2.6 Animal responses to environmental temperature 3.2.7 Microorganisms in extreme environments 3.3 Plant resources 3.3.1 Solar radiation 3.3.2 Water 3.3.3 Mineral nutrients 3.3.4 Carbon dioxide 3.4 Animals and their resources 3.4.1 Nutritional needs and provisions 3.4.2 Defense 3.5 The effect of intraspecific competition for resources 3.6 Conditions, resources, and the ecological niche Summary Review Questions Chapter 4: Conditions, Resources and the World's Communities 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Geographical patterns at large and small scales 4.2.1 Large-scale climatic patterns 4.2.2 Small-scale patterns in conditions and resources 4.2.3 Patterns in conditions and resources in aquatic environments 4.3 Temporal patterns in conditions and resources - succession 4.4 The terrestrial biomes 4.4.1 Describing and classifying biomes 4.4.2 Tropical rain forest 4.4.3 Savanna 4.4.4 Temperate grasslands 4.4.5 Desert 4.4.6 Temperate forest 4.4.7 Northern coniferous forest (taiga) grading into tundra 4.5 Aquatic environments 4.5.1 Stream ecology 4.5.2 Lake ecology 4.5.3 The oceans 4.5.4 Coasts 4.5.5 Estuaries Summary Review Questions Chapter 5: Birth, Death and Movement 5.1 Introduction 5.1.1 What is an individual? 5.1.2 Counting individuals, births, and deaths 5.2 Life Cycles 5.2.1 Life cycles and reproduction 5.2.2 Annual life cycles 5.2.3 Longer life cycles 5.3 Monitoring birth and death: life tables and fecundity schedules (Part conents)