Spatial Ecology: The Role of Space in Population Dynamics and Interspecific Interactions

Spatial Ecology addresses the fundamental effects of space on the dynamics of individual species and on the structure, dynamics, diversity, and stability of multispecies communities. Although the ecological world is unavoidably spatial, there have been few attempts to determine how explicit considerations of space may alter the predictions of ecological models, or what insights it may give into the causes of broad-scale ecological patterns. As this book demonstrates, the spatial structure of a habitat can fundamentally alter both the qualitative and quantitative dynamics and outcomes of ecological processes. Spatial Ecology highlights the importance of space to five topical areas: stability, patterns of diversity, invasions, coexistence, and pattern generation. It illustrates both the diversity of approaches used to study spatial ecology and the underlying similarities of these approaches. Over twenty contributors address issues ranging from the persistence of endangered species, to the maintenance of biodiversity, to the dynamics of hosts and their parasitoids, to disease dynamics, multispecies competition, population genetics, and fundamental processes relevant to all these cases. There have been many recent advances in our understanding of the influence of spatially explicit processes on individual species and on multispecies communities. This book synthesizes these advances, shows the limitations of traditional, non-spatial approaches, and offers a variety of new approaches to spatial ecology that should stimulate ecological research.

Table of Contents:
PrefaceList of ContributorsPt. ISingle Species Dynamics in Spatial Habitats1Population Dynamics in Spatial Habitats32Predictive and Practical Metapopulation Models: The Incidence Function Approach213Variability, Patchiness, and Jump Dispersal in the Spread of an Invading Population46Pt. IIParasites, Pathogens, and Predators in a Spatially Complex World4The Dynamics of Spatially Distributed Host-Parasitoid Systems755Basic Epidemiological Concepts in a Spatial Context1116Measles: Persistence and Synchronicity in Disease Dynamics1377Genetics and the Spatial Ecology of Species Interactions: The Silene-Ustilago System158Pt. IIICompetition in a Spatial World8Competition in Spatial Habitats1859Biologically Generated Spatial Pattern and the Coexistence of Competing Species20410Habitat Destruction and Species Extinctions23311Local and Regional Processes as Controls of Species Richness250Pt. IVThe Final Analysis: Does Space Matter or Not? And How Will We Test Our Ideas?12Theories of Simplification and Scaling of Spatially Distributed Processes27113Production Functions from Ecological Populations: A Survey with Emphasis on Spatially Implicit Models29614Challenges and Opportunities for Empirical Evaluation of "Spatial Theory"318References333Index365