Description
Book SynopsisWhat makes populations stabilize? What makes them fluctuate? Are populations in complex ecosystems more stable than populations in simple ecosystems? This text addresses these questions and introduces non-linear mathematical models and the study of deterministic chaos into ecology.
Trade Review"May's Stability and Complexity in Model Ecosystems was undoubtedly the most influential treatise in theoretical ecology since the pioneering efforts of Volterra and Lotka. It transformed the subject by brokering a marriage between theory and fact that had been - and is still too often - missing in theoretical ecology. It is no coincidence that the full integration of theory into ecology has occurred since the original appearance of this landmark book. May's new Introduction wonderfully places events in perspective." - Simon Levin, Princeton University"
Table of ContentsPreface vii Preface to the Second Edition Biology Edition 1. Intoduction 3 2. Mathematical Models and Stability 13 3. Stability versus Complexity in Multispecies Models 4. Models with Few Species: Limit Cycles and Time Delays 79 5. Randomly Fluctuating Environments 109 6. Niche Overlap and Limiting Similarity 139 7. Speculations 172 Appendices 187 Afterthoughts for the Second Edition 211 Bibliography to Afterthoghts 234 Bibliography 241 Author Index 259 Subject Index 263
