Description
Book SynopsisTheoretical Ecology: concepts and applications continues the authoritative and established sequence of theoretical ecology books initiated by Robert M. May which helped pave the way for ecology to become a more robust theoretical science, encouraging the modern biologist to better understand the mathematics behind their theories. This latest instalment builds on the legacy of its predecessors with a completely new set of contributions. Rather than placing emphasis on the historical ideas in theoretical ecology, the Editors have encouraged each contribution to: synthesize historical theoretical ideas within modern frameworks that have emerged in the last 10-20 years (e.g. bridging population interactions to whole food webs); describe novel theory that has emerged in the last 20 years from historical empirical areas (e.g. macro-ecology); and finally to cover the rapidly expanding area of theoretical ecological applications (e.g. disease theory and global change theory). The result is a forward-looking synthesis that will help guide the field through a further decade of discovery and development. It is written for upper level undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers seeking synthesis and the state of the art in growing areas of interest in theoretical ecology, genetics, evolutionary ecology, and mathematical biology.
Trade ReviewA great and condensed overview of the state of the art including currently unresolved questions and challenges. Accordingly, the book will be extremely useful for scientists who are ready to establish their own research agenda in mathematically-oriented theoretical ecology. * Felix May, Basic and Applied Ecology *
This volume provides a valuable introduction to the field of theoretical ecology, and some interesting thoughts about its future. * Frederick R. Adler, University of Utah, The Quarterly Review of Biology *
Table of Contents1: Introduction Gabriel Gellner, Kevin S. McCann & Emily J. Champagne 2: Species coexistence Peter Chesson 3: The synergistic effects of interaction strength and lags on ecological stability Gabriel Gellner, Kevin S. McCann & Christopher Greyson-Gaito 4: Non-equilibrium dynamics and stochastic processes Karen C. Abbott 5: The impact of population structure on population and community dynamics André M. de Roos 6: Models for large ecological communities - a random matrix approach Stefano Allesina & Jacopo Grilli 7: A structural theory of mutualistic networks Jordi Bascompte & Antonio Ferrera 8: A data driven approach to complex ecological systems Michio Kondoh, Kazutaka Kawatsu, Yutaka Osada & Masayuki Ushio 9: Trait-based models of complex ecological network Ulrich Brose 10: Ecological networks: from structure to dynamics Sonia Kéfi 11: Trait-based ecological and eco-evolutionary theory Christopher A. Klausmeier, Colin T. Kremer & Thomas Koffel 12: Toward a general theory of metacommunity ecology Dominique Gravel & François Massol 13: Theories of diversity in disease ecology T. Alex Perkins & Jason R. Rohr 14: Climate change: Studying the effects of temperature on population and community dynamics David A. Vasseur 15: Alternative stable states, tipping points, and early warning signals of ecological transitions John M. Drake, Suzanne M. O'Regan, Vasilis Dakos, Sonia Kéfi & Pejman Rohani 16: Areas of current and future growth Kevin S. McCann & Gabriel Gellner
