The Princeton Guide to Ecology

by Simon A. Levin (Editor), Stephen R. Carpenter (Editor), H. Charles J. Godfray (Editor), Ann P. Kinzig (Editor), Michel Loreau (Editor)

Overview

The Princeton Guide to Ecology is a concise, authoritative one-volume reference to the field's major subjects and key concepts. Edited by eminent ecologist Simon Levin, with contributions from an international team of leading ecologists, the book contains more than ninety clear, accurate, and up-to-date articles on the most important topics within seven major areas: autecology, population ecology, communities and ecosystems, landscapes and the biosphere, conservation biology, ecosystem services, and biosphere management. Complete with more than 200 illustrations (including sixteen pages in color), a glossary of key terms, a chronology of milestones in the field, suggestions for further reading on each topic, and an index, this is an essential volume for undergraduate and graduate students, research ecologists, scientists in related fields, policymakers, and anyone else with a serious interest in ecology.

• Explains key topics in one concise and authoritative volume


• Features more than ninety articles written by an international team of leading ecologists


• Contains more than 200 illustrations, including sixteen pages in color


• Includes glossary, chronology, suggestions for further reading, and index


• Covers autecology, population ecology, communities and ecosystems, landscapes and the biosphere, conservation biology, ecosystem services, and biosphere management

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400833023
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	07/27/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	832
File size:	23 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Simon A. Levin is the George M. Moffett Professor of Biology and a professor of ecology and environmental biology at Princeton University, where he directs the Center for BioComplexity. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of many books, including the Encyclopedia of Biodiversity. Among his many awards are the Heineken Prize for Environmental Sciences, the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences, the Margalef Award for Ecology, and the Eminent Ecologist Award from the Ecological Society of America.

Table of Contents

Preface vii
Contributors ix


Part I: Autecology 1
I.1 Ecological Niche 3
I.2 Physiological Ecology: Animals 14
I.3 Physiological Ecology: Plants 20
I.4 Functional Morphology: Muscles, Elastic Mechanisms, and Animal Performance 27
I.5 Habitat Selection 38
I.6 Dispersal 45
I.7 Foraging Behavior 51
I.8 Social Behavior 59
I.9 Phenotypic Plasticity 65
I.10 Life History 72
I.11 Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems 79
I.12 Geographic Range 87
I.13 Adaptation 93
I.14 Phenotypic Selection 101
I.15 Population Genetics and Ecology 109
I.16 Phylogenetics and Comparative Methods 117
I.17 Microevolution 126
I.18 Ecological Speciation: Natural Selection and the Formation of New Species 134
I.19 Adaptive Radiation 143


Part II: Population Ecology 153
II.1 Age-Structured and Stage-Structured Population Dynamics 155
II.2 Density Dependence and Single- Species Population Dynamics 166
II.3 Biological Chaos and Complex Dynamics 172
II.4 Metapopulations and Spatial Population Processes 177
II.5 Competition and Coexistence in Plant Communities 186
II.6 Competition and Coexistence in Animal Communities 196
II.7 Predator-Prey Interactions 202
II.8 Host-Parasitoid Interactions 213
II.9 Ecological Epidemiology 220
II.10 Interactions between Plants and Herbivores 227
II.11 Mutualism and Symbiosis 233
II.12 Ecology of Microbial Populations 239
II.13 Coevolution 247


Part III: Communities and Ecosystems 253
III.1 Biodiversity: Concepts, Patterns, and Measurement 257
III.2 Competition, Neutrality, and Community Organization 264
III.3 Predation and Community Organization 274
III.4 Facilitation and the Organization of Plant Communities 282
III.5 Indirect Effects in Communities and Ecosystems: The Role of Trophic and Nontrophic Interactions 289
III.6 Top-Down and Bottom-Up Regulation of Communities 296
III.7 The Structure and Stability of Food Webs 305
III.8 Spatial and Metacommunity Dynamics in Biodiversity 312
III.9 Ecosystem Productivity and Carbon Flows: Patterns across Ecosystems 320
III.10 Nutrient Cycling and Biogeochemistry 330
III.11 Terrestrial Carbon and Biogeochemical Cycles 340
III.12 Freshwater Carbon and Biogeochemical Cycles 347
III.13 The Marine Carbon Cycle 358
III.14 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning 367
III.15 Ecological Stoichiometry 376
III.16 Macroecological Perspectives on Communities and Ecosystems 386
III.17 Alternative Stable States and Regime Shifts in Ecosystems 395
III.18 Responses of Communities and Ecosystems to Global Changes 407
III.19 Evolution of Communities and Ecosystems 414


Part IV: Landscapes and the Biosphere 423
IV.1 Landscape Dynamics 425
IV.2 Landscape Pattern and Biodiversity 431
IV.3 Ecological Dynamics in Fragmented Landscapes 438
IV.4 Biodiversity Patterns in Managed and Natural Landscapes 445
IV.5 Boundary Dynamics in Landscapes 458
IV.6 Spatial Patterns of Species Diversity in Terrestrial Environments 464
IV.7 Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions in Landscapes 474
IV.8 Seascape Patterns and Dynamics of Coral Reefs 482
IV.9 Seascape Microbial Ecology: Habitat Structure, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Function 488
IV.10 Spatial Dynamics of Marine Fisheries 501


Part V: Conservation Biology 511
V.1 Causes and Consequences of Species Extinctions 514
V.2 Population Viability Analysis 521
V.3 Principles of Reserve Design 529
V.4 Building and Implementing Systems of Conservation Areas 538
V.5 Marine Conservation 548
V.6 Conservation and Global Climate Change 557
V.7 Restoration Ecology 566


Part VI: Ecosystem Services 573
VI.1 Ecosystem Services: Issues of Scale and Trade-Offs 579
VI.2 Biodiversity, Ecosystem Functioning, and Ecosystem Services 584
VI.3 Beyond Biodiversity: Other Aspects of Ecological Organization 591
VI.4 Human-Dominated Systems: Agroecosystems 597
VI.5 Forests 606
VI.6 Grasslands 614
VI.7 Marine Ecosystem Services 619
VI.8 Provisioning Services: A Focus on Fresh Water 625
VI.9 Regulating Services: A Focus on Disease Regulation 634
VI.10 Support Services: A Focus on Genetic Diversity 642
VI.11 The Economics of Ecosystem Services 652
VI.12 Technological Substitution and Augmentation of Ecosystem Services 659
VI.13 Conservation of Ecosystem Services 670


Part VII: Managing the Biosphere 679
VII.1 Biological Control: Theory and Practice 683
VII.2 Fisheries Management 689
VII.3 Wildlife Management 695
VII.4 Managing the Global Water System 701
VII.5 Managing Nutrient Mobilization and Eutrophication 712
VII.6 Managing Infectious Diseases 718
VII.7 Agriculture, Land Use, and the Transformation of Planet Earth 724
VII.8 The Ecology, Economics, and Management of Alien Invasive Species 731
VII.9 Ecological Economics: Principles of Economic Policy Design for
Ecosystem Management 740
VII.10 Governance and Institutions 748
VII.11 Assessments: Linking


Ecology to Policy 754
Milestones in Ecology 761
Glossary 775
Index 793

What People are Saying About This

May

This is a synoptic survey of our still-advancing understanding of ecological science. It first deals with fundamental principles, ranging from individual plants or animals through populations and ecosystems to entire landscapes. These principles are then applied in insightful discussions of conservation biology, ecosystem services, and ultimately the sustainable management of our planet's biosphere. The 'autecology' of this book is itself remarkable, as tight editing has drawn together contributions from more than one hundred individual authors into a unified whole. In short, the book is a timely and important one.
— Robert M. May, University of Oxford

From the Publisher

"A long-needed sourcebook to the science so pertinent to the future, providing rich and eminently readable entries on all aspects of ecology—so valuable that it is hard to imagine how anyone managed without it."—Thomas E. Lovejoy, President, Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment

"This is a synoptic survey of our still-advancing understanding of ecological science. It first deals with fundamental principles, ranging from individual plants or animals through populations and ecosystems to entire landscapes. These principles are then applied in insightful discussions of conservation biology, ecosystem services, and ultimately the sustainable management of our planet's biosphere. The 'autecology' of this book is itself remarkable, as tight editing has drawn together contributions from more than one hundred individual authors into a unified whole. In short, the book is a timely and important one."—Robert M. May, University of Oxford

"Essential reading for biologists, social scientists, and all interested in a holistic view of the world, this marvelous collection presents the flourishing state of ecology today and its even more exciting prospects for the future."—Peter H. Raven, President, Missouri Botanical Garden

"The Princeton Guide to Ecology is an exciting development because it brings together in one place accessible articles written by the leading experts across the important field of ecology. Ecology has grown and repeatedly subdivided in recent years, but now we have it back together again with this enormously useful framework and compendium."—James Gustave Speth, Dean, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

Raven

Essential reading for biologists, social scientists, and all interested in a holistic view of the world, this marvelous collection presents the flourishing state of ecology today and its even more exciting prospects for the future.
— Peter H. Raven, President, Missouri Botanical Garden

James Gustave Speth

The Princeton Guide to Ecology is an exciting development because it brings together in one place accessible articles written by the leading experts across the important field of ecology. Ecology has grown and repeatedly subdivided in recent years, but now we have it back together again with this enormously useful framework and compendium.
— James Gustave Speth, Dean, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

Lovejoy

A long-needed sourcebook to the science so pertinent to the future, providing rich and eminently readable entries on all aspects of ecology—so valuable that it is hard to imagine how anyone managed without it.
— Thomas E. Lovejoy, President, Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment

Editorial Reviews

Levin (Encyclopedia of Biodiversity) and more than 130 researchers from universities and research centers around the world combine efforts to produce a content-rich volume presenting the diversity of ecology, from basic to applied. The content is divided into seven parts: autecology (the study of individual species in relation to the environment), population ecology, communities and ecosystems, landscapes and the biosphere, conservation biology, ecosystem services, and managing the biosphere. Each part begins with a short introduction and is then further divided into sections ranging from five to 12 pages in length. Each section starts with an outline and a glossary, moves on through its concepts, and concludes with an annotated list of articles and books for further reading. A small number of black-and-white illustrations and 16 pages of color plates barely succeed at providing a break from text. The chronology of milestones in ecology includes more content than the average reference book time line, beginning with humans' earliest use of fire in 500,000 B.C.E. but inexplicably stops with events during 1992. Surely something noteworthy in the field of ecology occurred within the last 17 years. The readings listed at the end of each section do include recent publications. Although the same terms are defined, definitions in the main glossary differ from those provided in the sectional glossaries. BOTTOM LINE The density of text, foreshortened time line, and dueling definitions are not enough to sully the reputation of this reference, since it's still a comprehensive overview of the topic. The text-dense format may have limited appeal in public or school libraries. Highly recommended foracademic libraries.—Teresa R. Faust, Vermont Dept. of Libs., Berlin

Library Journal

"Edited by eminent ecologist Simon Levin, with contributions from leading ecologists, the book explains key topics in more than ninety concise and authoritative articles."

Blackwells Recommends

"The Princeton Guide to Ecology is a comprehensive assemblage of contemporary ecological research studies and issues related to the different disciplines of the ecological sciences. . . . Technical information throughout the book is presented in a simple-to-understand manner; a comprehensive glossary facilitates further understanding of terminology/concepts. This volume will be useful to students as well as professionals in areas related to environmental health and public policy."

Choice

"Every ecology graduate student studying for their comprehensive examination needs this book. For that matter, every practicing ecologist interested in keeping up with aspects of the field, particularly outside of their own subdiscipline, would be well served to have this book on hand."—-Jonathan M. Chase, Quarterly Review of Biology

From the Publisher

I think that the most valuable contribution that this book makes is to integrate ideas across ecology, to showcase the diversity of ecology and to give that ecology currency.

Austral Ecology - John Morgan

Because ecology and conservation are such hot topics as of late, this title could be useful to a number of people. The obvious choice is that of university libraries; however, researchers in the field, scientists in related fields, as well as policy makers and journalists could use this title in their work.

American Reference Books Annual - Shannon Graff Hysell

Every ecology graduate student studying for their comprehensive examination needs this book. For that matter, every practicing ecologist interested in keeping up with aspects of the field, particularly outside of their own subdiscipline, would be well served to have this book on hand.

Quarterly Review of Biology - Jonathan M. Chase

Because ecology and conservation are such hot topics as of late, this title could be useful to a number of people. The obvious choice is that of university libraries; however, researchers in the field, scientists in related fields, as well as policy makers and journalists could use this title in their work.
— Shannon Graff Hysell

American Reference Books Annual

Every ecology graduate student studying for their comprehensive examination needs this book. For that matter, every practicing ecologist interested in keeping up with aspects of the field, particularly outside of their own subdiscipline, would be well served to have this book on hand.
— Jonathan M. Chase

Quarterly Review of Biology