Ecological Experiments
Purpose, Design and Execution

Nelson G. Hairston (Author)

9780521346924, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 November 1989

390 pages, 72 b/w illus. 48 tables
22.8 x 15 x 2.8 cm, 0.635 kg

' … when it comes to writing about ecological experimentation Hairston is unbeatable. This is the best ecology book to appear in several years. It is instructional, entertaining and unmatched in the breadth and distinction of its scholarship.' Michael J. Crawley, Nature

Ecological Experiments stresses the importance to ecology of field experiments, where variables are manipulated in order to collect data on specific hypotheses, as opposed to the more passive observational method. The book begins by introducing a series of ecological questions that can be addressed experimentally for example, what is the significance of competition among species? The minimal requirements of experimental design that must be met are then introduced, together with examples of good and poor experiments from the ecological literature and a consideration of the trade-offs that may be forced on the experimenter by field conditions. All ecologists, and especially students beginning their careers in field study, will find in this text a good introduction to the experimental foundation of ecology.

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Ecological problems and how they are approached
2. Minimal requirements of experimental design in ecology
3. Trade-offs in ecological experimentation
4. Experiments in forests
5. Experiments in terrestrial successional communities
6. Experiments in arid environments
7. Experiments in fresh water
8. Experiments in marine environments
9. Conclusions to be drawn from field experiments
References
Name index
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Applied ecology [RNC], Ecological science, the Biosphere [PSAF]