Ecology in Action

An undergraduate text providing students with a solid understanding of ecological concepts while illuminating their real-world applications.

Fred D. Singer (Author)

9781108927222, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 July 2024

643 pages
27.9 x 21.6 x 3.1 cm, 1.75 kg

'I am very impressed with the new edition of this book. Visual literacy is weakness among many undergraduates and this book does a superb job of making ecology accessible through learning how to interpret graphs, tables, and figures. Also good are the presentation of Lotka-Volterra population growth models as well as competition and consumer-resource models.' Paul Ode, Colorado State University

Providing students with a solid understanding of core ecological concepts while explaining how ecologists raise and answer real-world questions, this second edition weaves together classic and cutting-edge case studies to bring the subject to life. It is fully updated throughout, including two chapters devoted to climate change ecology, along with extensive coverage of disease ecology, and has been designed specifically to equip students with the tools to analyze and interpret real data. Each chapter emphasizes the linkage between observations, ideas, questions, hypotheses, predictions, results, and conclusions. Additional summary sections describe the development and evolution of research programs in each of ecology's core areas, providing students with essential context. Integrated discussion questions, along with end-of-chapter questions, encourage active learning. These are supported by online resources including tutorials that teach students to use the R programming language for statistical analyses of data presented in the text.

Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. Introduction and the Physical Environment: 1. What is ecology in action?
2. The physical environment
3. The carbon cycle and climate change
Part II. Evolutionary and Organismal Ecology: 4. Evolution and adaptation
5. Physiological and evolutionary ecology of acquiring nutrients and energy
6. Physiological and evolutionary ecology of temperature and water relations
7. Behavioral ecology
Online case study 1. Bernd Heinrich: studying adaptation in the field and the laboratory
Part III. Population Ecology: 8. Life history evolution
9. Population distribution and dispersal movement
10. Population abundance and growth
11. Conservation ecology
Online case study 2. Jane Goodall and Anne Pusey: researching the chimpanzees of Gombe
Part IV. Community Ecology: 12. Interspecific competition
13. Predation and other exploitative interactions
14. Facilitation
15. Complex interactions and food webs
16. Biological diversity and community stability
Online case study 3. Dan Janzen and Winnie Hallwachs: community interactions and tropical restoration through biodiversity conservation
Part V. Ecosystem and Global Ecology: 17. Ecosystem structure and energy flow
18. Nutrient cycles: global, regional and local
19. Disturbance and succession
20. Geographic and landscape ecology
21. Climate change ecology
Online case study 4. Jane Lubchenco: community, ecosystem and global ecology
Glossary
Credits
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Ecological science, the Biosphere [PSAF]