Ecology

Charles Krebs' best-selling majors-level text approaches ecology as a series of problems that are best understood by evaluating empirical evidence through data analysis and application of quantitative reasoning. No other text presents analytical, quantitative, and statistical ecological information in an equally accessible style for students. Reflecting the way ecologists actually practice, the new edition emphasizes the role of experiments in testing ecological ideas and discusses many contemporary and controversial problems related to distribution and abundance. Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance, Sixth Edition builds on a clear writing style, historical perspective, and emphasis on data analysis with an updated, reorganized discussion of key topics and two new chapters on climate change and animal behavior. Key concepts and key terms are now included at the beginning of each chapter to help students focus on what is most important within each chapter, mathematical analyses are broken down step by step in a new feature called "Working with the Data," concepts are reinforced throughout the text with examples from the literature, and end-of-chapter questions and problems emphasize application.Glossary 1. Introduction to the Science of Ecology 2. Evolution and Ecology 3. Behavioral Ecology 4. Analyzing Geographic Distributions 5. Factors That Limit Distributions I: Biotic 6. Factors That Limit Distributions II: Abiotic 7. Distribution and Abundance 8. Population Parameters and Demographic Techniques 9. Population Growth 10. Species Interactions I: Competition 11. Species Interactions II: Predation 12. Species Interactions III: Herbivory and Mutualism 13. Species Interactions IV: Disease and Parasitism 14. Regulation of Population Size 15. Applied Problems I: Harvesting Populations 16. Applied Problems II: Pest Control 17. Applied Problems III: Conservation Biology 18. Community Structure in Space: Biodiversity 19. Community Structure in Time: Succession 20. Community Dynamics I: Predation and Competition in Equilibrial Communities 21. Community Dynamics II: Disturbance and Nonequilibrium Communities 22. Ecosystem Metabolism I: Primary Production 23. Ecosystem Metabolism II: Secondary Production 24. Ecosystem Metabolism III: Nutrient Cycles 25. Ecosystem Dynamics under Changing Climates 26. Ecosystem Health and Human Impacts Appendix: A Primer on Population Genetics Appendix: Instantaneous and Finite Rates Appendix: Species Diversity Measures of Heterogeneity Bibliography Index