Introduction to Population Ecology

Introduction to Population Ecology, 2nd
Edition is a comprehensive textbook covering all aspects
of population ecology. It uses a wide variety of field and
laboratory examples, botanical to zoological, from the tropics to
the tundra, to illustrate the fundamental laws of population
ecology. Controversies in population ecology are brought fully up
to date in this edition, with many brand new and revised examples
and data.

Each chapter provides an overview of how population theory has
developed, followed by descriptions of laboratory and field studies
that have been inspired by the theory. Topics explored include
single-species population growth and self-limitation, life
histories, metapopulations and a wide range of interspecific
interactions including competition, mutualism, parasite-host,
predator-prey and plant-herbivore. An additional final chapter, new
for the second edition, considers multi-trophic and other complex
interactions among species.

Throughout the book, the mathematics involved is explained with a
step-by-step approach, and graphs and other

visual aids are used to present a clear illustration of how the
models work. Such features make this an accessible introduction to
population ecology; essential reading for undergraduate and
graduate students taking courses in population ecology, applied
ecology, conservation ecology, and conservation biology, including
those with little mathematical experience.

Autorentext

Larry Rockwood is Professor of Biology and Environmental Science and Policy, and Chairman of the Department of Biology at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, USA. He earned his B.S. degree in Biopsychology and his Ph.D. degree in Biology at the University of Chicago. His early research was conducted in Costa Rica where he studied foraging patterns in leaf-cutting ants. More recently he has collaborated on a variety of projects from human-coyote conflicts to aspects of avian ecology and plant ecology. He has been teaching introductory ecology, population ecology and tropical ecology for almost 40 years. In 2014 Dr Rockwood was presented with the David J. King Award in recognition of 'outstanding contributions to enhancing teaching and learning' by George Mason University.

Klappentext

Introduction to Population Ecology, 2nd Edition is a comprehensive textbook covering all aspects of population ecology. It uses a wide variety of field and laboratory examples, botanical to zoological, from the tropics to the tundra, to illustrate the fundamental laws of population ecology. Controversies in population ecology are brought fully up to date in this edition, with many brand new and revised examples and data.

Each chapter provides an overview of how population theory has developed, followed by descriptions of laboratory and field studies that have been inspired by the theory. Topics explored include single-species population growth and self-limitation, life histories, metapopulations and a wide range of interspecific interactions including competition, mutualism, parasite-host, predator-prey and plant-herbivore. An additional final chapter, new for the second edition, considers multi-trophic and other complex interactions among species.

Throughout the book, the mathematics involved is explained with a step-by-step approach, and graphs and other visual aids are used to present a clear illustration of how the models work. Such features make this an accessible introduction to population ecology; essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in population ecology, applied ecology, conservation ecology, and conservation biology, including those with little mathematical experience.

Zusammenfassung

Introduction to Population Ecology, 2nd Edition is a comprehensive textbook covering all aspects of population ecology. It uses a wide variety of field and laboratory examples, botanical to zoological, from the tropics to the tundra, to illustrate the fundamental laws of population ecology. Controversies in population ecology are brought fully up to date in this edition, with many brand new and revised examples and data.

Each chapter provides an overview of how population theory has developed, followed by descriptions of laboratory and field studies that have been inspired by the theory. Topics explored include single-species population growth and self-limitation, life histories, metapopulations and a wide range of interspecific interactions including competition, mutualism, parasite-host, predator-prey and plant-herbivore. An additional final chapter, new for the second edition, considers multi-trophic and other complex interactions among species.

Throughout the book, the mathematics involved is explained with a step-by-step approach, and graphs and other
visual aids are used to present a clear illustration of how the models work. Such features make this an accessible introduction to population ecology; essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in population ecology, applied ecology, conservation ecology, and conservation biology, including those with little mathematical experience.

Inhalt

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

About the companion website xiii

Part 1 Single species populations 1

1 Density independent growth 5

1.1 Introduction 5

1.2 Fundamentals of population growth 8

1.3 Types of models 10

1.4 Density independent versus density dependent growth 12

1.5 Discrete or "geometric" growth in populations with non-overlapping generations 12

1.6 Exponential growth in populations with overlapping generations 16

1.7 Examples of exponential growth 18

1.8 Applications to human populations 19

1.9 The finite rate of increase () and the intrinsic rate of increase () 23

1.10 Stochastic models of population growth and population viability analysis 25

1.11 Conclusions 30

References 30

2 Density dependent growth and intraspecific competition 33

2.1 Introduction 33

2.2 Density dependence in populations with discrete generations 37

2.3 Density dependence in populations with overlapping generations 42

2.4 Nonlinear density dependence of birth and death rates and the Allee effect 46

2.5 Time lags and limit cycles 51

2.6 Chaos and behavior of the discrete logistic model 53

2.7 Adding stochasticity to density dependent models 54

2.8 Laboratory and field data 55

2.9 Behavioral aspects of intraspecific competition 60

2.10 Summary 64

References 64

3 Population regulation 69

3.1 Introduction 69

3.2 What is population regulation? 70

3.3 Combining density-dependent and density-independent factors 71

3.4 Tests of density dependence 73

3.5 Summary 77

References 78

4 Populations with age structures 81

4.1 Introduction 81

4.2 Survivorship 83

4.3 Fertility 90

4.4 Mortality curves 94

4.5 Expectation of life 96

4.6 Net reproductive rate, generation time, and the intrinsic rate of increase 97

4.7 Age structure and the stable age distribution 99

4.8 Projecting population growth in age-structured populations 99

4.9 The Leslie or population projection matrix 102

4.10 A second version of the Leslie matrix 103

4.11 The Lefkovitch modification of the Leslie matrix 104

4.12 Dominant latent roots and the characteristic equation 105

4.13 Reproductive value 107

4.14 Conclusions: sensitivity analysis 109

References 112

5 Metapopulation ecology 115

5.1 Introduction 115

5.2 Metapopulations and spatial ecology 116

5.3 MacArthur and Wilson and the equilibrium theory 120

5.4 The Levins or classical metapopulation 124

5.5 Lande's extension of the Levins model 125

5.6 Extinction in metapopulations 127

5.7 Metapopulation dynamics of two local populations 127

5.8 Source…