Macroevolutionary Theory on Macroecological Patterns

by Peter W. Price

• ISBN13: 9780521817127
• ISBN10: 0521817129
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-12-23
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In Macroevolutionary Theory on Macroecological Patterns, Peter Price establishes a completely new vision of the central themes in ecology. For the first time in book form, the study of distribution, abundance, and population size variation in animals is cast in an evolutionary framework. The book argues that evolved characters of organisms such as morphology, behavior, and life history influence strongly their ecological relationships, including the way that populations fluctuate through time and space. The central ideas in the book are supported by data gathered from over 20 years of research, primarily into plant and herbivore interactions, concentrating on insects. The huge diversity of insect herbivores provides the immense comparative power necessary for a strong evolutionary study of ecological principles. The book is intended as essential reading for all researchers and students of ecology, evolutionary biology, and behavior, and for entomologists working in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry.

Author Biography

Peter W. Price is Regents' Professor Emeritus at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, U.S.A. Over the past 40 years Professor Price has contributed over 200 research articles, and book chapters to the scientific literature and has been sole author or an editor of 11 books. He has received the Founder's Memorial Award from the Entomological Society of America and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
The general thesis	1	(8)
Historical views on distribution, abundance, and population dynamics	9	(39)
The focal species - Basic biology	48	(20)
The focal species - Emergent properties	68	(23)
The focal group - The common sawflies	91	(34)
Convergent constraints in divergent taxonomic groups	125	(20)
Divergent constraints and emergent properties	145	(37)
Common constraints and divergent emergent properties	182	(13)
The thesis applied to parasitoids, plants, and vertebrate taxa	195	(25)
Theory development and synthesis	220	(22)
Glossary	242	(4)
References	246	(28)
Author index	274	(5)
Taxonomic index	279	(8)
Subject index	287