A Primer of Ecology

by Gotelli, Nicholas J.

• ISBN13: 9780878932733
• ISBN10: 0878932739
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Sinauer Associates Inc

Summary

A Primer of Ecology presents a concise but detailed exposition of the most common mathematical models in population and community ecology. It is intended to demystify ecological models and the mathematics behind them by deriving the models from first principles. The Primer explains in detail basic concepts of exponential and logistic population growth, age-structured demography, metapopulation dynamics, competition, predation, island biogeography, and, in a chapter new to this edition, succession. The book may be used as a self-teaching tutorial by students, as a primary textbook, or as a supplemental text to a general ecology textbook.

Table of Contents

Preface To The Third Edition	xi
Preface To The Second Edition	xiii
Preface To The First Edition	xiv
To The Student	xx
Exponential Population Growth	1	(24)
Model Presentation And Predictions	2	(7)
Elements of Population Growth	2	(4)
Projecting Population Size	6	(1)
Calculating Doubling Time	6	(3)
Model Assumptions	9	(2)
Model Variations	11	(8)
Continuous Versus Discrete Population Growth	11	(2)
Environmental Stochasticity	13	(3)
Demographic Stochasticity	16	(3)
Empirical Examples	19	(4)
Pheasants of Protection Island	19	(1)
Grizzly Bears of Yellowstone National Park	20	(3)
Problems	23	(2)
Logistic Population Growth	25	(24)
Model Presentation And Predictions	26	(4)
Density Dependence	26	(2)
Carrying Capacity	28	(2)
Model Assumptions	30	(2)
Model Variations	32	(9)
Time Lags	32	(3)
Discrete Population Growth	35	(3)
Random Variation in Carrying Capacity	38	(1)
Periodic Variation in Carrying Capacity	38	(3)
Empirical Examples	41	(7)
Song Sparrows of Mandarte Island	41	(2)
Population Dynamics of Subtidal Ascidians	43	(2)
Logistic Growth and the Collapse of Fisheries Populations	45	(3)
Problems	48	(1)
Age-Structured Population Growth	49	(32)
Model Presentation and Predictions	50	(16)
Exponential Growth with Age Structure	50	(1)
Notation for Ages and Age Classes	50	(2)
The Fecundity Schedule [b(x)]	52	(1)
Fecundity Schedules in Nature	53	(1)
The Survivorship Schedule [l(x)]	53	(1)
Survival Probability [g(x)]	54	(1)
Survivorship Schedules in Nature	55	(1)
Calculating Net Reproductive Rate (Ro)	56	(1)
Calculating Generation Time (G)	57	(1)
Calculating Intrinsic Rate of Increase (r)	58	(1)
Describing Population Age Structure	59	(1)
Calculating Survival Probabilities for Age Classes (Pi)	60	(1)
Calculating Fertilities for Age Classes (Fi)	60	(1)
The Leslie Matrix	61	(2)
Stable and Stationary Age Distributions	63	(3)
Model Assumptions	66	(1)
Model Variations	66	(8)
Derivation of the Euler Equation	66	(1)
Reproductive Value	67	(2)
Life History Strategies	69	(2)
Stage- and Size-Structured Population Growth	71	(3)
Empirical Examples	74	(6)
Life Tables for Ground Squirrels	74	(2)
Stage Projection Matrices for Teasel	76	(4)
Problems	80	(1)
Metapopulation Dynamics	81	(18)
Model Presentation And Predictions	82	(5)
Metapopulations and Extinction Risk	83	(1)
A Model of Metapopulation Dynamics	84	(3)
Model Assumptions	87	(1)
Model Variations	88	(5)
The Island--Mainland Model	88	(1)
Internal Colonization	88	(2)
The Rescue Effect	90	(1)
Other Variations	91	(2)
Empirical Examples	93	(4)
The Checkerspot Butterfly	93	(1)
Heathland Carabid Beetles	94	(3)
Problems	97	(2)
Competition	99	(26)
Model Presentation And Predictions	100	(14)
Competitive Interactions	100	(1)
The Lotka--Volterra Competition Model	101	(1)
Competition Coefficients	102	(1)
Equilibrium Solutions	103	(1)
The State Space	104	(3)
Graphical Solutions to the Lotka--Volterra Competition Model	107	(5)
The Principle of Competitive Exclusion	112	(2)
Model Assumptions	114	(1)
Model Variations	115	(1)
Intraguild Predation	115	(1)
Empirical Examples	116	(8)
Competition between Intertidal Sandflat Worms	116	(4)
The Shape of a Gerbil Isocline	120	(4)
Problems	124	(1)
Predation	125	(30)
Model Presentation And Predictions	126	(7)
Modeling Prey Population Growth	126	(1)
Modeling Predator Population Growth	127	(1)
Equilibrium Solutions	128	(1)
Graphical Solutions to the Lotka--Volterra Predation Model	128	(5)
Model Assumptions	133	(1)
Model Variations	134	(13)
Incorporating a Victim Carrying Capacity	134	(1)
Modifying the Functional Response	135	(5)
The Paradox of Enrichment	140	(2)
Incorporating Other Factors in the Victim Isocline	142	(1)
Modifying the Predator Isocline	143	(4)
Empirical Examples	147	(6)
Population Cycles of Hare and Lynx	147	(1)
Population Cycles of Red Grouse	148	(5)
Problems	153	(2)
Island Biogeography	155	(24)
Model Presentation And Predictions	156	(9)
The Species--Area Relationship	156	(2)
The Habitat Diversity Hypothesis	158	(1)
The Equilibrium Model of Island Biogeography	159	(6)
Model Assumptions	165	(1)
Model Variations	166	(5)
Nonlinear Immigration and Extinction Curves	166	(1)
Area and Distance Effects	167	(1)
The Rescue Effect	168	(1)
The Target Effect	169	(1)
The Passive Sampling Model	170	(1)
Empirical Examples	171	(6)
Insects of Mangrove Islands	171	(2)
Breeding Birds of Eastern Wood	173	(2)
Breeding Birds of the Pymatuning Lake Islands	175	(2)
Problems	177	(2)
Succession	179	(24)
Model Presentation And Predictions	181	(9)
Three Verbal Models of Succession	181	(2)
Matrix Models of Succession	183	(1)
Setting the Stages	183	(1)
Specifying the Time Step	184	(1)
Constructing the Stage Vector	184	(1)
Constructing the Transition Matrix	184	(1)
Loop Diagrams	185	(1)
Projecting Community Change	186	(1)
Determining the Equilibrium	187	(1)
Stage Vectors and Transition Matrices: Two Interpretations	188	(2)
Model Assumptions	190	(1)
Model Variations	191	(6)
Successional Models Revisited	191	(1)
Facilitation Model	191	(1)
Inhibition model	192	(2)
Tolerance Model	194	(1)
Model Comparisons	194	(2)
Other Models	196	(1)
Empirical Examples	197	(5)
Markovian Dynamics of Desert Vegetation	197	(2)
Models of Coral Reef Succession	199	(3)
Problems	202	(1)
APPENDIX	203	(12)
Constructing a Population Model	203	(1)
The Derivative: The Velocity of a Population	203	(2)
Modeling Population Growth	205	(1)
Solving for the Equilibrium	206	(1)
Analyzing the Stability of the Equilibrium	207	(5)
The Integral: Projecting Population Growth	212	(3)
SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS	215	(16)
Chapter 1	215	(3)
Chapter 2	218	(3)
Chapter 3	221	(2)
Chapter 4	223	(2)
Chapter 5	225	(1)
Chapter 6	226	(2)
Chapter 7	228	(1)
Chapter 8	229	(2)
Glossary	231	(18)
Literature Cited	249	(8)
Index	257