Essentials of Ecology

Chapter 1: Ecology and How to Do It 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Scales, diversity and rigor 1.2.1 Questions of scale 1.2.2 The diversity of ecological evidence 1.2.3 Statistics and scientific rigor 1.3 Ecology in practice 1.3.1 The brown trout in New Zealand - effects on individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems 1.3.2 Successions on old fields in Minnesota - a study in time and space 1.3.3 Hubbard Brook - a long-term commitment of large-scale significance 1.3.4 A model study: Genetically modified crops - bad for biodiversity? Summary Review Questions Chapter 2: The Ecology of Evolution 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Evolution by natural selection 2.3 Evolution within species 2.3.1 Geographical variation within species 2.3.2 Variation within a species with man-made selection pressures 2.3.3 Adaptive peaks and specialized abysses 2.4 The ecology of speciation 2.4.1 What do we mean by a "species"? 2.4.2 Islands and speciation 2.5 The effects of climate change on the evolution and distribution of species 2.6 The effects of continental drift on the ecology of evolution 2.7 Interpreting the results of evolution: convergent and parallel evolution Summary Review Questions Chapter 3: Physical Conditions and the Availability of Resources 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Environmental conditions 3.2.1 What do we mean by "harsh," "benign," and "extreme"? 3.2.2 Effects of conditions 3.2.3 Conditions as stimuli 3.2.4 The effects of conditions on interactions between organisms 3.2.5 Responses by sedentary organisms 3.2.6 Animal responses to environmental temperature 3.2.7 Microorganisms in extreme environments 3.3 Plant resources 3.3.1 Solar radiation 3.3.2 Water 3.3.3 Mineral nutrients 3.3.4 Carbon dioxide 3.4 Animals and their resources 3.4.1 Nutritional needs and provisions 3.4.2 Defense 3.5 The effect of intraspecific competition for resources 3.6 Conditions, resources, and the ecological niche Summary Review Questions Chapter 4: Conditions, Resources and the World's Communities 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Geographical patterns at large and small scales 4.2.1 Large-scale climatic patterns 4.2.2 Small-scale patterns in conditions and resources 4.2.3 Patterns in conditions and resources in aquatic environments 4.3 Temporal patterns in conditions and resources - succession 4.4 The terrestrial biomes 4.4.1 Describing and classifying biomes 4.4.2 Tropical rain forest 4.4.3 Savanna 4.4.4 Temperate grasslands 4.4.5 Desert 4.4.6 Temperate forest 4.4.7 Northern coniferous forest (taiga) grading into tundra 4.5 Aquatic environments 4.5.1 Stream ecology 4.5.2 Lake ecology 4.5.3 The oceans 4.5.4 Coasts 4.5.5 Estuaries Summary Review Questions Chapter 5: Birth, Death and Movement 5.1 Introduction 5.1.1 What is an individual? 5.1.2 Counting individuals, births, and deaths 5.2 Life Cycles 5.2.1 Life cycles and reproduction 5.2.2 Annual life cycles 5.2.3 Longer life cycles 5.3 Monitoring birth and death: life tables and fecundity schedules (Part conents)