We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out more
Instructor inspection copy request

E-book purchase
Choose a subscription

Downloaded copy on your device does not expire. Includes 4 years of Bookshelf Online.

close

Where applicable, tax will be added to the above price prior to payment.

E-book purchasing help

E-book purchase

E-books are granted under the terms of a single-user, non-transferable license, and may be accessed online from any location.

Contact information
E: Contact Us

Cover

A Primer of Ecology

Fourth Edition

Nicholas J. Gotelli

Publication Date - May 2008

ISBN: 9780878933181

290 pages
Paperback
6 x 8.5 inches

In Stock

Presents a concise but detailed exposition of the most common mathematical models in population and community ecology

Description

A Primer of Ecology, Fourth Edition, 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 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.

The Primer explains in detail basic concepts of exponential and logistic population growth, age-structured demography, metapopulation dynamics, competition, predation, island biogeography, succession, and, in a chapter new to this edition, species richness. Each chapter is carefully graded from simple material that is appropriate for beginning undergraduates to advanced material, which is suited for upper-division undergraduates and beginning graduate students. Advanced topics include environmental and demographic stochasticity, discrete population growth and chaos, stage-structured demography, intraguild predation, nonlinear predator-prey isoclines, and passive sampling. Each chapter follows the same structure: model presentation and predictions, model assumptions, model variations, empirical examples, and problems.

Essential equations are highlighted for students' use. Intermediate algebraic "expressions" are also illustrated so that students see where the equations came from. New terms are introduced in the text in boldface type to alert students to novel concepts. The Primer contains more mathematical detail than many ecology textbooks, but avoids jargon and mathematical terminology that can intimidate students. Both simple and advanced problems are included, followed by fully worked solutions so that students can gain confidence and a better understanding of the models. Citations are kept to a minimum.

About the Author(s)

Nicholas J. Gotelli is Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Vermont. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and earned his Ph.D. at Florida State University. Dr. Gotelli currently serves on the Board of Editors of Ecology. His research interests include: experimental invertebrate community ecology; metapopulation dynamics; parasite ecology and the evolution of host behavior; and biogeography and island biology.

Previous Publication Date(s)

March 2001
April 1998
April 1995

Table of Contents

    1. Exponential Population Growth

    2. Logistic Population Growth

    3. Age-Structured Population Growth

    4. Metapopulation Dynamics

    5. Competition

    6. Predation

    7. Island Biogeography

    8. Succession

    9. Measuring Species Diversity

Related Titles