Efnisyfirlit

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• 1.1 What is ecology?
• 1.2 The nature of ecology
• 1.3 The study of ecology
• Chapter 2: The individual
• 2.1 Why look at individuals in ecology?
• 2.2 Autotrophs and heterotrophs
• 2.2.1 Terms associated with heterotrophic nutrition
• 2.2.2 Ingestion by heterotrophs
• 2.3 Metabolic rate
• 2.4 Factors affecting metabolic rate
• 2.4.1 Size
• 2.4.2 Life style
• 2.5 Size determines more than metabolic rate
• 2.6 Energy budgets
• 2.6.1 Assimilation efficiency
• 2.6.2 Production and respiration
• 2.6.3 Allocation to reproduction
• 2.6.4 Drawing up a complete energy budget
• 2.7 Distinguishing between growth and reproduction
• Chapter 3: Autecology
• 3.1 The meaning of autecology
• 3.2 The autecology of bracken
• 3.2.1 The importance of bracken
• 3.2.2 The life form of bracken
• 3.2.3 Anti-predator mechanisms
• 3.3 The autecology of the European starling
• 3.3.1 Appearance and distribution
• 3.3.2 Feeding habits
• 3.3.3 Roosting behaviour of starlings
• 3.3.4 Reproduction
• 3.3.5 Starlings and humans
• Chapter 4: Population dynamics
• 4.1 Populations and population change
• 4.2 Dispersal of organisms
• 4.3 Dormancy
• 4.4 The study of populations
• 4.4.1 The basic equation
• 4.4.2 Age structure in populations
• 4.4.3 The fate of a cohort
• 4.4.4 Age at death
• 4.4.5 Long-term population studies
• 4.5 Presentation of demographic data
• 4.5.1 Life tables
• 4.5.2 Population pyramids
• 4.5.3 Survivorship curves
• 4.6 Evolutionary strategies
• 4.6.1 Strategies as shown by survivorship curves
• 4.6.2 r- and K-strategies
• 4.7 Modular organisms
• Chapter 5: Population regulation
• 5.1 Population growth
• 5.1.1 Population growth without regulation – exponential growth
• 5.1.2 Simple population regulation – the logistic growth curve
• 5.2 Factors which regulate population size
• 5.2.1 Types of regulation
• 5.2.2 Space
• 5.2.3 Food and water
• 5.2.4 Territories
• 5.2.5 Herbivores and predators
• 5.2.6 Weather and climate
• 5.2.7 Parasites and diseases
• 5.2.8 Natural disasters
• 5.2.9 Self-regulation and stress
• 5.3 Patterns in population dynamics
• Chapter 6: Ecological genetics
• 6.1 The importance of genetics to ecology
• 6.1.1 The source of variation
• 6.1.2 Genetic and environmental variation
• 6.1.3 The role of variation in natural selection
• 6.2 Reproductive systems
• 6.2.1 Formation of genetic variation
• 6.2.2 Obligate cross-fertilisation
• 6.2.3 Facultative cross-fertilisation
• 6.2.4 Self-fertilisation
• 6.2.5 Seed apomixis
• 6.2.6 Vegetative reproduction
• 6.3 Genetic consequences of different reproductive systems
• 6.3.1 The source of inherited chromosomes
• 6.3.2 The consequences of outcrossing
• 6.3.3 The consequences of self-fertilisation
• 6.3.4 The consequences of asexual reproduction
• 6.4 Patterns of genetic variation
• 6.4.1 External influences on genetic variation
• 6.4.2 Founder effects and bottlenecks
• 6.4.3 Isolation of populations
• 6.4.4 Ecotypes and ecoclines
• 6.5 Genetic variation within an organism
• Chapter 7: Behavioural ecology
• 7.1 What is behavioural ecology?
• 7.2 Optimisation theory
• 7.3 Optimal foraging
• 7.3.1 Optimal foraging in crows
• 7.3.2 Foraging in African elephants
• 7.3.3 Optimal foraging in plants
• 7.4 Growth versus reproduction
• 7.5 Reproducing only once versus reproducing several times
• 7.6 Parental care
• 7.6.1 Offspring size
• 7.6.2 Which sex looks after the offspring?
• 7.7 Breeding systems in plants
• 7.8 Alternative strategies
• 7.9 Games theory
• 7.10 Constraints on adaptation
• 7.10.1 Time lags
• 7.10.2 Historical constraints
• 7.10.3 Lack of genetic variation
• Chapter 8: Sociobiology
• 8.1 Living in groups
• 8.2 The advantages of group living
• 8.2.1 Less risk of predation
• 8.2.2 More chance of obtaining food
• 8.2.3 Other advantages of group living
• 8.3 Disadvantages of group living
• 8.4 Optimal group size
• 8.5 Evolution of helping behaviour
• 8.5.1 Kin selection
• 8.5.2 Reciprocal altruism
• 8.5.3 Group selection
• 8.6 The unit of selection and social behaviour
• 8.6.1 Termites
• 8.6.2 Army ants
• 8.6.3 Lions
• 8.6.4 Naked mole rats
• 8.7 Human sociobiology
• 8.7.1 Parental investment in the later mediaeval Portuguese nobility
• 8.7.2 Helping behaviour in humans
• Chapter 9: The environment
• 9.1 What is the environment?
• 9.2 The physical environment
• 9.2.1 The composition of the physical environment
• 9.2.2 Geology and soil
• 9.2.3 Topography
• 9.2.4 Latitudinal light and temperature variation
• 9.2.5 Climate and weather
• 9.2.6 Catastrophes
• 9.3 The bio tic environment
• 9.3.1 Types of interaction
• 9.3.2 Intraspecific relationships (within species)
• 9.3.3 Interspecific relationships (between species)
• 9.4 Biotic and abiotic interactions
• 9.4.1 The complexity of the environment
• 9.4.2 Pathogens and climate
• 9.4.3 Abiotic effects on competition
• Chapter 10: Habitats and niches
• 10.1 Habitats
• 10.2 Niches
• 10.2.1 Determining niches
• 10.2.2 Each species has its own unique niche
• 10.3 Gause’s competitive exclusion principle
• 10.4 Species coexistence
• 10.4.1 Size ratios in closely related species
• 10.4.2 Niche overlap and species coexistence
• 10.5 Fundamental and realised niches
• 10.6 Resource partitioning
• 10.7 Character displacement
• 10.8 Interspecific competition in natural communities
• 10.9 Do plants need niches?
• 10.10 Community structure offish on coral reefs
• Chapter 11: Trophic levels
• 11.1 Why study trophic levels?
• 11.2 Autotrophs
• 11.2.1 Photoautotrophs
• 11.2.2 Chemoautotrophs
• 11.3 Decomposers
• 11.3.1 Decomposition on the forest floor
• 11.3.2 Decomposition of dead plant matter
• 11.4 Herbivores and carnivores
• 11.5 Omnivores
• 11.6 Food chains
• 11.7 Food webs
• 11.8 Pyramids of numbers
• 11.9 Pyramids of biomass
• Chapter 12: Energy transfer
• 12.1 Energy and disorder
• 12.2 Primary production in terrestrial communities
• 12.3 Primary production in aquatic communities
• 12.4 The capture of light by plants
• 12.5 Efficiencies in ecology
• 12.6 Energy flow in natural communities
• 12.6.1 Odum’s (1957) study at Silver Springs, Florida
• 12.6.2 Teal’s (1962) study at a salt marsh in Georgia
• 12.6.3 Varley’s (1970) study of Wytham Wood, Oxford
• 12.7 The efficiency of energy transfer in ecosystems
• 12.8 Pyramids of energy
• Chapter 13: Nutrient cycling and pollution
• 13.1 The pattern of nutrient transfer and its connection with pollution
• 13.2 The carbon cycle
• 13.3 The greenhouse effect
• 13.4 The nitrogen cycle
• 13.5 The phosphorus cycle
• 13.6 Interactions between the nutrient cycles
• 13.7 The importance of nutrient availability
• 13.7.1 The response of organisms to nutrient availability
• 13.7.2 China clay waste tips
• 13.7.3 Nutrient cycling in tropical forests
• 13.8 Pollution
• 13.8.1 Different forms of pollution
• 13.8.2 Eutrophication
• 13.8.3 Heavy metal toxicity
• 13.8.4 Alkaline wastes
• 13.8.5 Acid rain
• 13.8.6 Pesticides
• 13.8.7 CFCs and the ozone layer
• 13.8.8 Radioactivity
• Chapter 14: Communities
• 14.1 The community concept
• 14.1.1 Definitions
• 14.1.2 Recognition of communities
• 14.2 The structure of communities
• 14.2.1 The investigation of communities
• 14.2.2 Oak woodland communities
• 14.2.3 Marine rock pools
• 14.2.4 Mammalian gut communities
• 14.3 Global distribution of terrestrial communities
• 14.4 Patterns of diversity
• 14.4.1 Global diversity
• 14.4.2 Species richness in a community
• 14.4.3 Stability-diversity relationships
• 14.4.4 The global cline
• Chapter 15: Ecosystems
• 15.1 The first use of ecosystem
• 15.2 Soils
• 15.2.1 The structure of soils
• 15.2.2 The great soil groups
• 15.2.3 The effect of vegetation on soil – two case studies
• 15.3 Wetland and aquatic ecosystems
• 15.3.1 Water – the important factor
• 15.3.2 Types of wetlands
• 15.3.3 Marine wetland ecosystems
• 15.3.4 Floodland ecosystems
• 15.3.5 Swamp and marsh ecosystems
• 15.3.6 Bog ecosystems
• 15.3.7 Aquatic ecosystems
• 15.4 Inter-relationships of ecosystems
• Chapter 16: Succession
• 16.1 Vegetation changes
• 16.2 The causes of change
• 16.3 Examples of primary seres
• 16.3.1 Xeroseres
• 16.3.2 Hydroseres
• 16.4 Patterns of succession
• 16.4.1 Variation in seres
• 16.4.2 The end of the succession
• 16.4.3 Diverted seres
• 16.5 Human influence on succession
• Chapter 17: Biomes
• 17.1 How many biomes are there?
• 17.2 The world’s terrestrial biomes
• 17.2.1 Tropical rainforest
• 17.2.2 Elfinwood
• 17.2.3 Tropical seasonal forest
• 17.2.4 Tropical broad-leaved woodland
• 17.2.5 Thornwood
• 17.2.6 Temperate rainforest
• 17.2.7 Temperate deciduous forest
• 17.2.8 Temperate evergreen forest
• 17.2.9 Temperate woodland
• 17.2.10 Temperate shrubland
• 17.2.11 Boreal forest
• 17.2.12 Savannah
• 17.2.13 Temperate grassland
• 17.2.14 Alpine shrubland
• 17.2.15 Alpine grassland
• 17.2.16 Tundra
• 17.2.17 Warm semi-desert scrub
• 17.2.18 Cool semi-desert
• 17.2.19 Arctic-alpine semi-desert
• 17.2.20 Desert
• 17.2.21 Arctic-alpine desert
• 17.3 Wetland and freshwater biomes
• 17.3.1 Cool temperate bog
• 17.3.2 Tropical freshwater swamp forest
• 17.3.3 Temperate freshwater swamp forest
• 17.3.4 Lakes and ponds
• 17.3.5 Streams and rivers
• 17.4 Coastal and marine biomes
• 17.4.1 Marine rocky shore
• 17.4.2 Marine sandy beach
• 17.4.3 Marine mud flat
• 17.4.4 Temperate salt marsh
• 17.4.5 Mangrove swamp
• 17.4.6 Coral reef
• 17.4.7 Marine surface pelagic
• 17.4.8 Marine deep pelagic
• 17.4.9 Continental shelf benthos
• 17.4.10 Deep ocean benthos
• Chapter 18: Biogeography
• 18.1 Species distribution – where and why?
• 18.2 The historic effects of plate tectonics
• 18.2.1 Past continental movements
• 18.2.2 Present patterns of biogeography
• 18.3 Island biogeography
• 18.3.1 The fascination of islands
• 18.3.2 Colonisation of isolated islands
• 18.3.3 The equilibrium theory
• 18.3.4 Evolution on islands
• 18.3.5 Mountain islands
• Chapter 19: Co-evolution
• 19.1 The different grades of co-evolution
• 19.2 Pairwise co-evolution
• 19.2.1 General aspects of one-on-one relationships
• 19.2.2 The ant-acacia example
• 19.3 Diffuse co-evolution
• 19.3.1 Co-evolution between groups of species
• 19.3.2 The mammalian predator-prey example
• 19.3.3 The Red Queen hypothesis
• 19.4 Insect pollination
• 19.4.1 Angiosperm-pollinator relationships
• 19.4.2 The early evolution of insect pollination
• 19.4.3 Orchids and Hymenoptera
• 19.5 Introduced species
• Chapter 20: Conservation principles
• 20.1 Biology is not enough
• 20.2 The need for conservation
• 20.2.1 The pressure on wildlife
• 20.2.2 Maintaining biodiversity
• 20.3 The philosophical basis for conservation
• 20.3.1 Ethical arguments
• 20.3.2 Anthropocentric arguments
• 20.3.3 The role of ecology
• 20.4 Conservation of species
• 20.4.1 Why do species become extinct?
• 20.4.2 Genetic diversity in rare species
• 20.4.3 Captive breeding programmes
• 20.4.4 Re-introductions
• 20.5 Conservation of ecosystems
• 20.5.1 The importance of habitat conservation
• 20.5.2 Design of nature reserves
• 20.5.3 Maintenance of conservation areas
• 20.6 Conservation of the biosphere
• Chapter 21: Conservation in practice
• 21.1 The realities of attempting conservation
• 21.2 Conservation of species
• 21.2.1 The golden lion tamarin – a successful re-introduction
• 21.2.2 The African elephant – protective legislation
• 21.2.3 The tiger – teetering on the edge of extinction
• 21.2.4 Northern spotted owl – habitat destruction
• 21.2.5 Spreading avens – habitat management
• 21.2.6 Partula snails – captive breeding
• 21.3 Conservation of ecosystems
• 21.3.1 Different models of conservation
• 21.3.2 UK legislation
• 21.3.3 Tropical rainforest
• 21.3.4 Wetlands
• 21.4 Conservation of the biosphere
• 21.4.1 The greenhouse effect
• 21.4.2 Conserving the seas
• 21.5 What can individuals do?
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index