Section A - Introduction to ecology 1
A1 What is ecology? 1
A2 Ten rules in ecology 3
Abbreviations 9
Preface 10
Section B - Adaptation to the environment 11
B1 Adaptation 11
B2 Coping with environmental vartaion 14
B3 The niche 18
C1 Solar radiationa dn climate 21
Section C - Climate 21
C2 Microclimate 27
Section D - Water 31
D1 The properties of water 31
D2 Plants and water 34
D3 Animals and water 39
Section E - Temperature 43
E1 Temperature and metabolism 43
E2 Responses to temperature 47
E3 Temperature and species sistribution 50
F1 Solar radiation and plants 53
Section F - Radiation 53
Section G - Nutrients 59
G1 Sources and cycles 59
G2 Plants and consumers 65
G3 Soil formation,properties and classification 68
Section H - Population ecology 73
H1 Populations and population structure 73
H2 Natality,mortality and population growth 77
H3 Density and density dependence 86
H4 Population dynamics - fluctuations, cycles and chaos 91
I1 The nature of competition 97
Section I - Competiton 97
I2 Intraspecific competition 105
I3 Resource patitioning 108
Section J - Predation 113
J1 The nature of predation 113
J2 Predator behavior and prey response 117
Section K - Parasitosm 123
K1 The mature of parasitism 123
K2 The dynamica of parasitism 128
Section L - Mutualism 135
L1 Mutualism 135
M1 Life history 141
Section M - Life history patterns 141
Section N - Behavioral ecology 151
N1 Social groups,cooperation and altruism 151
N2 Sex in ecology 155
Section O - Population genetics 163
O1 Genetic variation 163
O2 Speciation 169
Section P - Ecosystem processes 175
P1 Components and processes 175
P2 Primary and secondary production 180
P3 Food chains 185
Section Q - Communities 189
Q1 The community,structure and stability 189
Q2 Island comunities and colonization 195
Q3 Community patterns, competition and predation 200
Section R - Community dynamics 207
R1 Succession 207
R2 Community responses to disturbance 214
Section S - Biomes 219
S1 Ecosystem patterns 219
S2 Grasslands 224
S3 Tundra 229
S4 Forests 233
S5 Deserts,semi-deserts and shrubland 240
S6 Saltwater biornes 245
S7 Freshwater biornes 251
Section T - Harvesting 257
T1 Havrestin theory 257
T2 Fishing and whaling 262
Section U - Pset control 267
U1 The pest problem and control strategies 267
U2 Pesticides and problems 271
U3 Biological contrlo and integrated pest management 277
V1 Rare species, habitat loss and extinction 281
Section V - Conaervation 281
V2 Conservation stratgeise 287
V3 Biological resources and gene banks 293
Section W - Pollution and global warming 299
W1 Air, water and soil pollutants 299
W2 Greenhouse gases and global warming 304
W3 Ozone 308
Section X - The ecology of agriculture 312
X1 Soil erosion and agriculture 312
X2 Nutrient, water and energy use 317
Further reading 323
Index 333