Community Ecology [Paperback]

This book is aimed at advanced level undergraduates and offers them an overview of the major issues and developments in community ecology over the past few years. The text assumes throughout some familiarity with general concepts in ecology as might be provided by the majority of first and second year undergraduate courses or more general textbooks. Each section in the book is self-contained and where prior knowledge is assumed, a brief recapitulation is offered of necessary background.Preface. Ecological communities - definitions and a search for pattern. Population interaction and the structure of communities. Food webs and connectance. Compartments in food webs. Food web topology. Niche theory: niche packing and community structure. Guilds and guild structure. Species composition and the assembly of communities. A question of equilibrium. Stability. References. Index.A textbook for an advanced undergraduate course, explaining how to analyze the ecology at the level of whole communities. |o Book News |d May 1994Springer Book Archives