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Kevin S. McCann - Food Webs (MPB-50) - 9780691134185 - V9780691134185
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Food Webs (MPB-50)

€ 74.28
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Description for Food Webs (MPB-50) Paperback. Arguing that various classical food web theories can be looked at collectively and in a consistent and testable way, this book synthesizes modern and classical perspectives into a general unified theory. It brings together outcomes from population, community, and ecosystem-level approaches under the common currency of energy or material fluxes. Series: Monographs in Population Biology. Num Pages: 256 pages, 21 halftones. 56 line illus. 2 tables. BIC Classification: RNC. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational; (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 236 x 165 x 20. Weight in Grams: 418.
Human impacts are dramatically altering our natural ecosystems but the exact repercussions on ecological sustainability and function remain unclear. As a result, food web theory has experienced a proliferation of research seeking to address these critical areas. Arguing that the various recent and classical food web theories can be looked at collectively and in a highly consistent and testable way, Food Webs synthesizes and reconciles modern and classical perspectives into a general unified theory. Kevin McCann brings together outcomes from population-, community-, and ecosystem-level approaches under the common currency of energy or material fluxes. He shows that these approaches--often studied in isolation--all have the same general implications in terms of population dynamic stability. Specifically, increased fluxes of energy or material tend to destabilize populations, communities, and whole ecosystems. With this understanding, stabilizing structures at different levels of the ecological hierarchy can be identified and any population-, community-, or ecosystem-level structures that mute energy or material flow also stabilize systems dynamics. McCann uses this powerful general framework to discuss the effects of human impact on the stability and sustainability of ecological systems, and he demonstrates that there is clear empirical evidence that the structures supporting ecological systems have been dangerously eroded. Uniting the latest research on food webs with classical theories, this book will be a standard source in the understanding of natural food web functions.

Product Details

Format
Paperback
Publication date
2011
Publisher
Princeton University Press United States
Number of pages
256
Condition
New
Series
Monographs in Population Biology
Number of Pages
256
Place of Publication
New Jersey, United States
ISBN
9780691134185
SKU
V9780691134185
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-15

About Kevin S. McCann
Kevin S. McCann is associate professor of integrative biology at the University of Guelph.

Reviews for Food Webs (MPB-50)
"This is a must-read for ecologists interested in ecosystem dynamics."
Choice "This is potentially an indispensable book for ecologists and paleoecologists alike, synthesizing food-web theory and outcomes from population-level up to whole-ecosystem-level approaches. McCann offers clear explanations of the dynamics of food webs using a mathematical approach, and while the book will be of particular use to graduate students, it may also be of substantial use to undergraduate students as an advanced but very thorough introduction to the subject."
Jo Hellawell, Priscum "Food Webs is an imaginative but very concise book in terms of methodology and selection of concepts. It is extremely coherent, though some may think extremely selective in the models and concepts used. But to build a food web theory across different scales of organization, from single populations to real multispecies interaction networks, this selectivity is needed, and the unifying concept of stability makes it fascinating."
Jose M. Montoya, Ecology "[T]his is a very exciting book that communicates theoretical concepts to a broad ecological audience. In addition, the overview over the countless seminal studies by McCann and co-workers make this book unique and a highly recommended read for all ecologists."
Ulrich Brose, Basic & Applied Ecology

Goodreads reviews for Food Webs (MPB-50)


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