From plant traits to vegetation structure : chance and selection in the assembly of ecological communities / Bill Shipley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shipley, Bill, 1960-

Contributor:

Rudolph G. Schmieder Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plant communities--Mathematical models.

Plant communities.

Vegetation classification.

Vegetation surveys.

Plant ecology.

Physical Description:

xi, 277 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Summary:

"Plant community ecology has traditionally taken a taxonomical approach based on population dynamics. This book contrasts such an approach with a trait-based approach. After reviewing these two approaches, it then explains how models based on the Maximum Entropy Formalism can be used to predict the relative abundance of different species from a potential species pool. Following this it shows how the trait constraints, upon which the model is based, are necessary consequences of natural selection and population dynamics. The final sections of the book extend the discussion to macroecological patterns of species abundance and concludes with some outstanding unresolved questions." --Balogh International

Contents:

Playing with loaded dice

Population-based models of community assembly

Trait-based community ecology

Modeling trait-based environmental filters: Bayesian statistics, information theory and the maximum entropy formalism

Community dynamics, natural selection and the origin of community-aggregated traits

Community assembly during a Mediterranean succession

The statistical mechanics of species abundance distributions

Epilogue: traits are not enough.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 260-274) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rudolph G. Schmieder Fund.

ISBN:

9780521117470

052111747X

9780521133555

0521133556

OCLC:

465905142

Publisher Number:

99937336119