Serendipity : an ecologist's quest to understand nature / James A. Estes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Estes, J. A. (James A.), 1945- author.

Series:

Organisms and environments

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sea otter--Ecology--Alaska.

Sea otter.

Marine ecology--Alaska.

Marine ecology.

Biotic communities--Alaska.

Biotic communities.

Sea otter--Ecology.

Alaska.

Physical Description:

xi, 275 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2016]

Summary:

"To newly minted biologist James Estes, the sea otters he was studying in the leafy kelp forests off the coast of Alaska appeared to have an unbalanced relationship with their larger environment. Gorging themselves on the sea urchins that grazed among the kelp, these small charismatic mammals seemed to give little back in return. But as Estes dug deeper, he unearthed a far more complex relationship between the otter and its underwater environment, discovering that otters played a critical role in driving positive ecosystem dynamics. While teasing out the connective threads, he began to question our assumptions about ecological relationships. These questions would ultimately inspire a lifelong quest to better understand the surprising complexity of our natural world and the unexpected ways we discover it. Serendipity tells the story of James Estes's life as a naturalist and the concepts that drive his interest in researching the ecological role of large predators. Using the relationship between sea otters, kelp, and sea urchins as a touchstone, Estes retraces his investigations of numerous other species, ecosystems, and ecological processes in an attempt to discover why ecologists can learn so many details about the systems within which they work and yet understand so little about the broader processes that influence those systems. Part memoir, part natural history, and deeply inquisitive, Serendipity will entertain and inform readers as it raises thoughtful questions about our relationship with the natural world"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

In the beginning

Understanding nature

The Aleutian archipelago

Sea otters and kelp forests

A toe in the arctic ocean

Return to Attu

Generality and variation

A serpentine food web

Sea otters and the red queen hypothesis: plant/herbivore coevolution

Sea otters and killer whales

Megafaunal collapse

Whale wars

Foxes and seabirds

A global perspective

Retrospection

Looking to the future.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-261) and index.

ISBN:

9780520285033

0520285034

OCLC:

923795907