Coexistence in ecology : a mechanistic perspective / Mark A. McPeek.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McPeek, Mark A., author.

Series:

Monographs in population biology.

Monographs in population biology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biotic communities.

Coexistence of species.

Ecology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (469 pages)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, [2022]

Summary:

A comprehensive framework for understanding species coexistenceCoexistence is the central concept in community ecology, but an understanding of this concept requires that we study the actual mechanisms of species interactions. Coexistence in Ecology examines the major features of these mechanisms for species that coexist at different positions in complex food webs and derives empirical tests from model predictions.Mark McPeek explores the various challenges species face by systematically building a model food web, beginning with an ecosystem devoid of life and then adding one species at a time. With the introduction of each new species, he evaluates the properties it must possess to invade a community and quantifies the changes in the abundances of other species that result from a successful invasion. McPeek continues this process until he achieves a multi-trophic level food web with many species coexisting at each trophic level, from omnivores, mutualists, and pathogens to herbivores, carnivores, and basic plants. He then describes the observational and experimental empirical studies that can test the theoretical predictions resulting from the model analyses.Synthesizing decades of theoretical research in community ecology, Coexistence in Ecology offers new perspectives on how to develop an empirical program of study rooted in the natural histories of species and the mechanisms by which they actually interact with one another.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

2. Historical Antecedents

3. Building a Two-Trophic-Level Food Web

4. Adding a Third (and a Fourth and a Fifth . . .) Trophic Level

5. Omnivory in a Food Web

6. Mutualists, Symbionts, and Facilitators in a Food Web

7. Pathogens in a Food Web

8. Temporal Variability

9. Spatial Variability on Local and Regional Scales

10. Ecologically Equivalent and Neutral Species Embedded in a Food Web

11. MacArthur's Recasting Revisited

12. Philosophical and Practical Implications

Literature Cited

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780691229225

0691229228

OCLC:

1262692330