The role of competition within communities, in shaping the structure and composition of the community matrix itself and in influencing day to day functioning of the system is particularly controversial. This book offers a synthesis of these arguments and provides an overview of existing knowledge about competition and organizing that knowledge in such a way that new research paths are suggested. The author presents an original and at times controversial view of competition and its role in ecological communities, not only summarizing what is known but stressing the unknowns, describing unresolved problems and suggesting avenues for further research.

The role of competition within communities, in shaping the structure and composition of the community matrix itself and in influencing day to day functioning of the system is particularly contraversial. This book offers a synthesis of these arguments and provides an overview of existing knowledge about competition and organising that knowledge in such a way that new research paths are suggested. The author presents an original and at times contraversial view of competition and its role in ecological communities, not only summarising what is known but stressing the unknowns, describing unresolved problems and suggesting avenues for further research.

It is over twenty years since Jared Diamond focused attention on the possible existence of assembly rules for communities. Since then there has been a proliferation of studies trying to promote, refute or test the idea that there are sets of constraints (rules) on community formation and maintenance (assembly). This timely volume brings together carefully selected contributions which examine the question of the existence and nature of assembly rules with some rigour and in some detail, using both theoretical and empirical approaches in a variety of systems. The result is a balanced treatment which encompasses a wide range of topics within ecology including competition and coexistence, conservation and biodiversity, niche theory, and biogeography. As such it provides much to interest a broad audience of ecologists, while also making an important contribution to the study of community ecology in particular.

The role of competition within communities, in shaping the structure and composition of the community matrix itself and in influencing day to day functioning of the system is particularly controversial. This book offers a synthesis of these arguments and provides an overview of existing knowledge about competition and organizing that knowledge in such a way that new research paths are suggested. The author presents an original and at times controversial view of competition and its role in ecological communities, not only summarizing what is known but stressing the unknowns, describing unresolved problems and suggesting avenues for further research.

The role of competition within communities, in shaping the structure and composition of the community matrix itself and in influencing day to day functioning of the system is particularly contraversial. This book offers a synthesis of these arguments and provides an overview of existing knowledge about competition and organising that knowledge in such a way that new research paths are suggested. The author presents an original and at times contraversial view of competition and its role in ecological communities, not only summarising what is known but stressing the unknowns, describing unresolved problems and suggesting avenues for further research.

It is over twenty years since Jared Diamond focused attention on the possible existence of assembly rules for communities. Since then there has been a proliferation of studies trying to promote, refute or test the idea that there are sets of constraints (rules) on community formation and maintenance (assembly). This timely volume brings together carefully selected contributions which examine the question of the existence and nature of assembly rules with some rigour and in some detail, using both theoretical and empirical approaches in a variety of systems. The result is a balanced treatment which encompasses a wide range of topics within ecology including competition and coexistence, conservation and biodiversity, niche theory, and biogeography. As such it provides much to interest a broad audience of ecologists, while also making an important contribution to the study of community ecology in particular.