Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution – serie

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists, especially those with theoretical and mathematical leanings, have tended to dismiss historical approaches as descriptive, smacking of particularities, allowing few generalizations (or even being untestable), and even antithetical to scientific explanation. By contrast, the concept of biological equilibrium pervades every aspect of ecology and evolution, from the popular notion of the 'balance of nature' to sophisticated mathematical analyses of critical points in the state space of scientific models. This novel book explains the problems associated with an over-reliance on equilibrium-centred explanations, creating a persuasive argument that an explicit consideration of history - i.e. looking beyond the equilibrium - will often lead to a deeper, more nuanced understanding of almost every eco-evolutionary system. The author introduces the concept of 'flavours' of history - the variety of ways in which history can play a critical role in biological processes. Like the flavours of our food, these historical flavours may not always be distinct: they may be blended or overlapping and any number may be present. However, distinguishing between historical flavours is of practical use in explicating ecological and evolutionary phenomena. Beyond Equilibria: Historical Approaches to Ecology and Evolution is aimed at a broad audience of graduate students and researchers in ecology and evolution. Although there is extensive discussion of mathematical models, the material is presented in such a way that no detailed knowledge is needed. The book will be particularly suitable for a graduate-level discussion course.

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists, especially those with theoretical and mathematical leanings, have tended to dismiss historical approaches as descriptive, smacking of particularities, allowing few generalizations (or even being untestable), and even antithetical to scientific explanation. By contrast, the concept of biological equilibrium pervades every aspect of ecology and evolution, from the popular notion of the 'balance of nature' to sophisticated mathematical analyses of critical points in the state space of scientific models. This novel book explains the problems associated with an over-reliance on equilibrium-centred explanations, creating a persuasive argument that an explicit consideration of history - i.e. looking beyond the equilibrium - will often lead to a deeper, more nuanced understanding of almost every eco-evolutionary system. The author introduces the concept of 'flavours' of history - the variety of ways in which history can play a critical role in biological processes. Like the flavours of our food, these historical flavours may not always be distinct: they may be blended or overlapping and any number may be present. However, distinguishing between historical flavours is of practical use in explicating ecological and evolutionary phenomena. Beyond Equilibria: Historical Approaches to Ecology and Evolution is aimed at a broad audience of graduate students and researchers in ecology and evolution. Although there is extensive discussion of mathematical models, the material is presented in such a way that no detailed knowledge is needed. The book will be particularly suitable for a graduate-level discussion course.

Competition between species arises when two or more species share at least some of the same limited resources. It is likely to affect all species, as well as many higher-level aspects of community and ecosystem dynamics. Interspecific competition shares many of the same features as density dependence (intraspecific competition) and evolution (competition between genotypes). In spite of this, a robust theoretical framework is not yet in place to develop a more coherent understanding of this important interaction. Despite its prominence in the ecological literature, the theory seems to have lost direction in recent decades, with many synthetic papers promoting outdated ideas, failing to use resource-based models, and having little utility in applied fields such as conservation and environmental management. Competition theory has done little to incorporate new findings regarding consumer-resource interactions in the context of larger food webs containing behaviourally or evolutionarily adapting components. Overly simple models and methods of analysis continue to be influential.Competition Theory in Ecology represents a timely opportunity to address these shortcomings and suggests a more useful approach to modelling that can provide a basis for future models that have greater predictive ability in both ecology and evolution. The book concludes with some broader observations on the lack of agreement on general principles to use in constructing mathematical models to help understand ecological systems. It argues that a more open discussion and debate of the underlying structure of ecological theory is now urgently required to move the field forward.

Competition between species arises when two or more species share at least some of the same limited resources. It is likely to affect all species, as well as many higher-level aspects of community and ecosystem dynamics. Interspecific competition shares many of the same features as density dependence (intraspecific competition) and evolution (competition between genotypes). In spite of this, a robust theoretical framework is not yet in place to develop a more coherent understanding of this important interaction. Despite its prominence in the ecological literature, the theory seems to have lost direction in recent decades, with many synthetic papers promoting outdated ideas, failing to use resource-based models, and having little utility in applied fields such as conservation and environmental management. Competition theory has done little to incorporate new findings regarding consumer-resource interactions in the context of larger food webs containing behaviourally or evolutionarily adapting components. Overly simple models and methods of analysis continue to be influential.Competition Theory in Ecology represents a timely opportunity to address these shortcomings and suggests a more useful approach to modelling that can provide a basis for future models that have greater predictive ability in both ecology and evolution. The book concludes with some broader observations on the lack of agreement on general principles to use in constructing mathematical models to help understand ecological systems. It argues that a more open discussion and debate of the underlying structure of ecological theory is now urgently required to move the field forward.

The Anolis lizards of the Caribbean are a model group from which to study evolutionary ecology: there are more than 150 species dispersed over the islands of the Caribbean, providing innumerable comparisons of physical form and behaviour. Their evolutionary divergence corresponds in geological time with the plate-tectonic origins of the Caribbean. Based on his empirical work with these lizards, and on the work of others, Jonathan Roughgarden has developed important theoretical models of evolutionary ecology - the study of how an ecological context supplies the natural selection that drives evolution, and of how evolutionary change among species in turn affects their ecological station. These models have been tested in the field. This book synthesizes two decades of notable research, and points to new directions in modelling and field biology.An associated program disk providing Roughgarden's quantitative models for foraging behaviour, ecological community assembly, and food webs, accompanies the book. This set of 35 files comprising 10 programs is a simulation program which expands upon the information contained in the book.

This important new volume in the Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution examines the mechanism and action of natural selection in evolution. Williams offers his own synthesis of modern evolutionary theory - including discussions of the gene as the unit of selection, clade selection and macroevolution, diversity within and among populations, stasis, and other timely and provocative issues central to the study of evolution. Williams' preeminent position in the field ensures immediate and widespread interest in the book among evolutionary biologists, geneticists, and their graduate students.

This book outlines four different categories of co-operation -- reciprocal altruism, kinship, group-selected co-operation, and by-product mutualism -- and ties them together in a single framework called the Co-operator's Dilemma. Hundreds of studies on cooperation in insects, fish, birds, and mammals are then reviewed, each example being tied back to the theoretical framework developed early on when the data allows. Future experiments designed to further elucidate a particular type of co-operation are provided throughout the book.

This work provides a unified theory that addresses the important problem of the origin and maintenance of genetic variation in natural populations. With modern molecular techniques, variation is found in all species, sometimes at astonishingly high levels. Yet the forces that maintain variation within and between species have been difficult subjects of study. Because they act very weakly and operate over vast time scales, scientists must rely on indirect inferences and speculative mathematical models. The author's research in molecular genetics, evolution, and bio-mathematics has enabled him to draw on his work, and present a coherent and valuable view of the field. The book is divided into three parts. The first addresses protein evolution, DNA evolution, and molecular mechanisms, reviewing the experimental observations on genetic variation. The second gives a unified treatment of the mathematical theory of selection in a fluctuating environment. The final section combines the earlier assessments in a treatment of the scientific status of two competing theories for the maintenance of genetic variation.

The author of this treatise uses the Anolis lizard to demonstrate the concept of ecology models - how ecological context supplies the natural selection that drives evolution and how evolutionary change among species in turn affects their ecological station. There are more than 150 species of Anolis lizard dispersed over the islands of the Caribbean, providing innumerable comparisons of physical form and behavior. Roughgarden synthesizes two decades of research and points to new directions in modelling and field biology.

This study includes data from sources which support the paradigm of natural hybridization as an important evolutionary process. The review of these data results in a challenge of the dogma that is the explicit or implicit framework used by a large proportion of evolutionary biologists - that the process of natural hybridization is maladaptive and it is because it represents a violation of divergent evolution. In contrast, this book presents evidence of a significant role for natural hybridization in furthering adaptive evolution and evolutionary diversification in both plants and animals.

Natural Hybridation and Evolution includes data from numerous sources that support the paradigm of natural hybridization as an important evolutionary process. The review of these data results in a challenge of the dogma that is the explicit or implicit framework used by a large proportion of evolutionary biologists - that the process of natural hybridization is maladaptive and it is because it represents a violation of divergent evolution. In contrast, this book presents evidence of a significant role for natural hybridization in furthering adaptive evolution and evolutionary diversification in both plants and animals.

This book introduces readers to a set of powerful and extremely flexible modelling techniques, starting at "square one" and continuing with carefully chosen applications. Some of these applications of methodology include insect oviposition behavior, overwinter survival of birds and fish, avian migration, resource management, conservation biology, agroecology, and human behaviour. This book also explains how to construct, test, and use dynamic state variable models in a wide range of contexts in evolutionary ecology. And its complete and up-to-date coverage allows readers to immediately begin using the described techniques. Dynamic State Variable Models in Ecology is designed for self-instruction or for use in upper division undergraduate or graduate courses. It is ideal for students and scientists interested in behaviour, ecology, anthropology, conservation biology, and related fields.

This book introduces readers to a set of powerful and extremely flexible modelling techniques, starting at "square one" and continuing with carefully chosen applications. Some of these applications of methodology include insect oviposition behavior, overwinter survival of birds and fish, avian migration, resource management, conservation biology, agroecology, and human behaviour. This book also explains how to construct, test, and use dynamic state variable models in a wide range of contexts in evolutionary ecology, and its complete and up-to-date coverage allows readers to immediately begin using the described techniques. Dynamic State Variable Models in Ecology is designed for self-instruction or for use in upper division undergraduate or graduate courses. It is ideal for students and scientists interested in behaviour, ecology, anthropology, conservation biology, and related fields.

Each plant species has its own unique passage that is affected by its gene pool, dispersal ability, interactions with competitors and pests, and the habitats and climactic conditions to which it is exposed. This book will explore plant species as dynamic entities within this passage, following the four stages of plant species life that normally occur. Those four stages can be identified as birth, expansion, differentiation and loss of cohesion, and decline/extinction. Each chapter focuses on part of the speciation process and examines it closely in the light of exploring the species passage from birth to death.

Each plant species has its own unique passage that is affected by its gene pool, dispersal ability, interactions with competitors and pests, and the habitats and climactic conditions to which it is exposed. This book will explore plant species as dynamic entities within this passage, following the four stages of plant species life that normally occur. Those four stages can be identified as birth, expansion, differentiation and loss of cohesion, and decline/extinction. Each chapter focuses on part of the speciation process and examines it closely in the light of exploring the species passage from birth to death.

The application of new molecular technology has greatly increased our understanding of the role of chromosomal change in plant evolution. There is now a broad database on genome size variation within and among species and a wide array of nuclear and cytoplasmic genetic markers. There is a variety of literatures addressing this subject but much of it is scattered. This book created a contemporary synthesis of work in this area and addresses issues such as herogeneity, polyploidy, chromosomal rearrangements within species and phenotypic consequences of chromosome doubling.

This volume presents ecological consequences and evolutionary mechanisms that may be associated with behavioral alterations in parasitized hosts. Alterations may result from natural selection favoring the host or parasite, or there may be side effects of physiological changes associated with symbiosis. This book summarizes the literature in this area, showing that reports of alteration may frequently be consistent with more than one evolutionary explanation and that rigorous tests are needed before the phenomenon can be understood and placed in a predictive framework. Such understanding is important, because these behavioral alterations have been shown to have the potential to affect the distribution of animals in nature and their interactions with predators and competitors, and the alterations may have implications for vector biology.

Adaptive radiation is the evolution of diversity within a rapidly multiplying lineage. It can cause a single ancestral species to differentiate into an impressively vast array of species inhabiting a variety of environments. Much of life's diversity has arisen during adaptive radiations. Some of the most famous recent examples include the East African cichlid fishes, the Hawaiian silverswords, and of course, Darwin's Galápagos finches,. This book evaluates the causes of adaptive radiation. It focuses on the 'ecological' theory of adaptive radiation, a body of ideas that began with Darwin and was developed through the early part of the 20th Century. This theory proposes that phenotypic divergence and speciation in adaptive radiation are caused ultimately by divergent natural selection arising from differences in environment and competition between species. In The Ecology of Adaptive Radiation the author re-evaluates the ecological theory, along with its most significant extensions and challenges, in the light of all the recent evidence. This important book is the first full exploration of the causes of adaptive radiation to be published for decades, written by one of the world's best young evolutionary biologists.

Group Living is a widespread phenomenon within the animal kingdom and has attracted considerable attention in a number of different contexts. This book is focused on the unifying concepts regarding group behaviour that have been developed over the last two decades.The authors set out to discuss the mechanisms that govern the evolution and maintenance of grouping behaviour throughout the animal kingdom, and the ecological factors that control observed group size and group composition in particular situations. Although the book's emphasis is on the elaboration of a conceptual framework, extensive examples and case studies illustrate the diversity of grouping phemonema across taxonomic boundaries, and demonstrate the general applicability of the concepts involved.This book will familiarise the reader with the latest ideas on the ecology and evolution of group-living animals, providing a summary and critical synthesis of the extensive and diverse literature on the subject.

Group Living is a widespread phenomenon within the animal kingdom and has attracted considerable attention in a number of different contexts. This book is focused on the unifying concepts regarding group behaviour that have been developed over the last two decades.The authors set out to discuss the mechanisms that govern the evolution and maintenance of grouping behaviour throughout the animal kingdom, and the ecological factors that control observed group size and group composition in particular situations. Although the book's emphasis is on the elaboration of a conceptual framework, extensive examples and case studies illustrate the diversity of grouping phemonema across taxonomic boundaries, and demonstrate the general applicability of the concepts involved.This book will familiarise the reader with the latest ideas on the ecology and evolution of group-living animals, providing a summary and critical synthesis of the extensive and diverse literature on the subject.

Birds show bewildering diversity in their life histories, mating systems and risk of extinction. Why do albatrosses delay reproduction for the first 12 years of their life while zebra finches breed in their first year ? Why are fairy-wrens so sexually promiscuous while swans show lifelong monogamy? Why are over a quarter of parrot species threatened with global extinction while woodpeckers and cuckoos remain secure? Some of these topics, such as delayed onset of breeding in seabirds, are classic problems in evolutionary ecology, while others have arisen in the last decade, such as genetic mating systems and extinction. Birds offer a unique opportunity for investigating these questions because they are exceptionally well-studied in the wild. By employing phylogenetic comparative methods and a database of up to 3,000 species, the authors identify the ecological and evolutionary basis of many of these intriguing questions. They also highlight remaining puzzles and identify a series of challenges for future investigation. This is the most comprehensive reappraisal of avian diversity since David Lack's classic "Ecological Adaptations for Breeding in Birds". It is also the most extensive application of modern comparative methods yet undertaken. This novel approach demonstrates how an evolutionary perspective can reveal the general ecological processes that underpin contemporary avian diversity on a global scale.

All populations fluctuate stochastically, creating a risk of extinction that does not exist in deterministic models, with fundamental consequences for both pure and applied ecology. This book provides the most comprehensive introduction to stochastic population dynamics, combining classical background material with a variety of modern approaches, including new and previously unpublished results by the authors, illustrated with examples from bird and mammal populations, and insect communities.Demographic and environmental stochasticity are introduced with statistical methods for estimating them from field data. The long-run growth rate of a population is explained and extended to include age structure with both deomgraphic and environmental stochasticity. Diffusion approximations facilitate the analysis of extinction dynamics and the duration of the final decline. Methods are developed for estimating delayed density dependence from population time series using life history data. Metapopulation viability and the spatial scale of population fluctuations and extinction risk are analyzed. Stochastic dynamics and statistical uncertainty in population parameters are incorporated in Population Viability Analysis and strategies for sustainable harvesting.Statistics of species diversity measures and species abundance distributions are described, with implications for rapid assessments of biodiversity, and methods are developed for partitioning species diversity into additive components. Analysis of the stochastic dynamics of a tropical butterfly community in space and time indicates that most of the variance in the species abundance distribution is due to ecological heterogeneity among species, so that real communities are far from neutral.

No species occurs everywhere. Indeed, the majority are absent from most places, and where they do occur they are usually quite rare. Gaston discusses the structure of these distributions - the structure of the geographic ranges of species. Gaston is particularly concerned with the factors that determine the limits to a species' geographic range, how the sizes of those ranges vary, and patterns in that variation. Also considered are the distribution of individuals amongst those sites where a species does occur and what determines that distribution, and some of the practical implications of all these. Both in a pure and applied context, ecologists need a broader perspective on their subject matter than has historically prevailed. This book provides one such perspective. A must have book for any researchers and graduate students studying macroecology, biogeography and conservation biology.

Why are animal signals reliable? This is the central problem for evolutionary biologists interested in signals. Of course, not all signals are reliable; but most are, otherwise receivers of signals would ignore them. A number of theoretical answers have been proposed and empirical studies made, but there still remains a considerable amount of confusion. The authors, one a theoretician the other a fieldworker, introduce a sense of order to this chaos. A significant cause of confusion has been the tendency for different researchers to use either the same term with different meanings, or different terms with the same meaning. The authors attempt to clarify these differences. A second cause of confusion has arisen because many biologists continue to assume that there is only one correct explanation for signal reliability. The authors argue that the reliability of signals is maintained in several ways, relevant in different circumstances, and that biologists must learn to distinguish between them. In this book they explain the different theories, give examples of signalling systems to which one or another theory applies, and point to the many areas where further work, both theoretical and empirical, is required.John Maynard Smith is one of the most influential scientists of his generation and his theories have transformed our understanding of animal behaviour, whilst David Harper is a reknowned field ecologist. Animal signals are one of the hottest and most controversial subjects in animal behaviour, and are also of major importance to an understanding of human behaviour and the evolution of language.

This book celebrates the guppy's unique contribution to evolutionary ecology. Ever since Caryl Haskins described guppy populations as a 'natural experiment' because of the way predation pressure varies over a small geographical area, generations of researchers have been drawn to Trinidad to investigate evolution in the wild. The species continues to provide classic examples of natural selection in action and elegantly illustrates how ecology, evolution, and behaviour are interlinked. Anne Magurran's account of the evolutionary ecology of the guppy integrates historical breakthroughs with new research in this fast-moving field. She reveals how guppies provided some of the first evidence of sperm competition and sexual selection, and how they continue to inform scientific thought on mating systems and cryptic choice. The consequences of variation in predation risk--as well as a host of other biotic and abiotic factors--are described and evaluated at all life stages from conception to death. The book discusses behavioural responses to ecological conditions alongside life history patterns. It examines the potential for ecological speciation and discusses new research into how reproductive isolating mechanisms become established in promiscuous mating systems. Conservation issues are also considered, both in terms of protecting the irreplaceable Trinidadian guppy system and in the context of invasion ecology. This timely synthesis of research into a species that has raised key questions in evolutionary ecology will be of great interest to graduate level students as well as professional researchers in the fields of behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology.

An important empirical test of the theoretical predictions of sexual selection theory, this book presents a long-term field study of the monagamous barn swallow. By using information on behaviour, ecology, morphology, genetics, and evolution, the book reviews this theory and its two components: male-male competition and female choice.The selective advantages of a long tail are investigated for this common bird, demonstrating such effects as mating behaviour, copulation behaviour, migration strategies, and host-parasite interactions.A rich informative text which clearly elucidates the mechanisms and consequences of sexual selection.

In this book, Itô presents data on tropical wasps which suggest that kin-selection has been overemphasized as an evolutionary explanation of sociality. He concentrates on the Vespidae (paper wasps and hornets), a group much discussed by evolutionary biologists because it exhibits all stages of social evolution:; subsociality, primitive eusociality, and advanced eusociality. The author reports field observations by himself and others in Central America, Asia, and Australia, showing that multiple egg-layers in a nest are not uncommon. Because coexistence of many `queens' leads to lower relatedness among colony members than in single-queen colonies, he suggests that kin-selection may not be the most powerful force determining observed social patterns. Instead, subsocial wasps may first have aggregated for defence purposes in habitats with a high risk of predation, with mutualistic associations among many queens. Through parental manipulation and then kin selection, differentiation into within-generation castes may have followed. Of interest to all students of ecology, evolution, and behaviour, this book beautifully illustrates the ability to combine wide-ranging data with thoughtful questions - the author's trademark.

Metapopulation Ecology presents a comprehensive synthesis of current research in this rapidly expanding area of population biology, from an author who is world-famous for his ground-breaking work on metapopulations. It encompasses both the essential theory of metapopulations and a wide range of empirical studies - including the author's own unique research on the metapopulation biology of the Glanville fritillary butterfly - and includes discussion of practical applications to conservation biology. One of the hottest areas in ecology today, Metapopulation Ecology is an important, state-of-the-art review of the field, and should have enormous impact.

In this book, Eric Charnov uses ideas about symmetry, invariance, and scaling laws to explore aspects of population dynamics and the evolution of male and female life histories. Charnov's work is internationally known and will attract great interest among postgraduate students and researchers in ecology, evolution, behaviour, and many other fields within organismal biology.