Elements of Ecology (International Edition)
Known for its evolution theme and strong coverage of the relevance of ecology to everyday life and the human impact on ecosystems, the thoroughly revised Eighth Edition features expanded quantitative exercises, a restructured chapter on life history, a thoroughly revised species interactions unit including a chapter introducing the subject, and a new chapter on species interactions.
To emphasize the dynamic and experimental nature of ecology, each chapter draws upon current research in the various fields of ecology while providing accessible examples that help you understand species natural history, specific ecosystems, the process of science, and ecological patterns at both an evolutionary and demographic scale.
To engage you in using and interpreting data, a wide variety of Quantifying Ecology boxes walk through step-by-step examples of equations and statistical techniques. The enhanced companion website (www.ecologyplace.com) features new MapMaster interactive map activities for exploring ecosystems, physical environments, and populations at regional and global scales, along with popular GRAPHit!, and QUANTIFYit! exercises that help you further master and apply math skills, and a new Pearson eText.
I. THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
2. Climate
3. The Aquatic Environment
4. The Terrestrial Environment
II. THE ORGANISM AND ITS ENVIRONMENT
5. Ecological Genetics: Adaptation and Natural Selection
6. Plant Adaptations to the Environment
7. Animal Adaptations to the Environment
III. POPULATIONS
8. Properties of Populations
9. Population Growth
10. Life History
11. Intraspecific Population Regulation
12. Metapopulations
IV. SPECIES INTERACTIONS
13. Species Interactions, Population Dynamics and Natural Selection
14. Interspecific Competition
15. Predation
16. Parasitism and Mutualism
V. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
17. Community Structure
18. Factors Influencing the Structure of Communities
19. Community Dynamics
20. Landscape Ecology
VI. ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY
21. Ecosystem Energetics
22. Decomposition and Nutrient Cycling
23. Biogeochemical Cycles
VII. BIOGEOGRAPHICAL ECOLOGY
24. Terrestrial Ecosystems
25. Coastal and Wetland Ecosystems
26. Land-Water Margins
27. Large-scale Patterns of Biological Diversity
VIII. HUMAN ECOLOGY
28. Population Growth, Resource Use, and Sustainability
29. Habitat Loss, Biodiversity, and Conservation
30. Global Climate Change
Thomas's work has taken him to over 70 countries and 6 continents. He has served on the faculty of the University of Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa), Australian National University (Canberra, Australia), as well as the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA, USA). In addition, he has held research scientist positions at both Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN, USA) and the Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Laxenburg, Austria). His has over 20 years of experience teaching the science of ecology to both science and non-science majors.
Robert L. Smith holds a Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology from Cornell University. He is Professor Emeritus of Ecology at West Virginia University. He has spent over 30 years teaching Ecology and conducting field research throughout the world.
His teaching responsibilities have involved mostly undergraduate courses in general ecology and graduate courses in population ecology and wildlife management. His research has included forest-fire related problems in southern West Virginia, vegetational development and succession on abandoned and reclaimed surface mines, the relation between forest vegetational structure and the forest bird community, and forest habitat assessment and habitat evaluation procedures based on vegetational structure.
Smith has served as a consultant to congressional committees, workshops on environmental education and energy and environmental problems, the National Landmarks program of the U.S. Department of Interior, National Research Council Task Forces on wildlife and fisheries issues and ecological classification systems for implementing environmental quality evaluation procedures.
View other products from the same publisher
Related organisations include:
- British Ecological Society
- Ecological Society of Australia
- International Society for Ecology
- The Ecologist Magazine














