A common assumption historically in ecology is evident in the term" balance of nature." The
phrase usually implies that undisturbed nature is ordered and harmonius, and that …

Human travel can shape infectious disease dynamics by introducing pathogens into
susceptible populations or by changing the frequency of contacts between infected and …

It is argued that the problem of pattern and scale is the central problem in ecology, unifying
population biology and ecosystems science, and marrying basic and applied ecology …

Quantitative modeling methods have become a central tool in the management of harvested
fish populations. This book examines how these modeling methods work, why they …

Landscape ecology deals with the effects of the spatial configuration of mosaics on a wide
variety of ecological phenomena. Because problems in many areas of conservation biology …

I Principles 1 1 Models of Systems 3 1. 1 Systems. Models. and Modeling.................... 3 1. 2
Uses of Scientific Models........................ 4 1. 3 Example: Island Biogeography..................... 6 1 …

Ever growing understanding of general ecological, biogeochemical and climatic processes
is allowing for the construction of a growing list of end-to-end models. While many of these …

Ecological systems are generally considered among the most complex because they are
characterized by a large number of diverse components, nonlinear interactions, scale …

Complex networked systems ranging from ecosystems and the climate to economic, social,
and infrastructure systems can exhibit a tip** point (a “point of no return”) at which a total …

The large number of components, nonlinear interactions, time delays and feedbacks, and
spatial heterogeneity together often make ecological systems overwhelmingly complex. This …