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As one of the most quantitative of ecological subdisciplines, resource competition is an important, central area of ecology. Recently research into this area has increased dramatically and resource competition models have become more complex. The characterisation of this phenomenon is therefore the aim of this book. Resource Competition seeks to identify the unifying principles emerging from experimental and theoretical approaches as well as the differences between organisms, illustrating that greater knowledge of resource competition will benefit human and environmental welfare. This book will serve as an indispensable guide to ecologists, evolutionary biologists and environmental managers, and all those interested in resource competition as an emerging discipline.
List of contents
1 Introduction.- 1.1 Resources.- 1.2 A paradigm of population growth.- 1.3 Competition and resources.- 1.4 Classical competition theory.- 1.5 Concluding remarks.- 2 Theoretical and experimental foundations.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Chemostat models.- 2.3 Competition for a single abiotic resource.- 2.4 Competition for two abiotic resources.- 2.5 Concluding remarks.- 3 Experimental studies of resource competition.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 General overview.- 3.3 Microorganisms.- 3.4 Higher plants.- 3.5 Metazoa.- 3.6 Concluding remarks.- 4 Critiques.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 The logical structure of theory and experimentation.- 4.3 Critiques of resource competition theory.- 4.4 A look ahead.- 5 Nonequilibrium resource competition.- 5.1 General notions.- 5.2 Experimental and theoretical studies of plankton.- 5.3 Competition for biotic resources.- 5.4 Other approaches.- 5.5 Remaining issues.- 6 Competition within food webs.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 A resource-dependent food web.- 6.3 Special cases of the resource-dependent food web.- 6.4 Remaining issues.- 6.5 Conclusions.- 7 Spatial heterogeneity.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 General approaches.- 7.3 Island or site-based models.- 7.4 Continuum models.- 7.5 Stepping-stone models.- 7.6 Empirical and theoretical challenges.- 7.7 Conclusions.- 8 Competition for light.- 8.1 Introduction.- 8.2 The vertical nature of light supply, consumption and photosynthesis.- 8.3 Horizontal aspects of competition for light.- 8.4 Temporal aspects of competition for light.- 8.5 Conclusions and remaining issues.- 9 Resource competition and evolution.- 9.1 Introduction.- 9.2 Purely phenotypic approaches.- 9.3 Genetic approaches.- 9.4 Conclusions and remaining issues.- 10 Applications.- 10.1 Introduction.- 10.2 Water quality management.- 10.3 Medicine.- 10.4Conservation.- 10.5 Conclusions and remaining issues.- 11 Conclusions.- 11.1 Introductory remarks.- 11.2 The current status of resource competition.- 11.3 Concluding remarks.- References.
