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Informationen zum Autor ABOUT THE EDITORS Richard M. Sibly is Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading where he teaches Behavioural Ecology and Population Biology. He researches metabolic ecology questions with members of Jim Brown's Lab at the University of New Mexico and also works to promote the use of Agent Based Models (ABMs) more widely in ecology. http://www.reading.ac.uk/biologicalsciences/about/staff/r-m-sibly.aspx James H. Brown is Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. He led the development of the Metabolic Theory of Ecology on which this book is largely based. He has a long history of research in biogeography and macroecology, taking a large-scale statistical approach to questions about abundance, distribution, and diversity. http://biology.unm.edu/jhbrown/index.shtml Astrid Kodric-Brown is Professor of Biology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Her research interests include the behavioral ecology of freshwater fishes, especially the evolution of mate recognition systems and their role in speciation in pupfishes ( Cyprinodon ); the allometry of sexually-selected traits; and community structure and conservation of desert fishes. http://biology.unm.edu/biology/kodric/ Klappentext Most of ecology is about metabolism: the ways that organisms use energy and materials. The energy requirements of individuals - their metabolic rates - vary predictably with their body size and temperature. Ecological interactions are exchanges of energy and materials between organisms and their environments. So metabolic rate affects ecological processes at all levels: individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems. Each chapter focuses on a different process, level of organization, or kind of organism. It lays a conceptual foundation and presents empirical examples. Together, the chapters provide an integrated framework that holds the promise for a unified theory of ecology.The book is intended to be accessible to upper-level undergraduate, and graduate students, but also of interest to senior scientists. Its easy-to-read chapters and clear illustrations can be used in lecture and seminar courses. Together they make for an authoritative treatment that will inspire future generations to study metabolic ecology. Zusammenfassung One of the first textbooks in this emerging important field of ecology. Most of ecology is about metabolism: the ways that organisms use energy and materials. The energy requirements of individuals their metabolic rates vary predictably with their body size and temperature. Inhaltsverzeichnis Notes on contributors vii Preface xiv Introduction: Metabolism as the basis for a theoretical unification of ecology 1 James H. Brown, Richard M. Sibly, and Astrid Kodric-Brown Part I Foundations 7 1 Methodological tools 9 Ethan P. White, Xiao Xiao, Nick J. B. Isaac, and Richard M. Sibly 2 The metabolic theory of ecology and its central equation 21 James H. Brown and Richard M. Sibly 3 Stoichiometry 34 Michael Kaspari 4 Modeling metazoan growth and ontogeny 48 Andrew J. Kerkhoff 5 Life history 57 Richard M. Sibly 6 Behavior 67 April Hayward, James F. Gillooly, and Astrid Kodric-Brown 7 Population and community ecology 77 Nick J.B. Isaac, Chris Carbone, and Brian Mcgill 8 Predator-prey relations and food webs 86 Owen L. Petchey and Jennifer A. Dunne 9 Ecosystems 99 Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira and Peter M. Vitousek 10 Rates of metabolism and evolution 112 John L. Gittleman and Patrick R. Stephens 11 Biodiversity and its energetic and thermal controls 120 David Storch ...
