Population Ecology

Worldwide, Population Ecology is the leading textbook on this titled subject. Written primarily for students, it describes the present state of population ecology in terms that can be readily understood by undergraduates with little or no background in the subject. Carefully chosen experimental examples illustrate each topic, and studies of plants and animals are combined to show how fundamental principles can be derived that apply to both species. Use of complex mathematics ia avoided throughout the book, and what math is necessary is dealt with by examination of real experimental data rather than dull theory.

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• The latest edition of this leading textbook.
  
• Adopted as an Open University set text.

Preface.

Part 1: Single-Species Populations.

1. Describing Populations.

2. Intraspecific Competition.

3. Models of Single-Species Populations.

Part 2: Interpecific Interactions.

4. Interspecific Competition.

5. Predation.

Part 3: Synthesis.

6. Population Regulation.

7. Beyond Population Ecology.

References.

Author Index.

Organism Index.

Subject Index.

On the second edition.

‘To those familiar with the first addition of Begon & Mortimer’s short text on population ecology, it will come as no surprise to learn that the second addition, like the first addition, is a gem. What may surprise is that the second addition represents a significant improvement of what was already an excellent textbook…It is difficult to criticize a book that has achieved such admirable balance between empiricism vs. theory and unitary vs. modular organisms, all within a compact, inexpensive volume.’ Ecology

‘I doubt that there are many texts that portray the whole field of population ecology as successfully or concisely as does this book. It can be warmly recommended’ Australian Journal of Ecology

‘A zoologist and botanist have made an extremely well coordinated effort in presenting the population ecology of both animals and plants under one title. This textbook reads so smoothly that the reader soon forgets that it was written by two authors instead of one. The concise writing style and liberal use of graphs, tables, and diagrams make this textbook pleasurable to read and easy to understand. This book is accessible reading to anyone interested in population ecology.’ Canadian Field- Naturalist

Mike Begon was born in London in 1951 and a student at the University of Leeds. He has spent his whole scientific career at the University of Liverpool, where he is now Professor of Ecology, specializing in the population and community ecology of infectious diseases in wildlife. This successful text examines the ecological processes that determine the size and structure of a population, and demonstrates that there are many fundamental principles that apply to populations of both animals and plants. The authors have sought to involve the text in areas where particular progress has been made and consolidated. The third edition therefore addresses the problem of the detection of chaos, buried sea-banks and herbivorey implants and looks more closely at the role of spatial scale in two-species interactions. It also introduces a major new section on the concept of the meta-population. The book is designed to be readily understood by undergraduates with little or no previous knowledge of the subject, and also to stimulate wider debate and discussion.