Big Questions In Ecology And Evolution

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Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution

Author : Thomas N. Sherratt
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191563455
Total Pages : 313 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

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Book Synopsis Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution by : Thomas N. Sherratt

Download or read book Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution written by Thomas N. Sherratt and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-02-20 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do we age? Why cooperate? Why do so many species engage in sex? Why do the tropics have so many species? When did humans start to affect world climate? This book provides an introduction to a range of fundamental questions that have taxed evolutionary biologists and ecologists for decades. Some of the phenomena discussed are, on first reflection, simply puzzling to understand from an evolutionary perspective, whilst others have direct implications for the future of the planet. All of the questions posed have at least a partial solution, all have seen exciting breakthroughs in recent years, yet many of the explanations continue to be hotly debated. Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution is a curiosity-driven book, written in an accessible way so as to appeal to a broad audience. It is very deliberately not a formal text book, but something designed to transmit the excitement and breadth of the field by discussing a number of major questions in ecology and evolution and how they have been answered. This is a book aimed at informing and inspiring anybody with an interest in ecology and evolution. It reveals to the reader the immense scope of the field, its fundamental importance, and the exciting breakthroughs that have been made in recent years.

Unsolved Problems in Ecology

Author : Andrew Dobson
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691199833
Total Pages : 412 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Unsolved Problems in Ecology by : Andrew Dobson

Download or read book Unsolved Problems in Ecology written by Andrew Dobson and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-02 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This volume provides a series of essays on open questions in ecology with the overarching goal being to outline to the most important, most interesting or most fundamental problems in ecology that need to be addressed. The contributions span ecological subfields, from behavioral ecology and population ecology to disease ecology and conservation and range in tone from the technical to more personal meditations on the state of the field. Many of the chapters start or end in moments of genuine curiosity, like one which takes up the question of why the world is green or another which asks what might come of a thought experiment in which we "turn-off" evolution entirely"--

Improbable Destinies

Author : Jonathan B. Losos
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0399184937
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (991 download)

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Book Synopsis Improbable Destinies by : Jonathan B. Losos

Download or read book Improbable Destinies written by Jonathan B. Losos and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2017-08-08 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major new book overturning our assumptions about how evolution works Earth’s natural history is full of fascinating instances of convergence: phenomena like eyes and wings and tree-climbing lizards that have evolved independently, multiple times. But evolutionary biologists also point out many examples of contingency, cases where the tiniest change—a random mutation or an ancient butterfly sneeze—caused evolution to take a completely different course. What role does each force really play in the constantly changing natural world? Are the plants and animals that exist today, and we humans ourselves, inevitabilities or evolutionary flukes? And what does that say about life on other planets? Jonathan Losos reveals what the latest breakthroughs in evolutionary biology can tell us about one of the greatest ongoing debates in science. He takes us around the globe to meet the researchers who are solving the deepest mysteries of life on Earth through their work in experimental evolutionary science. Losos himself is one of the leaders in this exciting new field, and he illustrates how experiments with guppies, fruit flies, bacteria, foxes, and field mice, along with his own work with anole lizards on Caribbean islands, are rewinding the tape of life to reveal just how rapid and predictable evolution can be. Improbable Destinies will change the way we think and talk about evolution. Losos's insights into natural selection and evolutionary change have far-reaching applications for protecting ecosystems, securing our food supply, and fighting off harmful viruses and bacteria. This compelling narrative offers a new understanding of ourselves and our role in the natural world and the cosmos.

Am I a Monkey?

Author : Francisco J. Ayala
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 0801899389
Total Pages : 103 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis Am I a Monkey? by : Francisco J. Ayala

Download or read book Am I a Monkey? written by Francisco J. Ayala and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brief, incisive, topical, authoritative, Am I a Monkey? will take you a day to read and a lifetime to ponder.

A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution

Author : Sarah P. Otto
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400840910
Total Pages : 745 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution by : Sarah P. Otto

Download or read book A Biologist's Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution written by Sarah P. Otto and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-19 with total page 745 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirty years ago, biologists could get by with a rudimentary grasp of mathematics and modeling. Not so today. In seeking to answer fundamental questions about how biological systems function and change over time, the modern biologist is as likely to rely on sophisticated mathematical and computer-based models as traditional fieldwork. In this book, Sarah Otto and Troy Day provide biology students with the tools necessary to both interpret models and to build their own. The book starts at an elementary level of mathematical modeling, assuming that the reader has had high school mathematics and first-year calculus. Otto and Day then gradually build in depth and complexity, from classic models in ecology and evolution to more intricate class-structured and probabilistic models. The authors provide primers with instructive exercises to introduce readers to the more advanced subjects of linear algebra and probability theory. Through examples, they describe how models have been used to understand such topics as the spread of HIV, chaos, the age structure of a country, speciation, and extinction. Ecologists and evolutionary biologists today need enough mathematical training to be able to assess the power and limits of biological models and to develop theories and models themselves. This innovative book will be an indispensable guide to the world of mathematical models for the next generation of biologists. A how-to guide for developing new mathematical models in biology Provides step-by-step recipes for constructing and analyzing models Interesting biological applications Explores classical models in ecology and evolution Questions at the end of every chapter Primers cover important mathematical topics Exercises with answers Appendixes summarize useful rules Labs and advanced material available

The Dominant Animal

Author : Paul R. Ehrlich
Publisher : Island Press
ISBN 13 : 1597264601
Total Pages : 472 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (972 download)

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Book Synopsis The Dominant Animal by : Paul R. Ehrlich

Download or read book The Dominant Animal written by Paul R. Ehrlich and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2008-06-30 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In humanity’s more than 100,000 year history, we have evolved from vulnerable creatures clawing sustenance from Earth to a sophisticated global society manipulating every inch of it. In short, we have become the dominant animal. Why, then, are we creating a world that threatens our own species? What can we do to change the current trajectory toward more climate change, increased famine, and epidemic disease? Renowned Stanford scientists Paul R. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich believe that intelligently addressing those questions depends on a clear understanding of how we evolved and how and why we’re changing the planet in ways that darken our descendants’ future. The Dominant Animal arms readers with that knowledge, tracing the interplay between environmental change and genetic and cultural evolution since the dawn of humanity. In lucid and engaging prose, they describe how Homo sapiens adapted to their surroundings, eventually developing the vibrant cultures, vast scientific knowledge, and technological wizardry we know today. But the Ehrlichs also explore the flip side of this triumphant story of innovation and conquest. As we clear forests to raise crops and build cities, lace the continents with highways, and create chemicals never before seen in nature, we may be undermining our own supremacy. The threats of environmental damage are clear from the daily headlines, but the outcome is far from destined. Humanity can again adapt—if we learn from our evolutionary past. Those lessons are crystallized in The Dominant Animal. Tackling the fundamental challenge of the human predicament, Paul and Anne Ehrlich offer a vivid and unique exploration of our origins, our evolution, and our future.

Foundations of Ecology

Author : Leslie A. Real
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022618210X
Total Pages : 920 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (261 download)

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Book Synopsis Foundations of Ecology by : Leslie A. Real

Download or read book Foundations of Ecology written by Leslie A. Real and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-12-20 with total page 920 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Assembled here for the first time in one volume are forty classic papers that have laid the foundations of modern ecology. Whether by posing new problems, demonstrating important effects, or stimulating new research, these papers have made substantial contributions to an understanding of ecological processes, and they continue to influence the field today. The papers span nearly nine decades of ecological research, from 1887 on, and are organized in six sections: foundational papers, theoretical advances, synthetic statements, methodological developments, field studies, and ecological experiments. Selections range from Connell's elegant account of experiments with barnacles to Watt's encyclopedic natural history, from a visionary exposition by Grinnell of the concept of niche to a seminal essay by Hutchinson on diversity. Six original essays by contemporary ecologists and a historian of ecology place the selections in context and discuss their continued relevance to current research. This combination of classic papers and fresh commentaries makes Foundations of Ecology both a convenient reference to papers often cited today and an essential guide to the intellectual and conceptual roots of the field. Published with the Ecological Society of America.

Ecology: a Very Short Introduction

Author : Jaboury Ghazoul
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198831013
Total Pages : 185 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

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Book Synopsis Ecology: a Very Short Introduction by : Jaboury Ghazoul

Download or read book Ecology: a Very Short Introduction written by Jaboury Ghazoul and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-07-09 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding how our living environment works is essentially a study of ecological systems. Ecology is the science of how organisms interact with each other and with their environment, and how such interactions create self-organising communities and ecosystems. This science touches us all. The food we eat, the water we drink, the natural resources we use, our physical and mental health, and much of our cultural heritage are to a large degree products of ecological interactions of organisms and their environment. This Very Short Introduction celebrates the centrality of ecology in our lives. Jaboury Ghazoul explores how ecology has evolved rapidly from natural history to become a predictive science that explains how the natural world works, and which guides environmental policy and management decisions. Drawing on a range of examples, he shows how ecological science can be applied to management and conservation, including the extent to which theory has shaped practice. Ecological science has also shaped social and cultural perspectives on the environment, a process that influences politics of the environment. Ghazoul concludes by considering the future of ecology, particularly in the light of current and future environmental challenges. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Evolutionary Community Ecology, Volume 58

Author : Mark A. McPeek
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691088772
Total Pages : 329 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolutionary Community Ecology, Volume 58 by : Mark A. McPeek

Download or read book Evolutionary Community Ecology, Volume 58 written by Mark A. McPeek and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-29 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Ecological Opportunities, Communities, and Evolution -- 2. The Community of Ecological Opportunities -- 3. Evolving in the Community -- 4. New Species for the Community -- 5. Differentiating in the Community -- 6. Moving among Communities -- 7. Which Ways Forward? -- Literature Cited -- Index

The Big Questions

Author : Francisco Ayala
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781681447391
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (473 download)

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Book Synopsis The Big Questions by : Francisco Ayala

Download or read book The Big Questions written by Francisco Ayala and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Evolution

Author : Brian Charlesworth
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198804369
Total Pages : 169 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolution by : Brian Charlesworth

Download or read book Evolution written by Brian Charlesworth and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text is about the central role of evolution in shaping the nature and diversity of the living world. It describes the processes of natural selection, how adaptations arise, and how new species form, as well as summarizing the evidence for evolution

Discovering Evolutionary Ecology

Author : Peter J. Mayhew
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191524700
Total Pages : 228 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (915 download)

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Book Synopsis Discovering Evolutionary Ecology by : Peter J. Mayhew

Download or read book Discovering Evolutionary Ecology written by Peter J. Mayhew and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2006-01-05 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why are some kinds of organism species-rich and others species-poor? How do new species arise and why do some go extinct? Why do organisms grow and behave the way they do? This book provides an introduction to evolutionary ecology, the science that brings ecology and evolution together to help understand biological diversity. In a concise, readable format, Peter Mayhew covers the entire breadth of the subject, from life histories and the evolution of sex, to speciation and macroecology. Many emerging fields are also introduced, such as metabolic ecology, the evolution of population dynamics, and the evolution of global ecology. Discovering Evolutionary Ecology highlights the connections between these different subject areas, and for the first time paints a picture of a truly integrated field. It illustrates the research tools utilized, and demonstrates how advances in one area can spur on developments elsewhere when scientists combine evolutionary and ecological knowledge. To maximize accessibility, the book assumes only a basic knowledge of biology, includes a comprehensive glossary, and contains almost no maths. Each chapter provides suggestions for further reading, and there is also an extensive reference list. Ideal as an introduction to evolutionary ecology for undergraduates, this book will also interest established researchers, providing a broad and up-to-date context for their work.

Handbook of Meta-analysis in Ecology and Evolution

Author : Julia Koricheva
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400846188
Total Pages : 520 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Handbook of Meta-analysis in Ecology and Evolution by : Julia Koricheva

Download or read book Handbook of Meta-analysis in Ecology and Evolution written by Julia Koricheva and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-04-21 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meta-analysis is a powerful statistical methodology for synthesizing research evidence across independent studies. This is the first comprehensive handbook of meta-analysis written specifically for ecologists and evolutionary biologists, and it provides an invaluable introduction for beginners as well as an up-to-date guide for experienced meta-analysts. The chapters, written by renowned experts, walk readers through every step of meta-analysis, from problem formulation to the presentation of the results. The handbook identifies both the advantages of using meta-analysis for research synthesis and the potential pitfalls and limitations of meta-analysis (including when it should not be used). Different approaches to carrying out a meta-analysis are described, and include moment and least-square, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian approaches, all illustrated using worked examples based on real biological datasets. This one-of-a-kind resource is uniquely tailored to the biological sciences, and will provide an invaluable text for practitioners from graduate students and senior scientists to policymakers in conservation and environmental management. Walks you through every step of carrying out a meta-analysis in ecology and evolutionary biology, from problem formulation to result presentation Brings together experts from a broad range of fields Shows how to avoid, minimize, or resolve pitfalls such as missing data, publication bias, varying data quality, nonindependence of observations, and phylogenetic dependencies among species Helps you choose the right software Draws on numerous examples based on real biological datasets

Animal Ecology

Author : Charles Sutherland Elton
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Animal Ecology by : Charles Sutherland Elton

Download or read book Animal Ecology written by Charles Sutherland Elton and published by . This book was released on 1927 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Essential Readings in Evolutionary Biology

Author : Francisco J. Ayala
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 1421413051
Total Pages : 572 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (214 download)

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Book Synopsis Essential Readings in Evolutionary Biology by : Francisco J. Ayala

Download or read book Essential Readings in Evolutionary Biology written by Francisco J. Ayala and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2014-03-15 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces scholarly thought from the nineteenth-century birth of evolutionary biology to the mapping of the human genome through forty-eight essays, arranged in chronological order, each preceded by a one-page essay that explains the significance of the chosen work.

The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science

Author : Michael Strevens
Publisher : Liveright Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1631491385
Total Pages : 368 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (314 download)

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Book Synopsis The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science by : Michael Strevens

Download or read book The Knowledge Machine: How Irrationality Created Modern Science written by Michael Strevens and published by Liveright Publishing. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The Knowledge Machine is the most stunningly illuminating book of the last several decades regarding the all-important scientific enterprise.” —Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googleplex A paradigm-shifting work, The Knowledge Machine revolutionizes our understanding of the origins and structure of science. • Why is science so powerful? • Why did it take so long—two thousand years after the invention of philosophy and mathematics—for the human race to start using science to learn the secrets of the universe? In a groundbreaking work that blends science, philosophy, and history, leading philosopher of science Michael Strevens answers these challenging questions, showing how science came about only once thinkers stumbled upon the astonishing idea that scientific breakthroughs could be accomplished by breaking the rules of logical argument. Like such classic works as Karl Popper’s The Logic of Scientific Discovery and Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, The Knowledge Machine grapples with the meaning and origins of science, using a plethora of vivid historical examples to demonstrate that scientists willfully ignore religion, theoretical beauty, and even philosophy to embrace a constricted code of argument whose very narrowness channels unprecedented energy into empirical observation and experimentation. Strevens calls this scientific code the iron rule of explanation, and reveals the way in which the rule, precisely because it is unreasonably close-minded, overcomes individual prejudices to lead humanity inexorably toward the secrets of nature. “With a mixture of philosophical and historical argument, and written in an engrossing style” (Alan Ryan), The Knowledge Machine provides captivating portraits of some of the greatest luminaries in science’s history, including Isaac Newton, the chief architect of modern science and its foundational theories of motion and gravitation; William Whewell, perhaps the greatest philosopher-scientist of the early nineteenth century; and Murray Gell-Mann, discoverer of the quark. Today, Strevens argues, in the face of threats from a changing climate and global pandemics, the idiosyncratic but highly effective scientific knowledge machine must be protected from politicians, commercial interests, and even scientists themselves who seek to open it up, to make it less narrow and more rational—and thus to undermine its devotedly empirical search for truth. Rich with illuminating and often delightfully quirky illustrations, The Knowledge Machine, written in a winningly accessible style that belies the import of its revisionist and groundbreaking concepts, radically reframes much of what we thought we knew about the origins of the modern world.

Biology for AP ® Courses

Author : Julianne Zedalis
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781947172401
Total Pages : 1923 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (724 download)

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Book Synopsis Biology for AP ® Courses by : Julianne Zedalis

Download or read book Biology for AP ® Courses written by Julianne Zedalis and published by . This book was released on 2017-10-16 with total page 1923 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biology for AP® courses covers the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester Advanced Placement® biology course. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology for AP® Courses was designed to meet and exceed the requirements of the College Board’s AP® Biology framework while allowing significant flexibility for instructors. Each section of the book includes an introduction based on the AP® curriculum and includes rich features that engage students in scientific practice and AP® test preparation; it also highlights careers and research opportunities in biological sciences.