The Ecology Book

ECOSYSTEMS 139 the nonliving (abiotic) components (air, water, soil minerals) were linked together by nutrient cycles and energy ...

140 THE WORLD IS GREEN TROPHIC CASCADES S oon after the end of World War II, Aldo Leopold, an ecologist and one of the top wildl ...

141 they attack and eat prey, they affect the number and behavior of that prey—since prey move away when predators are present. ...

142 ecosystem’s breakdown. In the US, a trophic cascade on the coast of southern New England is believed to be responsible for t ...

143 Steller’s sea cow was a giant sirenian discovered by the naturalist Georg Steller in 1741. Its extinction is the cause of de ...

ISLANDS ARE ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY US_144-149_Island_biogeography.indd 144 12/11/18 6:25 PM ...

US_144-149_Island_biogeography.indd 145 12/11/18 6:25 PM ...

146 I sland, or insular, biogeography examines the factors that affect the species richness of isolated natural communities. Cha ...

147 factors at play in island ecosystems and, in 1967, they outlined a new theory of island biogeography. Their theory proposed ...

148 they counted returning species to observe their recolonization. The Florida Keys experiment showed that distance did indeed ...

149 Ecologists also studied the diversity of beetles and flies in nine parks of different sizes in Cincinnati, Ohio. Area was th ...

150 IT IS THE CONSTANCY OF NUMBERS THAT MATTERS ECOLOGICAL RESILIENCE T he capacity for ecosystems to recover following a distur ...

151 A thick green scum of algae covers parts of Lonar Lake, in Maharashtra, India. Algae thrive in high-nutrient conditions, but ...

152 See also: Human activity and biodiversity 92–95 ■ Island biogeography 144–149 ■ Climax community 172–173 ■ Open community th ...

153 See also: The ecosystem 134–137 ■ The biosphere 204–205 ■ Sustainable Biosphere Initiative 322–323 ■ Ecosystem services 328– ...

154 THE BEST STRATEGY DEPENDS ON WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING EVOLUTIONARILY STABLE STATE T he field of behavioral ecology seeks to exp ...

ECOSYSTEMS 155 selection could upset this balance— hence why an ESS is “stable”—and that these behaviour patterns are geneticall ...

156 SPECIES MAINTAIN THE FUNCTIONING AND STABILITY OF ECOSYSTEMS BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION I n an age when human activ ...

157 See also: Mutualisms 56–59 ■ Keystone species 60–65 ■ The ecosystem 134 –137 ■ Organisms and their environment 166 ■ Invasiv ...

ORGANIS MS IN A CHAN GING ENVIRON MENT US_158-159_Ch_6_Organisms_in_a_Changing_Environment_Opener.indd 158 12/11/18 8:25 PM ...