The Ecology Book

(Elliott) #1
114 Birds lay the number
of eggs that produce
the optimum number
of offspring
Clutch control

116 The bond with a true dog
is as lasting as the ties of
this earth can ever be
Animal behavior

118 Redefine “tool”, redefine
“man”, or accept
chimpanzees as humans
Using animal models to
understand human behavior

126 All bodily activity
depends on temperature
Thermoregulation in insects

ECOSYSTEMS


132 Every distinct part of
nature’s works is
necessary for the
support of the rest
The food chain

134 All organisms are
potential sources of food
for other organisms
The ecosystem

138 Life is supported by a vast
network of processes
Energy flow through
ecosystems

140 The world is green
Trophic cascades

144 Islands are ecological
systems
Island biogeography

150 It is the constancy of
numbers that matters
Ecological resilience

152 Populations are subjected
to unpredictable forces
The neutral theory of
biodiversity

153 Only a community
of researchers has a
chance of revealing
the complex whole
Big ecology

154 The best strategy
depends on what
others are doing
Evolutionarily stable state

84 By the help of
microscopes nothing
escapes our inquiry
The microbiological
environment

86 If you do not know
the names of things, the
knowledge of them is lost
A system for identifying all
nature’s organisms

88 “Reproductively isolated”
are the key words
Biological species concept

90 Organisms clearly
cluster into several
primary kingdoms
A modern view of diversity

92 Save the biosphere and
you may save the world
Human activity
and biodiversity

96 We are in the opening
phase of a mass
extinction
Biodiversity hotspots

THE VARIETY


OF LIFE


102 It is the microbes that
will have the last word
Microbiology

104 Certain tree species
have a symbiosis
with fungi
The ubiquity of mycorrhizae

106 Food is the
burning question
Animal ecology

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