Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach

ISBN-13: 9780128030332 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 774 str.

Timothy D. Schowalter

Opis

Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach, Fourth Edition, follows a hierarchical organization that begins with relatively easy-to-understand chapters on adaptive responses of insect populations to various environmental changes, disturbances, and anthropogenic activities, how insects find food and habitat resources, and how insects allocate available energy and nutrients. Chapters build on fundamental information to show how insect populations respond to changing environmental conditions, including spatial and temporal distribution of food and habitat. The next section integrates populations of interacting species within communities and how these interactions determine structure of communities over time and space. Other works in insect ecology stop there, essentially limiting presentation of insect ecology to evolutionary responses of insects to their environment, including the activities of other species. The unique aspect of this book is its four chapters on ecosystem structure and function, and how herbivores, pollinators, seed predators, and detritivores drive ecosystem dynamics and contribute to ecosystem stability.

• Provides the most advanced synthesis of insect ecology, with updated material throughout and new chapters
• Presents the roles of insects in delivery of ecosystem services and applications to pest management and conservation
• Features full coverage of ecosystem structure and function balanced with essential background on evolutionary aspects
• Includes case studies highlighting practical and theoretical applications for topics covered in each chapter

Recenzje

"I consider Schowalter's Insect Ecology to be the consummate text on the topic as the author has a very broad and diverse perspective on insect ecology. The ecosystem-level perspective Schowalter takes in this book fills the need to incorporate insects and their influence into a larger, applied context. Insects have huge impacts on timber availability, large scale fires, and the carbon sink capacity of our forests. Understanding insects' influence on these disturbances and ecosystem services is essential for land managers, restoration project managers, and environmental consultants, in addition to research scientists." --Dr. Samantha Chapman, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Villanova University

Spis treści

1. Overview

Section I: Ecology of individual insects2. Responses to Abiotic Conditions3. Resource Acquisition4. Resource Allocation

Section II: Population ecology5. Population Systems6. Population Dynamics7. Biogeography

Section III: Community ecology8. Species Interactions9. Community Structure10. Community Dynamics

Section IV: Ecosystem level11. Ecosystem Structure and Function12. Herbivory13. Pollination, Seed Predation, and Seed Dispersal14. Decomposition and Pedogenesis15. Insects as Regulators of Ecosystem Processes

Section V: Applications and synthesis16. Application to Sustainability of Ecosystem Services17. Management of Insect Populations18. Summary and Synthesis