This widely anticipated revision of the groundbreaking book, Ecological Understanding, updates this crucial sourcebook of contemporary philosophical insights for practicing ecologists and graduate students in ecology and environmental studies. The second edition contains new ecological examples, an expanded array of conceptual diagrams and illustrations, new text boxes summarizing important points or defining key terms, and new reference to philosophical issues and controversies. Although the first edition was recognized for its clarity, this revision takes the opportunity to make the...

Among the most dif?cult problems in the life sciences is the challenge to understand the details of how ecosystems/watersheds/landscapes function. Yet, the welfare of all life, not just the human species, depends upon the s- cessful functioning of diverse and complicated ecosystems, each with va- ous dimensions and compositions. Central to this working is the dominance, and to a major extent control, of ecosystems by organisms, which means that these systems are constantly changing as the component organisms change and evolve. Such changes increase the challenge to understand the functioning...

Among the most dif?cult problems in the life sciences is the challenge to understand the details of how ecosystems/watersheds/landscapes function. Yet, the welfare of all life, not just the human species, depends upon the s- cessful functioning of diverse and complicated ecosystems, each with va- ous dimensions and compositions. Central to this working is the dominance, and to a major extent control, of ecosystems by organisms, which means that these systems are constantly changing as the component organisms change and evolve. Such changes increase the challenge to understand the functioning...

I was asked to introduce this volume by examining "why a knowledge of ecosys tem functioning can contribute to understanding species activities, dynamics, and assemblages." I have found it surprisingly difficult to address this topic. On the one hand, the answer is very simple and general: because all species live in ecosystems, they are part of and dependent on ecosystem processes. It is impossible to understand the abundance and distribution of populations and the species diversity and composition of communities without a knowledge of their abiotic and biotic environments and of the fluxes...

I was asked to introduce this volume by examining "why a knowledge of ecosys tem functioning can contribute to understanding species activities, dynamics, and assemblages." I have found it surprisingly difficult to address this topic. On the one hand, the answer is very simple and general: because all species live in ecosystems, they are part of and dependent on ecosystem processes. It is impossible to understand the abundance and distribution of populations and the species diversity and composition of communities without a knowledge of their abiotic and biotic environments and of the fluxes...