Known for its emphasis on the relevance of ecology in everyday life and the human impact on ecosystems,Elements of Ecology, Seventh Edition features new "Interpreting Ecological Data" exercises to help readers develop quantitative skills. Each chapter draws upon current research in the various fields of ecology providing accessible examples that help readers understand species natural history, specific ecosystems, the process of science, and ecological patterns at both an evolutionary and demographic scale.The Nature of Ecology, Adaptation and Evolution, Climate, The Aquatic Environment, The Terrestrial Environment, Plant Adaptations to the Environment, Animal Adaptations to the Environment, Life History Patterns, Properties of Populations, Population Growth, Intraspecific Population Regulation, Metapopulations, Interspecific Competition, Predation, Parasitism and Mutualism, Community Structure, Factors Influencing the Structure of Communities, Community Dynamics, Landscape Ecology, Ecosystem Energetics, Decomposition and Nutrient Cycling, Biogeochemical Cycles, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Aquatic Ecosystems, Land-Water Margins, Large-scale Patterns of Biological Diversity,Population Growth, Resource Use, and Sustainability, Habitat Loss, Biodiversity, and Conservation,Global Climate Change Intended for those interested in learning the basics of ecology

Thomas M. Smith, Associate Professor in Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, received his Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Tennessee in 1982. The main focus of his research over the past two decades has been to develop an individual based theory of community and ecosystems dynamics. As part of this work he has served on numerous national and international panels that have addressed the potential influence of human activities on the global environment. He has authored over 70 publications based on his research, and he has been recognized as one of the most cited scientists in the field of global change research.

 

Thomas’s work has taken him to over 70 countries and 6 continents. He has served on the faculty of the University of Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa), Australian National University (Canberra, Australia), as well as the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA, USA). In addition, he has held research scientist positions at both Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, TN, USA) and the Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Laxenburg, Austria). He has over 20 years of experience teaching the science of ecology to both science and non-science majors.

 

Robert L. Smith holds a Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology from Cornell University. He is Professor Emeritus of Ecology at West Virginia University. He has spent over 30 years teaching Ecology and conducting field research throughout the world. His teaching responsibilities have involved mostly undergraduate courses in general ecology and graduate courses in population ecology and wildlife management. His research has included forest-fire related problems in southern West Virginia, vegetational development and succession on abandoned and reclaimed surface mines, the relation between forest vegetational structure and the forest bird community, and forest habitat assessment and habitat evaluation procedures based on vegetational structure.

 

Smith has served as a consultant to congressional committees, workshops on environmental education and energy and environmental problems, the National Landmarks program of the U.S. Department of Interior, National Research Council Task Forces on wildlife and fisheries issues and ecological classification systems for implementing environmental quality evaluation procedures.