Books in the Cambridge Studies in Ecology series

Spiders offer a unique opportunity to examine the role which field experimentation plays in evaluating theories of population and community ecology. This is an essential reference for ecologists interested in the ecology of a major terrestrial predator and the powerful use of field tests of hypotheses.

Cliffs provide a unique habitat, rarely investigated from an ecological viewpoint. This book provides a simple account of the structure and formation of cliffs, as well as a description of the plants and animals that live there. This book will be a vital resource for ecologists studying this unique habitat.

Owen-Smith's account of the ecology of the largest land mammals (elephants, rhinos, hippos and giraffes) emphasises the constraints resulting from their body size. Many important questions are raised. For example, why have these once abundant and widely distributed animals all but gone extinct?

Ecological Experiments stresses the importance of field experiments, where variables are manipulated in order to collect data on specific hypotheses, as opposed to the more passive observational method. It introduces a series of ecological questions which can be addressed experimentally and details the minimum requirements of experimental design.

Deserts provide a seemingly hostile environment in which plants can, nevertheless, survive and grow. This book, originally published in 1992, considers the ecological strategies adopted by desert succulents to overcome these problems.

This informative book, first published in 1987, presents the theories of community ecology within the context of a natural example. The text describes and examines issues in community ecology and shows how research on salamanders has helped to solve some of the problems surrounding the theories.

Ecological Versatility and Community Ecology, first published in 1995, is a book about specialisation and generalisation in the use of both resources and habitats. The author uses ideas from the wide range of ecological disciplines to provide a comprehensive overview of research into ecological versatility.

This book, originally published in 1985, provides a critical and selective review of lichen physiological ecology. The book will be of interest to students and research workers in plant ecology, plant physiology and lichenology.

This book concentrates on the ecological aspects of microbial life covering a wide variety of topics including the structure of microbes, their behaviour, growth and dispersal, types of interactions with other organisms and how microbes act as symbionts and pathogens.

The theme of this book is the invasion of land by animal lines which originated in aquatic environments. It brings together physiological and ecological evidence to show both the likely routes taken out of the sea by the aquatic ancestors of terrestrial animals and the changes in structure and function associated with these routes.

In this 1985 book Professor Beattie reviews the fascinating natural history of ant-plant interactions, discusses the scientific evidence for the mutualistic nature of these relationships, and reaches some conclusions about the ecological and evolutionary processes that mold them.

The two volumes of John Wiens' The Ecology of Bird Communities, first published in 1992, have applications and importance to the whole field of ecology. Volume 1, Foundations and Patterns, is mainly devoted to a critical evaluation of what is known about the nature and organisation of bird communities.

The saltmarsh is uniquely influenced by both the marine and terrestrial environment. This book provides a broad introduction to the ecology of the saltmarsh, devoting particular attention to the diversity of saltmarsh vegetation worldwide, its characteristics and importance.

This book deals with the lifestyle of phytoplankton, the microscopic plant life living in the open waters of ponds, lakes and rivers, with frequent reference to the phytoplankton of the sea. It reviews the adaptations which organisms require to live independently of solid surfaces and the different ways in which this has been achieved.

Ecological problems involve numerous variables, individuals and samples. Multivariate techniques allow the summary of large, complex sets of data and provide the means to tackle many problems that cannot be investigated experimentally. This book describes three methodologies from a theoretical and practical viewpoint: direct gradient, ordination, and classification.

Temperate-zone forests are being shaped continuously by wind, fire and grazing. This book considers these disturbances and consequent issues such as recovery from disturbance, the changing composition of tree species within the forest and the formation of mosaics of different forest types across the landscape.

Adaptive Herbivore Ecology describes plant-herbivore interactions in the context of large African mammals (such as antelope and cattle) written by the world-leading ecologist, Norman Owen-Smith. The author develops models based on his extensive field experience in this valuable resource for academic researchers and graduates in many ecological fields.

The predictability of the physical arrangement of plants is a crucial aspect of vegetation. This book describes and evaluates methods for analysing a variety of characteristics of spatial pattern. Worked examples and examples from real field studies, together with numerous line figures, help guide the reader through the text.

This book examines the ecological systems of river banks and floodplains, focusing on plant communities which are increasingly threatened by development. The book uses landscape ecology to review research areas and to synthesise divergent work in ecology, geomorphology and hydrology.

Using general ecological principles, The Ecology of Fire examines the ecological effects of wildfires and fires used in land management. Examples are drawn from many ecosystems on several continents. The book is aimed at all those concerned with the effects of natural and prescribed fires on the biota.

A technical introduction to the behaviour of fire and its ecological consequences, this book studies fire intensity, rate of spread, fuel consumption, fire frequency and fire weather.

Macroevolution is currently an area of considerable debate. In this highly readable book a leading palaeoecologist develops a new evolutionary synthesis based on evidence that, contrary to Darwin's ideas, the fossil record of the ice-ages shows that short term evolutionary processes cannot be extrapolated to longer timescales.

The first comprehensive review of the available information on the ecology of recently-deglaciated terrain, this volume evaluates critically the methodology employed in such studies.

Dynamic Biogeography involves the study of biological patterns and processes on a broad scale both geographically and temporally. This book deals with patterns of concordance, geography trends in species' diversity and biological traits and areography or the analysis of species range.

Experimental manipulations of whole lakes are used to test the idea that fluctuations in productivity can be driven by variations in predator populations. This 1993 book shows that population and ecosystem processes can be strongly linked. The study combines population, community and ecosystem ecology.

Experimental manipulations of whole lakes are used to test the idea that fluctuations in productivity can be driven by variations in predator populations. This 1993 book shows that population and ecosystem processes can be strongly linked. The study combines population, community and ecosystem ecology.

One of the key challenges facing ecologists is to understand and predict the effect of human-induced changes such as pollution or long-term climate change. This book provides the ecological background needed to understand the prospects for predicting the changes in natural landscapes in response to changes in the environment.

This book sets out to examine this often neglected area in two ways. In the first part the author analyses the distribution of species in relation to climate over different scales of time and place. In the second, he reviews the various approaches to explaining observed correlation between plant distribution and climate.

This is a critical review of the origins and development of ecology, with emphasis on the major concepts and theories shared in the ecological traditions of plant and animal ecology, limnology, and oceanography.

This book describes the general processes of the nitrogen cycle, then gives examples, drawn from all over the world, of how the cycle is modified under particular ecological or geographical conditions. It provides a background for all those whose specialist interests interact with nitrogen cycling.