The Message of Ecology

Table of Contents : Preface Introduction Chapter 1 Distribution of Species Is Limited by Barriers and Unfavorable Environments Chapter 2 No Population Increases Without Limit Chapter 3 Good and Poor Places Exist for Every Species Chapter 4 Overexploited Populations Can Collapse Chapter 5 Communities Can Rebound from Disturbances Chapter 6 Communities Can Exist in Several Stable Configurations Chapter 7 Keystone Species May Be Essential to a Community Chapter 8 Natural Systems Recycle Essential Materials Chapter 9 Climates Change, Communities Change Chapter 10 Natural Systems Are Products of Evolution Glossary References Index

This paperback text is a wonderful introduction to the science of ecology as a supplementary reading for a general biology or ecology course. It should also be read by any educated person who needs to understand what ecological research tells us about how the natural world works and how society should behave toward that world as a result. It presents sound ecological concepts, but emphasizes the basic experimental nature of ecology and the difficulty in generalizing from one ecosystem to another. The ten major concepts, presented as titles of his ten chapters, can be a message for us all. The real problem with this text is that it is terribly overpriced for its intended audience. The publisher should be ashamed of the pricing that makes this good book inaccessible. Its best alternative or better, companion reading, is Paul Ehrlich's "The Machinery of Nature," which is out of print.