Synopses & Reviews
Provides introduction to exciting new areas of spatial ecological theory, simplifying spatial complexity.
Review
"A striking outlier in the edited volume literature. From a technical point of view, it is a tour de force and easily the best-edited volume I have ever read, reviewed, or taught from. There are two dozen chapters on every topic imaginable, and they flow together in a seamless and even stately manner that is altogether absent in most edited volumes in the ecological literature...possessed of rhetorical, literary, and artistic qualities that are sadly (and self-destructively) neglected in modern scientific communication--especially edited volumes." Ecology
Synopsis
In this exciting new volume detailing the latest developments in spatial ecological theory, innovative methods of simplifying spatial complexity are put forward. This book is for all those interested in theoretical or evolutionary biology and applied mathematics.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction Richard Law, Ulf Dieckmann and J. A. J. Metz; Part I. Empirical and Statistical Background: 2. A neighbourhood view of interactions among individual plants Peter Stoll and Jacob Weiner; 3. Spatial interactions among grassland plant populations Jonathan Silvertown and Bastow Wilson; 4. Spatio-temporal patterns in grassland communities Tomás Herben, Heinjo During and Richard Law; 5. Statistical modelling and analysis of spatial patterns David Cox, Valerie Isham and Paul Northrop; Part II. When the Mean-Field Approximation Breaks Down: 6. Grid-based models as tools for ecological research Christian Wissel; 7. Coexistence of replicators in prebiotic evolution Tamas Czárán and Eörs Szathmáry; 8. Games on grids Martin Nowak and Karl Sigmund; 9. The interplay between reaction and diffusion Mikael Cronhjort; 10. Spirals and spots: novel evolutionary phenomena through spatial self-structuring Maarten Boerlijst; 11. The role of space in reducing predator-prey cycles Vincent Jansen and Andréde Roos; Part III. Simplifying Spatial Complexity: Examples: 12. Spatial scales and low-dimensional deterministic dynamics Howard Wilson and Matthew Keeling; 13. Lattice models and pair-approximation in ecology Yoh Iwasa; 14. Moment approximations of individual-based models Richard Law and Ulf Dieckmann; 15. Evolutionary dynamics in spatial host-pathogen systems Matthew Keeling; 16. Foci, small and large: a specific class of biological invasion Jan-Carel Zadoks; 17. Wave patterns in spatial games and the evolution of cooperation Régis Ferriere and Rick Michod; Part IV. Simplifying Spatial Complexity: Techniques: 18. Pair approximations for lattice-based ecological models Kazunori Sato and Yoh Iwasa; 19. Pair approximations for different spatial geometries Minus van Baalen; 20. Moment methods for ecological processes in continuous space Benjamin Bolker, Steven Pacala and Simon Levin; 21. Relaxation projections and the method of moments Ulf Dieckmann; 22. Methods for reaction-diffusion models Vivian Hutson and Glen Vickers; 23. The dynamics of invasion waves Johan A. J. Metz, Denis Mollison and Frank van den Bosch; 24 Epilogue Johan A. J. Metz, Ulf Dieckmann and Richard Law; References; Index.