Download or read book Quantitative Ecology and Evolutionary Biology written by Otso Ovaskainen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This novel, interdisciplinary text achieves an integration of empirical data and theory with the aid of mathematical models and statistical methods. The emphasis throughout is on spatial ecology and evolution, especially on the interplay between environmental heterogeneity and biological processes. The book provides a coherent theme by interlinking the modelling approaches used for different subfields of spatial ecology: movement ecology, population ecology, community ecology, and genetics and evolutionary ecology (each being represented by a separate chapter). Each chapter starts by describing the concept of each modelling approach in its biological context, goes on to present the relevant mathematical models and statistical methods, and ends with a discussion of the benefits and limitations of each approach. The concepts and techniques discussed throughout the book are illustrated throughout with the help of empirical examples. This is an advanced text suitable for any biologist interested in the integration of empirical data and theory in spatial ecology/evolution through the use of quantitative/statistical methods and mathematical models. The book will also be of relevance and use as a textbook for graduate-level courses in spatial ecology, ecological modelling, theoretical ecology, and statistical ecology.
Download or read book The Theoretical Biologist s Toolbox written by Marc Mangel and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-07-27 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mathematical modelling is widely used in ecology and evolutionary biology and it is a topic that many biologists find difficult to grasp. In this new textbook Marc Mangel provides a no-nonsense introduction to the skills needed to understand the principles of theoretical and mathematical biology. Fundamental theories and applications are introduced using numerous examples from current biological research, complete with illustrations to highlight key points. Exercises are also included throughout the text to show how theory can be applied and to test knowledge gained so far. Suitable for advanced undergraduate courses in theoretical and mathematical biology, this book forms an essential resource for anyone wanting to gain an understanding of theoretical ecology and evolution.
Download or read book Introduction to Quantitative Ecology written by Timothy E. Essington and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental science (ecology, conservation, and resource management) is an increasingly quantitative field. A well-trained ecologist now needs to evaluate evidence generated from complex quantitative methods, and to apply these methods in their own research. Yet the existing books and academic coursework are not adequately serving most of the potential audience - instead they cater to the specialists who wish to focus on either mathematical or statistical aspects, and overwhelmingly appeal to those who already have confidence in their quantitative skills. At the same time, many texts lack an explicit emphasis on the epistemology of quantitative techniques. That is, how do we gain understanding about the real world from models that are so vastly simplified? This accessible textbook introduces quantitative ecology in a manner that aims to confront these limitations and thereby appeal to a far wider audience. It presents material in an informal, approachable, and encouraging manner that welcomes readers with any degree of confidence and prior training. It covers foundational topics in both mathematical and statistical ecology before describing how to implement these concepts to choose, use, and analyse models, providing guidance and worked examples in both spreadsheet format and R. The emphasis throughout is on the skilful interpretation of models to answer questions about the natural world. Introduction to Quantitative Ecology is suitable for advanced undergraduate students and incoming graduate students, seeking to strengthen their understanding of quantitative methods and to apply them successfully to real world ecology, conservation, and resource management scenarios.
Download or read book An Introduction to Methods and Models in Ecology Evolution and Conservation Biology written by Stanton Braude and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An innovative introduction to ecology and evolution This unique textbook introduces undergraduate students to quantitative models and methods in ecology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation. It explores the core concepts shared by these related fields using tools and practical skills such as experimental design, generating phylogenies, basic statistical inference, and persuasive grant writing. And contributors use examples from their own cutting-edge research, providing diverse views to engage students and broaden their understanding. This is the only textbook on the subject featuring a collaborative "active learning" approach that emphasizes hands-on learning. Every chapter has exercises that enable students to work directly with the material at their own pace and in small groups. Each problem includes data presented in a rich array of formats, which students use to answer questions that illustrate patterns, principles, and methods. Topics range from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and population effective size to optimal foraging and indices of biodiversity. The book also includes a comprehensive glossary. In addition to the editors, the contributors are James Beck, Cawas Behram Engineer, John Gaskin, Luke Harmon, Jon Hess, Jason Kolbe, Kenneth H. Kozak, Robert J. Robertson, Emily Silverman, Beth Sparks-Jackson, and Anton Weisstein. Provides experience with hypothesis testing, experimental design, and scientific reasoning Covers core quantitative models and methods in ecology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation Turns "discussion sections" into "thinking labs" Professors: A supplementary Instructor's Manual is available for this book. It is restricted to teachers using the text in courses. For information on how to obtain a copy, refer to: http://press.princeton.edu/class_use/solutions.html
Download or read book Quantitative Viral Ecology written by Joshua Weitz and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When we think about viruses we tend to consider ones that afflict humans—such as those that cause influenza, HIV, and Ebola. Yet, vastly more viruses infect single-celled microbes. Diverse and abundant, microbes and the viruses that infect them are found in oceans, lakes, plants, soil, and animal-associated microbiomes. Taking a vital look at the "microscopic" mode of disease dynamics, Quantitative Viral Ecology establishes a theoretical foundation from which to model and predict the ecological and evolutionary dynamics that result from the interaction between viruses and their microbial hosts. Joshua Weitz addresses three major questions: What are viruses of microbes and what do they do to their hosts? How do interactions of a single virus-host pair affect the number and traits of hosts and virus populations? How do virus-host dynamics emerge in natural environments when interactions take place between many viruses and many hosts? Emphasizing how theory and models can provide answers, Weitz offers a cohesive framework for tackling new challenges in the study of viruses and microbes and how they are connected to ecological processes—from the laboratory to the Earth system. Quantitative Viral Ecology is an innovative exploration of the influence of viruses in our complex natural world.
Download or read book Quantitative Ecology and Evolutionary Biology written by Otso Ovaskainen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an integration of empirical data and theory in quantitative ecology and evolution through the use of mathematical models and statistical methods.
Download or read book Evolution and Selection of Quantitative Traits written by Bruce Walsh and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-06-21 with total page 1504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quantitative traits-be they morphological or physiological characters, aspects of behavior, or genome-level features such as the amount of RNA or protein expression for a specific gene-usually show considerable variation within and among populations. Quantitative genetics, also referred to as the genetics of complex traits, is the study of such characters and is based on mathematical models of evolution in which many genes influence the trait and in which non-genetic factors may also be important. Evolution and Selection of Quantitative Traits presents a holistic treatment of the subject, showing the interplay between theory and data with extensive discussions on statistical issues relating to the estimation of the biologically relevant parameters for these models. Quantitative genetics is viewed as the bridge between complex mathematical models of trait evolution and real-world data, and the authors have clearly framed their treatment as such. This is the second volume in a planned trilogy that summarizes the modern field of quantitative genetics, informed by empirical observations from wide-ranging fields (agriculture, evolution, ecology, and human biology) as well as population genetics, statistical theory, mathematical modeling, genetics, and genomics. Whilst volume 1 (1998) dealt with the genetics of such traits, the main focus of volume 2 is on their evolution, with a special emphasis on detecting selection (ranging from the use of genomic and historical data through to ecological field data) and examining its consequences.
Download or read book A Biologist s Guide to Mathematical Modeling in Ecology and Evolution written by Sarah P. Otto and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-19 with total page 745 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirty years ago, biologists could get by with a rudimentary grasp of mathematics and modeling. Not so today. In seeking to answer fundamental questions about how biological systems function and change over time, the modern biologist is as likely to rely on sophisticated mathematical and computer-based models as traditional fieldwork. In this book, Sarah Otto and Troy Day provide biology students with the tools necessary to both interpret models and to build their own. The book starts at an elementary level of mathematical modeling, assuming that the reader has had high school mathematics and first-year calculus. Otto and Day then gradually build in depth and complexity, from classic models in ecology and evolution to more intricate class-structured and probabilistic models. The authors provide primers with instructive exercises to introduce readers to the more advanced subjects of linear algebra and probability theory. Through examples, they describe how models have been used to understand such topics as the spread of HIV, chaos, the age structure of a country, speciation, and extinction. Ecologists and evolutionary biologists today need enough mathematical training to be able to assess the power and limits of biological models and to develop theories and models themselves. This innovative book will be an indispensable guide to the world of mathematical models for the next generation of biologists. A how-to guide for developing new mathematical models in biology Provides step-by-step recipes for constructing and analyzing models Interesting biological applications Explores classical models in ecology and evolution Questions at the end of every chapter Primers cover important mathematical topics Exercises with answers Appendixes summarize useful rules Labs and advanced material available
Download or read book An Introduction to Quantitative Ecology written by Robert W. Poole and published by McGraw-Hill Companies. This book was released on 1974 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Primarily written for non-mathematically inclined biologist.
Download or read book Quantitative Analysis of Ecological Networks written by Mark R. T. Dale and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-15 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Network thinking and network analysis are rapidly expanding features of ecological research. Network analysis of ecological systems include representations and modelling of the interactions in an ecosystem, in which species or factors are joined by pairwise connections. This book provides an overview of ecological network analysis including generating processes, the relationship between structure and dynamic function, and statistics and models for these networks. Starting with a general introduction to the composition of networks and their characteristics, it includes details on such topics as measures of network complexity, applications of spectral graph theory, how best to include indirect species interactions, and multilayer, multiplex and multilevel networks. Graduate students and researchers who want to develop and understand ecological networks in their research will find this volume inspiring and helpful. Detailed guidance to those already working in network ecology but looking for advice is also included.
Download or read book Quantitative Ecology A New Unified Approach written by Clarence Lehman and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics written by Stevan J. Arnold and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-06-06 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evolutionary quantitative genetics (EQG) provides a formal theoretical foundation for quantitatively linking natural selection and genetic variation to the rate and expanse of adaptive evolution. It has become the dominant conceptual framework for interpreting the evolution of quantitative traits in terms of elementary forces (mutation, inheritance, selection, and drift). Despite this success, the relevance of EQG to many biological scenarios remains relatively unappreciated, with numerous fields yet to fully embrace its approach. Part of the reason for this lag is that conceptual advances in EQG have not yet been fully synthesized and made accessible to a wider academic audience. A comprehensive, accessible overview is therefore now timely, and Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics provides this much-needed synthesis. The central argument of the book is that an adaptive landscape concept can be used to understand both evolutionary process within lineages and the pattern of adaptive radiations. In particular, it provides a convincing argument that models with a moving adaptive peak carry us further than any other conceptual approach yet devised. Although additive theory holds center stage, the book mentions and references departures from additivity including non-Gaussian distributions of allelic effects, dominance, epistasis, maternal effects and phenotypic plasticity. This accessible, advanced textbook is aimed principally at students (from senior undergraduate to postgraduate) as well as practising scientists in the fields of evolutionary biology, ecology, physiology, functional morphology, developmental biology, comparative biology, paleontology, and beyond who are interested in how adaptive radiations are produced by evolutionary and ecological processes.
Download or read book Quantitative Analysis of Ecological Networks written by Mark R. T. Dale and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-15 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Displays the broad range of quantitative approaches to analysing ecological networks, providing clear examples and guidance for researchers.
Download or read book Quantitative Genetics in the Wild written by Anne Charmantier and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Across these fields, there is increasing appreciation of the need to quantify the genetic - rather than just the phenotypic - basis and diversity of key traits, the genetic basis of the associations between traits, and the interaction between these genetic effects and the environment. This research activity has been fuelled by methodological advances in both molecular genetics and statistics, as well as by exciting results emerging from laboratory studies of evolutionary quantitative genetics, and the increasing availability of suitable long-term datasets collected in natural populations, especially in animals. Quantitative Genetics in the Wild is the first book to synthesize the current level of knowledge in this exciting and rapidly-expanding area.
Download or read book Rates of Evolution written by Philip D. Gingerich and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-09 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An overview of evolutionary rates, analyzing data from laboratory, field and fossil record studies to extract their underlying generation-to-generation rates.
Download or read book Dynamic State Variable Models in Ecology written by Colin W. Clark and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2000-02-10 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces readers to a set of powerful and extremely flexible modeling techniques, starting at "square one" and continuing with carefully chosen applications. Some of these applications of methodology include insect oviposition behavior, overwinter survival of birds and fish, avian migration, resource management, conservation biology, agroecology, and human behavior. This book also explains how to construct, test, and use dynamic state variable models in a wide range of contexts in evolutionary ecology, and its complete and up-to-date coverage allows readers to immediately begin using the described techniques. Dynamic State Variable Models in Ecology is designed for self-instruction or for use in upper division undergraduate or graduate courses. It is ideal for students and scientists interested in behavior, ecology, anthropology, conservation biology, and related fields.
Download or read book A Primer of Life Histories written by Jeffrey A. Hutchings and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-15 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life histories can be defined as the means by which individuals (or more precisely genotypes) vary their age- or stage-specific expenditures of reproductive effort in response to genetic, phenotypic, and environmental correlates of survival and fecundity. Life histories reflect the expression of traits most closely related to individual fitness, such as age and size at maturity, number and size of offspring, and the timing of the expression of those traits throughout an individual's life. In addition to addressing questions of fundamental importance to ecology and evolution, life-history research plays an integral role in species conservation and management. This accessible primer encompasses the basic concepts, theories, and applied elements of life history evolution, including patterns of trait variability, underlying mechanisms of plastic/evolutionary change, and the practical utility of life-history traits as metrics of species/population recovery, sustainable exploitation, and risk of extinction. Empirical examples are drawn from the entire spectrum of life. A Primer of Life Histories is designed for readers from a broad range of academic backgrounds and experience including graduate students and researchers of ecology and evolutionary biology. It will also be useful to a more applied audience of academic/government researchers in fields such as wildlife biology, conservation biology, fisheries science, and the environmental sciences.
