Scaling in Ecology with a Model System

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Scaling in Ecology with a Model System
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Aaron M. Ellison
By (author) Nicholas J. Gotelli
SeriesMonographs in Population Biology
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:336
Dimensions(mm): Height 235,Width 156
Category/GenreLife sciences - general issues
Ecological science
Botany and plant sciences
Applied ecology
ISBN/Barcode 9780691222776
ClassificationsDewey:577.82
Audience
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 95 b/w illus. 24 tables.

Publishing Details

Publisher Princeton University Press
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publication Date 3 August 2021
Publication Country United States

Description

A groundbreaking approach to scale and scaling in ecological theory and practice Scale is one of the most important concepts in ecology, yet researchers often find it difficult to find ecological systems that lend themselves to its study. Scaling in Ecology with a Model System synthesizes nearly three decades of research on the ecology of Sarracenia purpurea-the northern pitcher plant-showing how this carnivorous plant and its associated food web of microbes and macrobes can inform the challenging question of scaling in ecology. Drawing on a wealth of findings from their pioneering lab and field experiments, Aaron Ellison and Nicholas Gotelli reveal how the Sarracenia microecosystem has emerged as a model system for experimental ecology. Ellison and Gotelli examine Sarracenia at a hierarchy of spatial scales-individual pitchers within plants, plants within bogs, and bogs within landscapes-and demonstrate how pitcher plants can serve as replicate miniature ecosystems that can be studied in wetlands throughout the United States and Canada. They show how research on the Sarracenia microecosystem proceeds much more rapidly than studies of larger, more slowly changing ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, lakes, or streams, which are more difficult to replicate and experimentally manipulate. Scaling in Ecology with a Model System offers new insights into ecophysiology and stoichiometry, demography, extinction risk and species distribution models, food webs and trophic dynamics, and tipping points and regime shifts.

Author Biography

Aaron M. Ellison is the Senior Research Fellow Emeritus in Ecology at Harvard University. Website unbalancedecologist.net Twitter @AMaxEll17 Nicholas J. Gotelli is the George H. Perkins Professor of Zoology at the University of Vermont. Website uvm.edu/~ngotelli/homepage.html They are the coauthors of A Primer of Ecological Statistics and A Field Guide to the Ants of New England.