Ecological Assembly Rules: Perspectives, Advances, Retreats

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521655331 ISBN 13: 9780521655330

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2001

It is over twenty years since Jared Diamond focused attention on the possible existence of assembly rules for communities. Since then there has been a proliferation of studies trying to promote, refute, or test the idea that there are sets of constraints (rules) on community formation and maintenance (assembly). This timely volume brings together carefully selected contributions which examine the question of the existence and nature of assembly rules with some rigor and in some detail, using both theoretical and empirical approaches in a variety of systems. The result is a balanced treatment which encompasses a wide range of topics within ecology including competition and coexistence, conservation and biodiversity, niche theory, and biogeography. As such it provides much to interest a broad audience of ecologists, while also making an important contribution to the study of community ecology in particular.

About the Author:

Evan Weiher is an Assistant Professor in the Biological Sciences Department, University of Winsconsin, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA.

Review:

"...a valuable contribution to community ecology, drawing attention to the challenges and utility of searching for nature's rules of assembly." Ecology

"In its heterogeneity, the book shows the range of views in this controversial area of investigation...definitely worth reading." Ecoscience

"A wide-ranging book that will help to set new direction for research." Northeastern Naturalist

"...the editors have succeeded in putting together a valuable collection of papers focused on assembly rules, and this volume should serve as the benchmark for future work in this field." Aaron M. Ellison, Ecoscience