Matrix Population Models

Matrix population models are a powerful tool for investigating the population dynamic consequences of the structure of the life cycle and the vital rates (rates of mortality, fertility, growth and development), especially when individuals are more appropriately classified by size or developmental stage than by age. This book presents a comprehensive treatment of these models. It emphasizes their construction, either from actual data or as an expression of hypotheses about the life cycle, their mathematical analysis, and the biological interpretation of the results. The text is aimed at practising population biologists. Motivation of methods and examples of thier application have been given a higher priority than mathematical elegance.

Hal Caswell is a Senior Scientist in the Biology Department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he holds the Robert W. Morse Chair for Excellence in Oceanography. He earned a Ph.D. in Zoology in 1974 at Michigan State University. In addition to Matrix Population Models, Dr. Caswell is a coauthor (with S. Tuljapurkar) of Structured Population Models in Marine, Terrestrial and Freshwater Systems (Chapman and Hall, 1997). A former Guggenheim Fellow and a Fellow of AAAS, he has also served as Chairman of the Theoretical Ecology Section of the Ecological Society of America. Dr. Caswell's research interests include mathematical ecology, structured population models, stochastic models for spatial processes, conservation of marine mammals and seabirds, plant population ecology, ecotoxicology, and nonlinear dynamics in ecology.