Food Webs at the Landscape Level (Paperback)

Gary A. Polis

ISBN 10: 0226673278 / ISBN 13: 9780226673271

Published by The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 2004

About this Item

Paperback. Scientists rely on food webscomplex networks that trace the flow of nutrients and energy between species and through ecosystemsto understand the infrastructure of ecological communities.But given the complexities of food websthink of following the flow of nutrients through the microbes, fungi, roots, worms, ants, and birds that pass over or through a single cubic meter of prairie soilit's not difficult to see why most experiments on food-web dynamics focus on small, local habitats. Yet as this book convincingly shows, important insights come when scientists expand the temporal and spatial scope of their research to look at the ways energy, organisms, nutrients, and pollutants flow not just at the local level, but across whole landscapesbetween and among food webs in a wide variety of habitats.Paying special attention to the fertile boundaries between terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, Food Webs at the Landscape Level not only shows what this new methodology means for ecology, conservation, and agriculture but also serves as a fitting tribute to Gary Polis and his major contributions to the field. Paying special attention to the fertile boundaries between terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, this work shows not only what this new methodology means for ecology, conservation, and agriculture but also serves as a fitting tribute to Gary Polis and his major contributions to the field Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780226673271

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Food Webs at the Landscape Level (Paperback)
• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226673278
• ISBN 13: 9780226673271
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Scientists rely on food webs—complex networks that trace the flow of nutrients and energy between species and through ecosystems—to understand the infrastructure of ecological communities.

But given the complexities of food webs—think of following the flow of nutrients through the microbes, fungi, roots, worms, ants, and birds that pass over or through a single cubic meter of prairie soil—it's not difficult to see why most experiments on food-web dynamics focus on small, local habitats. Yet as this book convincingly shows, important insights come when scientists expand the temporal and spatial scope of their research to look at the ways energy, organisms, nutrients, and pollutants flow not just at the local level, but across whole landscapes—between and among food webs in a wide variety of habitats.

Paying special attention to the fertile boundaries between terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, Food Webs at the Landscape Level not only shows what this new methodology means for ecology, conservation, and agriculture but also serves as a fitting tribute to Gary Polis and his major contributions to the field.

About the Authors

Gary A. Polis was a professor in and chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy at the University of California, Davis, at the time of his death in 2000.

Mary E. Power is a professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Gary R. Huxel is an assistant professor of biology at the University of South Florida.