Population Systems: A General Introduction

Abstract

Contents. Preface to the first edition. Preface to the second edition. Acknowledgements. Part I. Population Systems. Introduction to Part I. 1. A Brief Look at General Systems. 1.1. What is a System? 1.2. The State of a System. 1.3. Dynamic Systems. 1.4. System Diagrams. 1.5. Feedback Control. 1.6. The Stability of Systems. 1.7. Anticipatory Feedforward. 1.8. Systems Analysis in Biology. 1.9. Chapter Summary. Exercises. Notes. 2. Population Dynamics and an Elementary Model. 2.1. What is a Population? 2.2. Dynamics in Populations. 2.3. An Elementary Population Model. 2.4. Analysis of the Model. 2.5. Environmental and Genetic Effects. 2.6. Chapter Summary. Exercises. Notes. 3. Population Regulation and a General Model. 3.1. Density-Dependant Mechanisms. 3.1.1. Competitive Processes. 3.1.2. Cooperative Processes. 3.2. Feedback Integration. 3.3. A General Population Model. 3.4. Analysis of the Model. 3.4.1. Environmental and Genetic Effects. 3.5. Populations in Changing Environments. 3.5.1. Environmental Feedback. 3.6. Complex Density-Dependant Relationships. 3.7. Chapter Summary. Exercises. Notes. Part II. Systems of Interacting Populations. Introduction to Part II. 4. Interactions between Two Species. 4.1. Population Interactions. 4.2. Cooperative Interactions. 4.3. Competitive Interactions. 4.3.1. Nonlinear Competitive Interactions. 4.3.2. Competition in Variable Environments. 4.3.3. Strategies of the Competitor. 4.4. Predator-Prey Interactions. 4.4.1. Nonlinear Predator-Prey Interactions. 4.4.2. Predator Functional Responses. 4.4.3. Predation in Variable Environments. 4.4.4. Predator and Prey Strategies. 4.5. Chapter Summary. Exercises. Notes. 5. Interactions in Space. 5.1. Introduction. 5.2. Movements in Space. 5.3. Dynamics in Space. 5.4. The Spread and Collapse of Pest Epidemics. 5.5. Stability in Space. 5.6. Population Quality in Space. 5.7. Environmental Stratification. 5.8. Chapter Summary. Notes. 6. Interactions between many Species (Ecological Communities). 6.1. Community Structure. 6.2. Community Stability. 6.2.1. Predation as a Stabilizing Influence. 6.3. Community Dynamics. 6.4. Chapter Summary. Exercises. Notes. Epilogue: The Human Dilemma. Answers to Exercises. Author Index. Subject Index.