A Hierarchical Concept of Ecosystems. (MPB-23)
Robert V. O'Neill, Donald Lee Deangelis, J. B. Waide and Garland E. Allen

Paper | 1986 | $57.50 / £34.95
262 pp.

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"Ecosystem" is an intuitively appealing concept to most ecologists, but, in spite of its widespread use, the term remains diffuse and ambiguous. The authors of this book argue that previous attempts to define the concept have been derived from particular viewpoints to the exclusion of others equally possible. They offer instead a more general line of thought based on hierarchy theory. Their contribution should help to counteract the present separation of subdisciplines in ecology and to bring functional and population/community ecologists closer to a common approach.

Developed as a way of understanding highly complex organized systems, hierarchy theory has at its center the idea that organization results from differences in process rates. To the authors the theory suggests an objective way of decomposing ecosystems into their component parts. The results thus obtained offer a rewarding method for integrating various schools of ecology.

Series:

• Monographs in Population Biology
  Simon A. Levin and Henry S. Horn, Editors

Subject Area:

• Biological Sciences

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For customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Australia
Paper: $57.50 ISBN13: 978-0-691-08437-4

For customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Paper: £34.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-08437-4

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File created: 7/1/2008

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