Foundations of Ecology: Classic Papers with Commentaries

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 920 pages
• Published by: University Of Chicago Press October 15, 1991
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0226705943
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0226705941
• Book Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.7 inches
• Weighs: 3.2 pounds

Product Description
Assembled here for the first time in one volume are forty classic papers that have laid the foundations of modern ecology. Whether by posing new problems, demonstrating important effects, or stimulating new research, these papers have made substantial contributions to an understanding of ecological processes, and they continue to influence the field today.

The papers span nearly nine decades of ecological research, from 1887 on, and are organized in six sections: foundational papers, theoretical advances, synthetic statements, methodological developments, field studies, and ecological experiments. Selections range from Connell's elegant account of experiments with barnacles to Watt's encyclopedic natural history, from a visionary exposition by Grinnell of the concept of niche to a seminal essay by Hutchinson on diversity.

Six original essays by contemporary ecologists and a historian of ecology place the selections in context and discuss their continued relevance to current research. This combination of classic papers and fresh commentaries makes Foundations of Ecology both a convenient reference to papers often cited today and an essential guide to the intellectual and conceptual roots of the field.

Published with the Ecological Society of America.

Reader Reviews
Nearly a decade ago my colleague Bill Drury and I ran into each other in the hall, each of us waving this book & on the way to give it to the other. We had both been teaching out of endless stacks of xeroxes of xeroxes because neither of us had any time for conventioal textbooks. Bless Real & Brown for putting together not only some really key papers but also intelligent thoughtful commentary by some of the leading lights in the field. I have used the book ever since it came out & my students find it a valuable resource to take off to grad school. I must admit that while the selection is lovely there ARE some missing pieces & the xeroxes of xeroxes haven't altogether disappeared, but this is far and away the best out there to date. So, when can we expect the 2nd addition?