The objective of this book is to make analytical methods available to
students of ecology. The text deals with concepts of energy exchange,
gas exchange, and chemical kinetics involving the interactions of plants
and animals with their environments. The first four chapters are
designed to show the applications of biophysical ecology in a
preliminary, sim- plified manner. Chapters 5-10, treating the topics of
radiation, convec- tion, conduction, and evaporation, are concerned with
the physical environment. The spectral properties of radiation and
matter are thoroughly described, as well as the geometrical,
instantaneous, daily, and annual amounts of both shortwave and longwave
radiation. Later chapters give the more elaborate analytical methods
necessary for the study of photosynthesis in plants and energy budgets
in animals. The final chapter describes the temperature responses of
plants and animals. The discipline of biophysical ecology is rapidly
growing, and some important topics and references are not included due
to limitations of space, cost, and time. The methodology of some aspects
of ecology is illustrated by the subject matter of this book. It is
hoped that future students of the subject will carry it far beyond its
present status. Ideas for advancing the subject matter of biophysical
ecology exceed individual capacities for effort, and even today, many
investigators in ecology are studying subjects for which they are
inadequately prepared. The potential of modern science, in the minds and
hands of skilled investigators, to of the interactions of organisms with
their advance our understanding environment is enormous.
