This second edition textbook offers an expanded conceptual synthesis of
microbial ecology with plant and animal ecology. Drawing on examples
from the biology of microorganisms and macroorganisms, this textbook
provides a much-needed interdisciplinary approach to ecology. The focus
is the individual organism and comparisons are made along six axes:
genetic variation, nutritional mode, size, growth, life cycle, and
influence of the environment. When it was published in 1991, the first
edition of Comparative Ecology of Microorganisms and Macroorganisms
was unique in its attempt to clearly compare fundamental ecology across
the gamut of size. The explosion of molecular biology and the
application of its techniques to microbiology and organismal biology
have particularly demonstrated the need for interdisciplinary
understanding. This updated and expanded edition remains unique. It
treats the same topics at greater depth and includes an exhaustive
compilation of both the most recent relevant literature in microbial
ecology and plant/animal ecology, as well as the early research papers
that shaped the concepts and theories discussed. Among the completely
updated topics in the book are phylogenetic systematics, search
algorithms and optimal foraging theory, comparative metabolism, the
origins of life and evolution of multicellularity, and the evolution of
life cycles.
From Reviews of the First Edition:
"John Andrews has succeeded admirably in building a bridge that is
accessible to all ecologists." -Ecology
"I recommend this book to all ecologists. It is a thoughtful attempt to
integrate ideas from, and develop common themes for, two fields of
ecology that should not have become fragmented." -American Scientist
"Such a synthesis is long past due, and it is shameful that ecologists
(both big and little) have been so parochial." -The Quarterly Review of
Biology
