The major subdisciplines of ecology--population ecology, community
ecology, ecosystem ecology, and evolutionary ecology--have diverged
increasingly in recent decades. What is critically needed today is an
integrated, real-world approach to ecology that reflects the
interdependency of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. From
Populations to Ecosystems proposes an innovative theoretical synthesis
that will enable us to advance our fundamental understanding of
ecological systems and help us to respond to today's emerging global
ecological crisis.
Michel Loreau begins by explaining how the principles of population
dynamics and ecosystem functioning can be merged. He then addresses key
issues in the study of biodiversity and ecosystems, such as functional
complementarity, food webs, stability and complexity, material cycling,
and metacommunities. Loreau describes the most recent theoretical
advances that link the properties of individual populations to the
aggregate properties of communities, and the properties of functional
groups or trophic levels to the functioning of whole ecosystems, placing
special emphasis on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem
functioning. Finally, he turns his attention to the controversial issue
of the evolution of entire ecosystems and their properties, laying the
theoretical foundations for a genuine evolutionary ecosystem ecology.
From Populations to Ecosystems points the way to a much-needed
synthesis in ecology, one that offers a fuller understanding of
ecosystem processes in the natural world.
