What species occur where, and why, and why some places harbor more
species than others are basic questions for ecologists. Some species
simply live in different places: fish live underwater; birds do not.
Adaptations follow: most fish have gills; birds have lungs. But as
Patterns in Nature reveals, not all patterns are so trivial.
Travel from island to island and the species change. Travel along any
gradient--up a mountain, from forest into desert, from low tide to high
tide on a shoreline --and again the species change, sometimes abruptly.
What explains the patterns of these distributions? Some patterns might
be as random as a coin toss. But as with a coin toss, can ecologists
differentiate associations caused by a multiplicity of complex,
idiosyncratic factors from those structured by some unidentified but
simple mechanisms? Can simple mechanisms that structure communities be
inferred from observations of which species associations naturally
occur? For decades, community ecologists have debated about whether the
patterns are random or show the geographically pervasive effect of
competition between species. Bringing this vigorous debate up to date,
this book undertakes the identification and interpretation of nature's
large-scale patterns of species co-occurrence to offer insight into how
nature truly works.
Patterns in Nature explains the computing and conceptual advances that
allow us to explore these issues. It forces us to reexamine assumptions
about species distribution patterns and will be of vital importance to
ecologists and conservationists alike.
