Ecology: The Economy of Nature by Rick Relyea; Robert E. Ricklefs - Eighth Edition, 2018 from Macmillan Student Store

Ecology: The Economy of Nature

Eighth Edition ©2018 Rick Relyea; Robert E. Ricklefs

Ecology: The Economy of Nature teaches ecology through an evolutionary perspective, and with an emphasis on the quantitative skills needed to fully understand the field. The 8th edition continues that mission with updated pedagogy in the text, and powerful new quantitative problem solvin...

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Ecology: The Economy of Nature by Rick Relyea; Robert E. Ricklefs - Eighth Edition, 2018 from Macmillan Student Store

Ecology: The Economy of Nature teaches ecology through an evolutionary perspective, and with an emphasis on the quantitative skills needed to fully understand the field. The 8th edition continues that mission with updated pedagogy in the text, and powerful new quantitative problem solving tools in SaplingPlus.

Ecology: The Economy of Nature teaches ecology through an evolutionary perspective, and with an emphasis on the quantitative skills needed to fully understand the field. The 8th edition continues that mission with updated pedagogy in the text, and powerful new quantitative problem solving tools in SaplingPlus.

This landmark text helped to define introductory ecology courses for over four decades. The 8th edition maintains its signature evolutionary perspective and emphasis on the quantitative aspects of the field, but it has been improved for today’s undergraduates -- with extensive new pedagogy, including Learning Goals, Concept Checks, fresh examples and fully integrated media resources. Students will especially appreciate the new video tutorials that accompany the Analyzing Ecology essays.

The 8th edition also introduces SaplingPlus, an online system which combines the powerful multimedia resources for Ecology with an integrated eBook and the robust assessment library, creating an extraordinary new learning resource for students. This landmark text helped to define introductory ecology courses for over four decades. The text maintains its signature evolutionary perspective and emphasis on the quantitative aspects of the field, but it has been improved for today’s undergraduates—with extensive new pedagogy, including Learning Goals, Concept Checks, fresh examples and fully integrated media resources. Students will especially appreciate the new video tutorials that accompany the Analyzing Ecology essays.

Features

SaplingPlus integrates tutorials, assessments, multimedia assets, and an integrated ebook.
SaplingPlus is the online companion system to Ecology. Instructors can assign automatically graded homework and students benefit from a wealth of tutorial assistance and powerful multimedia resources.

Presents the process of scientific discovery through a global lens.
Each chapter supports core concepts with examples of classic and contemporary research from across the globe. Students encounter science as a dynamic process of hypothesizing and experimenting, seeing how contemporary researchers challenge and extend the work of those who came before them.

Takes a "learning-by-doing" approach to basic quantitative tools and the use of data.
The text explains mathematical and statistical techniques in the context of ecological research using real data, followed by self-guided study problems and graphing exercises for practice. Over 500 graphs throughout the text present and describe actual research data.

Focuses across many scales and diverse habitats.
Examples and applications span the full range of interactions among organisms and their environment from the microscopic to the landscape level
Research examples come from a diversity of terrestrial and aquatic habitats
Over 600 photos and illustrations depict the natural world in all its complexity
Encourages ecological literacy through environmental applications

Each chapter concludes with a case study applying chapter concepts to a contemporary ecological issue.
The text integrates topics relevant to public health, conservation, and the environment
Throughout, the book focuses students on the effects and challenges of global climate change

New to This Edition

NEW TO THIS EDITION

SaplingPlus:

Tutorial homework questions, new to the 8th edition, are available in SaplingPlus. Every Learning Objective has tutorial style questions, with targeted hints and feedback. These assessments are designed to guide students as they study Ecology and provide instructors immediate feedback on student performance.
Tutorial Videos, called EcoTV, are also new to the 8th edition. With your help, we’ve identified the concepts in Ecology that are the most difficult for students to learn. From El Nino to metapopulation dynamics, we’ve developed over 25 Tutorial Videos called EcoTV, available here. These are also available with assessment questions in SaplingPlus.
Analyzing Ecology Videos: In addition to the 25+ Eco TV videos on challenging topics in Ecology, we’ve enhanced the popular feature, Analyzing Ecology with its own Eco TV videos. These videos focus on helping students learn basic statistical and mathematical techniques that real ecologists use every day. We show students how to do the math and then challenge them to apply it in “Your Turn.”
Graphing the Data exercises, found at the end of each chapter, give students additional practice with quantitative skills, particularly with creating and interpreting graphs. Graphs are used liberally throughout the text to present and describe actual research data.

Pedagogical updates:

Chapter Opening Learning Objectives help focus students on the key concepts in each chapter.
Concept Checks at the end of each section include 4-5 questions that reinforce the key concepts in each chapter.
Several new Chapter-Opening case studies, including using birth control to manage animal populations, and competitive behavior in plants.
Video Tutorials for the Analyzing Ecology case studies will help students understand the quantitative aspects of the case study.

Digital Options

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Sapling Learning Plus

Get the e-book, do your homework onine, try some quizzes, and more!

Schedule Sapling Learning Plus Demo

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Read & Practice

Achieve Read & Practice is the marriage of our LearningCurve adaptive quizzing and our mobile, accessible e-book, in one easy-to-use and affordable product.

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E-book

Read online (or offline) with all the highlighting and notetaking tools you need to be successful in this course.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction: Ecology, Evolution, and the Scientific Method

PART I LIFE AND THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Chapter 2 Adaptations to Aquatic Environments　
Chapter 3 Adaptations to Terrestrial Environments　
Chapter 4 Adaptations to Variable Environments　
Chapter 5 Climates and Soils
Chapter 6 Terrestrial and Aquatic Biomes

Part II ORGANISMS
Chapter 7 Evolution and Adaptation　
Chapter 8 Life Histories
Chapter 9 Reproductive Strategies
Chapter 10 Social Behaviors

PART III POPULATIONS
Chapter 11 Population Distributions
Chapter 12 Population Growth and Regulation
Chapter 13 Population Dynamics over Space and Time

PART IV SPECIES INTERACTIONS
Chapter 14 Predation and Herbivory
Chapter 15 Parasitism and Infectious Diseases
Chapter 16 Competition
Chapter 17 Mutualism

PART V COMMUNITIES AND ECOSYSTEMS
Chapter 18 Community Structure　
Chapter 19 Community Succession　
Chapter 20 Movement of Energy in Ecosystems　
Chapter 21 Movement of Elements in Ecosystems

PART VI GLOBAL ECOLOGY
Chapter 22 Landscape Ecology and Global Biodiversity　
Chapter 23 Global Conservation of Biodiversity

Index

Rick Relyea

Rick Relyea is the Director of the Darrin Fresh Water Institute at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also serves as Director of the Jefferson Project at Lake George, a groundbreaking partnership between Rensselaer, IBM, and the FUND for Lake George. For the project, Relyea leads a team of Rensselaer scientists, engineers, computer scientists, and artists who are using the latest in science and technology to understand, predict, and enable a resilient ecosystem for nearby Lake George.
 
From 1999 to 2014, Relyea was at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2005, he was named the Chancellor’s Distinguished Researcher and in 2014 he received the Tina and David Bellet Award for Teaching Excellence. From 2007-2014, Relyea served as the director of the university’s field station, the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology, where he oversaw a diverse set of ecological field courses and facilitates researchers from around the world.
 
Rick has taught thousands of undergraduate students in introductory ecology, behavioral ecology, and evolution. His research is recognized throughout the world and has been published in Ecology, Ecology Letters, American Naturalist, PNAS, and other leading ecological journals. The research spans a wide range of ecological and evolutionary topics including animal behavior, sexual selection, ecotoxicology, disease ecology, phenotypic plasticity, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, and landscape ecology. Currently Relyea’s research focuses on aquatic habitats and the diversity of species that live in these ecosystems.

Robert E. Ricklefs

ROBERT E. RICKLEFS is Curators' Professor of Biology at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1995. His teaching at Missouri, and previously at the University of Pennsylvania, has included courses in introductory and advanced ecology, biogeography, evolution, and biological statistics. Bob’s research has addressed a broad range of topics in ecology and evolutionary biology, from the adaptive significance of life-history traits of birds, to island biogeography and the community relationships of birds, herbivorous insects, and forest trees. In particular, he has championed the importance of recognizing the impact of large-scale processes on local ecological assemblages of species. Bob has published in numerous journals including Science, Nature, PNAS, Evolution, Ecology, Ecology Letters, and the American Naturalist. His contributions have been recognized by honorary doctorates from the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), Aarhus University (Denmark), and the University of Burgundy (France). He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of the United States. Bob published the first edition of The Economy of Nature in 1976 and was joined by Rick Relyea with the seventh edition.

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