One of the first textbooks in this emerging important field of ecology.Most of ecology is about metabolism: the ways that organisms use energy and materials. The energy requirements of individuals - their metabolic rates - vary predictably with their body size and temperature. Ecological interactions are exchanges of energy and materials between organisms and their environments. So metabolic rate affects ecological processes at all levels: individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems. Each chapter focuses on a different process, level of organization, or kind of organism. It lays a conceptual foundation and presents empirical examples. Together, the chapters provide an integrated framework that holds the promise for a unified theory of ecology.

The book is intended to be accessible to upper-level undergraduate, and graduate students, but also of interest to senior scientists. Its easy-to-read chapters and clear illustrations can be used in lecture and seminar courses. Together they make for an authoritative treatment that will inspire future generations to study metabolic ecology.

In this work, James H. Brown proposes a new research agenda designed to broaden the scope of ecology to encompass vast geographical areas and very long time spans. He demonstrates the advantages of macroecology for conservation, showing how it allows scientists to look beyond endangered species and ecological communities in order to consider the long history and large geographic scale of human impacts.

Scaling relationships are a persistent theme in biology. Examples include branching patterns of blood vessels, structural and functional correlates of body size, distribution of body size and abundance among species, and variations in populations within an area or over time. This book, based on a conference at the Santa Fe Institute, brings together many of the most prominent workers in the area to assess our current understanding of scaling relationships at the physiological, biomechanical, and ecological levels.

Poetic Experiences of Life is a compilation of 150 poems in 8 different categories which consist of poems for any and all occasions including educational, inspirational, spiritual, drug prevention and intervention, Christmas, birthdays, holidays and much, much more. You'll be amazed how these poems seem to touch your inter most spirit and lift our soul. This is a must have book for all families that has poems for the whole family

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

Physiological ecology has grown in importance as an area of biology in the past thirty years and integrates the diverse approaches used in the comparative biology of organisms. Biologists segregate their approaches by technique and concept, but the boundaries among ecology, behavior, anatomy, and physiology are arbitrary and of no significance to organisms. Physiological ecology emphasizes the diversity of not only organisms, but also of solutions to (and evasions of) problems posed by the environment.In a comprehensive and authoritative synthesis of physiological ecology supported by more than 3,100 references, Brian K. McNab demonstrates the intellectual cohesion of the field. To ground his discussion in clearly understood contexts, McNab emphasizes the common thread of energy expenditure throughout the text and limits the discussion to vertebrates, which have familiar habitats and comparatively well-known evolutionary histories.A thorough scientific resource and reference tool, Physiological Ecology of Vertebrates is the first book to cover this complex subject. It will be the standard reference and basis for much future research in this fast-growing field of study.

"Foundations of Biogeography" provides facsimile reprints of seventy-two works that have proven fundamental to the development of the field. From classics by Georges-Louis LeClerc Compte de Buffon, Alexander von Humboldt, and Charles Darwin to equally seminal contributions by Ernst Mayr, Robert MacArthur, and E. O. Wilson, these papers and book excerpts not only reveal biogeography's historical roots but also trace its theoretical and empirical development. Selected and introduced by leading biogeographers, the articles cover a wide variety of taxonomic groups, habitat types, and geographic regions. "Foundations of Biogeography" will be an ideal introduction to the field for beginning students and an essential reference for established scholars of biogeography, ecology, and evolution.
List of Contributors
John C. Briggs, James H. Brown, Vicki A. Funk, Paul S. Giller, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Lawrence R. Heaney, Robert Hengeveld, Christopher J. Humphries, Mark V. Lomolino, Alan A. Myers, Brett R. Riddle, Dov F. Sax, Geerat J. Vermeij, Robert J. Whittaker