flood pulse concept argues that the annual flood pulse is the most important aspect and the most biologically productive feature of a river's ecosystem.Benke, A. C., Chaubey, I., Ward, G. M., & Dunn, E. L. (2000). Flood Pulse Dynamics of an Unregulated River Floodplain in the Southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain. Ecology , 2730-2741. History Theoretical ecology draws on pioneering work done by G. Evelyn Hutchinson and his students. Brothers H.T. Odum and E.P. Odum are generally recognised as the founders of modern theoretical ecology. Robert MacArthur brought theory to community ecology. Daniel Simberloff was the student of E.O. Wilson, with whom MacArthur collaborated on The Theory of Island Biogeography, a seminal work in the development of theoretical ecology. Simberloff added statistical rigour to experimental ecology and was a key figure in the SLOSS debate, about whether it is preferable to protect a single large or several small reserves. This resulted in the supporters of Jared Diamond's community assembly rules defending their ideas through Neutral Model Analysis. Simberloff also played a key role in the (still ongoing) debate on the utility of corridors for connecting isolated reserves. Stephen P. Hubbell and Michael Rosenzweig combined theoretical and practical elements into works that extended MacArthur and Wilson's Island Biogeography Theory - Hubbell with his Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography and Rosenzweig with his Species Diversity in Space and Time. Theoretical and mathematical ecologists A tentative distinction can be made between mathematical ecologists, ecologists who apply mathematics to ecological problems, and mathematicians who develop the mathematics itself that arises out of ecological problems. Some notable theoretical ecologists can be found in these categories: :Category:Mathematical ecologists :Category:Theoretical biologists Journals The American Naturalist Journal of Mathematical Biology Journal of Theoretical Biology Theoretical Ecology Theoretical Population Biology Ecological ModellingSee also Butterfly effect Complex system biology Ecological systems theory Ecosystem model Integrodifference equation – widely used to model the dispersal and growth of populations Limiting similarity Mathematical biology Population dynamics Population modeling Quantitative ecology Taylor's law Theoretical biology References Further reading The classic text is Theoretical Ecology: Principles and Applications, by Angela McLean and Robert May. The 2007 edition is published by the Oxford University Press. . Bolker BM (2008) Ecological Models and Data in R Princeton University Press. . Case TJ (2000) An illustrated guide to theoretical ecology Oxford University Press. . Caswell H (2000) Matrix Population Models: Construction, Analysis, and Interpretation'', Sinauer, 2nd Ed.