title: Evolutionary Community Ecology, Volume 58 (Monographs in Population Biology)
author: Mark A. McPeek
description: "Uniting the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology, <i>Evolutionary Community Ecology</i> is a landmark book. McPeek synthesizes niche theory and the adaptive landscape, and he integrates topics as disparate as paleontology, biogeography, phylogenetics, speciation, and invasion biology to provide a compelling research agenda for evolutionary ecology in the twenty-first century."<b>Jonathan Losos, coeditor of <i>How Evolution Shapes Our Lives</i></b><br /><br />"In <i>Evolutionary Community Ecology</i>, McPeek's unmistakable message is that the tape of evolution plays out in an ecological theater, entwining both sets of dynamics. He has produced an invaluable roadmap to understanding how these two perspectives feed back on one another to generate and structure the biodiversity around us."<b>Edmund Brodie III, University of Virginia</b><br /><br />"One of the most important intellectual tasks in biology today is the fusing of evolutionary and ecological perspectives into a seamless whole. <i>Evolutionary Community Ecology</i> makes a valuable and timely step toward this end. Crafting a synthetic understanding of ecological communities, this book is full of insights and excellent examples. It bridges fundamental community ecology, microevolutionary dynamics, and speciation and macroevolution within a single volume."<b>Robert D. Holt, University of Florida</b><br /><br />"I am very impressed with this broad and scholarly book."<b>Trevor Price, University of Chicago</b>
zlib_text: 701
  Community
  Ecology
  Chapter Concepts
  34.1 Community Composition and Diversity
  • Communities are assemblages of interacting
  populations that differ in composition and
  diversity.
  702
  • Environmental and biotic factors inﬂuence
  community composition and diversity.
  703
  • The ecological niche is the role an organism
  plays in its community, including its habitat and
  its interactions with other organisms.
  703
  34.2 Competition
  • Competition often leads to resource partitioning,
  which reduces competition between species.
  704
  34.3 Predation
  • Predation often reduces prey population density,
  which in turn can lead to a reduction in predator
  population density.
  707
  34.4 Symbiosis
  • Symbiotic relationships include parasitism,
  commensalism, and mutalism.
  710
  34.5 Community Stability and Diversity
  • Ecological succession is a change in species
  composition and community structure and
  organization over time.
  712
  • The intermediate disturbance hypothesis suggests
  that the presence of patches that cont