Contents Notes |
Natural curiosity -- The seashore -- Salt marshes -- Rivers, floodplains, and bogs -- Geological activity and the response of vegetation on upland slopes -- Contrasting perceptions of the landscape and forests of the Appalachians -- Secondary succession -- Studies in evolutionary biology -- Population balance, equilibrium, and density dependence -- Habitats and competition -- Predation, frugivory, and pollination: strong forces operating between species -- Human ecology and conservation. Chance and Change is intended for serious amateur naturalists or professional conservationists who are dissatisfied with the discordance between what they observe in nature and what theory tells them they should see. With the interplay between geological and biological processes as a backdrop, William Drury presents some of the philosophical origins of ecology and discusses the resulting biases that have affected practitioners and theoreticians. Drury offers an alternative interpretation of nature's patterns that emphasizes the role of natural selection, chance, and change in the lives of individual organisms. |