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Community Ecology by Gary G. Mittelbach

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Community Ecology by Gary G. Mittelbach
Community Ecology by Gary G. Mittelbach
Review by: Saara J. DeWalt
The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 88, No. 3 (September 2013), pp. 237-238
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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September 2013 NEW BIOLOGICAL BOOKS
journey is something of a paean to the Earth
itself.
Mark Pagel, Biological Sciences, University of Read-
ing, Reading, United Kingdom
Observation and Ecology: Broadening the
Scope of Science to Understand a Complex
World.
By Rafe Sagarin and Anı́bal Pauchard. Washington
(DC): Island Press. $60.00 (hardcover); $30.00
(paper). xiv ⫹ 213 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-1-
59726-825-7 (hc); 978-1-59726-826-4 (pb). 2012.
In this volume, the authors make a case for the
importance of understanding nature through a
deep sensitivity sharpened by field observations.
The authors claim that only through a deep un-
derstanding and appreciation of natural history
can we be successful in our quest for better scien-
tific understanding of the world, its organisms, its
processes, and its ecology and conservation. Read-
ers are guided through four major parts that out-
line the role of observation in ecological science,
and the powers and challenges posed by observa-
tional approaches. Sagarin and Pauchard have in-
vited brief comments from a cadre of scientists
whose observations and advice is sprinkled in short
sections of usually less than one page throughout
the book. The call for an improved grounding of
ecological science in natural history is not new, but
it becomes ever more important with an increased
focus on molecular and subcellular processes on
university campuses and in academic journals.
The authors are also correct in stating that “bad
assumptions can be measurable and precise, es-
thetically pleasing and apparently useful, but the
hypotheses may be irrelevant to the natural world
and/or make the right predictions for the wrong
reasons” (p. xii). I agree with all of the sentiments
and arguments expressed for a renewed focus on
natural history as the guide. However, to be con-
vincing we need sharp and precise arguments
outlining the absolute best justification for such
seemingly “old-fashioned” approaches. This is where
Observation and Ecology reaches high, but does not
quite succeed in being convincing. Instead of stating
or reaching for the supremacy of observational ap-
proaches, the need for and appreciation of natural
history and observation in ecological science would
be better served by clearly advancing the inte-
gration of observational and experimental ap-
proaches. I disagree with the authors’ claim that
we can find mechanistic explanations simply
through carefully designed and executed long-
term monitoring and observational studies. We
need a more sophisticated justification to achieve
institutional and financial support to advance in-
This content downloaded from 130.127.130.212 on Mon, 2 Sep 2013 12:35:22 PM
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237
tegration of good observation and rigorous exper-
imental science.
Bernd Blossey, Natural Resources, Cornell Uni-
versity, Ithaca, New York
Community Ecology.
By Gary G. Mittelbach. Sunderland (Massachusetts):
Sinauer Associates. $72.95 (paper). xv ⫹ 400 p.;
ill.; author and subject indexes. ISBN: 978-0-
87893-509-3. 2012.
At long last, there is an excellent textbook in the
field of community ecology. Mittelbach’s volume
follows a logical organization of topics, building
from populations to communities to metacommu-
nities. He starts with a chapter that includes basic
definitions in the field and then provides a brief
history of community ecology. Part I then focuses
on patterns, causes, and consequences of diversity.
Part II examines simple species interactions, start-
ing first with population growth and density de-
pendence (negative and positive) and then moves
on to predator-prey interactions, competition, mu-
tualism, and facilitation. Lotka-Volterra models of
both predation and competition are presented for
their “heuristic” value. Part III discusses species
interactions in ecological networks, including food
chains and food webs. The effects of a hetero-
geneous landscape and dispersal limitation on
species diversity and the neutral perspective on
community ecology are treated in Part IV. The
final part covers species coexistence in variable
environments, evolutionary community ecology,
and Mittelbach’s thoughts on the future of com-
munity ecology. Most page spreads have at least
one full-color graph, picture, or table taken from
the primary literature. All of the figures and tables
are available in PowerPoint from the publisher.
The great value of this book is how well Mittel-
bach summarizes and synthesizes the literature on
virtually every topic in community ecology. In ad-
dition, the citations include very recent ones, with
some even from the year of the book’s publica-
tion. The text is easy to read in particular because
the author uses first person and first person plural
to lead readers through the text. He also offers his
own opinions on the state of particular fields. Most
of the graduate students in my community ecology
course in the fall of 2012 enjoyed the tone of the
volume and thought his “voice” helped keep their
attention and interest.
Although there are certain hypotheses/theo-
ries/subfields that I think were given short shrift,
the book covers the majority of subjects in com-
munity ecology. If paired with primary literature,
this volume will work superbly as the main text-
book for a graduate course in community ecology.
Working ecologists will also find that its chapters
238 THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY
provide up-to-date reviews on most topics in the
field.
Saara J. DeWalt, Biological Sciences, Clemson Uni-
versity, Clemson, South Carolina
Modelling Complex Ecological Dynamics: An
Introduction into Ecological Modelling for
Students, Teachers & Scientists.
Edited by Fred Jopp, Hauke Reuter, and Broder Breck-
ling; title drawings by Melanie Trexler; Foreword by
Sven Erik Jørgensen and Donald L. DeAngelis. Hei-
delberg (Germany) and New York: Springer. $39.95
(paper). xvii ⫹ 397 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-3-
642-05028-2. 2011.
The Beach Book: Science of the Shore.
By Carl H. Hobbs. New York: Columbia University
Press. $60.00 (hardcover); $19.50 (paper); $15.99
(e-book). ix ⫹ 195 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-231-
16054-4 (hc); 978-0-231-16055-1 (pb); 978-0-231-
50413-3 (eb). 2012.
This book covers the basic geology and oceanog-
raphy of the edge of the sea, including currents,
waves, tides, and erosion, which should be of im-
portance to beachgoers, swimmers, boaters, and
homeowners. Chapter 1 is about beaches, includ-
ing their structure and the forces that change
them—such as wind and storms that erode them
and natural beach nourishment that helps them
grow. Rip currents are also discussed, which is of
particular concern to swimmers. The second chap-
ter focuses on wind, which is responsible for waves
that move the sand along the beach, and for up-
welling that brings cooler water up to the surface.
The third chapter is about waves, how they are
generated by wind and how they change as they
approach shallow water. A section on tsunamis is
included. Chapter 4 discusses tides, including the
Earth’s rotation, and sun and moon gravity basics,
but also going into more depth about geogra-
phical differences. The next chapter covers sedi-
ments, their origin, classification, and methods of
analysis. Chapter 6 focuses on barrier islands and
the geomorphology of tidal inlets; how barrier
islands are formed. Man-made jetties are also dis-
cussed. The seventh chapter covers sand dunes
and salt marshes and the role of wind and currents
in their formation and development. This chapter
(pleasing this biologist) covers some biology. As
barrier islands and salt marshes are at risk from
impacts of sea-level rise due to climate change and
at risk from storm surges, these threats to the
coastal environments are the focus of the follow-
ing two chapters. Hobbs goes beyond describing
the facts but is obviously very concerned about the
future of coastal environments. The final chapter,
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Volume 88
on erosion, discusses how hard “protection” struc-
tures (seawalls, revetments, groins) often have op-
posite effects from what was intended. The pros
and cons of beach nourishment projects are dis-
cussed.
This is a good comprehensive introduction to
the shore and should be of interest to members
of the general public. However, it includes a fair
amount of mathematical formulas, which are mostly
in sidebars and are explained, but still may be some-
what intimidating to the desired general audience.
Judith S. Weis, Biological Sciences, Rutgers Uni-
versity, Newark, New Jersey
Water and Sanitation-Related Diseases and
the Environment: Challenges, Interventions,
and Preventive Measures.
Edited by Janine M. H. Selendy. Hoboken (New Jersey):
Wiley-Blackwell. $139.95 (paper). xvii ⫹ 497 p. ⫹ 16
pl.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-470-52785-6. [Two DVDs
are included.] 2011.
Evolution of Plant-Pollinator Relationships.
The Systematics Association Special, Volume 81.
Edited by Sébastien Patiny. Cambridge and New York:
Cambridge University Press. $125.00. xv ⫹ 477 p. ⫹
12 pl.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-521-19892-9. 2012.
The two of us, one early in her career and one late
in his, share a passion for pollination biology and
therefore read this book together with pleasant
anticipation. Our weekly discussion of chapters
quickly became a search for common themes. Not
easy: although the preface outlines three themes,
neither the organization of chapters nor their con-
tent mirrors these themes in any obvious way. In-
stead, the breadth of topics provides a sweeping
overview of odds and ends within pollination biol-
ogy. Because there is less emphasis on unification
of ideas, the volume is perhaps best used as a
sampler of topics that may interest particular re-
searchers in the field.
In 17 chapters, the authors bring diverse per-
spectives to bear on the evolution of plant repro-
ductive strategies, fossil bees and the pollination of
early angiosperms, the role of pollinators in shap-
ing the distribution of plant communities, the his-
tory of pollination networks, and other assorted
topics. Whereas some chapters are interim prog-
ress reports (e.g., a fascinating chapter on fig and
fig wasp cospeciation), others are works of advo-
cacy (e.g., an argument that macroevolutionary
patterns are best understood in terms of clade
selection and similar “neo-Gouldian” mechani-
sms), and still others are reviews of current con-
cepts (e.g., a stimulating chapter on multimodal