Fundamental Processes in Ecology: An Earth Systems Approach

Fundamental Processes in Ecology presents a way to study ecosystems that is not yet available in ecology textbooks but is resonant with current thinking in the emerging fields of geobiology and Earth System Science.

It provides an alternative, process-based classification of ecology and proposes a truly planetary view of ecological science. To achieve this, it asks (and endeavors to answer) the question, what are the fundamental ecological processes which would be found on any planet with Earth-like, carbon-based, life?

The author demonstrates how the idea of fundamental ecological processes can be developed at the systems level, specifically their involvement in control and feedback mechanisms. This approach allows us to reconsider basic ecological ideas such as energy flow, guilds, trade-offs, carbon cycling, and photosynthesis; and to put these in a global context. In doing so, the book puts a much stronger emphasis on microorganisms than has traditionally been the case.

The integration of Earth System Science with ecology is vitally important if ecological science is to successfully contribute to the massive problems and future challenges associated with global change. Although the approach is heavily influenced by Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis, this is not a popular science book about Gaian theory.

Instead, it is written as an accessible text for graduate student seminar courses and researchers in the fields of ecology, earth system science, evolutionary biology, paleontology, history of life, astrobiology, geology, and physical geography.

Author: David M. Wilkinson
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 09/01/2007
Pages: 200
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.62lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.42d
ISBN: 9780199229062

About the Author

David M. Wilkinson is a Reader in Environmental Science in the School of Biological and Earth Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University. He has wide interests within the environmental and biological sciences, where much of his research is on theoretical topics within evolutionary ecology, biogeography, and Earth systems science. In addition, he is involved in more empirical research on soil protozoa, environmental archaeology, and the history of science. His teaching covers a diverse range of topics from the history of geology to forensic archaeology, but centers on various aspects of ecology.
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