New Books by Dartmouth Authors: Biological Sciences

The 'Adaptive Landscape' has been a central concept in population genetics and evolutionary biology since this powerful metaphor was first formulated by Sewall Wright in 1932. Eighty years later, it has become a central framework in evolutionary quantitative genetics, selection studies innatural populations, and in studies of ecological speciation and adaptive radiations. Recently, the simple concept of adaptive landscapes in two dimensions (genes or traits) has been criticized and several new and more sophisticated versions of the original adaptive landscape evolutionary model havebeen developed in response. No published volume has yet critically discussed the past, present state, and future prospect of the adaptive landscape in evolutionary biology. This volume brings together prominent historians of science, philosophers, ecologists, and evolutionary biologists, with theaim of discussing the state of the art of the Adaptive Landscape from several different perspectives.

A beautifully illustrated overview and synthesis of how scientists have used a living forest as an experimental laboratory for more than 50 years For more than 50 years, the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire has been one of the most intensely studied landscapes on earth. This book highlights many of the important ecological findings amassed during the long-term research conducted there, and considers their regional, national, and global implications.   Richard T. Holmes and Gene E. Likens, active members of the research team at Hubbard Brook since its beginnings, explain the scientific processes employed in the forest-turned-laboratory. They describe such important findings as the discovery of acid rain, ecological effects of forest management practices, and the causes of population change in forest birds, as well as how disturbance events, pests and pathogens, and a changing climate affect forest and associated aquatic ecosystems. The authors show how such long-term, place-based ecological studies are relevant for informing many national, regional, and local environmental issues, such as air pollution, water quality, ecosystem management, and conservation.

A comprehensive framework for understanding species coexistence Coexistence is the central concept in community ecology, but an understanding of this concept requires that we study the actual mechanisms of species interactions. Coexistence in Ecology examines the major features of these mechanisms for species that coexist at different positions in complex food webs, and derives empirical tests from model predictions. Exploring the various challenges species face, Mark McPeek systematically builds a model food web, beginning with an ecosystem devoid of life and then adding one species at a time. With the introduction of each new species, he evaluates the properties it must possess to invade a community and quantifies the changes in the abundances of other species that result from a successful invasion. McPeek continues this process until he achieves a multitrophic level food web with many species coexisting at each trophic level, from omnivores, mutualists, and pathogens to herbivores, carnivores, and basic plants. He then describes the observational and experimental empirical studies that can test the theoretical predictions resulting from the model analyses. Synthesizing decades of theoretical research in community ecology, Coexistence in Ecology offers new perspectives on how to develop an empirical program of study rooted in the natural histories of species and the mechanisms by which they actually interact with one another.

A study of visual culture in the teaching of the life sciences