From Plant Traits to Vegetation Structure

Informationen zum Autor Bill Shipley obtained his PhD in plant ecology from the University of Ottawa in 1987 and now teaches plant ecology and statistics at the Universite de Sherbrooke (Qc) Canada. He is the author of over 70 peer-reviewed papers in ecology and statistics! and Cause and Correlation in Biology: A User's Guide to Path Analysis! Structural Equations! and Causal Inference (Cambridge University Press! 2000). Klappentext Explains how natural selection, combined with methods in statistical physics, can predict and explain the assembly of ecological communities. Zusammenfassung This book is written for advanced undergraduates! graduates and researchers in plant ecology. Using a trait-based approach it explains how the principle of natural selection and quantitative genetics can be combined with maximum entropy methods to explain and predict the structure of plant communities. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface; 1. Playing with loaded dice; 2. Population-based models of community assembly; 3. Trait-based community ecology; 4. Modeling trait-based environmental filters: Bayesian statistics! information theory and the maximum entropy formalism; 5. Community dynamics! natural selection and the origin of community-aggregated traits; 6. Community assembly during a Mediterranean succession; 7. The statistical mechanics of species abundance distributions; 8. Epilogue: traits are not enough.

Klappentext

Explains how natural selection, combined with methods in statistical physics, can predict and explain the assembly of ecological communities.

Zusammenfassung
This book is written for advanced undergraduates, graduates and researchers in plant ecology. Using a trait-based approach it explains how the principle of natural selection and quantitative genetics can be combined with maximum entropy methods to explain and predict the structure of plant communities.

Inhalt

Preface; 1. Playing with loaded dice; 2. Population-based models of community assembly; 3. Trait-based community ecology; 4. Modeling trait-based environmental filters: Bayesian statistics, information theory and the maximum entropy formalism; 5. Community dynamics, natural selection and the origin of community-aggregated traits; 6. Community assembly during a Mediterranean succession; 7. The statistical mechanics of species abundance distributions; 8. Epilogue: traits are not enough.