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This book presents the first unified conceptual and statistical framework for understanding the evolution of reproductive strategies. Using the concept of the opportunity for sexual selection, the authors illustrate how and why sexual selection, though restricted to one sex and opposed in the other, is one of the strongest and fastest of all evolutionary forces. They offer a statistical framework for studying mating system evolution and apply it to patterns of alternative mating strategies. In doing so, they provide a method for quantifying how the strength of sexual selection is affected by the ecological and life history processes that influence females' spatial and temporal clustering and...
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Evolutionary Behavioral Ecology presents a comprehensive treatment of the evolutionary and ecological processes shaping behavior across a wide array of organisms and a diverse set of behaviors and is suitable as a graduate-level text and as a sourcebook for professional scientists.
Two Centuries of Darwin is the outgrowth of an Arthur M. Sackler Colloquium, sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences on January 16-17, 2009. In the chapters of this book, leading evolutionary biologists and science historians reflect on and commemorate the Darwinian Revolution. They canvass modern research approaches and current scientific thought on each of the three main categories of selection (natural, artificial, and sexual) that Darwin addressed during his career. Although Darwin's legacy is associated primarily with the illumination of natural selection in The Origin, he also contemplated and wrote extensively about what we now term artificial selection and sexual selection. In ...
The study of alternative reproductive tactics (the behavioural strategies used by individuals to increase their reproductive success) is an evolutionary puzzle, and one of great interest to researchers. For instance, why do some males guard both nest and eggs, while others sneak into nests while pairs are spawning and fertilise those eggs? The field offers a special opportunity to study the evolution and functional causes of phenotypic variation, which is a general problem in the field of evolutionary biology. By integrating both mechanistic (psychological) and evolutionary (behavioural ecology) perspectives and by covering a great diversity of species, Alternative Reproductive Tactics addresses this integrated topic of longstanding interest, bringing together a multitude of otherwise scattered information in an accessible form that is ideal for graduate students and researchers.
This book reviews state-of-the-art research into trait-based effects and their importance in community and ecosystem ecology.
"This is the book I have been waiting for! Written by experts in each field, this Encyclopedia provides a wealth of information not only about the tidepool and shore life but also the oceanography associated with these habitats. This will be a major reference guide for years to come."--Dr. Nigella Hillgarth, Executive Director, Birch Aquarium at Scripps, Scripps Institution of Oceanography "The "Encyclopedia of Tidepools and Rocky Shores" covers much more than one might guess. It ranges from oceanography, to physiology, biomechanics, and conservation science, along with the expected treatment of the diverse groups of organisms that live in those habitats. The coverage of each topic is kept s...
By investigating a simple question, a philosopher of science and a molecular biologist offer an accessible understanding of microbial communities and a motivating theory for future research in community ecology. Microorganisms, such as bacteria, are important determinants of health at the individual, ecosystem, and global levels. And yet many aspects of modern life, from the overuse of antibiotics to chemical spills and climate change, can have devastating, lasting impacts on the communities formed by microorganisms. Drawing on the latest scientific research and real-life examples such as attempts to reengineer these communities through microbial transplantation, the construction of syntheti...
Was human nature designed by natural selection in the Pleistocene epoch? The dominant view in evolutionary psychology holds that it was—that our psychological adaptations were designed tens of thousands of years ago to solve problems faced by our hunter-gatherer ancestors. In this provocative and lively book, David Buller examines in detail the major claims of evolutionary psychology—the paradigm popularized by Steven Pinker in The Blank Slate and by David Buss in The Evolution of Desire—and rejects them all. This does not mean that we cannot apply evolutionary theory to human psychology, says Buller, but that the conventional wisdom in evolutionary psychology is misguided. Evolutionar...
Gull chicks beg for food from their parents. Peacocks spread their tails to attract potential mates. Meerkats alert family members of the approach of predators. But are these--and other animals--sometimes dishonest? That's what William Searcy and Stephen Nowicki ask in The Evolution of Animal Communication. They take on the fascinating yet perplexing question of the dependability of animal signaling systems. The book probes such phenomena as the begging of nesting birds, alarm calls in squirrels and primates, carotenoid coloration in fish and birds, the calls of frogs and toads, and weapon displays in crustaceans. Do these signals convey accurate information about the signaler, its future be...