Chaos in Ecology
Experimental Nonlinear Dynamics
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It is impossible to predict the exact behavior of all biological systems and how these same systems are exemplified by patterns of complexity and regularity. Decades of research in ecology have documented how these sorts of patterns are the consequences of deceptively simple rules that determine the nature of the patterns created. Chaos in Ecology will explain how simple beginnings result in complicated results. Chaos in Ecology is the inaugural volume of Theoretical Ecology Series. The authors of this volume have employed data from a proven model system in population dynamics. As a result, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in the ecology of populations.
Key Features
- It is impossible to predict the exact behavior of almost all biological systems and yet these same systems are exemplified by patterns of complexity and regularity. Decades of research in ecology have documented that these sorts of patterns are the consequence of deceptively simple rules that determine the nature of the patterns created. In essence, simple beginnings result in complicated results
- This realization is captured in the mathematical notion of "chaos" and is rendered intuitive by the oft-repeated metaphor: "A butterfly beats its wings in China and causing a thunderstorm in the Midwest." Thus, seemingly trivial initial conditions (e.g. a butterfly in China) cascade through a series of intermediate events to create a significant large-scale event (e.g. a thunderstorm)
- Chaos in Ecology is the inaugural volume of Theoretical Ecology Series. The authors of this volume have employed data from a proven model system in population dynamics. As a result, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in the ecology of populations
Readership
Ecologists, biologists, paleontologists and graduate students interested in ecology
Table of Contents
Introduction
Models
Bifurcations
Chaos
Patterns in Chaos
What We Learned
Bibliography
Appendix
Product details
- No. of pages: 225
- Language: English
- Copyright: © Academic Press 2002
- Published: October 15, 2002
- Imprint: Academic Press
- eBook ISBN: 9780080528878
- Hardcover ISBN: 9780121988760
About the Authors
J. M. Cushing
Robert Costantino
Affiliations and Expertise
University of Arizona
Brian Dennis
Affiliations and Expertise
University of Idaho
Robert Desharnais
Affiliations and Expertise
California State University, Los Angeles
Shandelle Henson
Affiliations and Expertise
College of William and Mary