Nonequilibrium Ecology: Latest Book Review
The latest book review of my book Nonequilibrium Ecology, Cambridge University Press 2005, has now been published in Austral Ecology 32, November 2007, pp. 834-835. It is by F. Patrick Graz, a plant ecologist at the University of Ballarat, Australia. He has done work on various aspects of plant ecology, in particular the dry woodland savanna in southern Africa. Extracts of his review follow. Unfortunately he got my name wrong, not infrequently done by authors who cite my work. I correct this error in the extracts.
“Populations do not exist in isolation but interact with the biological and physical environments in which they occur. In his book, Nonequilibrium Ecology, Klaus Rohde discusses various aspects of such interactions with respect to population and community development. Rohde, clearly an expert in his field, consolidates more than 500 references to compare the relative importance of equilibrium and nonequilibrium in relation to natural populations.”
“The first chapter introduces and defines nonequilibrium in populations and communities, and provides a brief review of the development of the concept over time. The chapter also reviews empirical evidence for populations tending towards an equilibrium, and populations and meta-populations in nonequilibrium conditions. At the end of the chapter, Rohde highlights the concept of vacant niches. The concept is central to the development of his discussions and is dealt with in various sections of the book. The author recognizes the controversy surrounding the concept, as evidenced in later chapters, where he also provides supporting arguments and examples for its role in the development of communities and diversity.
Chapter 2 reviews the coexistence of individuals in different assemblages and communities that are either in apparent equilibrium or in nonequilibrium. He shows the importance of environmental disturbances in this context. In the final section of the chapter, Rohde defines the concept of a vacant niche for the purpose of further discussion. He also considers non-saturation of species assemblages, citing a number of studies in support.
The subsequent two chapters review different forms of interspecific competition and their various effects on individual species and species assemblages. Rohde deals with competition in some detail, as he considers the concept of fundamental importance in the discussion of nonequilibrium ecology.”
“The concept of vacant niches/unsaturated communities forms a significant and convincing part of the discussion.
Chapter 5 explores processes that constrain and separate niches. The author argues that species may specialize to exploit particular microhabitats and to ensure mate finding, thus necessarily altering their exploitation of different parts of niche space. These specializations may reinforce themselves, in the form of further speciation. Chapter 6 explores the development of species diversity over evolutionary time, considering the exploitation of niche space.
Chapters 7 to 9 review and consolidate examples of equilibrium and nonequilibrium at three different scales of organization, that is, at the population/metapopulation level, community level and macroecological level. In these chapters, Rohde provides a range of examples from both terrestrial and marine systems.”
“The final chapter serves as a summary of the various topics discussed in the preceding ones and provides suggestions for future emphases in ecological thinking.”
“Throughout, the author provides numerous examples to underscore the various aspects under discussion.”
“The details pertaining to the individual organisms under study are generally useful, permitting the reader to understand the context of the studies cited.”
Some appendices and Errata of the book are available at:
http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521674553&ss=res