Biological Invasions: Theory and Practice (Oxford Series in Ecology & Evolution) - Hardcover

Shigesada, Nanako

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198548524 ISBN 13: 9780198548522

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1997

Synopsis

This work deals with the ecological effect a species can have when it moves into an environment that it has not previously occupied (commonly referred to as an "invasion"). It presents an accessible introduction to a highly complex area - the modelling of biological invasions. The book presents up-to-date theories and models developed from studies into this crucial area. It includes data and examples from biological case studies showing how the models can be applied to the study of invasions, whether dealing with AIDS, the European rabbit, or prickly pear cactuses.

About this title

Review

Good use is made of diagrams to encourage understanding of the models. (Aslib Book Guide, vol.62, no.7, July 1997)

nowhere else has the theory been made so accessible to nonmathematical biologists, and nowhere else has the theory been so beautifully connected to specific biological examples ...The style of Shigesada and Kawasaki's models and their comparisons to data is elegant in a way that has fallen out of fashion in this age of detailed simulation models and maximum likelihood parameter estimation. This book ... is a masterpiece. It will be easy for theoreticians and modelers to appreciate how extraordinary is this fine book. This theoretical treatise should be read by anyone trying to understand, or control, the range expansion of any invading species. Shigesada and Kawasaki vividly identify the central issues of biological invasion. That is an excellent application of modeling, and an application too often forgotten. (Peter Kareiva, University of Washington, TREE vol. 12, no. 10 October 1997)

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject. The authors are very clear and, although it is aimed squarely at readers who have a sound grasp of the mathematics of travelling waves and may be interested in applying models of invasions to specific examples, their explanations are clear and succinct. (Calvin Dytham, 1997 British Ecological Society Journal of Animal Ecology, 66)

From the Back Cover

Biological invasions occur when species move into and become established in environments that they have not previously occupied. Deriving general principles from biological case studies, this book provides a clear and accessible exposition of the mathematical models of biological invasions that occur on a global scale. Topics include invasion into patchy environments, invasion by stratified diffusion involving both short- and long-range dispersal, competition for space between invading and native species, invasion of parasites, and the spread of epidemic diseases. Each chapter first introduces the biological issues and then analyses them using diagrams based on field data and simulations. Derivations of important equations for mathematically inclined readers are outlined in appendices at the end of each chapter. Potential applications to environmental issues are discussed wherever appropriate.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198548524
• ISBN 13: 9780198548522
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 218