Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The science of ecology and the practice of resource management are critical to our understanding of the Earth's ecosystems and our efforts to conserve them. This book attempts to bridge the gap between ecology and natural resource management and in particular, focuses on the discipline of plant ecology as a foundation for vegetation and wildlife management. It describes how concepts and approaches used by ecologists to study communities and ecosystems can be applied to their management. Guy R. McPherson and Stephen DeStefano emphasise the importance of thoughtfully designed and carefully conducted scientific studies to both the advancement of ecological knowledge and the application of techniques for the management of plant and animal populations. The book is aimed at natural resource managers, as well as graduate and advanced undergraduate students, who are familiar with fundamental ecological principles and who want to use ecological knowledge as a basis for the management of ecosystems.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Integrating ecology and management
• 2 Interactions
• 3 Community structure
• 4 Succession
• 5 Closing the gap between science and management
• References
• Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This concise, authoritative volume bridges the gap between the science of ecology and the practice of natural resource management by focusing on the discipline of plant ecology as a foundation for vegetation and wildlife management. McPherson (Univ. of Arizona) and DeStefano (Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst) describe how concepts and approaches used by ecologists to study communities and ecosystems can be applied to their management. The first chapter is a stalwart attempt to show how ecology and natural resource management should be integrated. The second chapter treats various interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms and the ways in which those interactions are studied. The third chapter extensively analyzes community structure and the various methodologies employed to describe communities historically and contemporaneously. Further chapters detail the traditional and alternative approaches to understanding ecological succession and exhort both ecologists and natural resource managers to work more closely together to increase our understanding of the Earth's ecosystems and their conservation. An abundance of fine photographs, an extensive list of references, and an in-depth index complement the rather turgid prose. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate students through professionals. E. J. Kormondy emeritus, University of Hawaii at Hilo