The theory of ecological communities /

This book is not a guide to specific procedures or a set of protocols for conducting community ecology research; it is a "conceptual framework" for shaping research and unifying disparate models commonly used. The goal is to provide some guiding principles that can be employed across different ecological communities and at various scales. "Selection," "drift," "dispersal," and "speciation" are proposed as the unifying processes within all ecological communities and community ecology research. Vellend (biology, Univ. de Sherbrooke, Canada) provides a useful historical account of the wide variety of methods used in the field to lay the foundation for his proposed resolution of the resulting "mess." The book is well written, profusely referenced, and a worthy addition to the distinguished "Monographs in Population Biology" series from Princeton University Press. In his introduction, the author indicates that graduate students will likely have the most to gain from his book, and this reviewer believes that is a sound assessment. Some familiarity with terminology, as well as research design and application in ecology, is required. Only institutions supporting graduate level research in this field will find it necessary to add this title to their collection. A glossary would have enhanced this work. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, professionals. --Jonathan Nabe, Southern Illinois University Carbondale