Food webs /

Food webs, which control many crucial ecosystem functions, describe the flow of energy through ecosystems. Humans rely on ecosystems for many services, such as providing fresh water and clean air, yet human activities have placed increasing stress on these ecosystems, often with unknown consequences. The study of food webs is key to understanding the stability of ecosystems under assault. In this new book, part of the "Monographs in Population Biology" series, McCann (Univ. of Guelph, Canada) examines empirical and theoretical advances in food web ecology and their implications for the dynamics and stability of populations of interacting organisms. Chapters cover the theoretical background of dynamical systems and population models, and also examine community, landscape, and ecosystem scales. This is a must read for ecologists interested in ecosystem dynamics. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and above. R. B. Pratt California State University--Bakersfield