How to learn population biology. Population genetics. Ecology. Biogeography: species equilibrium theory.

The use of molecular methods to study genetic polymorphisms has made a familiarity with population genetics essential for any biologist whose work is at the population level. A Primer of Population Genetics, Third Edition provides a concise but comprehensive introduction to population genetics. The four chapters of the book address genetic variation, the causes of evolution, molecular population genetics, and the genetic architecture of complex traits. Chapter-end problems reinforce ideas and, while there are some equations, the emphasis is on explanation rather than derivation.

This book covers basic concepts in population and quantitative genetics, including measuring selection on phenotypic traits. The emphasis is on material applicable to field studies of evolution focusing on ecologically important traits. Topics addressed are critical for training students in ecology, evolution, conservation biology, agriculture, forestry, and wildlife management. Many texts in this field are too complex and mathematical to allow the average beginning student to readily grasp the key concepts. A Primer of Ecological Genetics, in contrast, employs mathematics and statistics-fully explained, but at a less advanced level-as tools to improve understanding of biological principles. The main goal is to enable students to understand the concepts well enough that they can gain entry into the primary literature. Integration of the different chapters of the book shows students how diverse concepts relate to each other.

What are the genomic signatures of adaptations in DNA? How often does natural selection dictate changes to DNA? How does the ebb and flow in the abundance of individuals over time get marked onto chromosomes to record genetic history? Molecular population genetics seeks to answer such questions by explaining genetic variation and molecular evolution from micro-evolutionary principles. It provides a way to learn about how evolution works and how it shapes species by incorporating molecular details of DNA as the heritable material. It enables us to understand the logic of how mutations originate, change in abundance in populations, and become fixed as DNA sequence divergence between species. With the revolutionary advances in genomic data acquisition, understanding molecular population genetics is now a fundamental requirement for today's life scientists. These concepts apply in analysis of personal genomics, genome-wide association studies, landscape and conservation genetics, forensics, molecular anthropology, and selection scans. This book introduces, in an accessible way, the bare essentials of the theory and practice of molecular population genetics.

A detailed exposition of the most common mathematical models in population and community ecology, covering exponential and logistic population growth, age-structured demography, metapopulation dynamics, competition, predation, and island biogeography. Intended to demystify ecological models and the math behind them by deriving the models from first principles. The primer may be used as a self-teaching tutorial, as a primary textbook, or as a supplemental text to a general ecology textbook. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Provides simple explanations of the important concepts in population and community ecology. Provides R code throughout, to illustrate model development and analysis, as well as appendix introducing the R language. Interweaves ecological content and code so that either stands alone. Supplemental web site for additional code.

Life histories can be defined as the means by which individuals (or more precisely genotypes) vary their age- or stage-specific expenditures of reproductive effort in response to genetic, phenotypic, and environmental correlates of survival and fecundity. Life histories reflect the expression of traits most closely related to individual fitness, such as age and size at maturity, number and size of offspring, and the timing of the expression of those traits throughout an individual's life. In addition to addressing questions of fundamental importance to ecology and evolution, life-history research plays an integral role in species conservation and management. This accessible primer encompasses the basic concepts, theories, and applied elements of life history evolution, including patterns of trait variability, underlying mechanisms of plastic/evolutionary change, and the practical utility of life-history traits as metrics of species/population recovery, sustainable exploitation, and risk of extinction. Empirical examples are drawn from the entire spectrum of life. A Primer of Life Histories is designed for readers from a broad range of academic backgrounds and experience including graduate students and researchers of ecology and evolutionary biology. It will also be useful to a more applied audience of academic/government researchers in fields such as wildlife biology, conservation biology, fisheries science, and the environmental sciences.

Ecology is capturing the popular imagination like never before, with issues such as climate change, species extinctions, and habitat destruction becoming ever more prominent. At the same time, the science of ecology has advanced dramatically, growing in mathematical and theoretical sophistication. Here, two leading experts present the fundamental quantitative principles of ecology in an accessible yet rigorous way, introducing students to the most basic of all ecological subjects, the structure and dynamics of populations. John Vandermeer and Deborah Goldberg show that populations are more than simply collections of individuals. Complex variables such as distribution and territory for expanding groups come into play when mathematical models are applied. Vandermeer and Goldberg build these models from the ground up, from first principles, using a broad range of empirical examples, from animals and viruses to plants and humans. They address a host of exciting topics along the way, including age-structured populations, spatially distributed populations, and metapopulations. This second edition of Population Ecology is fully updated and expanded, with additional exercises in virtually every chapter, making it the most up-to-date and comprehensive textbook of its kind. Provides an accessible mathematical foundation for the latest advances in ecology Features numerous exercises and examples throughout Introduces students to the key literature in the field The essential textbook for advanced undergraduates and graduate students An online illustration package is available to professors

This concise, entry level text provides an introduction to the importance of genetic studies in conservation and presents the essentials of the discipline in an easy-to-follow format, with main points and terms clearly highlighted. The authors assume only a basic knowledge of Mendelian genetics and simple statistics, making the book accessible to those with a limited background in these areas. Connections between conservation genetics and the wider field of conservation biology are interwoven throughout the book. Worked examples are provided throughout to help illustrate key equations and glossary and suggestions for further reading provide additional support for the reader. Many beautiful pen and ink portraits of endangered species are included to enhance the text. Written for short, introductory level courses in genetics, conservation genetics and conservation biology, this book will also be suitable for practising conservation biologists, zoo biologists and wildlife managers.