Note: Cover -- Theoretical Ecology: Concepts and Applications -- Copyright -- Foreword -- Detailed table of contents -- List of contributors -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- 1.1 This book and its predecessors -- 1.2 This book: Themes and directions -- Chapter 2: Species coexistence -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Models -- 2.3 Overall interaction and average fitness differences -- 2.4 Competition for resources -- 2.5 Role of natural enemies -- 2.6 Role of environmental variation -- 2.7 Discussion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 3: The synergistic effects of interaction strength and lags on ecological stability -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Population models: The interactive role of growth and lags -- 3.3 Consumer-Resource models: The interactive role of IS and lags -- 3.4 Lag excitation and lag interference -- 3.5 Asynchrony as a form of lag interference? -- 3.6 Summary -- References -- Chapter 4: Non-equilibrium dynamics and stochastic processes -- 4.1 Introduction to stochasticity and transients -- 4.2 Challenge 1: Stability in stochastic ecological systems -- 4.2.1 Why is this a challenge for non-equilibrium systems? -- 4.2.2 A way forward -- 4.2.3 Lesson from Challenge 1: Non-equilibrium dynamics strengthen ecological understanding -- 4.3 Challenge 2: Predicting regime shifts -- 4.3.1 Why is this a challenge for non-equilibrium systems? -- 4.3.2 A way forward -- 4.3.3 Lesson from Challenge 2: Unstable equilibria can reveal a lot about non-equilibrium dynamics -- 4.4 Building on these lessons to confrontfuture challenges -- References -- Chapter 5: The impact of population structure on population and community dynamics -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 State concepts in SPMs -- 5.3 Types of structured population models -- 5.4 Ecological consequences of changing population structure -- 5.4.1 Juvenile and adult-driven population cycles. , 5.4.2 Biomass overcompensation -- 5.4.3 Community consequences of biomass overcompensation -- 5.5 Interfacing theory and data -- 5.6 On generality and model specificity -- 5.7 Outlook -- References -- Chapter 6: Models for large ecological communities-a random matrix approach -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 May's stability criterion -- 6.3 Random matrices -- 6.4 Fundamental results -- 6.5 Structured random matrices -- 6.6 Other applications -- 6.7 Open problems and conclusions -- References -- Chapter 7: A structural theory of mutualistic networks -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 A purely dynamic stability approach to mutualistic networks -- 7.2.1 Early models -- 7.2.2 Adding non-linear functional responses -- 7.2.3 Adding interspecific competition within sets -- 7.3 A structural stability approach to mutualistic networks -- 7.3.1 Preliminary work on the limits to the number of coexisting species in purely competitive systems -- 7.3.2 Limits to the number of coexisting species in systems with competition plus mutualism -- 7.3.3 Robustness of mutualistic networks -- 7.4 Concluding remarks -- References -- Chapter 8: A data-driven approach to complex ecological systems -- 8.1 Interspecific interactions and ecological dynamics -- 8.1.1 Population dynamics and interspecific interactions -- 8.1.2 Community dynamics and interspecific interactions -- 8.2 Nature of population-level interspecific interactions -- 8.2.1 Diversity in behavioral mechanisms -- 8.2.2 Scale dependency of interspecific interactions -- 8.2.3 Dynamic nature of interspecific interactions -- 8.3 How to study interspecific interactions in nature -- 8.3.1 Identifying population-level interactions -- 8.3.2 Identification of interactions based on behavior by individuals -- 8.3.3 Manipulative field experiments -- 8.4 Modern data-driven approach to interspecific interactions. , 8.4.1 Estimating population-level interactions from time-series data -- 8.4.2 Convergent cross mapping and multivariate S-map -- 8.4.3 Application of EDM to interaction network studies -- 8.5 Conclusion and future directions -- References -- Chapter 9: Trait-based models of complex ecological networks -- 9.1 Modeling complex ecological networks -- 9.2 Allometric population models -- 9.3 Allometric models of complex communities: The Yodzis and Innes approach -- 9.4 More complex allometries -- 9.5 Modeling the temperature-dependence of network dynamics -- 9.6 Outlook -- References -- Chapter 10: Ecological networks: From structure to dynamics -- 10.1 Brief introduction -- 10.2 What is a network? -- 10.3 Networks in ecology -- 10.3.1 Interaction networks -- 10.3.2 Toward multi-layer interaction networks -- 10.3.3 Other types of ecological networks -- 10.3.4 Broad questions asked in ecological networks -- 10.4 Quantifying networks structure -- 10.4.1 Local network descriptors -- 10.4.2 Quasi-local network descriptors (intermediate description level) -- 10.4.3 Global network descriptors -- 10.4.4 Extensions to multilayer networks -- 10.5 Structural properties of ecological networks -- 10.5.1 Food webs -- 10.5.2 Mutualistic webs -- 10.6 From the structure to the dynamics of ecological networks -- 10.7 Challenges -- 10.8 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 11: Trait-based ecological and eco-evolutionary theory -- 11.1 Overview of trait-based ecology and evolution -- 11.1.1 Why trait-based ecology? -- 11.1.2 What are traits? -- 11.1.3 Historical survey of trait-based theories -- 11.1.4 Overview of rest of chapter -- 11.2 Basic ideas -- 11.2.1 Density-independent models with traits and optimization theory -- 11.2.2 Density-dependent models with traits -- 11.2.3 Applications -- 11.3 Other trait-based frameworks -- 11.4 Extensions/Complications. , 11.4.1 Traits in time -- 11.4.2 Traits in space -- 11.4.3 Multiple traits -- 11.5 Frontiers of trait-based modeling -- 11.5.1 Comparisons with empirical systems -- 11.5.2 Linking trait- and species-based approaches -- 11.5.3 Using trait-based theory to improve Earth Systems Models -- 11.5.4 Final thoughts -- References -- Chapter 12: Toward a general theory of metacommunity ecology -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 A general model for "meta" ecology -- 12.2.1 The heritage of the Levins' model of colonization and extinction dynamics -- 12.2.2 Local demography versus regional processes -- 12.3 Spatial heterogeneity -- 12.3.1 Environmental variation -- 12.3.2 Dispersal limitation -- 12.4 Coexistence and Persistence -- 12.4.1 Introducing species interactions -- 12.4.2 Technique for invasibility analysis -- 12.4.3 Competition -- 12.4.4 Food webs -- 12.4.5 Mutualism -- 12.5 Moments of metacommunities -- 12.5.1 Competition -- 12.5.2 Predator-prey interactions -- 12.6 Discussion -- 12.6.1 Extension to multi-species communities -- 12.6.2 From coexistence to dynamical stability -- 12.7 Conclusion -- References -- Chapter 13: Theories of diversity in disease ecology -- 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 Host diversity -- 13.2.1 The basics of host diversity-infectious disease theory -- 13.2.2 Mechanisms for host diversity-infectious disease interactions -- 13.2.3 Evidence in support of proposed mechanisms for host diversity-infectious disease interactions -- 13.2.4 Application of theory on host diversity to disease management -- 13.3 Pathogen diversity -- 13.3.1 A community ecology framework for pathogen coexistence -- 13.3.2 A diverse web of interactions among pathogens -- 13.3.3 Theoretical results about pathogen coexistence -- 13.3.4 Application of theories of pathogen diversity to disease management. , 13.4 Are theories of host and pathogen diversity ships passing in the night? -- 13.5 Diversifying the use of theory to address questions of diversity in disease ecology -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 14: The impact of temperature on population and community dynamics -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Population dynamics in varying environments -- 14.3 Focusing our paradigm: Which parameters of trophic models should we study? -- 14.4 Temperature dependence of carrying capacity -- 14.5 Unimodal responses and community dynamics -- 14.6 Warming and food webs -- 14.7 Temperature variation at shorter time scales -- 14.8 Deriving an r-K temperature dependent model -- 14.9 Temperature by density interactions -- 14.10 Temperature variation, dynamics, and extinction in r-K models -- 14.11 Summary and future directions -- References -- Chapter 15: Alternative stable states, tipping points, and early warning signals of ecological transitions -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.1.1 Tipping points in dynamical systems -- 15.1.2 Early warning signals -- 15.1.3 Bifurcation delay -- 15.2 Theory -- 15.2.1 Birth-death processes -- 15.2.2 Case Study 1: The Logistic model with harvesting -- 15.2.3 Case Study 2: The Levin's metapopulation model -- 15.3 Empirical evidence -- 15.3.1 Lab experiments -- 15.3.2 Field experiments -- 15.3.3 Observational studies -- 15.4 Spatial indicators of resilience -- 15.4.1 Critical slowing down spatial indicators -- 15.4.2 Two broad types of patterns in drylands -- 15.4.3 Structural early warning signals -- 15.5 Conclusion -- Acknowledgments -- References -- Chapter 16: Areas of current and future growth -- Glossary -- Index.