A Citizen's Guide to Ecology - L. Slobodkin (Oxford, 2003) WW PDF
Preview A Citizen's Guide to Ecology - L. Slobodkin (Oxford, 2003) WW
A Citizen's Guide to Ecology 07489615-E590-4818-BC90-6291485A6F9B This page intentionally left blank 07489615-E590-4818-BC90-6291485A6F9B A Citizen's Guide to Ecology Lawrence B. Slobodkin OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 20O3 07489615-E590-4818-BC90-6291485A6F9B OXFORD Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dares Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sao Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Copyright © 2003 by Lawrence B. Slobodkin Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Slobodkin, Lawrence B. A citizen's guide to ecology / by Lawrence B. Slobodkin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-19-516286-2 (cl.) —0-19-516287-0 (pbk.) 1. Ecology. 2. Nature—Effect of human beings on. I. Title. QH541.S54 2003 577—dc21 2002072826 987654321 Printed in the United States of America on recycled, acid-free paper 07489615-E590-4818-BC90-6291485A6F9B To Yan, Mathew and Liaht 07489615-E590-4818-BC90-6291485A6F9B This page intentionally left blank 07489615-E590-4818-BC90-6291485A6F9B Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 3 Defining Ecology 3 Changes 5 Why Another Ecology Book? 12 Who Are Ecologists? 22 1 THE BIG PICTURE 33 Water and Energy: Life's Necessities 33 The Origin of Life and of Atmospheric Oxygen 43 Big Systems 52. Lakes 52 Lakes Through the Seasons 60 Oceans 73 Dry Land 81 How Independent Are Ecological Systems? 95 2 HOW DO SPECIES SURVIVE? 101 Populations 101 Individuals and Populations 115 Species Diversity 127 Species Extinction 139 Are All Invasive Species Villains? 144 3 TWO MAJOR CURRENT PROBLEMS 155 Global Warming and Endangered Species 155 What Can Be Done About Global Warming? 156 Protecting Endangered Species 166 07489615-E590-4818-BC90-6291485A6F9B APPLYING ECOLOGY 177 Experts, Pseudoexperts, and How to Tell Them Apart 177 The Importance of Being Natural and Vegetarian 189 Medicine and Ecology as "Health" Sciences 195 Conclusions 205 Appendix 213 References 215 Index 231 4 07489615-E590-4818-BC90-6291485A6F9B Acknowledgments My wife, Tamara, and daughter, Naomi, put up with me during endless writing and rewriting. My colleague Manuel Lerdau provided important criticism. I also tried out other ideas on Stony Brook colleagues, particu- larly Dan Dykhuizen, Mike Bell, Charles Janson, Lev Ginzburg, Jessica Gurevitch, and Geeta Bharathan. Doug Futuyama, Yossi Loya, Rob Colwell, Uzi Ritte, Rosina Bierbaum, Phil Dustan, Scott Person, and Conrad Istock are among my former doctoral students who taught me more than I taught them. Since 1947, my friend Fred Smith of Woods Hole has pro- vided wisdom. The late Evelyn Hutchinson of Yale demonstrated to me that ecology is worth a life's effort. Kirk Jensen has provided important, patient criticism and encouragement well beyond the usual role of an editor. I have omitted the names of many other people who have been important in my life. A list of who they are and what I learned from each of them would be a thicker book than this one. I ask their indulgence. 07489615-E590-4818-BC90-6291485A6F9B
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