Essentials of Ecology

Essentials of Ecology

Essentials of Ecology This page intentionally left blank Essentials of Ecology

FIFTH EDITION

G. TYLER MILLER, JR.

SCOTT E. SPOOLMAN

Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States Essentials of Ecology, 5e © 2009, 2007 Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning

G. Tyler Miller, Jr. and Scott E. Spoolman

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 11 10 09 08 Brief Contents

Detailed Contents vii 5 Biodiversity, Species Interactions,

and Population Control 100

Preface for Instructors xv

6 The Human Population and Its Impact 122

Learning Skills 1 7 Climate and Terrestrial Biodiversity 140

8 Aquatic Biodiversity 162

HUMANS AND SUSTAINABILITY:

AN OVERVIEW SUSTAINING BIODIVERSITY

1 Environmental Problems, Their Causes, 9 Sustaining Biodiversity: The Species

and Sustainability 5 Approach 183

10 Sustaining Terrestrial Biodiversity:

The Ecosystem Approach 214

SCIENCE, ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES,

11 Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity 249

AND SUSTAINABILITY

Supplements S1

2 Science, Matter, Energy, and Systems 28

3 Ecosystems: What Are They Glossary G1

and How Do They Work? 50

Index I1

4 Biodiversity and Evolution 77

v About the Cover Photo

my

mages/Ala

mstock I

MAGES/Co

© JUPITERI

Scarlet Macaw This strikingly beautiful parrot species lives in the subtropical

forests in Central and South America, including Costa Rica, southern Panama, and

the Amazon Basin in Brazil and Peru. They have a lifespan of 30 to 50 years and

eat mostly seeds and fruits. The squawks and screams of these noisy birds can be

heard for long distances throughout the forests. The scarlet macaws are threatened

by their popularity as pets, which is due to their beautiful plumage and affection-

ate ways with humans. Under an international agreement, it is illegal to remove

them from the wild without special permits. However, a number of these rare par-

rots are illegally captured, smuggled from their native habitats to the United States

and Canada, and sold on the black market for thousands of dollars a piece. During

their trip north many of the smuggled birds die from stress and poor care. An even

worse threat for the scarlet macaw is the clear-cutting and fragmentation of much

of its forest habitat, which is taking place at a rapid and increasing rate. For these

reasons, scarlet macaws and a number of other tropical bird species are threatened

with extinction. Detailed Contents

Learning Skills 1

HUMANS AND SUSTAINABILITY:

AN OVERVIEW

1 Environmental Problems,

Their Causes, and Sustainability 5

1-2 How Can Environmentally Sustainable Societies

CORE CASE STUDY Living in an Exponential Age 5 Grow Economically? 10

KEY QUESTIONS AND CONCEPTS 6 1-3 How Are Our Ecological Footprints Affecting

1-1 What Is an Environmentally Sustainable the Earth? 12

Society? 6 CASE STUDY China’s New Affluent Consumers 15

1-4 What Is Pollution, and What Can We Do

about It? 16

1-5 Why Do We Have Environmental Problems? 17

CASE STUDY The Environmental Transformation

of Chattanooga, Tennessee 21

INDIVIDUALS MATTER Aldo Leopold’s

Environmental Ethics 22

1-6 What Are Four Scientific Principles

of Sustainability? 23

REVISITING Exponential Growth and

Sustainability 24

SCIENCE, ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES,

AND SUSTAINABILITY

2 Science, Matter, Energy,

and Systems 28

CORE CASE STUDY Carrying Out a Controlled

Scientific Experiment 28

KEY QUESTIONS AND CONCEPTS 29

2-1 What is Science? 29

SCIENCE FOCUS Easter Island: Some Revisions

to a Popular Environmental Story 31

SuperStock GSSCCloIIEEbNNalCC WEE aFFOOrmCCiUUnSSg TSth3a3et iSstciicesn atinfidc PCroonbsaebnisluitsy ov3e4r

Photo 1 The endangered brown pelican was protected in the first 2-2 What Is Matter? 35

U.S. wildlife refuge in Florida. 2-3 How Can Matter Change? 39

vii 3 Ecosystems: What Are They

and How Do They Work? 50

CORE CASE STUDY Tropical Rain Forests

Are Disappearing 50

KEY QUESTIONS AND CONCEPTS 51

3-1 What Is Ecology? 51

SCIENCE FOCUS Have You Thanked the Insects

Today? 54

3-2 What Keeps Us and Other Organisms Alive? 54

3-3 What Are the Major Components of an

Ecosystem? 57

SCIENCE FOCUS Many of the World’s Most

Important Species Are Invisible to Us 61

3-4 What Happens to Energy in an Ecosystem? 61

3-5 What Happens to Matter in an Ecosystem? 65

Hartmut Schwartzbach/Peter Arnold, Inc. 34- 6 BaSHRCSubCEOoisoIVRowtEuIaENSdt i nID CCtTiaEhAovIbN e SFieS GlEOAicrt CmyiSsTe UTreinoUStr7tpi yDic4isWacYt ans aal W tASRnetlahrlud’iiysgnd aU SyFEthn ooEovirrquec?ouol sdetlss 7uy WPa7srtnteoied poCm eanrsrte? ie s 772677

Photo 2 Homeless people in Calcutta India KEY QUESTIONS AND CONCEPTS 78

4-1 What Is Biodiversity and Why Is It

Important? 78

2-4 What Is Energy and How Can It Be 4-2 Where Do Species Come From? 80

Changed? 40 CASE STUDY How Did Humans Become Such

2-5 What Are Systems and How Do They Respond a Powerful Species? 83

to Change? 44 4-3 How Do Geological Processes and Climate

SCIENCE FOCUS The Usefulness of Models 44 Change Affect Evolution? 84

REVISITING The Hubbard Brook Experimental SCIENCE FOCUS Earth Is Just Right for Life

Forest and Sustainability 47 to Thrive 86

SuperStock

Photo 3 Endangered ring-tailed lemur in Madagascar

viii 5-3 What Limits the Growth of Populations? 108

SCIENCE FOCUS Why Are Protected Sea Otters

Making a Slow Comeback? 110

CASE STUDY Exploding White-Tailed Deer

Populations in the United States 114

5-4 How Do Communities and Ecosystems

Respond to Changing Environmental

Conditions? 115

SCIENCE FOCUS How Do Species Replace One

Another in Ecological Succession? 118

REVISITING Southern Sea Otters and

Sustainability 119

6 The Human Population

and Its Impact 122

CORE CASE STUDY Are There Too Many

W. Johnson/Biological Photo Service 66--12 oPKHSWSoCfuEo hpIYUpwEua psNQl? toaMC UFtrEiEtaao1 ?SFcn2n TOt2 yoIKOC 1rePUsN2ee S3SIpon pAHGfllNoreuowD ewC nCLaincoOnegnN ?gttC hh CEeePa 1 TEnS2S ai4tz rhete1h o2H f3 utmhea n

Paul Human Population? 125

Photo 4 Temperate deciduous forest, winter, Rhode Island (USA) CASE STUDY The U.S. Population Is Growing

Rapidly 126

CASE STUDY The United States: A Nation

of Immigrants 129

4-4 How Do Speciation, Extinction, and Human

Activities Affect Biodiversity? 86

SCIENCE FOCUS We Have Developed Two Ways

to Change the Genetic Traits of Populations 88

4-5 What Is Species Diversity and Why Is

It Important? 89

SCIENCE FOCUS Species Richness on Islands 90

4-6 What Roles Do Species Play in Ecosystems? 91

CASE STUDY Cockroaches: Nature’s Ultimate

Survivors 92

CASE STUDY Why Are Amphibians Vanishing? 93

CASE STUDY Why Should We Protect Sharks? 96

REVISITING The American Alligator and

Sustainability 97

5 Biodiversity, Species Interactions, & Associates

and Population Control 100 m Stack

AECKxOErteYRi n TEQch tCUeioAyEn SSB?TEa I OcSk1TN 0UfS0rD oAmYN DStho CeuO tBhNreiCnrEnkP SoTefS a O1t0t1ers: & Victoria Hurst/To

5-1 HSCoIwEN DCEo FSOpCeUciSe sW Inhyte Srhaocut?ld W1e0 1Care About mas Kitchin

Kelp Forests? 104 Tho

5-2 How Can Natural Selection Reduce Photo 5 Sea star species helps to control mussel populations in

Competition between Species? 107 intertidal zone communities in the U.S. Pacific northwest.

ix