Modelling Fluctuating Populations.

Abstract

Modelling Fluctuating Populations, originally published in 1982, is a classic textbook because primarily, this book takes a distinctive approach to population dynamics, by emphasizing from the earliest chapters that all populations fluctuate continuously. Traditional themes in theoretical ecology such as equilibrium and population stability are linked to analyses of the response of a population to environmental fluctuations and to extinction probabilities. Thus, the book's approach confronts head-on one common criticism of simple ecological models - the mismatch between the mathematical mechanisms studied and the questions of top ecological concern. Secondly, the book demonstrates the power of techniques based on linear mathematics.