M.E. Gurtz, R.E. Sparks, and M. Thurman. Long-term research in stream ecology. Publications Recent Contributions from the LTER Community Insect Ecology by Tim Schowalter Timothy Schowalter Academic Press Insects are a dominant group of organisms on Earth, in terms of both their species diversity and their ability to affect ecosystem structure and function, often in conflict with our management goals. Insect ecology is integral to all current environmental issues, including biodiversity conservation, ecosystem health, land use, climate change, and air and water pollution. This text integrates traditional emphases on insect diversity, life history adaptation, and species interactions with current perspectives on insect roles in ecosystems subject to environmental changes.
Insects respond to environmental changes in ways that mitigate or exacerbate change.
Many species have demonstrated remarkable capacity to thrive in human-altered landscapes, whereas other species and their ecological functions are threatened by anthropogenic changes in environmental conditions. This integration of insect ecology with ecosystem ecology will contribute to understanding, prediction and resolution of the consequences of environmental changes. Ecological Data Edited by William Michener and James Brunt William K Michener, James W Brunt, Editors Blackwell Scientific Ecologists are increasingly tack ling difficult issues like global change, loss of biodiversity, and sustainability of ecosystem services. These and related questions are enormously challenging, requiring unprecedented interdisciplinary collaboration and rapid synthesis of massive amounts of diverse data into information and, ultimately, our knowledge base. This book addresses these issues, providing a much needed resource for those involved in designing and implementing ecological research, as well as students who are entering the environmental sciences.