An introduction to the system known as the food web, which connects all living things.

Reflecting the recent surge of activity in food web research fueled by new empirical data, this authoritative volume successfully spans and integrates the areas of theory, basic empirical research, applications, and resource problems. Written by recognized leaders from various branches of ecological research, this work provides an in-depth treatment of the most recent advances in the field and examines the complexity and variability of food webs through reviews, new research, and syntheses of the major issues in food web research. Food Webs features material on the role of nutrients, detritus and microbes in food webs, indirect effects in food webs, the interaction of productivity and consumption, linking cause and effect in food webs, temporal and spatial scales of food web dynamics, applications of food webs to pest management, fisheries, and ecosystem stress. Three comprehensive chapters synthesize important information on the role of indirect effects, productivity and consumer regulation, and temporal, spatial and life history influences on food webs. In addition, numerous tables, figures, and mathematical equations found nowhere else in related literature are presented in this outstanding work. Food Webs offers researchers and graduate students in various branches of ecology an extensive examination of the subject. Ecologists interested in food webs or community ecology will also find this book an invaluable tool for understanding the current state of knowledge of food web research.

This exciting book about the predator/prey relationship teaches readers about food webs.

Whether a tiny pea plant or a vulture that snacks on carrion, all living things have a place in their habitat’s food web. Readers will learn the basics of food chains and even view decomposers in action in many locations around the world through vivid photographs. Accessible content illustrates this key science concept while detailed sidebars add additional exciting information. Exploring specific food webs in action will teach readers about food webs from the ground up.

Food chains are fascinating! But what is a food chain and how does a food web form? This book takes a closer look at the links in a food chain and a food web. Every environment has factors that affect the flow of energy in its food chains--all the way up to you! Discover what's for dinner in the food chains and webs in each environment with easy-to-read text, sidebars, and back matter. Looking Glass Library is an imprint of Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO Group. Grades P-4.

Explains the diets of herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores, the flow of energy between these groups, the effects different habitats have on the food chain, and how food chains in different environmental regions can be contrasted.

What is the minimum dimension of a niche space necessary to represent the overlaps among observed niches? This book presents a new technique for obtaining a partial answer to this elementary question about niche space. The author bases his technique on a relation between the combinatorial structure of food webs and the mathematical theory of interval graphs. Professor Cohen collects more than thirty food webs from the ecological literature and analyzes their statistical and combinatorial properties in detail. As a result, he is able to generalize: within habitats of a certain limited physical and temporal heterogeneity, the overlaps among niches, along their trophic (feeding) dimensions, can be represented in a one-dimensional niche space far more often than would be expected by chance alone and perhaps always. This compatibility has not previously been noticed. It indicates that real food webs fall in a small subset of the mathematically possible food webs. Professor Cohen discusses other apparently new features of real food webs, including the constant ratio of the number of kinds of prey to the number of kinds of predators in food webs that describe a community. In conclusion he discusses possible extensions and limitations of his results and suggests directions for future research.

Paying special attention to the fertile boundaries between terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, this work shows not only what this new methodology means for ecology, conservation, and agriculture but also serves as a fitting tribute to Gary Polis and his major contributions to the field

Learn how living things interact in the Early Bird Food Webs series. In Desert Food Webs, readers find out how the turkey vulture, the velvet mesquite tree, the western banded gecko, and the pack rat each play their own unique role in the desert biome.

The elaborate food webs and food chains that link together the organisms in an ecosystem are an integral part of the elementary science curriculum. This interesting and accessible introduction is sure to pique students’ interest in this key topic.