Provides a resume of the current theories in ecology and shows how they help us to monitor and modify ecosystems under threat. Each chapter begins by reviewing the relevant ecological theory and goes on to show how it is used in various practical applications.

With chapters on the conservation of habitats, the modelling of pollutant impact on ecosystems and the ecology of waste treatment, this textbook should be a useful review of the relationship between ecology in theory and practice.

Part 1 Applying ecology: thinking about ecology
ecological methodologies
ecological stability
stress
theory and application. Part 2 Measuring the effects of pollution: the nature of pollution
adaptation to the environment
allocating energy
the accumulation of pollutants in individuals
meausring toxicity
biological monitoring
measuring toxic effects in soil communities
biochemical measures of stress in while organisms
scope for growth and protein turnover
biological monitoring. Part 3 Exploiting variability: variation and adaptation
specialization and generalization
using tolerance as a pollution indicator
metal tolerance in plants
the use of tolerant micro-organisms in soil remediation
the use of GEMs in bioremediation
recombinant technology and the release of GEMs. Part 4 Managing populations: population growth
the limits to population growth
determinants of stability
exploiting a population
managing forest for maximum sustainable yield
conserving populations
loss of genetic varioation. Part 5 Managing pests: defining the pest
the functional response of a predator
the numerical response of a predator
the use of models in biological control
finding natural enemies
the ecology of the pest
other forms of biological control
chemical control and integrated pest management. Part 6 Conserving communities: the distribution of rare species
fragmentation and insularization
species-area relationships
insularization and reserve design
insularization and species composition
selecting nature reserves
reserve management. Part 7 Establishing ecosystems: succession and disturbance
the principles of reclamation and restoration
reclamation
restoration and soil erosion
the restoration of semi-natural habitats. Part 8 modelling ecosystems: principles of modelling
hubbard brook
nutrient cycling and the imapct of pollutants
eutrophication in freshwater ecosystems
microcosms as experimental models of larger systems
bioaccumulation. Part 9 Exploiting ecosystems: simple process control
sewage treatment
sludge disposal
alternative methods of treating sewage
landfill ecology
composting. Part 10 Assessing large-scale ecological change: extending ecological theory to the larger scales
ecosystem stability
stability and diversity
regional diversity
landscape and regional ecology
evaluating global ecological change.