Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

Th Beeby A. & Brennan A-M. 1997. First Ecology. Chapman and Hall. pp xvii + 301. ISBN 0 412 63060 5.

There's always a need for a good introductory text. This one is aimed at "first year undergraduates for the 21st. Century" which is a radical departure from most ecological texts. This new approach is not confined to the intended audience. The subject is divided in a novel way as well. The nine chapters start with a look at origins (reminiscent of Arthur's classic Survival and sadly all but neglected these days). This continues with a chapter on species and speciation. Subsequent chapters follow more conventional ground in examining populations, interactions, systems, balances (i. e. limiting factors) and communities. A useful chapter on scales examines the new ideas of landscape ecology. Finally, checks looks at the concepts of stability, diversity, extinction etc.

Whilst there is much to praise in this text there are also reservations. On the plus side it is a useful overview of key concepts. It should appeal to the non-ecologist because of it's relevance to current issues and the lack of too much ecological detail. The introduction of the two key scales of time and space (i.e. evolution and landscape) are to be welcomed as being long overdue. Many of the concepts described would also be of use to advanced biology students making this a text with a broad readership base. In contrast one could comment in some areas about the selection of material. Some very basic ideas like hydrological cycles are put in the same text as quite advanced ideas on genetics and photosynthesis. One also wonders about the value of cloze passages for undergraduates. All-in-all these are small reservations - the overall concept of the text is to be lauded.