Community Ecology

Citation

Mittelbach, G. G., & McGill, B. J. (2019). Community Ecology (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Chapter Summary

The second edition has seventeen chapters in five parts, about 409 pages in the publisher's listing. The publisher describes the field as having moved from processes inside a single local area to a much wider domain that includes metacommunity dynamics, niche and neutral theory, eco-evolutionary dynamics and the influence of historical and regional processes on biodiversity patterns. It also stresses that students still need a strong foundation in species interactions and in how they are assembled into food webs and other networks. The structure follows that argument: patterns first, then simple interaction modules, then assembly into larger structures, then space, then change over time and evolution.

Chapter 1: Community Ecology's Roots

A historical opening chapter that sets out where the discipline comes from before the five parts begin.

Part I, Chapters 2–3: The Big Picture: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences of Biodiversity

"Patterns of Biological Diversity" (Chapter 2) describes what is observed, and "Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning" (Chapter 3) turns to what diversity does. The part opens the book with the large-scale questions to which the later parts return.

Part II, Chapters 4–9: The Nitty-Gritty: Species Interactions in Simple Modules

Six chapters on building blocks: "Population Growth and Density Dependence" (4); "The Fundamentals of Predator-Prey Interactions" (5); "Selective Predators and Responsive Prey" (6); "The Fundamentals of Competitive Interactions" (7); "Species Coexistence and Niche Theory" (8); and "Beneficial Interactions in Communities: Mutualism and Facilitation" (9). This is the part that carries the classical models, and the publisher's emphasis on a strong foundation in species interactions applies most directly here.

Part III, Chapters 10–12: Putting the Pieces Together: Food Webs, Ecological Networks and Community Assembly

"Species Interactions in Ecological Networks" (10), "Food Chains and Food Webs: Controlling Factors and Cascading Effects" (11) and "Community Assembly and Species Traits" (12). The modules of Part II are combined into larger structures.

Part IV, Chapters 13–14: Spatial Ecology: Metapopulations and Metacommunities

"Patchy Environments, Metapopulations and Fugitive Species" (13) and "Metacommunities" (14). The publisher names metacommunity dynamics among the developments that changed the field.

Part V, Chapters 15–17: Species in Changing Environments: Ecology and Evolution

"Species in Variable Environments" (15), "Evolutionary Community Ecology" (16) and "Some Concluding Remarks and a Look Ahead" (17), which looks at open questions, in line with the publisher's statement that the book aims to identify important questions that remain unanswered.

Key Concepts

Chapter 1 and Part I

• Patterns of biological diversity: the subject of Chapter 2.
• Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: the relationship between diversity and ecosystem processes in Chapter 3.

Part II

• Density dependence: Chapter 4.
• Predator-prey interactions and selective predators with responsive prey: Chapters 5–6.
• Competition, species coexistence and niche theory: Chapters 7–8.
• Mutualism and facilitation: beneficial interactions, Chapter 9.

Parts III–V

• Ecological networks, food chains and food webs: Chapters 10–11, including cascading effects.
• Community assembly and species traits: Chapter 12.
• Metapopulations, fugitive species and metacommunities: Chapters 13–14.
• Variable environments and evolutionary community ecology: Chapters 15–16.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Coverage that spans old and new community ecology. The publisher presents the edition as both a foundation in species interactions, food webs and networks, and an introduction to metacommunities, niche and neutral theory, eco-evolutionary dynamics and historical and regional influences. The contents list matches this: Parts II and III cover interaction modules and networks, Part IV covers space, and Part V covers variability and evolution.
• A clear organising logic. Part titles ("The Big Picture", "The Nitty-Gritty", "Putting the Pieces Together") signal the route from pattern to mechanism to synthesis, which helps a reader decide what to read first.
• Author expertise. According to the publisher's biographies, Mittelbach's research ranges from experimental studies of fish populations in lakes to theoretical analyses of global diversity patterns, and McGill works on biodiversity at large scales with ecoinformatics approaches; both are relevant to a book that links local experiments with large-scale patterns.
• Illustrated. The retailer listing describes colour photographs and colour illustrations throughout its 409 pages, which suits a field-based subject.

Limitations

• Little in the public material about exercises or problem sets. The publisher's description lists no problems, so a reader who wants worked exercises should check before relying on the book for course work.
• Mathematical prerequisites are not specified publicly. The frontmatter lists differential equations and statistics, but the description speaks of an "accessible" introduction, so the level of mathematics can only be established by looking at Part II.
• Focused on communities. Applied topics such as conservation, pest control or ecosystem energy and matter flows are outside the contents list, so the book is a companion to a general ecology text rather than a replacement.

Where It Fits in the Course

The course offers a range of ecology texts. Ghazoul's Ecology: A Very Short Introduction is a brief overview; Bowman and Hacker's Ecology, Sher and Molles's Ecology: Concepts and Applications and Relyea's Ecology: The Economy of Nature are first-course textbooks, each with its own framing; and Begon and Townsend's Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems is a broad, long text that runs from organisms and populations through communities to ecosystems.

Mittelbach and McGill is narrower and deeper than all of these: it concentrates on the community level and goes further into coexistence, networks, assembly and metacommunities than the general texts. Read it after an introductory ecology course, and use Begon and Townsend as the broader reference when the surrounding material (life history, parasitism, ecosystems) is needed.

How to Use This Book

The book is for advanced undergraduates and graduate students who have had an ecology course and are comfortable with simple mathematical models.

A practical plan:

• Core: Chapters 1 and 2, then Part II in order. The simple modules there are the foundation for everything after.
• Next: Part III (food webs, networks, assembly) and Part IV (metapopulations and metacommunities), which build on Part II.
• Optional or by topic: Chapter 3 for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, Part V for variable environments and evolution. Chapter 17 is a short look ahead and works well as a source of research questions.
• With the models: When working through Part II, reproduce the model dynamics yourself in a spreadsheet or a short script so that the equations become concrete.