San Antonio College Library

"The classic literature on predation dealt almost exclusively with solitary predators and their prey. Going back to Lotka-Volterra and optimal foraging theory, the theory about predation, including predator-prey population dynamics, was developed for solitary species. Various consequences of sociality for predators have been considered only recently. Similarly, while it was long recognized that prey species can benefit from living in groups, research...

A provocative look at how the disappearance of the world's great predators has upset the delicate balance of the environment, and what their disappearance portends for the future, by an acclaimed science journalist.

"For nearly a century ecologists have believed that nature is democratic, governed from the bottom up by the amount of solar energy converted to green biomass, the food of herbivores. Eisenberg makes the case for trophic cascades--an alternative view arguing that ecosystems are often organized from the top down by keystone species such as predators--while diplomatically exploring a path for reconciling these disparate views."--Michael Soule, Professor...

Wolf management is an excellent model of human-nature interaction and the challenges that come along with it. This book analyzes the relationship between human ethics, attitudes, and policy and the management of wolf populations in Europe and North America. The contributors to this volume assert that these human dimensions affect wolf survival just as much as the physical environment.--[book cover].