Diffusion and Ecological Problems: Modern Perspectives [Paperback]

Surveying a wide variety of mathematical models of diffusion in the ecological context, this book is written with the primary intent of providing scientists, particularly physicists but also biologists, with some background of the mathematics and physics of diffusion and how they can be applied to ecological problems. Equally, this is a specialized text book for graduates interested in mathematical ecology -- assuming no more than a basic knowledge of probability and differential equations. Each chapter in this new edition has been substantially updated by appopriate leading researchers in the field and contains much new material covering recent developments.The story of this edition is a testament to an almost legendary gure in theoretical ecology and to the in uence his work and charisma has had on the eld. It is also a story that can only be told by a trip back in time, to the genesis of the First Edition and before. Akira kubo and I were students together, but never knew it at the time. He was a graduate student at The ohns Hopkins niversity, where I was an undergraduate in mathematics. e both studied modern physics, taught by Dino Franco asetti, and we decided years later that we must have been in the same class. Akira was then a chemical oceanographer, but ship time and his stomach did not agree. Sohe turned to theory,and the rest is history. His impact has been phenomenal, and the First Edition of this book was his most in uential work. Building on his famous work with dye-di?usion e periments, he turned his attention to organisms and created a unique melding of ideas from physics and biology.1 Introduction: The Mathematics of Ecological Diffusion * 2 The Basics of Diffusion * 3 Passive Diffusion in Ecosystems * 4 Diffusion of 'Smell' and 'Taste': Chemical Communication * 5 Mathematical Treatment of Biological Diffusion * 6 Some Examples of Animal Diffusion * 7 The Dynamics of Animal Grouping * 8 Animal Movements in Home Range * 9 Patchy Distribution and Difflă