Ecological opportunity–through entry into a new environment, the origin of a key innovation
or extinction of antagonists–is widely thought to link ecological population dynamics to …

Oceanic islands and archipelagoes are intrinsically important to biologists; 5% of the land
surface of the earth is insular, and if South America, which has been an island throughout …

Metapopulation is the ecological term for assemblages of plant and animal species within
larger areas of space, with long-term survival of the species depending on a shifting balance …

Demographic and genetic contributions from conspecific immigrants tend to reduce
extinction rates of insular populations. The MacArthur—Wilson model of island …

Trophic cascades—the top-down regulation of ecosystems by predators—are an essential
aspect of ecosystem function and well-being. Trophic cascades are often drastically …

A system of natural reserves, each surrounded by altered habitat, resembles a system of
islands from the point of view of species restricted to natural habitats. Recent advances in …

A species's niche width reflects a balance between the diversifying effects of intraspecific
competition and the constraining effects of interspecific competition. This balance shifts …

This paper analyzes patterns of bird species diversity on an elevational transect of the
Cordillera Vilcabamba, Peru. Major changes in climate and vegetation are encompassed by …

The relation of community structure to community function is the subject of much ecological
theorizing. Three approaches to the problem, based on cybernetics, control theory, and …

The concepts by which MacArthur and Wilson have transformed the science of ecology in
the past decade, and the results of ecological studies such as mine on New Guinea bird …