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The Food Web of a Tropical Rain Forest

Destruction of tropical rain forests has increased exponentially in recent years, as have efforts to conserve them. However, information essential to these conservation programs—an understanding of the population dynamics of the community at risk—is often unavailable to the scientists and resource managers who need it most.

This volume helps fill the gap by presenting a comprehensive description and analysis of the animal community of the tropical rain forest at El Verde, Puerto Rico. Building on more than a decade of field research, the contributors weave the complex strands of information about the energy flow within the forest—who eats whom—into a powerful tool for understanding community dynamics known as a food web. This systematic approach to organizing the natural histories of the many species at El Verde also reveals basic patterns and processes common to all rain forests, making this book a valuable contribution for anyone concerned with studying and protecting these fragile ecosystems.


623 pages | 50 halftones, 77 line drawings | 6 x 9 | © 1996

Biological Sciences: Conservation, Ecology, Tropical Biology and Conservation

Table of Contents

Preface
1: The Rain Forest Setting
Robert B. Waide, Douglas P. Reagan.
2: Plants: The Food Base
William T. Lawrence, Jr
3: Microorganisms
D. Jean Lodge
4: Termites
Elizabeth A. McMahan
5: Litter Invertebrates
William J. Pfeiffer
6: Arboreal Invertebrates
Rosser W. Garrison, Michael R. Willig.
7: Arboreal Arachnids
William J. Pfeiffer
8: Amphibians
Margaret M. Stewart, Lawrence L. Woolbright.
9: Anoline Lizards
Douglas P. Reagan
10: Nonanoline Reptiles
Richard Thomas, Ava Gaa Kessler.
11: Birds
Robert B. Waide
12: Mammals
Michael R. Willig, Michael R. Gannon.
13: The Stream Community
Alan P. Covich, William H. McDowell.
14: The Community Food Web: Major Properties and Patterns of Organization
Douglas P. Reagan, Gerardo R. Camilo, Robert B. Waide.
Glossary
Contributors
Bibliography
Index

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