Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach

by Timothy D. Schowalter

Insect An Ecosystem Approach, Fourth Edition, follows a hierarchical organization that begins with relatively easy-to-understand chapters on adaptive responses of insect populations to various environmental changes, disturbances, and anthropogenic activities, how insects find food and habitat resources, and how insects allocate available energy and nutrients. Chapters build on fundamental information to show how insect populations respond to changing environmental conditions, including spatial and temporal distribution of food and habitat. The next section integrates populations of interacting species within communities and how these interactions determine structure of communities over time and space. Other works in insect ecology stop there, essentially limiting presentation of insect ecology to evolutionary responses of insects to their environment, including the activities of other species. The unique aspect of this book is its four chapters on ecosystem structure and function, and how herbivores, pollinators, seed predators, and detritivores drive ecosystem dynamics and contribute to ecosystem stability.

Genres: Ecology

774 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this text in a graduate course in insect ecology.
This was an excellent text. We used the 4rth edition. The 5th edition came out in February 2022.

Schowalter takes an ecosystem approach covering all the basic ecology terms and concepts in detail with specific concerns and examples of insects, building an understanding of the ecosphere bit by bit. Each chapter builds and draws from ealier chapters. Schowalter makes specific references to earlier material as well as anticipating upcoming material. His process allows good integration of basic ecology with all the roles that insects have. Schowalter also highlights the gaps in ecology because insects have not been studied or considered, as well as gaps in the specific work that has been done with insects. I found Schowalter's approach to be engaging and thought provoking. By the end of the book, I had an extensive understanding of insect ecology, much broader and in depth than from basic ecology texts.

The preface and overview set out a good orientation to the text. Each section has an overview. Each chapter has its own opening research or other story-line, an introduction section, with the meat of the chapter divided into sections, lots of gaphics and photos, and ending with a summary. The table of contents lists the sections, chapters within the sections, and the subsections within the chapter. The last chapter ties the entire book together with a Summary and Synthesis. The book contains a complete bibliography, an Author Index, and a subjec index.

I highly recommend the book for students and instructors looking for a good text.