Gary G. Mittelbach

Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Intergrative Biology

Ph.D. Michigan State University, 1980

W. K. Kellogg Biological Station
Michigan State University
Hickory Corners, MI 49060
Phone: (269) 671-2216
Fax: (269) 671-2104
Email: Mittelbach@kbs.msu.edu

Research Interests

As an ecologist, I am interested in the evolution and maintenance of biodiversity (the variety of life), and in particular, what determines species diversity at different spatial scales. At the local scale, the number and type of species found in a community depends on biotic and abiotic interactions, species sorting, and dispersal of colonists from a regional species pool. At broad spatial scales (regions, continents), we need to consider the factors that drive rates of diversification (speciation and extinction), as well as the dispersal of species between regions. Studying biodiversity at these different spatial scales requires different tools and different approaches. Local communities often lend themselves to experimental manipulation and my research in this area includes experimental studies in freshwater communities (working with fish and aquatic invertebrates), and long-term, collaborative studies on the effects of resource heterogeneity on species diversity in terrestrial grasslands. To study the causes of biodiversity patterns at broad spatial scales, I work collaboratively with a group of ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and paleontologists, focusing particularly on the evolution of the latitudinal gradient in biodiversity.

I retired from MSU in May 2018 and am now Professor Emeritus at KBS.  Currently, I am working to finish a second edition of Community Ecology, co-authored with Brian McGill (U. of Maine) and scheduled to be published by Oxford University Press in May 2019. Updates on this second edition will be posted below

Textbook in COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

Published in 2012 and available from Oxford University Press as well as from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and elsewhere.

About the Book

Community ecology has undergone a transformation in recent years, from a discipline largely focused on processes occurring within a local area, to a discipline encompassing a much richer domain of study, including the linkages between communities separated in space (metacommunity dynamics), niche and neutral theory, the interplay between ecology and evolution (eco-evolutionary dynamics), and the influence of historical and regional processes in shaping patterns of biodiversity. To fully understand these new developments, however, students need a strong foundation in the study of species interactions and how these interactions are assembled into food webs and other ecological networks.

This book, written for graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and practicing ecologists, presents a broad, up-to-date coverage of ecological concepts at an advanced level, including both the ‘new’ and ‘traditional’ aspects of community ecology.

It is divided into five sections:

1.  The Big Picture: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences of Biodiversity
2.  The Nitty-Gritty: Species Interactions in Simple Modules
3. Putting the Pieces Together: Food Webs and Ecological Networks
4. Spatial Ecology: Metapopulations and Metacommunities
5. Species in Changing Environments: Ecology and Evolution.

Applied aspects of community ecology (e.g., resource harvesting, invasive species, community restoration) are treated throughout the book as natural extensions of basic theoretical and empirical work. Theoretical concepts are developed using simple equations and there is an emphasis on the graphical presentation of ideas. Each chapter includes a summary.

Brief Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Community Ecology’s Roots

PART I The Big Picture: Patterns, Causes and Consequences of Biodiversity

Chapter 2. Patterns of Biological Diversity 13

Chapter 3. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning 41

PART II The Nitty-Gritty: Species Interactions in Simple Modules

Chapter 4. Population Growth and Density-Dependence 65

Chapter 5. The Fundamentals of Predator-Prey Interactions 83

Chapter 6. Selective Predators and Responsive Prey 103

Chapter 7. Interspecific Competition: Simple Theory 125

Chapter 8. Competition in Nature: Empirical Patterns and Tests of Theory 149

Chapter 9. Beneficial Interactions in Communities: Mutualism and Facilitation 175

PART III Putting the Pieces Together: Food Webs and Ecological Networks

Chapter 10. Species Interactions in Ecological Networks 197

Chapter 11. Food Chains and Food Webs: Controlling Factors and Cascading Effects 223

PART IV Spatial Ecology: Metapopulations and Metacommunities

Chapter 12. Patchy Environments, Metapopulations, and Fugitive Species 251

Chapter 13. Metacommunities and the Neutral Theory 267

PART V Species in Changing Environments: Ecology and Evolution

Chapter 14. Species Coexistence in Variable Environments 289

Chapter 15. Evolutionary Community Ecology 317

Chapter 16. Some Concluding Remarks and a Look Ahead 339

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated on 10 December 2018

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