Now in its fourth edition, this text continues to present ecology as a series of problems for students to analyze critically. The author emphasizes the role of experiments in testing ecological ideas, discusses many contemporary, controversial problems, and explains all mathematical concepts of ecology and reinforces concepts with research references and chapter-ending review questions. This edition has been updated and reviewed by experts in the field to feature coverage of the emerging areas of behavioural and physiolgical ecology and a more in-depth discussion of population genetics, mutualism and succession. It also includes a new two-colour format, four-colour insert, and new features to aid learning.