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Dispersal has become central to many questions in theoretical and applied ecology in recent years. In this volume a team of leading ecologists aim to provide the advanced student and researcher with a comprehensive review of dispersal and its implications for modern ecology.

Evolution and population ecology.

Much contemporary ecological research is being carried out in tropical communities - they are among the most species-rich and dynamic communities in the world. Special characteristics of tropical communities have been recognized - unpredictability at the individual and species level, the uniqueness of location and time period studied, and the importance of major chance environmental events. Tropical ecologists must now set these processes against the long-term directional changes that are happening regionally and globally to answer new questions. The demands on tropical ecologists are to be increasingly prescriptive rather than descriptive, and this presents new challenges. A new conceptual framework is required, and the authors and editors of this book hope to signal how such a framework might be developed.

The last decade has seen rapid and major advances in our understanding of the physiological ecology of plants. This volume contains 22 chapters that review some of these advances and new challenges. The chapters cover five broad themes: resource acquisition and utilisation; interactions between organisms; responses to global environmental changes; ecosystems; and integration and scaling. The book brings together an unrivalled collection of leading practitioners in the discipline from North America, Europe and Australia and adopts a broad approach, ranging from the molecular to the ecosystem level. It will be a valuable tool for researchers and advanced students in the discipline.