Название: Handbook of Trait-Based Ecology: From Theory to R Tools
Автор: Francesco de Bello, Carlos P. Carmona
Издательство: Cambridge University Press
Год: 2021
Страниц: 312
Язык: английский
Формат: pdf (true)
Размер: 16.0 MB

Functional ecology is the branch of ecology that focuses on various functions that species play in the community or ecosystem in which they occur. This accessible guide offers the main concepts and tools in trait-based ecology, and their tricks, covering different trophic levels and organism types. It is designed for students, researchers and practitioners who wish to get a handy synthesis of existing concepts, tools and trends in trait-based ecology, and wish to apply it to their own field of interest. Where relevant, exercises specifically designed to be run in R are included, along with accompanying on-line resources including solutions for exercises and R functions, and updates reflecting current developments in this fast-changing field.

The content of this book is structured following our experience in teaching theoretical and methodological aspects of trait ecology, and is based on several tools and algorithms, particularly using R, several of which were developed in our labs. The courses have helped us to improve the way theoretical aspects and analytical tools of trait-based ecology are, in our view, best explained and introduced, to both basic and advanced students. In particular, through our teaching experiences, we were able to identify which are the trickier aspects of trait ecology and deserve special care in communication and practice. The aim of the book is thus to provide a comprehensive toolbox for functional ecologists, with guidance on how to apply the tools both in experimental approaches and data analysis.

Most importantly, we provide and explain many R tools to assess different aspects of trait-based ecology. For almost every chapter of the book we have developed R materials to show the tricks associated with the different analyses, or solving problems often not mentioned in the published literature. For this reason, the elevator-pitch title we had for this book was ‘Tricks of the traits: a hitchhike-R guide to functional ecology’. Although this was a great title, we finally opted for a more formal one.

Based on more than a decade of teaching experience, the authors developed and improved the way theoretical aspects and analytical tools of trait-based ecology are introduced and explained to readers.