I always liked the old book Machinery of Nature, Paul Ehrlich, as an intro to ecology for non-majors, but it's getting outdated. I'd love to see an updated version of this book come out.
On Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 7:20 AM, Patricia Swain Rice <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks to the folks who sent recommendations for general ecology or plant > ecology books and resources, and especially for those who included links! > Here is a list with the original comments, sometimes with mine added in > brackets. Since I don’t know how many students I’ll have or their > backgrounds (non-academic but plant focused adult audience pool), I’ll be > giving them the list and suggesting they look at them. I’ll also suggest > they browse in a library before buying anything. > > Cain, Michael L., William D. Bowman, and Sally D. Hacker. 2013. Ecology. > 3rd Ed. (4th Ed. due May, 2018, authors same but start with Bowman). Oxford > University Press. > It was fairly easy to consume, and had lots of material to draw > from...though I believe it was more geared towards theoretical ecology > rather than naturalism. > > Drury, William H. ed. John G.T. Anderson. 1998. Chance and change: ecology > for conservationists. University of California Press, Berkeley. > Bill Drury, who wrote against models like "Classical succession", and > after he died his family asked me to edit his manuscript for an > "alternative" Ecology text book. It is by no means perfect, but it seems to > have held up pretty well & provokes good discussion among students > https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0520211553/ref= > tmm_hrd_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1517321072&sr=8-1 > > Ennos, Roland. 2016. Trees: a complete guide to their biology and > structure. Comstock Publishing Associates > It doesn't cover quite the subject matter you're looking for, but I quite > enjoyed "Trees: A Complete Guide to Their Biology and Structure" by Roland > Ennos. It's fairly small, but technical, almost like a chapter or two from > a broader introductory textbook. It gave me a basic overview of the natural > history of, well, trees. > > Gurevitch, Jessica, Samuel M. Scheiner, and Gordon A. Fox. 2006.The > Ecology of Plants, 2nd Ed. Oxford University Press/Sinauer Associates. > Book intro says it is basic ecology with plant focus. How about The > Ecology of Plants? > https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/the-ecology-of-plants- > jessica-gurevitch/1119336458/2679094480524?st=PLA&sid=BNB_ > DRS_New+Marketplace+Shopping+Textbooks_00000000&2sid= > Google_&sourceId=PLGoP164998&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzMDTBRDDARIsABX4AWyoh0 > H0gzlwUz7VH3nCytP5pCsSj0JaOwl_lTQ6bBLS-TssrvgsQSgaAgPREALw_wcB > > Gotelli, Nicholas J. 2008. Primer of Ecology 4th Ed. Oxford University > Press/ Sinauer Associates. > good and succinct, but might not be right for your audience. [technical > with focus on models] > > Karban, Richard, Mikaela Huntzinger & Ian S. Pearse. 2014. How to do > ecology: a concise handbook 2nd Ed. Princeton University Press. > I also really like “How to do Ecology” by Karban and Hartzinger about the > process of developing and conducting ecological research, but again, might > not be right for this situation. [looks very useful for planning research > projects] > > Keddy, Paul A. 2017. Plant Ecology, origins, processes, consequences. 2nd > Ed. Cambridge University Press. New York. > [Covers basics but book intro suggests reviewing basic ecology text]. > > Marchetti, Michael P. & Peter B. Moyle. 2010. Protecting Life on Earth: an > introduction to the science of conservation. University of California > Press, Berkeley. > a short non-majors ecology/conservation biology text. I think we did a > solid job at explaining general ecology to nonscience people. you might > check it out, although it is not plant centered but there are plant > examples. > > Molles, Manuel C., Jr. 2014. Ecology: Concepts and applications 7th Ed. > McGraw-Hill Higher Education. > Manuel Molles book is good- not sure what edition is out-like the idea > that he focuses on students understanding the language of science (figs and > table-with helpful annotations-still use some of those in my senior level > cons bio class) > > Relyea, Rick and Robert E. Ricklefs. 2017. The Economy of Nature 8th Ed. > W.H. Freeman Publishers. > completely redid all of the figures and photos, with lots of plant > examples. I am pleased to report that the response from instructors and > students has been very positive. [the chapter on line has a terrific > discussion of soils, and plants and soil relations] > > Stokols, Danel. 2017. Social ecology in the digital age: solving complex > problems in a globalized world. Academic Press/Elsevier. > know you’re interested in identifying a general ecology text, but in case > you’re interested in a supplemental text on social and human ecology, this > 2018 title might be a relevant resource for you and your students: Social > Ecology in the Digital Age - Solving Complex Problems in a Globalized World. > > Other: > often utilize user friendly manuals in the field > > Blog: I will seriously risk tooting my own horn, but for the past year > I've written an almost weekly blog that discusses recent papers in Ecology > (about 75%) and in Conservation Biology (the remainder). Each post has > background, hypotheses, data and a discussion of why this question is > important or of interest. It's designed to be used for instruction at a > high school/college level, and should work fine for interested adults, > regardless of background. I will admit that there is a strong emphasis on > interactions, reflecting my own preferences, but there are a fair number of > posts that focus on plants. > So you might checkout out at fredsingerecology.com. > [I just spent over an hour browsing the blog, really good, PSR] > > Podcast: In Defense Of Plants available from iTunes and other podcatchers. > Also a blog. Wide ranging topics on plants, interactions, researchers. > www.indefenseofplants.com > > Hope these are useful for others, too. > Cheers, > Pat > > > On Jan 30, 2018, at 8:18 AM, Patricia Swain Rice <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > I’m looking for recommendations/suggestions of a general ecology book, > preferably with at least some plant examples to supplement lectures and > field in a > > brief introductory ecology class for adults who are interested in and > often quite knowledgeable about (native) plants. Last time I taught > introductory ecology was literally decades ago when Ricklef’s “Economy of > Nature” was a bit less expensive and was the short, ‘simple' book > available. Are there new ones out there that people have experience with or > know of? > > Thanks. > > Cheers, > > Pat Swain > > retired natural community ecologist > -- Roger Long, DA
