Advances in ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH VOLUME 6 This Page Intentionally Left Blank Advances in ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH Edited by J. B. CRAGG Environmental Sciences Centre (Kananaskis), University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada VOLUME 6 1969 ACADEMIC PRESS London and New York ACADEMIC PRESS INC. (LONDON) LTD. BERKELEYSQUAREHOUSE BERKELEY SQUARE LONDON,W l X 6BA U.S. Edition published by ACADEMIC PRESS INC. 111 FIFTHAVENUE,NEW YORE 10003, NEW YORK Copyright @ 1969 by Academic Press Inc. (London) Ltd. All Rights Reserved NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED I N ANY FORM BY PHOTOSTAT, MICROFILM OR ANY OTHER MEANS, WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHERS Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 62-21479 SBN: 12-013906-5 Printed in Great Britain by T. & A. Constable Ltd., Edinburgh Contributors to Volume 6 M. F. BUELL,Department of Botany, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J., U . S . A . C. R. JESSEN,Department of Ecology and Behavioral Biology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. A. N. LANOFORD, Department of Biological Sciences, Bishop's University, Lennom'lle, Quebec, Canada. K. H. MANN, Fisheries Board of Canada, Marine Ecology Laboratory, Bedford Institute, Dartmouth, N.S., Canada. D. B. SINIFF,Department of Ecology and Behavioral Biology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A. A. DE Vos, Forestry and Forest Industries Pivision, F.A.O., Rome, Italy. This Page Intentionally Left Blank Preface Ecological organization is the resultant of many processes occurring at very different levels of complexity. The outward signs of organization are the patterns of animals and plants which are described by such words a,community or association. The theme of this volume is the understanding of some basic ecological patterns. The paper by Dr Siniff and Dr Jessen is concerned with a particular type of pattern at the organism level, the concept of “home-range”. Their investigations combine two modern techniques, telemetry and computer simulation, and their study constitutes an attempt to give precision to an important component of more extensive ecological pat terns. The three other contributions are concerned with the form and organization of patterns at the community level. Dr Langford and Dr Buell discuss the nature of the plant association. There is perhaps no more controversial subject in phytosociology and the controversy continues as a glance at Vol. 34 The Botanical Review will show. Dr Langford and Dr Buell describe the background out of which modern views on the nature of the plant community have emerged. Above all, they demonstrate the need for precise experimental studies. The papers by Dr Mann and Dr de Vos share common ground. The trophic web is the pattern through which an ecosystem operates. Dr Mann reviews the dynamics of such patterns in aquatic ecosystems, dealing in detail with the difficulties experienced when at’tempting to obtain reliable measures of energy flow between trophic levels, and of the exchange and circulation of materials. Dr de Vos is concerned, in the main, with the utilization by man of the wild herbivore component of terrestrial ecosystems. His review reveals the tentative and sometimes “guesstimate” nature of much of our information on the production of such systems. Both papers have special relevance in view of current investigations within the International Biological Programme. J . B. CRAW April, 1969 vii This Page Intentionally Left Blank Contents CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME 6 PREFACE - V _ - - _ vii The Dynamics of Aquatic Ecosystems K. H. MANN I. Introduction 11. Progress in the Understanding and Measureme