Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Ch. 1: Ecosystem Conservation: The Need for Ecological Science -- Ch. 2: The Science of Ecology -- What is Ecology? -- Resolving Ecological Complexity -- Life as a Game -- Ecological Science: Gaining Reliable Knowledge about Ecosystems -- Ch. 3: Climate: Template for Global Biodiversity -- The Physics Underlying Life on Earth -- Ecosystem Types -- Coping with Climate -- Climate-Space -- Effects of Global Climate Change -- Ch. 4: Ecological Limits and the Size of Populations -- Simple Population Growth -- Ecological Balance and Carrying Capacity -- Competitors and Predators -- Weather -- Carrying Capacity and Population Overabundance -- Ch. 5: Viability of Threatened Species -- Life Cycles and Population Dynamics -- Modeling Age-Structured Population Dynamics -- Viability of Loggerhead Sea Turtles -- Ch. 6: Biodiversity and Habitat Fragmentation -- Diversity Indices -- Habitat Fragmentation and the Species-Area Relationship -- Habitat Fragmentation and the Population and Community Processes -- Ch. 7: The Web of Life: Connections in Space and Time -- Ecosystems in Time -- Ecosystems in Space: Linkages across Geographic Boundaries -- Ch. 8: Ecosystem Services of Biodiversity -- Diversity Begets Ecosystem Stability -- Diversity-Productivity Relations -- Crop Pollination -- Pest Control -- Invasion Resistance -- Ch. 9: Protecting Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Function -- Conservation Tools -- Dynamic Landscapes -- Global Climate Change and Reshuffling of Faunas -- Ch. 10: The Good of a Species: Toward a Science-Based Ecosystem Conservation Ethic -- Tinkering within Economics -- Ecological Science, Uncertainty, and Precaution -- Policy and Management as a Scientific Enterprise -- Questions for Discussion -- References -- Further Reading -- Glossary -- About the Author -- Index.