,Elements of
Ecology Eighth Edition
Thomas M. Smith
University of Virginia
Robert Leo Smith
West Virginia University, Emeritus
,Editor-in-Chief: Beth Wilbur
Executive Director of Development: Deborah Gale
Senior Acquisitions Editor: Star MacKenzie
Project Editor: Leata Holloway
Assistant Editor: Frances Sink
Media Producer: Lee Ann Doctor
Executive Marketing Manager: Lauren Harp
Executive Managing Editor: Erin Gregg
Managing Editor: Michael Early
Senior Production Project Manager: Shannon Tozier
Production Management and Compositor: Integra-Chicago
Illustrations: Scientific Illustrators
Text and Cover Design: tt eye
Manufacturing Buyer: Michael Penne
Senior Photo Editor: Donna Kalal
Photo Research: Kristin Piljay
Cover Printer: Lehigh-Phoenix Color, Hagerstown
Printer and Binder: R.R. Donnelley, Willard
Cover Photo Credit: Chris Martin Bahr / Photo Researchers, Inc.: Weaver Ants (Oecophylla sp.) on leaf.
Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on the
appropriate page within the text or on pp. C-1–C-8.
Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings. All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright and permission should be
obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use
material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, 1900 E.
Lake Ave., Glenview, IL 60025. For information regarding permissions, call (847) 486-2635.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks.
Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations
have been printed in initial caps or all caps.
Pearson Benjamin Cummings is a trademark, in the U.S. and/or other countries, of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, T. M. (Thomas Michael)
Elements of ecology / Thomas M. Smith, Robert Leo Smith.—8th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-321-73607-9
1. Ecology. I. Smith, Robert Leo. II. Title.
QH541.S624 2011
577—dc22
2011015962
ISBN 10: 0-321-73607-9; ISBN 13: 978-0-321-73607-9 (Student edition)
ISBN 10: 0-321-74286-9; ISBN 13: 978-0-321-74286-5 (Professional copy)
ISBN 10: 0-321-88454-X; ISBN 13: 978-0-321-88454-1 (Books a la Carte)
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10—DOW—15 14 13 12 11
, Contents
Preface xv
Chapter 1 The Nature of Ecology 1
1.1 Ecology Is the Study of the Relationship between Organisms
and Their Environment 2
1.2 Organisms Interact with the Environment in the Context
of the Ecosystem 2
ECOLOGICAL ISSUES: Ecology Has Complex Roots 3
1.3 Ecological Systems Form a Hierarchy 4
1.4 Ecologists Study Pattern and Process at Many Levels 5
1.5 Ecologists Investigate Nature Using the Scientific Method 6
QUANTIFYING ECOLOGY 1.1: Classifying Ecological Data 8
1.6 Models Provide a Basis for Predictions 9
QUANTIFYING ECOLOGY 1.2: Displaying Ecological Data: Histograms
and Scatter Plots 10
1.7 Uncertainty Is an Inherent Feature of Science 12
1.8 Ecology Has Strong Ties to Other Disciplines 12
1.9 The Individual Is the Basic Unit of Ecology 13
Summary 13 • Study Questions 14 • Further Readings 14
PART 1 The Physical Environment 16
Chapter 2 Climate 18
2.1 Earth Intercepts Solar Radiation 19
2.2 Intercepted Solar Radiation Varies Seasonally 21
2.3 Air Temperature Decreases with Altitude 22
2.4 Air Masses Circulate Globally 25
2.5 Solar Energy, Wind, and Earth’s Rotation Create Ocean Currents 26
2.6 Temperature Influences the Moisture Content of Air 27
2.7 Precipitation Has a Distinctive Global Pattern 27
2.8 Topography Influences Regional and Local Patterns of Precipitation 30
2.9 Irregular Variations in Climate Occur at the Regional Scale 30
2.10 Most Organisms Live in Microclimates 32
ECOLOGICAL ISSUES: Urban Microclimates 33
Summary 34 • Study Questions 35 • Further Readings 35
Chapter 3 The Aquatic Environment 36
3.1 Water Cycles between Earth and the Atmosphere 37
ECOLOGICAL ISSUES: Groundwater Resources 38
3.2 Water Has Important Physical Properties 39
3.3 Light Varies with Depth in Aquatic Environments 41
3.4 Temperature Varies with Water Depth 42
3.5 Water Functions as a Solvent 44
3.6 Oxygen Diffuses from the Atmosphere to the Surface Waters 45
3.7 Acidity Has a Widespread Influence on Aquatic Environments 46
3.8 Water Movements Shape Freshwater and Marine Environments 47
iii
Ecology Eighth Edition
Thomas M. Smith
University of Virginia
Robert Leo Smith
West Virginia University, Emeritus
,Editor-in-Chief: Beth Wilbur
Executive Director of Development: Deborah Gale
Senior Acquisitions Editor: Star MacKenzie
Project Editor: Leata Holloway
Assistant Editor: Frances Sink
Media Producer: Lee Ann Doctor
Executive Marketing Manager: Lauren Harp
Executive Managing Editor: Erin Gregg
Managing Editor: Michael Early
Senior Production Project Manager: Shannon Tozier
Production Management and Compositor: Integra-Chicago
Illustrations: Scientific Illustrators
Text and Cover Design: tt eye
Manufacturing Buyer: Michael Penne
Senior Photo Editor: Donna Kalal
Photo Research: Kristin Piljay
Cover Printer: Lehigh-Phoenix Color, Hagerstown
Printer and Binder: R.R. Donnelley, Willard
Cover Photo Credit: Chris Martin Bahr / Photo Researchers, Inc.: Weaver Ants (Oecophylla sp.) on leaf.
Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on the
appropriate page within the text or on pp. C-1–C-8.
Copyright © 2012, 2009, 2006 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings. All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright and permission should be
obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use
material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, 1900 E.
Lake Ave., Glenview, IL 60025. For information regarding permissions, call (847) 486-2635.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks.
Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations
have been printed in initial caps or all caps.
Pearson Benjamin Cummings is a trademark, in the U.S. and/or other countries, of Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, T. M. (Thomas Michael)
Elements of ecology / Thomas M. Smith, Robert Leo Smith.—8th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-321-73607-9
1. Ecology. I. Smith, Robert Leo. II. Title.
QH541.S624 2011
577—dc22
2011015962
ISBN 10: 0-321-73607-9; ISBN 13: 978-0-321-73607-9 (Student edition)
ISBN 10: 0-321-74286-9; ISBN 13: 978-0-321-74286-5 (Professional copy)
ISBN 10: 0-321-88454-X; ISBN 13: 978-0-321-88454-1 (Books a la Carte)
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10—DOW—15 14 13 12 11
, Contents
Preface xv
Chapter 1 The Nature of Ecology 1
1.1 Ecology Is the Study of the Relationship between Organisms
and Their Environment 2
1.2 Organisms Interact with the Environment in the Context
of the Ecosystem 2
ECOLOGICAL ISSUES: Ecology Has Complex Roots 3
1.3 Ecological Systems Form a Hierarchy 4
1.4 Ecologists Study Pattern and Process at Many Levels 5
1.5 Ecologists Investigate Nature Using the Scientific Method 6
QUANTIFYING ECOLOGY 1.1: Classifying Ecological Data 8
1.6 Models Provide a Basis for Predictions 9
QUANTIFYING ECOLOGY 1.2: Displaying Ecological Data: Histograms
and Scatter Plots 10
1.7 Uncertainty Is an Inherent Feature of Science 12
1.8 Ecology Has Strong Ties to Other Disciplines 12
1.9 The Individual Is the Basic Unit of Ecology 13
Summary 13 • Study Questions 14 • Further Readings 14
PART 1 The Physical Environment 16
Chapter 2 Climate 18
2.1 Earth Intercepts Solar Radiation 19
2.2 Intercepted Solar Radiation Varies Seasonally 21
2.3 Air Temperature Decreases with Altitude 22
2.4 Air Masses Circulate Globally 25
2.5 Solar Energy, Wind, and Earth’s Rotation Create Ocean Currents 26
2.6 Temperature Influences the Moisture Content of Air 27
2.7 Precipitation Has a Distinctive Global Pattern 27
2.8 Topography Influences Regional and Local Patterns of Precipitation 30
2.9 Irregular Variations in Climate Occur at the Regional Scale 30
2.10 Most Organisms Live in Microclimates 32
ECOLOGICAL ISSUES: Urban Microclimates 33
Summary 34 • Study Questions 35 • Further Readings 35
Chapter 3 The Aquatic Environment 36
3.1 Water Cycles between Earth and the Atmosphere 37
ECOLOGICAL ISSUES: Groundwater Resources 38
3.2 Water Has Important Physical Properties 39
3.3 Light Varies with Depth in Aquatic Environments 41
3.4 Temperature Varies with Water Depth 42
3.5 Water Functions as a Solvent 44
3.6 Oxygen Diffuses from the Atmosphere to the Surface Waters 45
3.7 Acidity Has a Widespread Influence on Aquatic Environments 46
3.8 Water Movements Shape Freshwater and Marine Environments 47
iii
