ecology

Book review – The Ecology of Collective Behavior

8-minute read
keywords: ecology, ethology

This is the third of a trio of reviews in which I take a brief detour into ants and collective behaviour more generally. I previously reviewed The Ant Collective, a graphical introduction to ant behaviour, and entomologist Deborah M. Gordon’s Ant Encounters, a primer on how collective behaviour in ants comes about. The Ecology of Collective Behavior is the second book by Gordon that I will examine. It proposes a research programme to figure out both how collective behaviour responds to changing environmental conditions, and how it evolves. Though squarely aimed at professional biologists, this brief and interesting book is nevertheless accessible to a wider interested audience and makes its case with nary an equation in sight.

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Book review – Ant Encounters: Interaction Networks and Colony Behavior

9-minute read
keywords: entomology, ethology

This is the second of a trio of reviews in which I take a brief detour into ants and collective behaviour more generally. I previously reviewed The Ant Collective, a graphical introduction to ant behaviour, and am here turning to entomologist Deborah M. Gordon’s 2010 book Ant Encounters before finishing with her recent book The Ecology of Collective Behavior. The core question driving this book is how ant colonies get anything done given that no one is in charge. Her contention, supported by a wide-ranging survey of examples, is that ant colonies function through numerous ants interacting to form a dynamic network. Stated this pithily, I admit it might not sound like much of an answer but rather a rephrasing of the question using fancy words. What do you mean, “interaction network”? If so, read on: this primer is full of fascinating biological examples and interesting insights that will hopefully clarify the above, providing you with a bigger picture of how and why ants behave the way they do.

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Book review – Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World

7-minute read
keywords: biogeochemistry, ecology

What a killer title. Rarely have I seen three snappy words so effectively capture the essence of a concept in biology. What concept is that? Zoogeochemistry. Many scientists have convincingly made the case that it is the small things that run the world. Though it is undeniably true that e.g. microbes and insects have shaped our planet, and continue to do so, it would be a mistake to think that larger animals are just along for the ride. I was stoked the moment the announcement for this book dropped and conservation biologist and marine ecologist Joe Roman did not disappoint. Eat, Poop, Die is fun and fascinating, while always keeping one eye firmly on the facts and complexities of ecology. Is it too soon to start earmarking titles for this year’s top 5? I think not.

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Book review – Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet

8-minute read
keywords: ecology, wildlife conservation

The road to hell might be paved with good intentions, but the roads to pretty much everywhere else are paved with the corpses of animals. In Crossings, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb explores the outsized yet underappreciated impacts of the, by one estimate, 65 million kilometres of roads that hold the planet in a paved stranglehold. These extend beyond roadkill to numerous other insidious biological effects. The relatively young discipline of road ecology tries to gauge and mitigate them and sees biologists join forces with engineers and roadbuilders. This is a wide-ranging and eye-opening survey of the situation in the USA and various other countries.

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Book review – The Gaia Hypothesis: Science on a Pagan Planet

10-minute read
keywords: earth sciences, history of science, philosophy

This is the final part of my four-part review series on the Gaia hypothesis (see also part 1, part 2, and part 3), James Lovelock’s notion that the Earth is a giant self-regulating system that maintains conditions suitable for life on the planet. I selected this book as a counterpart to the hard-science analysis of Tyrrell’s On Gaia (also published in 2013) to take a step back and read about the wider reception of Lovelock’s ideas. As it turns out, professor of philosophy Michael Ruse additionally delves into the historical and philosophical precursors to the notion of Earth as a living planet. An intellectually rigorous if sometimes challenging book, The Gaia Hypothesis gives a very satisfying overview of why Lovelock got the reception he did and, for me, marks Ruse as a notable writer to keep an eye on.

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Book review – On Gaia: A Critical Investigation of the Relationship between Life and Earth

10-minute read
keywords: earth sciences, ecology

The scientist, environmentalist, and futurist James Lovelock is probably best remembered for the Gaia hypothesis: the notion that the Earth is a giant self-regulating system that maintains conditions suitable for life on the planet. It has gained a certain respectability in academic circles over the decades, but how justified is this? In my previous reviews of Lovelock’s original 1979 book Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth and the 1995 follow-up The Ages of Gaia, I was critical of various assumptions and claims expressed therein. At the same time, I am aware that other, more knowledgeable people have worked on this idea for years, so what do I know? In On Gaia, Earth system scientist Toby Tyrrell gives a thorough and dispassionate overview of the scientific evidence and whether it supports Gaia. This, then, is the third of a four-part review series that explores the Gaia hypothesis in greater detail (see also part 1, part 2, and part 4).

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Book review – The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth

9-minute read
keywords: earth sciences, ecology

James Lovelock, the famous scientist, environmentalist, and futurist, is probably best remembered for the Gaia hypothesis. This is the notion that the Earth is a giant self-regulating system that maintains conditions suitable for life on the planet. In the process of reviewing his first book, Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, it became clear that that book was a time capsule, its text not updated from the 1979 original. However, Gaia stimulated much criticism, response, and further research. This resulted in The Ages of Gaia, a second book aimed at a more scientific audience. Will it answer some of the questions I was left with after reviewing Gaia? Join me for this second of a four-part review series as I delve deeper into Lovelock’s ideas and how they developed (see also part 1, part 3, and part 4).

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Book review – Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth

9-minute read
keywords: earth sciences, ecology

One year ago today, the famous scientist, environmentalist, and futurist James Lovelock passed away at the age of 103. Amongst his many achievements, he is best known for formulating the Gaia hypothesis: the notion that the Earth is a giant self-regulating system that maintains conditions suitable for life on the planet. I have always been somewhat suspicious of this idea but have simply never gotten around to properly reading up on it. High time to inform myself better and substantiate my so-far thinly-held opinion. Join me for a four-part series of book reviews in which I delve into Lovelock’s classic Gaia; his follow-up The Ages of Gaia; Toby Tyrrell’s critical investigation of its scientific underpinnings, On Gaia; and Michael Ruse’s wider analysis of its reception and historical antecedents, The Gaia Hypothesis.

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Book review – Cave Biodiversity: Speciation and Diversity of Subterranean Fauna

8-minute read
keywords: biodiversity, ecology, evolutionary biology

The deep sea is often mentioned as one of the last remaining unexplored areas on the planet, but there is another, closely related world: the subterranean realm of caves. Edited by cave ecologist J. Judson Wynne, Cave Biodiversity brings together fifteen experts in biospeleology to discuss several notable invertebrate and vertebrate groups. A scholarly yet readable overview, this is a welcome addition to the small number of books on this topic.

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Book review – A Natural History of the Future: What the Laws of Biology Tell Us About the Destiny of the Human Species

7-minute read
keywords: conservation biology, ecology, evolutionary biology

When considering environmental issues, the usual rallying cry is that of “saving the planet”. Rarely do people acknowledge that, rather, it is us who need saving from ourselves. We have appropriated ever-larger parts of Earth for our use while trying to separate ourselves from it, ensconced in cities. But we cannot keep the forces of life at bay forever. In A Natural History of the Future, ecologist and evolutionary biologist Rob Dunn considers some of the rules and laws that underlie biology to ask what is in store for us as a species, and how we might survive without destroying the very fabric on which we depend.

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