Population ecology offers a theoretical and mathematical underpinning for a diverse range of theoretical and applied disciplines (e.g. community and landscape ecology, resource–consumer interactions, conservation biology, wildlife harvest, pest management and epidemiology). In fact, it is probably not overly bold to suggest that it provides the fundamental conceptual framework for ecology. Clearly then, an understanding of at least the basic elements of population ecology is important for all contemporary ecologists. Population Ecology: First Principles delivers a modern and succinct introduction to this field, targeted at higher-level undergraduates and postgraduates with a working (but not advanced) knowledge of linear algebra and calculus. A similar book, with a somewhat less specialized focus, is Hastings (1997).
