A comprehensive survey of modern ecology, covering such essential topics as ecosystem processes, species strategies, social systems, community building, ecosystem stability, population ecology, individual adaption, and species diversity. Also includes extensive treatments of physical and chemical systems--from geochemistry to soil science and climate. Ecosystems are defined by climate, energy flux, substrate, and periodicity in environment. This book shows how these physical facts of life influence the choices made by natural selection and how they determine much of ecosystem function.