Review: Although population ecology is a well-known area of study there are still many areas where the basic ideas could be better described for the beginner. One of these areas is modelling. This text aims to build a concept of models and thus show how the more complex ideas can be understood.

Modelling is a key ecological tool. It follows that it is essential that all ecology students of whatever level are comfortable with the basic premises. This text creates models from first principles adding layers of complexity until a community model has been described. In so doing they also introduce some new ideas which can make interrogating the model more fruitful. The book is divided into two parts covering basic and advanced principles. The first part starts with the introductory chapter outlining the nature of systems and how models can be applied to understanding them. We get the basic terms such as flow and feedback and some idea of the stability (or otherwise) of the system. A summary and a set of exercises concludes this work. Chapter two starts with a discussion of population and then moves to a simple population model. From this, a few variables are added showing how a range of influences can affect the outcomes of the model. Here, the main focus is feedback. Chapter three moves one stage further to consider the processes that control the input and feedback subsystems with the aim of producing a more general model. We are also introduced to the reproduction plane - which is the change in population density over time. The aim is to provide us with a way of comparing stability through time and space. Part two takes these basic ideas and extends them considerably. The model at the end of chapter three was just one place and one species but this is not helpful in the real world. so, Chapter four examines a model that looks at two species in the same place. This might be predator-prey, competition or even parasitism but the impact is the same - changes in one part of the model will affect others. Chapter five describes the model that would be built up for the same species living in two areas with migration between then. Finally, chapter six analyses the model under multi-species, multi-area constraints.

This is a detailed, technical publication which would be best suited to students of theoretical ecology. However, as with many texts of this nature there is much for the non-specialist to glean. Although it requires more advanced mathematics, the ideas are put simply and clearly and the gradual building of the model means that a wide range of readers will gain something from the text. The spreadsheet examples on the CD (which run on Excel or similar) are taken from the text to illustrate key points. Like the book, they increase in complexity as you go through. These examples are easy to manipulate making teaching in this area quite straightforward. Overall, a good text for the specialist and a useful reference for those really wanting to understand the theory of modelling from the ground up.