Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Modelling philosophy, where we get momentarily lost in a forest, but emerge intact; 2. Population genetics, where we find males that treat females quite badly, and some salmon get caught; 3. Quantitative genetics, where we learn to handle a bewildering number of loci, after which a whiff of predators does not scare us at all; 4. Optimization methods, where spiders get quite exhausted, and the author confesses an embarrassing mistake from the distant past; 5. Dynamic optimization, where we travel north, and learn how to survive the winter; 6. Game theory, where we get caught in a traffic jam, and end up wondering where all those trees came from; 7. Self-consistent games and evolutionary invasion analysis where winter is approaching once again, and we wonder if the promise of the coming spring should convince us to stay put; 8. Individual-based simulations, where virtual butterflies try to fly out of our reach, until ruthless exploitation of student labour finally captures them; 9. Concluding remarks, where we ask which chapter you liked most (or disliked least), and end the book with a most useful quote; Appendix: a quick guide to Matlab.

Promotional Information

A friendly 2007 guide to mathematical modelling for evolutionary and behavioural ecologists.

About the Author

Hanna Kokko is a professor in the Department of Biological & Environmental Science at the University of Helsinki.

Reviews

'I really enjoyed this book and I strongly recommend it to modellers and non-modellers alike. ... engaging and ... punctuated with interesting illustrations, anecdotes and other diversions. This book has challenged my own modelling philosophy and I have already learnt a lot from it.' Bulletin of the British Ecological Society