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The Struggle for Existence (Dover Phoenix Editions) (Dover Books on Biology)

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First published in 1934, The Struggle for Existence is arguably one of the most significant contributions of all time to the ecological literature. Its author, G. F. Gause, was a Russian microbiologist who, in the early 1930s, became interested in the possibility of studying ecological processes in laboratory microcosms. The consequence of this interest was a series of experiments whereby the utility of mathematical models of competition between species and predator-prey interactions could be evaluated. The Struggle for Existence summarizes the results some of the most important of these investigations, to which reference can be found in most any introductory text on ecology. Several introductory chapters reviewing ecological interactions from the biological and mathematical perspectives set the stage. Three principal chapters follow. Of these the first is devoted to competition between different strains of yeast; the second, to competition between species of Paramecium; and the third, to predator-prey interactions involving Didinium and Paramecium. In the first two cases, the theory addressed are "competition equations" of the form dx1/dt = r1 x1 (K1 - x1 - a12x2)/K1 dx2/dt = r2 x2 (K2 - x2 - a21x1)/K2 In the final instance, the theory consdered is Volterra's simplest model of predator-prey dynamics. The concluding appendices include the all of the experimental results, as well as a description of the methods used to estimate the various model parameters. It is difficult to overstate the stimulatory effect of Gause's work on contemporary ecology, particularly with regard to the discipline's flowering in the 1960's and early 70's. Of particular importance was the so-called "competitive exclusion principle," often attributed directly to Gause, which holds that species with similar ecological requirements cannot coexist indefinitely. This point of view led to the elaboration of theories of "species packing" and "community structure" which, while presently out of fashion, represent a highpoint in ecologists' attempts to formulate an overarching intellectual framework on which various empirical findings can be draped. W. M. Schaffer (schaffer@ccit.arizona.edu), Tucson, AZ.