Known Typos in "An Illustrated Guide to Theoretical Ecology"

This page is updated when we find additional errors.

Pg 10. The division line is missing in the first two equations of Box 1.2. They should be (1 + R/2) and (1 + R/q) rather than dividing the (1+R) by 2 or q.  

Pg 12. First solved problem: the final answer should be 1091 years. The arithmetic is correct except for the answer at the last step.

Pg 12. Question 1, part e. The second expression should have a t₀ for the t. (i.e N_B(t₀ + n) = ).

Pg 42. Fig. 2.28 was produced using a somewhat different model than that of eq. 2.16. A quantitatively similar looking figure can be produced with eq 2.16 by letting s_E on the x-axis run from 0 to 15 and using parameters E(m_l) = 2 and s_l = 4.

Pg 43, Question 1. Last line should read "where N(t+1) = N(t)", not "where N(t+1) + N(t)".

Pg 46, line 10. Should read: "For example, using years as time units, a two-year old would mean anyone past the second birthday but not yet reaching the third, a span of an entire year."

Pg 50. On page 50, bottom part. The first equation for the product of the Leslie matrix and the population vector. The term F₃n₃(t) was duplicated. It should appear only once.

Pg 51, second to last paragraph, last sentence, " ...and the l from year t-1 to l(t) = N(t)/N(t-1). It should say " ... and the lambda from year t-1 to year t, given by l (t) = N(t)/N(t-1).

Pg 57, middle of page. Paragraph beginning "Would our calculation of l be altered ...". This sentence should have a question mark at the end.

Pg 58. In figure 3.13 The caption says "... if they died during year 1991, the lines end in x's." However, in the graph, two individuals that died in year 1992 also end in an x. These individuals should end with dots.

Pg 63, Question 2. To avoid any notational confusion, the first column entry should read "Age x", not "Age class x" and the fourth line of the question should read "data gathered previously you know that age two- and three-year females ..." instead of "data gathered previously you know that second- and third-year females ...".

Pg 64, last paragraph, end of second line, it says s₀ = sy. The "y" should be subscripted as s_y.

Pg 77. Question 5. The F values in the first row of L should be 1.3 (not 1.35). For example, the element in the third column of the first row is F₂ and represents s₂b₃; s₂ = 0.9 and b₃ = (0.5)(3.0)(0.96) = 1.44.

Pg 82. Table at the bottom of the page. The third element down from the top in the last column should be 360 ( = 300*1.2), not 320. Similarly on Pg 83 for the calculation for s₂, which should be 360/500. The final answer, 0.72, is correct as stands.

Pg 85. Equation (4.16). The exponent of l should have the parentheses removed to -x+1, consistent with the equation before (4.15) and after (4.18).

Pg 86. Equation LE 3 as derived from 4.18b, should sum from age one to max (not zero to max). However, since b₀ is undefined in this discrete time model, one gets the same numerical values either way, which accounts for why it is usually written as summing from age 0 in most other sources.

Pg 86. Next-to-last paragraph. Third line down. A comma should be inserted after "not -(x+1),". To read "... the exponent in Eq. (LE3) is -x, not -(x+1), as in Eq. (LE1)".

Pg 87. Middle table that uses Eq (LE2). The last column heading lacks parentheses around the exponent term for l, which should read -(x+1), as in eq LE2, not -x+1.

Pg 107. The logistic equation near the bottom of this page should have a K in the denominator (not N) (SEE BOX 5.1). The same typo occurs near the top of pg 110.

Pg 115. Final paragraph, first line. Change the word "in" to "as" before the phrase "shown in Figure 5.23"

Pg 116. Sixth line from bottom. The word "different" was duplicated.

Pg 125. Fourth line above eq 5.11. Add to the end of the sentence in the parentheses the following "... and that the derivatives are continuous."

Pg 131 within the box should read: dN/(Ndt) = -r+(2rN/M) (for 0 > N <M) (instead of F in the denominator and inequality as 0 > N <M).

Pg. 139. Line below eq (6.4). Change the word "continuous" to "discrete".

Pg 159. Last sentence before the section "OPTIMAL CLUTCH SIZE". The R₀'s were calculated incorrectly due to a misinterpretation of the data presented. Change this sentence to read: "Despite a roughly tenfold higher R₀ for the Brisbane race compared to Rabaul flies, the r's of these two life histories are both about 0.16 (Lewontin 1965)."

Pg 172. Line 7. Change "is" to "are" since data is plural.

Pg 179. Question 4. The two populations should be labeled as A and B, not 1 and 2, to match the text above.

Pg 199. The equation immediately under eq (9.6) is for zygotes at time t+1 and should have t+1 subscripts (not t) for N on both sides of the equal sign. As further amplification, it should read:  "", which is not equal to p_t² N_t l_AA, the quantity in Guess 1, because p²_t,s  is not equal to p²_tl_AA (as given by Guess 1)."

Pg 207. Fig 9.9. In the third subfigure, the value of E(f) at the top should be 0.1 (not 0.01).

Pg 230. Within figures 10.13 and 10.14 change the label on the red curve from "Resource growth" to "Resource recruitment"

Pg 231 In box 10.15, parts (a) and (b) the captions are reversed. For (b), the figure depicts the number of sheep increasing and for (a) decreasing.

Pg 233. Sentence beginning 8^th line from the bottom in the first column. This should read "Fish catchability therefore has units of fish caught per effort expended per fish; fish therefore cancels out in the numerator and denominator, leaving just units of 1/effort. Effort should be expressed as per unit time using the same time units as given by the parameter r. If r is per year then effort should also be in units of per year."

Pg 236, line 13. Change "then" to "than". "There may be more going on than is ..."

Pg 237, Box 10.2. First paragraph, second column. Should say "The dots are carried over here for each level of prey, and projected (by dashed lines) ...".

Pg 238. Box 10.3. eq d, left-hand side has some notational confusion. To clarify, the left-hand side should say "Consumption rate of all R at R*" not dR*/dt (which is by definition zero at equilibrium).

Pg 240. First exercise. The catchability constant C = 0.001/boat (not 0.001/boat/fish/season). See note for pg 233.

Pg 242. Problem 1. Third sentence has axes reversed; should read "What is the relationship between cow numbers (y axis) and equilibrium grass levels (x axis)?"

Pg 242. Question 3. The catchability constant C = 0.001/ boat (not 0.001/boat/fish/season). See note for pg 233.

Pg 248. Exercise. This question should read. "Show that a plot of the prey risk for a type 1 functional response is equivalent to plotting the slope of the functional response at each prey density."

Pg 250. Figure legend 11.12. The second sentence should say "The predator has a higher encounter rate for Prey 2 compared to Prey 1." Not Prey 2 is more numerous than prey 1.

Pg 255. Line 11 from bottom. Change "decreases" to" increases", i.e. the optimal give up time increases if the travel time increases. This now matches the figure legend for Fig 11.22.

Pg 262, Second parag. The sentence: "As food levels R increase, the predator death rate d(R) is expected to decrease and thus dC/dt will decrease." The last word should be increase.

Pg 270 - 271. The same box was repeated. Box 12.1 is correct as is, but should be titled: "Predator-Prey Dynamics with a Type 3 Functional Response". Box 12.2 is correctly titled, but the exponents of "2" should be removed from R in the numerators and denominators of equations c and d.

Pg 339. Sentence below eq 14.22, should begin with a reference to Equation 14.22 (not 14.32).

Pg 343. Question 13, last sentence. Change the reference to Figure 14.23 (not Figure 14.18).

Pg. 399 around (16.14) J shouldn't be number of occupied patches; it should be fraction of available patches that are occupied.

Pg. 400.In Fig. 16.22 the arrows should be reversed in direction and the text in the figure should read "... NEW COLONISTS TO (1-J) COME FROM ANYWHERE IN J".

Pg 401. Eq (16.17) should have an e in place of the e on the right-hand side.

Pg 426. In the box at the bottom of the page, the determinant of the minor of A₁₁ is -1 (not 1) as shown. The minus sign was left out.

Pg 434. In the equation for the estimate of the variance for a sample of size n (near the top), the x should have a bar over it.

Pg 436. The journal volume and page numbers are wrong for the Dennis and Taper reference. This should read: Ecological Monographs 64:205-224.