Review Of "Social Behaviour In Fluctuating Populations" By A. Cockburn

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

6-1-1989

Published In

Choice

Abstract

Cockburn's aim, as expressed in the well-written introduction, is to make the great literature of microtine population and genetic research accessible to a wide readership including students of behavioral ecology. Despite his valiant effort, the literature is too vast and the level of treatment too technical to be easily comprehended by most undergraduates, much less the general reader. The authoritative and tightly written (almost encyclopedic) text covers territoriality, mating systems, life history, evolution, and other approaches to the understanding of the cyclical fluctuations in populations of voles, grouse, and some song birds. One explanatory hypothesis after another is discarded followed by suggestions for further research to clarify the underlying mystery of what drives these boom-and-bust populations. The book will be of considerable value to graduate and advanced undergraduate level libraries collecting in wildlife biology, evolutionary genetics, or animal behavior. A 50-page bibliography provides an entry to the diffuse literature covered. The miniscule index begins with the author's charge that the reader master the entire book.

Comments

This work is freely available courtesy of Choice Reviews. The review has been reproduced in full in the abstract field.

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