Written by a world renowned biologist, this volume offers a comprehensive synthesis of current research in this rapidly expanding area of population biology. It covers both the essential theory and a wide range of empirical studies, including the author's groundbreaking work on the Glanville fritillary butterfly. It also includes practical applications to conservation biology. The book describes theoretical models for metapopulation dynamics in highly fragmented landscapes and emphasizes spatially realistic models. It presents the incidence function model and includes several detailed examples of its application. Accessible to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, Metapopulation Ecology will be a valuable resource for researchers in population biology, conservation biology, and landscape ecology. "Hanski offers a state-of-the-art review of the ecological dynamics of metapopulations, assemblages of local breeding populations. Because the world is patchy, and becoming more so, this synthesis of current research (including the author's substantial contributions to the field) will be of particular interest to conservation biologists."-- Science "Metapopulation ecology has gained significance as we confront landscapes that are increasingly fragmented. This volume gives an excellent survey of the field with a careful account of both strengths and weaknesses of the approach. Metapopulation ecology concerns organisms that are dependent upon discrete patches of suitable habitat . . . Hanski distinguishes metapopulation ecology from (1) landscape ecology, which is more heavily empirical and which generally regards habitat suitability as a continuous rather than a discrete variable, and (2) spatial dynamics in continuous space, which is more heavily theoretical and concerned with complex patterns that are generated by population processes alone. Hanski's goal is 'a close dialogue between models and ecological field studies' and he has consistently favoured simple models over more complex ones. I heartily agree; this work is a convincing demonstration of the power of empirical investigation when combined with simple theory."-- TREE "This book, by Ilkka Hanski, stands alone as the source for anyone who a beginning interest and a standard reference for practitioners. Another important aspect of the book is that Hanski permits himself to comment candidly on many aspects of metapopulation ecology. This style of presentation breathes life into the detailed technical aspects of metapopulation ecology, and of course provides much fodder for discussion and future research. This book will provide a fresh and synthetic view of the rich insight that metapopulation theory can offer. This book represents an important milestone by one of the undisputed gurus of the field, and belongs not on the shelf, but in the hands of any practicing or prospective metapopulation biologist." -- Jason B. Dunham, Ecology, Vol 81, No 6, 2000 "This inspiring volume is an eclectic coverage of a topic that has become an increasingly important part of ecology. It represents a foundation stone in the attempt of population ecologists to deal with landscapes. The thirteen chapters of the book cover a history of metapopulation ecology, introductory and more recent theory, empirical examples, and case studies. A highlight is Hanski's ability to relate metapopulation ecology to other parts of ecology (applied and pure). This is an easy book to read, and the author is refreshingly honest about his biases, which include cursory coverage of population genetics and evolution, and a passion for the incidence function model." -- Hugh Possingham, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol 76, Mar 2001 Ilkka Hanski is at University of Helsinki.