This textbook provides basic quantitative models allowing researchers and decision makers to:
- assess viability of threatened populations and evaluate the success of species reintroductions,
- estimate invasion abilities of alien species,
- evaluate the persistence of metapopulations subjected to habitat destruction and fragmentation,
- analyze policies and strategies for the sustainable harvesting of biological resources,
- assess the course of human and nonhuman diseases and the possible containment measures.
Air and water pollution, overexploitation of renewable resources (e.g. marine fish stocks and forests), massive land-use change together with climate change impact the Earth biodiversity and impair the functioning of ecosystems. Globalization increases the risk of diffusion of alien species and new pathogens.
A panoply of numerical problems mainly based on real data from the ecological literature enables the reader to practice the presented modelling tools.
