"This is a much-needed synthesis on the key processes shaping ecological communities. Vellend
puts his theoretical framework in historical context presents testable hypotheses derived from
the theory and evaluates them in an extensive review of the empirical literature. Vellend's
framework and synthesis will help community ecologists make significant progress in our
understanding of how nature works." --Diego P. Vázquez Argentine Institute for Dryland
Research and National University of Cuyo "Many people have suggested that community ecology is
a morass of unique cases. Vellend's book audaciously challenges this view. Borrowing from
evolution he proposes just four general rules to cover all of community ecology. He fleshes
this out with detailed examples R code and a mapping between his framework and traditional
concepts. All community ecologists will have to respond to Vellend in their work as this is
the rare book that will dominate the discussion for years to come." --Brian McGill University
of Maine "With clear and succinct definitions of complex ideas this book constructs a theory
of ecological communities based on fundamental processes of selection drift dispersal and
speciation. Vellend offers a useful framework that includes evolution as well as ecological
factors and he makes a significant contribution to the field." --Marcel Holyoak University of
California Davis "This book is a selective review of the sprawling field of community ecology.
Vellend provides an impressive conceptual synthesis that helps students and practitioners pull
together the discipline's wide range of perspectives into a coherently organized whole."
--Robert Holt University of Florida
