Dispersal of plants and animals is one of the most fascinating subjects in ecology. It has long
been recognized as an important factor affecting ecosystem dynamics. Dispersal is apparently a
phenomenon of biological origin however because of its complexity it cannot be studied
comprehensively by biological methods alone. Deeper insights into dispersal properties and
implications require interdisciplinary approaches involving biologists ecologists and
mathematicians. The purpose of this book is to provide a forum for researches with different
backgrounds and expertise and to ensure further advances in the study of dispersal and spatial
ecology. This book is unique in its attempt to give an overview of dispersal studies across
different spatial scales such as the scale of individual movement the population scale and
the scale of communities and ecosystems. It is written by top-level experts in the field of
dispersal modeling and covers a wide range of problems ranging from the identification of Levy
walks in animal movement to the implications of dispersal on an evolutionary timescale.
