The field of theoretical ecology has expanded dramatically in the last few years. Some of the most interesting work has been done using spatial models with stochasticity. This book brings together the best researchers working with this type of model to look at its role in the investigation of ecosystem dynamics. The book will be of broad interest to theoretical ecologists as it contains not only mathematically rigorous treatments, but also their application to real ecological problems, and suggests ways of extending and evaluating such modelling techniques in the future.

1. Introduction Richard Law, Ulf Dieckmann and J. A. J. Metz; Part I. Empirical and Statistical Background: 2. A neighbourhood view of interactions among individual plants Peter Stoll and Jacob Weiner; 3. Spatial interactions among grassland plant populations Jonathan Silvertown and Bastow Wilson; 4. Spatio-temporal patterns in grassland communities Tomás Herben, Heinjo During and Richard Law; 5. Statistical modelling and analysis of spatial patterns David Cox, Valerie Isham and Paul Northrop; Part II. When the Mean-Field Approximation Breaks Down: 6. Grid-based models as tools for ecological research Christian Wissel; 7. Coexistence of replicators in prebiotic evolution Tamas Czárán and Eörs Szathmáry; 8. Games on grids Martin Nowak and Karl Sigmund; 9. The interplay between reaction and diffusion Mikael Cronhjort; 10. Spirals and spots: novel evolutionary phenomena through spatial self-structuring Maarten Boerlijst; 11. The role of space in reducing predator-prey cycles Vincent Jansen and André de Roos; Part III. Simplifying Spatial Complexity: Examples: 12. Spatial scales and low-dimensional deterministic dynamics Howard Wilson and Matthew Keeling; 13. Lattice models and pair-approximation in ecology Yoh Iwasa; 14. Moment approximations of individual-based models Richard Law and Ulf Dieckmann; 15. Evolutionary dynamics in spatial host-pathogen systems Matthew Keeling; 16. Foci, small and large: a specific class of biological invasion Jan-Carel Zadoks; 17. Wave patterns in spatial games and the evolution of cooperation Régis Ferriere and Rick Michod; Part IV. Simplifying Spatial Complexity: Techniques: 18. Pair approximations for lattice-based ecological models Kazunori Sato and Yoh Iwasa; 19. Pair approximations for different spatial geometries Minus van Baalen; 20. Moment methods for ecological processes in continuous space Benjamin Bolker, Steven Pacala and Simon Levin; 21. Relaxation projections and the method of moments Ulf Dieckmann; 22. Methods for reaction-diffusion models Vivian Hutson and Glen Vickers; 23. The dynamics of invasion waves Johan A. J. Metz, Denis Mollison and Frank van den Bosch; 24 Epilogue Johan A. J. Metz, Ulf Dieckmann and Richard Law; References; Index.