Comparative Ecology of Microorganisms and Macroorganisms

John Andrews was born in Montreal, Canada and did his undergraduate education in agriculture at McGill University. He received graduate degrees from the University of Maine and the University of California, Davis, followed by postdoctoral work at Cambridge University and the University of British Columbia. He was recruited to the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served for 35 years teaching and doing research in the areas of microbial ecology, plant pathology, and integrated pest management, among several others. He retired in 2010.

1 Introduction: Prospects for a Conceptual Synthesis.- 1.1. Organizing Life.- 1.2. Microorganisms and Macroorganisms: Differences and Similarities.- 1.3 The Centrality of Natural Selection.- 1.4 Analogies, Homologies, and Homoplasies.- 1.5 A Framework for Comparisons.- 1.6 What is an Individual?.- 1.7 Summary.- 1.8 Suggested Additional Reading.- 2 Genetic Variation.- 2.1 Introduction.- 2.2 Mechanisms.- 2.3 Sex and Meiotic Recombination.- 2.4 The Asexual Lifestyle.- 2.5 Somatic Variation, Heritable Variation, and the Concept of the Genet.- 2.6 Summary.- 2.7 Suggested Additional Reading.- 3 Nutritional Mode.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Carbon and Energy Resources.- 3.3 Resource Acquisition.- 3.4 Nutritional Versatility.- 3.5 Generalists and Specialists.- 3.6 Summary.- 3.7 Suggested Additional Reading.- 4 Size.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Changes in Size and Development of Life on Earth.- 4.3 On Seeing the World as an Elephant or a Mycoplasma.- 4.4 Some Correlates of Size.- 4.5 Some Ecological Consequences of Size.- 4.6 Size and Life History Theory.- 4.7 Summary.- 4.8 Suggested Additional Reading.- 5 Growth and Growth Form.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Unitary and Modular Organisms: An Overview.- 5.3 Fungi as Modular Organisms.- 5.4 Bacteria as Modular Organisms.- 5.5 Life Histories of Modular vs. Unitary Organisms.- 5.6 Summary.- 5.7 Suggested Additional Reading.- 6 The Life Cycle.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 Origins and General Considerations.- 6.3 Complex Life Cycles.- 6.4 Senescence.- 6.5 Summary.- 6.6 Suggested Additional Reading.- 7 The Environment.- 7.1 Introduction.- 7.2 The Environment and Organism are Tightly Coupled.- 7.3 How Organisms Experience Environments.- 7.4 Organism Size and Environmental Variation.- 7.5 Genotypic and Phenotypic Variation.- 7.6 The Environment and Life Cycle Changes.- 7.7 Habitable Sites and the Evolution of Dispersal.- 7.8 Summary.- 7.9 Suggested Additional Reading.- 8 Conclusion: Commonalities and Differences in Life Histories.- 8.1 Levels of Comparison.- 8.2 On Being a Macroorganism or a Microorganism.- 8.3 Natural Selection as the Common Denominator.- 8.4 Recapitulation of Some Major Points.- 8.5 On the Comparative Ecology of Microorganisms and Macroorganisms.- 8.6 Summary.- References.- Index.