Beyond Equilibria: Historical Approaches to Ecology and Evolution

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists, especially those with theoretical and mathematical leanings, have tended to dismiss historical approaches as descriptive, smacking of particularities, allowing few generalizations (or even being untestable), and even antithetical to scientific explanation. By contrast, the concept of biological equilibrium pervades every aspect of ecology and evolution, from the popular notion of the ’balance of nature’ to sophisticated mathematical analyses of critical points in the state space of scientific models.

This novel book explains the problems associated with an over-reliance on equilibrium-centred explanations, creating a persuasive argument that an explicit consideration of history - i.e. looking beyond the equilibrium - will often lead to a deeper, more nuanced understanding of almost every eco-evolutionary system. The author introduces the concept of ’flavours’ of history - the variety of ways in which history can play a critical role in biological processes. Like the flavours of our food, these historical flavours may not always be distinct: they may be blended or overlapping and any number may be present. However, distinguishing between historical flavours is of practical use in explicating ecological and evolutionary phenomena.

Beyond Equilibria: Historical Approaches to Ecology and Evolution is aimed at a broad audience of graduate students and researchers in ecology and evolution. Although there is extensive discussion of mathematical models, the material is presented in such a way that no detailed knowledge is needed. The book will be particularly suitable for a graduate-level discussion course.

Hamish G. Spencer, Sesquicentennial Distinguished Professor, Department of Zoology, University of Otago

Hamish Spencer received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics (1982) and his master’s degree in zoology (1983) from the University of Auckland. He then studied for his doctorate at Harvard University, supervised by renowned geneticist Richard Lewontin. After graduating in 1988, he moved to the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at the University of Waikato, before taking up a lecturing position at the University of Otago’s Department of Zoology, where today he is Sesquicentennial Distinguished Professor. In 2009 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and in 2023 he became a Fellow of the International Science Council.