ABSTRACT
So far, this book has mainly described the effects of pollutants on individual organisms. In this chapter, we consider how populations should be described, how they should be analyzed, and the interpretations that may then be made as to the causes of population changes. The first six sections of the chapter are an exposition of population ecology theory, and some readers will find this quite heavy going. An attractive route for those encountering this material for the first time may be to begin by reading the case studies in Sections 12.7 and 12.8.
