Tom Royama is well known for his field studies of Great Tit and Spruce Budworm, and his contribution to theoretical ecology through the innovative application of stochastic processes. His previous book, Analytical Population Dynamics (1992), had a significant impact on population ecology. He was also a recipient of a Gold Medal of Entomological Society of Canada in 1994.
'This would be a valuable text for quantitative ecology courses. While manageable for interested general readers, its emphasis on mathematical applications and predictive parameters would make it most useful in advanced courses as a source of real-world examples. Mathematicians, too, may find the text valuable for teaching modeling in general, to supplement econometric, demographic, and climate models.' J. Burger, Choice