Principles of Ecotoxicology - 9781439862667

"Preface to Fourth Edition Since publication of the first edition of Principles of Ecotoxicology, both David Peakall and Steve Hopkin have died--serious losses to the international scientific community. Both made key contributions to the first two editions and this fourth edition is dedicated to their memories. The origins of this book lie in the MSc course titled "Ecotoxicology of Natural Populations," first taught at Reading in 1991. Ecotoxicology was then emerging as a distinct subject of interdisciplinary character. The structure of the course reflected this characteristic and was taught by people of widely differing backgrounds ranging from chemistry and biochemistry to population genetics and ecology. Combining the different disciplines in an integrated way was something of a challenge. The experience of teaching the course persuaded the authors of the need for a textbook that would deal with the basic principles of such a wide-ranging subject. The intention has been to approach ecotoxicology in a broad interdisciplinary way, cutting across traditional subject boundaries. However, the nature of the text is bound to reflect the experiences and interests of the authors"--Provided by publisher.