The argument developed in this book is that much of the evolved nature of a species or higher taxon has a direct causative influence on the central issues concerning the ecology of that taxon: distribution, abundance, and population dynamics. Therefore, the macroevolutionary basis of a taxon is essential for understanding the fundamentals of ecology. This approach has not been advocated or subscribed to in the literature, neither in classical ecological texts such as Allee et al. (1949), Andrewartha and Birch (1954), and Odum (1959), nor in current volumes (e.g. Colinvaux 1993; Begon et al. 1996; Ricklefs 1997; Stiling 1998; Ricklefs and Miller 2000). More specialized approaches to population ecology emphasize direct environmental conditions rather than the overarching involvement of macroevolution (e.g., Royama 1992; Brown 1995; Den Boer and Reddingius 1996; Rhodes et al. 1996; Hanski and Gilpin 1997).

The study of the distribution, abundance, and population dynamics of species has been a central focus for ecologists for at least a century, as emphasized by Andrewartha and Birch (1954). “Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms” (Krebs 1994, p. 3). Driven by pragmatism, the need to understand populations was prompted by burgeoning human populations (e.g. Malthus 1798; Verhulst 1838; Pearl and Reed 1920), plagues of agricultural pests (e.g. Waloff 1946), defoliating forest insects (e.g. Bodenheimer 1930; Schwerdtfeger 1941), human diseases, and the vectors of etiological agents (e.g. Smith and Kilbourne 1893; Zinsser 1935; Manson-Bahr 1963).