Alstad, D. 2001. Basic Populus Models of Ecology. Prentice Hall:
Upper Saddle River NJ.
This small handbook is designed to help students use the POPULUS computer
software to understand ecological models and principles. The format of this
manual is very clear – it has introductory background material and then a
clear description of the model involved. There are follow-up questions at
the end of each chapter or exercise. There are six chapters, and several are
devoted exclusively to population growth. The last chapter is called “Infectious
Microparasitic Diseases” and includes discussion of the evolution of virulence
with an accompanying exercise. This looks like an invaluable resource for
people teaching evolutionary ecology classes, but it probably has less utility
for those teaching a general evolution course, although there are certainly
segments that would be valuable to the latter group (especially the evolution
of virulence portion).