Ecological Microcosms is a seminal work which reviews the expanding field of enclosed ecosystem research, and relates the results and models of microcosm studies to general concepts in ecology. Microcosms are miniaturized pieces of our biosphere, ranging from streams and lakes to terraria, agroecosystems, and waste systems. The study of these simplified ecosystems is providing provocative insights into ecological principles as well as issues of environmental management and global stability. The authors have used the well-known thermodynamic approach of H.T. Odum and numerous computer simulations. The book also includes an evaluation of alternative mesocosm approaches for the support of humans in space, as well as appendices to aid in the teaching of environmental concepts using student-created microcosms. Ecological Microcosms will be of interest to ecologists, environmental engineers, policy makers and environmental managers, space scientists, and educators. Robert J. Beyers is a Professor of Biology at the University of South Alabama. Howard T. Odum is Graduate Research Professor of Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida, and was awarded, with Eugene Odum, the 1987 Crafoord Prize in the Biosciences.

The fifth edition includes new sections on the use of adverse outcome pathways, how climate change changes how we think about toxicology, and a new chapter on contaminants of emerging concern. Additional information is provided on the derivation of exposure-response curves to describe toxicity and they are compared to the use of hypothesis testing. The text is unified around the theme of describing the entire cause-effect pathway from the importance of chemical structure in determining exposure and interaction with receptors to the use of complex systems and hierarchical patch dynamic theory to describe effects to landscapes.