@book {Bolker2008Ecological,
	title = {Ecological Models and Data in R},
	year = {2008},
	month = {July},
	publisher = {Princeton University Press},
	organization = {Princeton University Press},
	edition = {508},
	abstract = {\_Ecological Models and Data in R\_ is the first truly practical introduction to modern statistical methods for ecology. In step-by-step detail, the book teaches ecology graduate students and researchers everything they need to know in order to use maximum likelihood, information-theoretic, and Bayesian techniques to analyze their own data using the programming language R. Drawing on extensive experience teaching these techniques to graduate students in ecology, Benjamin Bolker shows how to choose among and construct statistical models for data, estimate their parameters and confidence limits, and interpret the results. The book also covers statistical frameworks, the philosophy of statistical modeling, and critical mathematical functions and probability distributions. It requires no programming background{\textendash}only basic calculus and statistics. * Practical, beginner-friendly introduction to modern statistical techniques for ecology using the programming language R * Step-by-step instructions for fitting models to messy, real-world data * Balanced view of different statistical approaches * Wide coverage of techniques{\textendash}from simple (distribution fitting) to complex (state-space modeling) * Techniques for data manipulation and graphical display * Companion Web site with data and R code for all examples},
	keywords = {ecology, models},
	isbn = {0691125228},
	url = {http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/0691125228},
	author = {Bolker, Benjamin M.}
}
@article {Holdo2009DiseaseMediated,
	title = {A Disease-Mediated Trophic Cascade in the Serengeti and its Implications for Ecosystem C},
	journal = {PLoS Biol},
	volume = {7},
	number = {9},
	year = {2009},
	month = {September},
	pages = {e1000210+},
	publisher = {Public Library of Science},
	abstract = {Tree cover is a fundamental structural characteristic and driver of ecosystem processes in terrestrial ecosystems, and trees are a major global carbon (C) sink. Fire and herbivores have been hypothesized to play dominant roles in regulating trees in African savannas, but the evidence for this is conflicting. Moving up a trophic scale, the factors that regulate fire occurrence and herbivores, such as disease and predation, are poorly understood for any given ecosystem. We used a Bayesian state-space model to show that the wildebeest population irruption that followed disease (rinderpest) eradication in the Serengeti ecosystem of East Africa led to a widespread reduction in the extent of fire and an ongoing recovery of the tree population. This supports the hypothesis that disease has played a key role in the regulation of this ecosystem. We then link our state-space model with theoretical and empirical results quantifying the effects of grazing and fire on soil carbon to predict that this cascade may have led to important shifts in the size of pools of C stored in soil and biomass. Our results suggest that the dynamics of herbivores and fire are tightly coupled at landscape scales, that fire exerts clear top-down effects on tree density, and that disease outbreaks in dominant herbivores can lead to complex trophic cascades in savanna ecosystems. We propose that the long-term status of the Serengeti and other intensely grazed savannas as sources or sinks for C may be fundamentally linked to the control of disease outbreaks and poaching.},
	keywords = {climate-change, co2, fire, grazing, vegetation},
	doi = {10.1371/journal.pbio.1000210},
	url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1000210},
	author = {Holdo, Ricardo M. and Sinclair, Anthony R. E. and Dobson, Andrew P. and Metzger, Kristine L. and Bolker, Benjamin M. and Ritchie, Mark E. and Holt, Robert D.}
}
