“精要速览系列（Instant Notes Series）”是国外教材“Best Seller”榜的上榜教材。该系列结构新颖，视角独特；重点明确，脉络分明；图表简明清晰；英文自然易懂，被国内多所重点院校选用作为双语教材。先锋版是继“现代生物学精要速览”之后推出的跨学科的升级版本。
本书是该系统中的《生态学（第二版）》分册，全书共24章，介绍了环境中各因素的作用、种群生态学、生物竞争、寄生和互生、群落和群落动力学等，新版在第一版的基础上内容进行了全面修订和扩充，增加了该领域的最新发展和前沿。
本书是指导大学生快速掌握生态学和环境科学基础知识的优秀教材。也是辅助教师授课的极佳教学参考书。同时可供相关专业的研究生参考。

Abbreviations
Preface
Section A - Introduction to ecology
A1 What is ecology?
A2 Ten rules in ecology
Section B - Adaptation to the environment
B1 Adaptation
B2 Coping with environmental variation
B3 The niche
Section C - Climate
C1 Solar radiation and climate
C2 Microclimate
Section D - Water
D1 The properties of water
D2 Plants and water
D3 Animals and water
Section E - Temperature
E1 Temperature and metabolism
E2 Responses to temperature
E3 Temperature and species distribution
Section F - Radiation
F1 Solar radiation and plants
Section G - Nutrients
G1 Sources and cycles
G2 Plants and consumers
G3 Soil formation, properties and classification
Section H - Population ecology
H1 Populations and population structure
H2 Natality, mortality and population growth
H3 Density and density dependence
H4 Population dynamics - fluctuations, cycles and chaos
Section I - Competition
I1 The nature of competition
I2 Intraspecific competfion
I3 Resource partitioning
Section J - Predation
J1 The nature of predation
J2 Predator behavior and prey response
Section K - Parasitism
K1 The nature of parasitism
K2 The dynamics of parasitism
Section L - Mutualism
L1 Mutualism
Section M - Life history patterns
M1 Life history
Section N - Behavioral ecology
N1 Social groups, cooperation and altruism
N2 Sex in ecology
Section O - Population genetics
O1 Genetic variation
02 Speciation
Section P - Ecosystem processes
P1 Components and processes
P2 Primary and secondary production
P3 Food chains
Section Q - Communities
Q1 The community, structure and stability
Q2 Island communities and colonization
Q3 Community patterns, competition and predation
Section R - Community dynamics
R1 Succession
R2 Community responses to disturbance
Section S - Biomes
S1 Ecosystem patterns
$2 Grasslands
$3 Tundra
$4 Forests
$5 Deserts, semi-deserts and shrubland
$6 Saltwater biomes
$7 Freshwater biomes
Section T - Harvesting
T1 Harvesting theory
T2 Fishing and whaling
Section U - Pest control
U1 The pest problem and control strategies
U2 Pesticides and problems
U3 Biological control and integrated pest management
Section V - Conservation
V1 Rare species, habitat loss and extinction
V2 Conservation strategies
V3 Biological resources and gene banks
Section W - Pollution and global warming
W1 Air, water and soil pollutants
W2 Greenhouse gases and global warming
W3 Ozone
Section X - The ecology of agriculture
X1 Soil erosion and agriculture
X2 Nutrient, water and energy use
Further reading