| List of Figures | p. ix |
| List of Tables | p. xiii |
| Foreword | p. xv |
| Preface | p. xvii |
| Stoichiometry and Homeostasis | p. 1 |
| Scope | p. 3 |
| Stoichiometry and Homeostasis | p. 8 |
| Yield | p. 25 |
| The Redfield Ratio | p. 27 |
| Conventions and Concerns about Element Ratios | p. 31 |
| Some Conventions about Growth Rate | p. 34 |
| A Logical Framework | p. 35 |
| The Structure of This Book | p. 40 |
| Summary and Synthesis | p. 41 |
| Key Definitions | p. 42 |
| Biological Chemistry: Building Cells from Elements | p. 44 |
| The Basis for Selection of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in Biochemical Evolution | p. 45 |
| The Elemental Composition of Major Biochemicals | p. 51 |
| Cell Components: The Elemental Composition of Cellular Structures | p. 66 |
| Summary and Synthesis | p. 78 |
| The Stoichiometry of Autotroph Growth: Variation at the Base of Food Webs | p. 80 |
| Cellular and Physiological Bases | p. 81 |
| C:N:P Stoichiometry of Entire Higher Plants | p. 87 |
| Autotrophs in Captivity | p. 89 |
| Theories of Autotroph Stoichiometry | p. 107 |
| Autotrophs in the Wild: Oceans, Lakes, and Land | p. 120 |
| Causes of Variation in Autotroph C:N:P in Nature | p. 127 |
| Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry | p. 132 |
| Summary and Synthesis | p. 133 |
| How to Build an Animal: The Stoichiometry of Metazoans | p. 135 |
| Biochemical and Biological Determinants of Body Elemental Composition | p. 136 |
| Invertebrate Stoichiometry: C:N:P in Zooplankton and Insects | p. 138 |
| Determinants of C:N:P in Invertebrates: The Growth Rate Hypothesis | p. 142 |
| Molecular Biology and the C:N:P Stoichiometry of Growth, or Ecosystem Scientists Go Astray | p. 150 |
| A Simple Molecular-Kinetic Model of the Growth Rate-C:N:P Connection | p. 160 |
| Structural Investment and the Stoichiometry of Vertebrates | p. 168 |
| Elemental Composition and Body Size | p. 171 |
| Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry | p. 175 |
| Summary and Synthesis | p. 178 |
| Imbalanced Resources and Animal Growth | p. 179 |
| Mass Balance in Growth Processes | p. 180 |
| Maximizing Yield in Chemistry and in Ecology | p. 185 |
| Limiting Factors for Heterotroph Growth: Development of Threshold Element Ratio Theory | p. 189 |
| A New Minimal Model of the Stoichiometry of Secondary Production | p. 197 |
| Some Real World Problems in Stoichiometric Balance | p. 205 |
| Growth Efficiency | p. 222 |
| Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry | p. 227 |
| Summary and Synthesis | p. 229 |
| The Stoichiometry of Consumer-Driven Nutrient Recycling | p. 231 |
| A Brief History of Studies of Consumer-Driven Nutrient Recycling | p. 232 |
| Stoichiometric Theories of Consumer-Driven Nutrient Recycling | p. 235 |
| Evidence That Consumers Differentially Recycle Nitrogen and Phosphorus | p. 245 |
| Microbial Mineralization | p. 249 |
| The Stoichiometry of Consumer-Driven Nutrient Recycling by Vertebrates | p. 252 Catalyst |
| Summary and Synthesis | p. 260 |
| Stoichiometry in Communities: Dynamics and Interactions | p. 262 |
| Species Interactions | p. 264 |
| Positive Feedbacks and Multiple Stable States | p. 277 |
| Trophic Cascades | p. 291 |
| Light: Nutrient Effects at the Community Level | p. 298 |
| Feedbacks Owing to the "Constraints of Stuff": C:N Ratios in Tall-Grass Prairie | p. 307 |
| Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry | p. 308 |
| Summary and Synthesis | p. 310 |
| Big-Scale Stoichiometry: Ecosystems in Space and Time | p. 313 |
| Empirical Patterns in Ecosystem Stoichiometry | p. 315 |
| Linkages in the Stoichiometry of Biomass Yield: Using One Substance to Obtain Another | p. 336 |
| Nutrient Use Efficiency at the Ecosystem Level | p. 341 |
| The Stoichiometry of Food-Chain Production: A New Term, Carbon Use Efficiency | p. 348 |
| The Fate of Primary Production | p. 350 |
| Global Change | p. 354 |
| Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry | p. 364 |
| Summary and Synthesis | p. 366 |
| Recapitulation and Integration | p. 370 |
| Recapitulation | p. 370 |
| Integration: Toward a Biological Stoichiometry of Living Systems | p. 376 Appendix |
| Literature Cited | p. 385 |
| Index | p. 431 |
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