Errata

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[1] Kitchen sink experiment, p. 11. In TBox 1.2 we assumed proportionality of the outflow rate to the water pressure, therefore to the volume V of the water in the vessel. This proportionality is valid only, if the outflow has to percolate through e.g. some soil. That is, TBox 1.2 is a better description of soil water in nature than of the experiment in Figure 1.3.

When the water is able to run out unblocked, the square of the outflow rate is proportional to the water pressure per Bernoullli’s principle. It is a consequence of energy conservation: potential energy of the water is converted to its kinetic energy. If the outflow meets resistance, mechanical energy is dissipated to heat and Bernoulli’s principle is no longer valid.

The main point of TBox 1.2 is that any kind of negative feedback behaves like this, as any dynamics can be linearized near to a stable fixed point. Therefore, the kitchen sink experiment still gives the correct impression. (Thanks to András Szilágyi for discussion.)

[2] Spacecrafts, p. 28. The space probes that exhibited the “Pioneer anomaly” while leaving the Solar System were called as Pioneer 10 and 11. Not to be confused with Voyager 1 and 2. The latter ones have also left the Solar System by now, but they did not show the anomaly by rather mundane reasons.

[3] Figure legend, p. 153. The B values are erroneous in Figure 8.16a. The correct values from top-to-bottom are B = 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, i.e., the other way around.

[4] Figure caption, p. 172. In the bottom line of the legend of Figure 9.1 it is det a < 0, instead of >0 for subplot b), as exlained in the main text of the TBox below Equation (9.9).

[5] Figure legend, p. 175. The axis labels are erronous in Figure 9.6. Each division corresponds 100 flies on both axis, so the numbers should be 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 2000, 2400.

[6] Sign error, p. 185. Equation (9.26) in TBox 9.3 needs a “-” sign on the right hand side, analogously to Eq. (9.24). It is a consequence of our sign convention for the competition matrix: positive entries describe negative interactions, like in the Lotka-Volterra model (TBox 9.1, p. 171). Equation (9.27) happens to be correct, as written, for two species. It is because the determinant of a 2×2 matrix is unaffected by a sign change for all entries. A negative sign would be needed here for odd number of species.

[7] Incorrect phrasing, p. 189. In TBox 9.4 the sentence before-after Equation (9.28) is not enitrelly correct. Correctly:

“Using the notations introduced in TBox 6.2, the initial growth rate of the second population is,

Equ. (9.28)

where the last term of the first expression represents the death rate in the second population due to overcolonization by the first one. (The expression in the bracket is the equilibrium density of the first species.)”

[8] Log notation, p. 204. The vertical scale of Figure 10.4 is natural logarithm, which is denoted by ‘ln’ through the book. (Thanks to Lars Götzenberger and Jan Leps for reporting this inconsistency in their review.)