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Alpine Plant Life
Generations of plant scientists have been fascinated by alpine plant lifean ecosystem that experiences dramatic climatic gradients over a very short distance. This comprehensive book examines a wide range of topics including alpine climate and soils, plant distribution and the treeline phenomenon, plant stress and development, global change at high elevation, and the human impact on alpine vegetation. Geographically, the book covers all parts of the world including the tropics.
Alpine Treelines
Alpine treelines mark the low-temperature limit of tree growth and occur in mountains world-wide. Presenting a companion to his book Alpine Plant Life, Christian Körner provides a global synthesis of the treeline phenomenon from sub-arctic to equatorial latitudes and a functional explanation based on the biology of trees. The comprehensive text approaches the subject in a multi-disciplinary way by exploring forest patterns at the edge of tree life, tree morphology, anatomy, climatology and, based on this, modelling treeline position, describing reproduction and population processes, development, phenology, evolutionary aspects, as well as summarizing evidence on the physiology of carbon, water and nutrient relations, and stress physiology. It closes with an account on treelines in the past (palaeo-ecology) and a section on global change effects on treelines, now and in the future. With more than 100 illustrations, many of them in colour, the book shows alpine treelines from around the globe and offers a wealth of scientific information in the form of diagrams and tables.
Alpine Plant Life
This book is a completely revised, substantially extended treatment of the physical and biological factors that drive life in high mountains. The book covers the characteristics of alpine plant life, alpine climate and soils, life under snow, stress tolerance, treeline ecology, plant water, carbon, and nutrient relations, plant growth and productivity, developmental processes, and two largely novel chapters on alpine plant reproduction and global change biology. The book explains why the topography driven exposure of plants to dramatic micro-climatic gradients over very short distances causes alpine biodiversity to be particularly robust against climatic change. Geographically, this book dra...
Forest Diversity and Function
One of the central research themes in ecology is evaluating the extent to which biological richness is necessary to sustain the Earth's system and the functioning of individual ecosystems. In this volume, for the first time, the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem processes in forests is thoroughly explored. The text examines the multiple effects of tree diversity on productivity and growth, biogeochemical cycles, animals, pests, and disturbances. Further, the importance of diversity at different scales, ranging from stand management to global issues, is considered. The authors provide both extensive reviews of the existing literature and own datasets. The volume is ideally suited for researchers and practitioners involved in ecosystem management and the sustainable use of forest resources.
Alpine Biodiversity in Europe
The United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, spawned a multitude of pro grammes aimed at assessing, managing and conserving the earth's biological diversity. One important issue addressed at the conference was the mountain environment. A specific feature of high mountains is the so-called alpine zone, i. e. the treeless regions at the uppermost reaches. Though covering only a very small proportion of the land surface, the alpine zone contains a rela tively large number of plants, animals, fungi and microbes which are specifi cally adapted to cold environments. This zone contributes fundamentally to the planet's biodiversity and pro...
Carbon Dioxide, Populations, and Communities
In past decades and in association with a continuing global industrial development, the global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has been rising. Among the many predictions made concerning this disturbing trend is global warming sufficient to melt polar ice-caps thereby dramatically altering existing shorelines. This book will help fill an obvious gap in the carbon dioxide debate by substituting date for speculation.* * Includes contributions from leading authorities around the world* Serves as a companion to Carbon Dioxide and Terrestrial Ecosystems* The first book of its kind to explore evolutionary responses of both populations and communities to elevated carbon dioxide
Arctic and Alpine Biodiversity: Patterns, Causes and Ecosystem Consequences
As human populations expand and have increasing access to technol ogy, two general environmental concerns have arisen. First, human pop ulations are having increasing impact on the earth system, such that we are altering the biospheric carbon pools, basic processes of elemental cycling and the climate system of the earth. Because of time lags and feedbacks, these processes are not easily reversed. These alterations are occurring now more rapidly than at any time in the last several million years. Secondly, human activities are causing changes in the earth's biota that lead to species extinctions at a rate and magnitude rivaling those of past geologic extinction events. Although environmental...
Plant Diversity in the Central Great Caucasus: A Quantitative Assessment
This book presents the first assessment of the high-elevation flora of the Central Caucasus with a community ecology emphasis. Following a geostatistical-climatological description of the region (in comparison to the European Alps), it describes the montane, alpine and nival plant assemblages on the basis of an ecological approach that combines moisture, soils and local habitat peculiarities. Highlights include the famous giant herb communities in treeless parts of the upper montane belt, the various facets of alpine turf, and the unique assemblages and settings in the nival region. Further chapters address potential niche conservation between the Caucasus and the Alps, as well as a compilation of plant species habitat preferences (indicator values) that applies to a concept developed for the Alps. Richly illustrated and featuring extensive quantitative data on species abundance, the book offers a unique guide to the plant species diversity of this prominent mountain range, and a valuable resource for comparative ecology and biodiversity assessments of warm temperate mountain systems.
Mountain Biodiversity
This book is the result of the first global conference on mountain biodiversity, and is a contribution to the International Year of Mountains, 2002. The Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment program is a Special Target Area Region project of DIVERSITAS (UNESCO and UNEP). Biological diversity is essential for the integrity of mountain ecosystems and this dependency is likely to increase as environmental (climate) and social conditions change. Steep terrain and climate, and severe land-use pressure cause mountain ecosystems to rank among the world's most endangered landscapes. The 28 chapters in this book represent research on the biological riches in all major mountain ranges of the world, and synthesize existing knowledge on mountain biodiversity - from diversity of bacteria, plants and animals to human diversity. The book is divided into five sections: an introduction providing an overview of the issues; plant and animal diversity; climate change and mountain biodiversity; land use and conservation; and a synthesis.
Data Mining for Global Trends in Mountain Biodiversity
Thanks to advances in electronic archiving of biodiversity data and the digitization of climate and other geophysical data, a new era in biogeography, functional ecology, and evolutionary ecology has begun. In Data Mining for Global Trends in Mountain Biodiversity, Christian Korner, Eva M. Spehn, and a team of experts from the Global Mountain Biodi
