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This book explores the broader impacts arising from collaborative and multidisciplinary participation in the Long-Term Ecological (LTER) Program with regard to personal perspectives, attitudes, and practices. A series of retrospective essays addresses probing questions to uncover the extent to which participation has affected the ways that scientists conduct research, educate students, or provide outreach. Concluding chapters integrate and synthesize the findings from the essays from historical, behavioral, sociological perspectives.
I was asked to introduce this volume by examining "why a knowledge of ecosys tem functioning can contribute to understanding species activities, dynamics, and assemblages." I have found it surprisingly difficult to address this topic. On the one hand, the answer is very simple and general: because all species live in ecosystems, they are part of and dependent on ecosystem processes. It is impossible to understand the abundance and distribution of populations and the species diversity and composition of communities without a knowledge of their abiotic and biotic environments and of the fluxes of energy and mat ter through the ecosystems of which they are a part. But everyone knows this. It is what ecology is all about (e.g., Likens, 1992). It is why the discipline has retained its integrity and thrived, despite a sometimes distressing degree of bickering and chauvinism among its various subdisciplines: physiological, be havioral, population, community, and ecosystem ecology.
This book focuses on the interactive effects of environmental stresses with plant and ecosystem functions, especially with respect to changes in the abundance of carbon dioxide. The interaction of stresses with elevated carbon dioxide are presented from the cellular through whole plant ecosystem level. The book carefully considers not only the responses of the above-ground portion of the plant, but also emphasizes the critical role of below-ground (rhizosphere) components (e.g., roots, microbes, soil) in determining the nature and magnitude of these interactions.* Will rising CO2 alter the importance of environmental stress in natural and agricultural ecosystems?* Will environmental stress on plants reduce their capacity to remove CO2 from the atmosphere?* Are some stresses more important than others as we concern ourselves with global change?* Can we develop predictive models useful for scientists and policy-makers?* Where should future research efforts be focused?
The latest volume in the LTER series, this book presents the results and finding of the Long-Term Ecological Research site in the Alaskan Arctic, discussing Arctic ecology from a variety of perspectives and disciplines.
This groundbreaking work connects the knowledge of system function developed in ecosystem ecology with landscape ecology's knowledge of spatial structure. The book elucidates the challenges faced by ecosystem scientists working in spatially heterogeneous systems, relevant conceptual approaches used in other disciplines and in different ecosystem types, and the importance of spatial heterogeneity in conservation resource management.
As the global climate changes, there are concomitant changes in global biological productivity. This book is devoted to the assessment of terrestrial Net Primary Productivity ("the total amount of energy acquired by green plants during photosynthesis, minus the energy lost through respiration"--APDS&T, pp. 1457). The book is comprised of three major sections. The first section is a review of the processes that operate globally to influence productivity--these are the initial conditions of any model of primary productivity. The second section is comprised of chapters that assess the contribution of particular ecosystems to global productivity. The final major section contains chapters of a synthetic nature that describe attempts to model global productivity. This book should appeal to both ecologists and environmental scientists.
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Although, as W.D. Billings notes in his chapter in this book. the development of physiological ecology can be traced back to the very beginnings of the study of ecology it is clear that the modern development of this field in North America is due in the large part to the efforts of Billings alone. The foundation that Billings laid in the late 1950s came from his own studies on deserts and subsequently arctic and alpine plants, and also from his enormous success in instilling enthusiasm for the field in the numerous students attracted to the plant ecology program at Duke University. Billings' own studies provided the model for subsequent work in this field. Physiological techniques. normally ...
By demonstrating the importance of communication among social scientists, scientists in the natural sciences and stakeholders living in the Arctic, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the region's rapidly changing physical and human dimensions. In response to the tremendous challenges and opportunities facing the Arctic it is an essential resource for all Arctic researchers and those developing multidisciplinary projects. Representing a state-of-the-art overview of key areas of Arctic research by renowned specialists in the field, each chapter forms a detailed, varied and accessible account of current knowledge. Each author introduces the subject to a non-specialist readership, while retaining intellectual integrity and relevance for specialists. Overall, the richness of the material presented in this volume reflects the ecological and cultural diversity of this vast and environmentally critical part of the globe.
This volume takes a close look at the ways in which economies particularly that of the United States, have adjusted to the challenges climate change poses, including institutional features that help insulate the economy from shocks, new crop varieties, irrigation, flood control and ways of extending cultivation.