Download or read book Desertified Grasslands written by Geoffrey Peter Chapman and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A treatment of desertified grasslands that deals with botanical assets and ecological liabilities, evolving management strategies and physiological and genetic studies.
Download or read book The Desert Grassland written by Mitchel P. McClaran and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2023-05-23 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The mixed grass and shrub vegetation known to scientists as desert grassland is common to the basins and valleys that skirt the mountain ranges throughout southwestern North America, extending from Arizona, New Mexico and Texas down through thirteen Mexican states. This variegated ground cover is crucial to life in an arid environment. The Desert Grassland offers the most comprehensive study to date of these flora and the rich biotic communities they support. Leading experts in geography, biology, botany, zoology, and geoscience present new research on the desert grassland and review a vast amount of earlier work. They reveal that present-day grasses once grew in the ice-age forests that existed in these areas before the climate dried and the trees vanished and how the intensity and frequency of fire can influence the plant and animal species of the grassland. They also document how the influence of humans—from Amerindians to contemporary ranchers, public land managers, and real estate developers—has changed the relative abundance of woody and herbaceous species and how the introduction of new plants and domesticated animals to the area has also affected biodiversity. The book concludes with a review of the attempts, both failed and successful, to reestablish plants in desert grasslands affected by overgrazing, drought, and farm abandonment. Meticulously researched and copiously illustrated, The Desert Grassland is a major contribution to ecological literature. For advanced lay readers as well as students and scholars of history, geography, and ecology, it will be a standard reference work for years to come.
Download or read book Grasslands written by Stephen Reynolds and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2019-05-14 with total page 556 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at significant current grassland problems and issues, and provides an insight into grassland productivity in diverse areas of the world, with their various production systems. There is a focus on recent technical advances and the prospects for further innovation, through twenty-one chapters by eminent grassland scientists, grouped i
Download or read book Mechanisms of Range Expansion and Removal of Mesquite in Desert Grasslands of the Southwestern United States written by Thomas B. Wilson and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the last 150 years, two species of mesquite trees in the Southwestern United States have become increasingly common in what formerly was desert grassland. These trees have spread from nearby watercourses onto relatively xeric upland areas, decreasing rangeland grass production. Management attempts to limit or reverse this spread have been largely unsuccessful. This paper reviews studies regarding mesquite natural history and management strategies, emphasizing studies published during the past decade. Mesquite possess a deep root system and are capable of fixing atmospheric N, rendering them capable of accessing resources unavailable to other plants in open rangeland. Their seeds, which remain viable for decades, have a hard exocarp and require scarification before germination. Consumption by cattle provides a means of scarification and seed dispersal, and is a major factor contributing to the spread of mesquite in open rangelands. Increases in atmospheric CO2 and winter precipitation during the past century also contribute to enhanced seed germination. Removal techniques have included herbicides, prescribed burning, grazing reduction, and mechanical removal. For increased effectiveness of these techniques, management goals must be clearly articulated; these goals include complete removal, no removal, and limited removal. Of these, limited removal appears the most feasible, using an initial herbicide application followed by periodic prescribed burning.
Download or read book Vegetation based Degradation and Restoration on the Alpine Grasslands of the Tibetan Plateau written by Yanfu Bai and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2024-08-13 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Known as the “roof of the world,” the Tibetan Plateau is the highest and largest plateau on Earth. Tibetan Plateau hosts several mountain ecosystems characterized by high elevations, cold conditions, and a wide range in water availability. Its unique physical and geographical environment includes ecosystems typical for alpine regions, classified as alpine grasslands, which account for 50-70% of the total land area of the Tibetan plateau. Most of these grasslands contain fragile tundra-like environments which are seriously affected by anthropogenic modifications and whose restoration presents a challenge. These natural grassland types include alpine deserts, alpine steppes, alpine meadows, and alpine swamp meadows along precipitation gradients, as well as the transition types between them. Alpine grasslands remain subject to severe degradation by multiple factors, mainly overgrazing and climate warming. As a result, grasslands exhibit a decreased capacity to support biodiversity and complexity, and more generally, ecosystem functions. Therefore, these changes also affect social and recreational activities and restrict access to clean water and food by local communities.
Download or read book The Desert Grassland written by Mitchel P. McClaran and published by . This book was released on 1995-11 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Leading experts in geography, biology, botany, zoology, and geoscience present new research on the desert grassland and review a vast amount of earlier work. They reveal that present-day grasses once grew in the ice age forests that existed in these areas before the climate dried and the trees vanished, and how the intensity and frequency of fire can influence the plant and animal species of the grassland.
Download or read book Rangeland Desertification written by Olafur Arnalds and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Desertification has occurred worldwide. The biophysical and socio-economic complexity of this phenomenon has challenged our ability to categorize, inventory, monitor and repair the condition of degraded lands. One of the most important distinctions to be made in relation to land degradation is between cultivated land used for annual crop production and `rangelands'. Grazing by free-roaming livestock is the traditional primary use of the world's rangelands. However, there is growing recognition of the importance of these vast acreages for wildlife habitat, hydrology and ground water recharge, recreation and aesthetics. This text focuses on the desertification of rangelands and explores processes, problems and solutions. Chapters in the first section evaluate interactions between `natural' and human-induced disturbance regimes, thresholds, and non-linear change with respect to vegetation, hydrology, nutrients and erosion. Chapters in the second section examine socio-economic constraints and approaches for preventing and reversing degradation. The book provides a contemporary, process-oriented perspective on rangeland degradation of value to students, policy-makers and professionals alike.
Download or read book Grasslands and Grassland Sciences in Northern China written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1992-02-01 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume describes one of the most extensive grassland ecosystems and the efforts of Chinese scientists to understand it. Leading Chinese scientists attribute the decline in China's grasslands to overgrazing and excessive cultivation of marginal areas and discuss measures to limit the damage. The book gives its view on the Chinese approach to the study of grasslands and the relevance of this activity in China to global scientific concerns.
Download or read book Structure and Function of a Chihuahuan Desert Ecosystem written by Kris M. Havstad and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006-07-20 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Jornada Basin LTER is located in the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest in North America. This region of south central New Mexico has a history of nearly 100 years as the basis for scientific research. This work gives a thorough, encompassing review of the tremendous array of observations resulting from experiments conducted in this ecosystem. Beginning with thorough descriptions of the most salient features of the region, the book then reviews a wide range of archived and active data sets on a diversity of biotic and abiotic features. It next presents a syntheses of important topics including livestock grazing and remediation efforts. A concluding chapter provides a synthesis of the principles that have emerged from this body of work, and how these relate to the broader fields of ecology and natural resource management. It concludes with recommendations for future research directions. The insightful views expressed in this volume should guide management of arid landscapes globally. This is the sixth volume in the Long Term Ecological Network Series.
Download or read book Grassland Ecosystems of China written by Linghao Li and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-09-29 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive overview of grassland ecosystems based on publications by Chinese scholars. It offers an up-to-date review of the recent advances in grassland research in China, discusses the climatic and physical conditions governing the grasslands, describes their types and distribution, and introduces a new classification scheme for grassland ecosystems. Further, it details the plant, animal, and microbial compositions of each grassland ecosystem type, examining the above and below ground relationships between phytomass, vegetation succession, and past/current management practices with a particular focus on the steppes in China. It also includes references that are only available in the Chinese language. This scientifically rigorous book offers insights into knowledge gaps for the scientific community and identifies pressing issues facing practitioners of grassland ecology and management. It can be used as a textbook for undergraduate and graduate students in ecology, environmental science, natural resource management, agriculture, and other relevant fields, and is also a valuable reference resource for researchers studying drylands in China or around the globe.
Download or read book The Ecology of Place written by Ian Billick and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecologists can spend a lifetime researching a small patch of the earth, studying the interactions between organisms and the environment, and exploring the roles those interactions play in determining distribution, abundance, and evolutionary change. With so few ecologists and so many systems to study, generalizations are essential. But how do you extrapolate knowledge about a well-studied area and apply it elsewhere? Through a range of original essays written by eminent ecologists and naturalists, The Ecology of Place explores how place-focused research yields exportable general knowledge as well as practical local knowledge, and how society can facilitate ecological understanding by investing in field sites, place-centered databases, interdisciplinary collaborations, and field-oriented education programs that emphasize natural history. This unique patchwork of case-study narratives, philosophical musings, and historical analyses is tied together with commentaries from editors Ian Billick and Mary Price that develop and synthesize common threads. The result is a unique volume rich with all-too-rare insights into how science is actually done, as told by scientists themselves.
Download or read book Leaf functional traits Ecological and evolutionary implications written by and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2023-04-14 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Comprehensive Land Consolidation in China written by Yan Jinming and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-02-20 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book systematically investigates the strategy and practice of comprehensive land consolidation in China by assessing the objective of the program and its implementation. In the first part of the book, the authors first review the development and historical policy of land consolidation and land rehabilitation, with a focus on initiatives inaugurated in China since the 1980s. The following three chapters analyze different modes, approaches, and measures of land consolidation. The second part focuses on planning patterns designed and implemented in different territorial and geographical regions in China, including urban and rural areas, ecological function zones, mining areas, and coastal regions and islands. It also looks into the institutional basis, supportive measures, and mechanisms for the coordinated regional implementation of land consolidation at the macro, medium, and micro levels. Based on their findings, the authors advance ten actionable policy suggestions on the promotion of China’s land consolidation. The title will appeal to scholars, students, and policy makers interested in economic management, land planning, and natural resources management.
Download or read book Connecting Mountain Islands and Desert Seas written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 652 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Grasses and Grassland Ecology written by David J. Gibson and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2008-10-30 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grasslands, in particular managed pastures and rangelands, are widespread, covering approximately 40% (52 million km2) of the Earth's land surface. They are dominated by members of the Poaceae - the fourth largest plant family with over 7,500 species, and also the most widespread. Grasslands constitute a major biome on all continents except Antarctica and also represent the most important food crop on Earth with corn, wheat, maize, rice and millet accounting for the majority of our agricultural output. Grasses and Grassland Ecology provides an ecologically orientated introduction to this influential group of plants, summarizing the most recent scientific research in ecology and agriculture in the context of the older, classic literature. Ten chapters cover the morphology, anatomy, physiology and systematics of grasses, their population, community and ecosystem ecology, their global distribution, and the effects of disturbance and grassland management. This comprehensive and accessible textbook is suitable for graduate level students as well as professional researchers in the fields of plant ecology, rangeland science, crop science, and agriculture.
Download or read book Ecosystem Management written by Fred B. Samson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1996-05-29 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: processes; (3) ensure the integrity of ecosys- The theory and practice of ecosystem manage- tems; and (4) advocate the sustainable use of ment is pivotal to the debate over how to sustain the health and productivity of our envi- natural resources. In this book, each of these ronment. In particular, the role of ecosystems four topics is addressed by a set of eight key in preserving biological diversity, their contri- journal articles. The first article in each section bution to economic growth, and their influence provides an overview, followed by case histo- ries and a concluding paper which is a commen- on human well-being is highly controversial tary on the difficulty of the issue or assesses its (Lubchenco et al. 1991). Traditional resource management does not protect natural values future direction. An article by Risser provides a (Sax 1993) or provide for the sustainable pro- closing synthesis to this collection. duction of goods and services (Barnes 1993). The authors of the articles in Part 1-Under- Yet a number of researchers and managers stand Diversity - speak to the current problems further question the ability of science to pro- and directions in the conservation of biological vide sufficiently powerful tools for the under- diversity. Tilman and Downing argue that standing and implementation of ecosystem preservation of native biodiversity is essential management (Clark 1996).
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Deserts written by Michael A. Mares and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2017-01-19 with total page 695 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Encyclopedia of Deserts represents a milestone: it is the first comprehensive reference to the first comprehensive reference to deserts and semideserts of the world. Approximately seven hundred entries treat subjects ranging from desert survival to the way deserts are formed. Topics include biology (birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, invertebrates, plants, bacteria, physiology, evolution), geography, climatology, geology, hydrology, anthropology, and history. The thirty-seven contributors, including volume editor Michael A. Mares, have had extensive careers in deserts research, encompassing all of the world’s arid and semiarid regions. The Encyclopedia opens with a subject list by topic, an organizational guide that helps the reader grasp interrelationships and complexities in desert systems. Each entry concludes with cross-references to other entries in the volume, inviting the reader to embark on a personal expedition into fascinating, previously unknown terrain. In addition a list of important readings facilitates in-depth study of each topic. An exhaustive index permits quick access to places, topics, and taxonomic listings of all plants and animals discussed. More than one hundred photographs, drawings, and maps enhance our appreciation of the remarkable life, landforms, history, and challenges of the world’s arid land.
