Download or read book Forest Structure Function and Dynamics in Western Amazonia written by Randall W. Myster and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-03-20 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Amazon Basin contains the largest and most diverse tropical rainforest in the world. Besides the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean, the rainforest is bounded to the north by the Guiana crystalline shield and to the south by the Brazilian crystalline shield, marked at their edges by cataracts in the rivers and often dominated by grasslands. This book is motivated not just by the Amazon's scientific interest but also by its role in many ecosystem functions critical to life on Earth. These ecosystems are characterized both by their complexity and their interactive, higher-order linkages among both abiotic and biotic components. Within Amazonia, the Western Amazon (west of 65° latitude) is the most pristine and, perhaps, the most complex within the Amazon Basin. This Western Amazon may be broadly divided into non-flooded forests (e.g. terra firme, white sand, palm) and forests flooded with white water (generally referred to as várzea) and with black water (generally referred to as igapó). Here, for the first time, is a book devoted entirely to Western Amazonia, containing chapters by scientists at the forefront of their own areas of expertise. It should be a valuable resource for all future researchers and scholars who venture into Western Amazonia, as it continues to be one of the most beautiful, mysterious, remote and important ecosystems on Earth.
Download or read book Forest Structure Function and Dynamics in Western Amazonia written by Randall W. Myster and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-03-20 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Amazon Basin contains the largest and most diverse tropical rainforest in the world. Besides the Andes and the Atlantic Ocean, the rainforest is bounded to the north by the Guiana crystalline shield and to the south by the Brazilian crystalline shield, marked at their edges by cataracts in the rivers and often dominated by grasslands. This book is motivated not just by the Amazon's scientific interest but also by its role in many ecosystem functions critical to life on Earth. These ecosystems are characterized both by their complexity and their interactive, higher-order linkages among both abiotic and biotic components. Within Amazonia, the Western Amazon (west of 65° latitude) is the most pristine and, perhaps, the most complex within the Amazon Basin. This Western Amazon may be broadly divided into non-flooded forests (e.g. terra firme, white sand, palm) and forests flooded with white water (generally referred to as várzea) and with black water (generally referred to as igapó). Here, for the first time, is a book devoted entirely to Western Amazonia, containing chapters by scientists at the forefront of their own areas of expertise. It should be a valuable resource for all future researchers and scholars who venture into Western Amazonia, as it continues to be one of the most beautiful, mysterious, remote and important ecosystems on Earth.
Download or read book Neotropical Gradients and Their Analysis written by Randall W. Myster and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-03-31 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The importance of the Neotropics to the world's climate, biogeochemical cycling and biodiversity cannot be questioned. This book suggests that gradients are key to understanding both these issues and Neotropical ecosystem structure, function and dynamics in general. Those gradients are either spatial, temporal or spatio-temporal, where many temporal and spatio-temporal gradients are initiated by disturbances (e.g., tree-fall, landslide, cultivation). And in particular for the Neotropics, three large spatial gradients - latitude, longitude, altitude (elevation) - are of critical importance. The editor has over 30 years of experience investigating Neotropical gradients in Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Peru and Ecuador, and has published 5 previous books on different aspects of the Neotropics. Once again he has assembled top-shelf Neotropical scientists and researchers, here to focus on gradients: their nature, interactions and how they structure ecosystems.
Download or read book Igap Black water flooded forests of the Amazon Basin written by Randall W. Myster and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-22 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Igapó forests are a common part of the Amazon whose ecosystems are critical to our shared human future. The introduction addresses the structure, function and dynamics of igapó forests in the Amazon basin, focusing on their uniqueness due to their high level of complexity defined as the many ways that different components of igapó forests in the Amazon basin ecosystem interact and also on how those interactions are on a higher-order compared to other tropical forests. The text then breaks down the igapó ecosystem using these sections: (1) Igapó forests over space and time, (2) Water, light and soils, (3) The carbon cycle, (4) Litter, fungi and invertebrates, (5) Vertebrates, (6) Plant population studies, (7) Plant community studies, and (8) Human impacts and management. Experts from around the world serve as chapter authors that review what is known about their specific part of the igapó ecosystem, what research they have done, and also what needs to be done in the future.
Download or read book Psammic Peinobiomes written by Joseph Alfred Zinck and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-09-30 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book represents a multidisciplinary approach to understanding soil–landscape–vegetation relationships and, specifically, the ecophysiology of plant communities developing on sandy soils of very low fertility that are subject to seasonal flooding. It provides an overview of the white sand ecosystems within the Amazon basin, and focuses on the forest and herbaceous (meadows) vegetation growing on the dystrophic sandy soils of the upper Negro and Orinoco river basins. Several chapters describe physiographic aspects of the study area using integrated remote sensing and in situ sampling. By doing so they attain a comprehensive description of the origin and evolution of soils and landscapes, an advanced classification of soils, and a mapping of the geographic distribution of psammophilous vegetation. This volume also provides a phytosociological classification of extensive forested areas, and a detailed description of the structure and diversity of little-known herbaceous formations.It targets professionals in the fields of ecology, ecophysiology, geomorphology, soils, vegetation, and the environmental sciences. The information it offers may be of significant use to researchers, protected area planners, and environmental policy makers.
Download or read book The Andean Cloud Forest written by Randall W. Myster and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-12 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book focused solely on Andean Cloud Forests (ACF) has never been published. ACF are high biodiversity ecosystems in the Neotropics with a large proportion of endemic species, and are important for the hydrology of entire regions. They provide water for large parts of the Amazon basin, for example. Here I take advantage of my many years working in ACF in Ecuador, to edit this book that contains the following sections: (1) ACF over space and time, (2) Hydrology, (3) Light and the Carbon cycle, (4) Soil, litter, fungi and nutrient cycling, (5) Plants, (6) Animals, and (7) Human impacts and management. Under this premise, international experts contributed chapters that consist of reviews of what is known about their topic, of what research they have done, and of what needs to be done in the future. This work is suitable for graduate students, professors, scientists, and researcher-oriented managers.
Download or read book Igap Black water flooded forests of the Amazon Basin written by Randall W. Myster and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-22 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Igapó forests are a common part of the Amazon whose ecosystems are critical to our shared human future. The introduction addresses the structure, function and dynamics of igapó forests in the Amazon basin, focusing on their uniqueness due to their high level of complexity defined as the many ways that different components of igapó forests in the Amazon basin ecosystem interact and also on how those interactions are on a higher-order compared to other tropical forests. The text then breaks down the igapó ecosystem using these sections: (1) Igapó forests over space and time, (2) Water, light and soils, (3) The carbon cycle, (4) Litter, fungi and invertebrates, (5) Vertebrates, (6) Plant population studies, (7) Plant community studies, and (8) Human impacts and management. Experts from around the world serve as chapter authors that review what is known about their specific part of the igapó ecosystem, what research they have done, and also what needs to be done in the future.
Download or read book Tropical Rain Forest Ecosystems written by Frank B. Golley and published by Elsevier Science & Technology. This book was released on 1983 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most important of the world's ecosystems, the tropical rain forest is rapidly being converted to other uses, yet it is a poorly known and under-utilized natural resource. This volume is based on a modern ecological examination of tropical forests and treats both basic and applied aspects. Structural features are dealt with first, including the taxonomic and physical-chemical organisation of forests. Next is a section on the function of forests which considers production, nutrient cycling, decomposition processes, succession, trophic dynamics and reproductive biology. The behavioral and physiological phenomena underlying forest structure and function are then considered and, finally, some of the most important applied aspects are examined, including the production of timber, rates of exploitation and loss of forests, conservation, traditional human use of forests and disease in tropical forests.
Download or read book Lessons from Amazonia written by Richard O. Bierregaard and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2001-12-11 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deforestation is occurring at an alarming rate in many parts of the world, causing destruction of natural habitat and fragmentation of what remains. Nowhere is this problem more pressing than in the Amazon rainforest, which is rapidly vanishing in the face of enormous pressure from humans to exploit it. This book presents the results of the longest-running and most comprehensive study of forest fragmentation ever undertaken, the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) in central Amazonia, the only experimental study of tropical forest fragmentation in which baseline data are available before isolation from continuous forest took place.A joint project of Brazil’s National Institute for Research in Amazonia and the U.S. Smithsonian Institution, the BDFFP has investigated the many effects that habitat fragmentation has on plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates. The book provides an overview of the BDFFP, reports on its case studies, looks at forest ecology and tree genetics, and considers what issues are involved in establishing conservation and management guidelines.
Download or read book Igap Black water Flooded Forests of the Amazon Basin written by Randall Walton Myster and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Igapó forests are a common part of the Amazon whose ecosystems are critical to our shared human future. The introduction addresses the structure, function and dynamics of igapó forests in the Amazon basin, focusing on their uniqueness due to their high level of complexity defined as the many ways that different components of igapó forests in the Amazon basin ecosystem interact and also on how those interactions are on a higher-order compared to other tropical forests. The text then breaks down the igapó ecosystem using these sections: (1) Igapó forests over space and time, (2) Water, light and soils, (3) The carbon cycle, (4) Litter, fungi and invertebrates, (5) Vertebrates, (6) Plant population studies, (7) Plant community studies, and (8) Human impacts and management. Experts from around the world serve as chapter authors that review what is known about their specific part of the igapó ecosystem, what research they have done, and also what needs to be done in the future.
Download or read book The Dynamics of Deforestation and Economic Growth in the Brazilian Amazon written by Lykke E. Andersen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-12-12 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A multi-disciplinary team of authors analyze the economics of Brazilian deforestation using a large data set of ecological and economic variables. They survey the most up to date work in this field and present their own dynamic and spatial econometric analysis based on municipality level panel data spanning the entire Brazilian Amazon from 1970 to 1996. By observing the dynamics of land use change over such a long period the team is able to provide quantitative estimates of the long-run economic costs and benefits of both land clearing and government policies such as road building. The authors find that some government policies, such as road paving in already highly settled areas, are beneficial both for economic development and for the preservation of forest, while other policies, such as the construction of unpaved roads through virgin areas, stimulate wasteful land uses to the detriment of both economic growth and forest cover.
Download or read book An Amazonian Rain Forest written by Carl F. Jordan and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Second Growth written by Robin L. Chazdon and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-05-23 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades, conservation and research initiatives in tropical forests have focused almost exclusively on old-growth forests because scientists believed that these “pristine” ecosystems housed superior levels of biodiversity. With Second Growth, Robin L. Chazdon reveals those assumptions to be largely false, bringing to the fore the previously overlooked counterpart to old-growth forest: second growth. Even as human activities result in extensive fragmentation and deforestation, tropical forests demonstrate a great capacity for natural and human-aided regeneration. Although these damaged landscapes can take centuries to regain the characteristics of old growth, Chazdon shows here that regenerating—or second-growth—forests are vital, dynamic reservoirs of biodiversity and environmental services. What is more, they always have been. With chapters on the roles these forests play in carbon and nutrient cycling, sustaining biodiversity, providing timber and non-timber products, and integrated agriculture, Second Growth not only offers a thorough and wide-ranging overview of successional and restoration pathways, but also underscores the need to conserve, and further study, regenerating tropical forests in an attempt to inspire a new age of local and global stewardship.
Download or read book Assessing Past Fire Regimes and Their Effects on Modern Vegetation in Amazonian Forests written by Britte M. Heijink and published by . This book was released on 2024 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Amazonian rainforests are incredibly biodiverse and provide global ecosystem services, but are threatened by fires, which completely alter ecosystem function and structure. Fires, especially in western Amazonia, almost always have an anthropogenic origin. However, much is unknown about the long-term recovery and multi-generational successional processes following fire events. Due to the long lifespan of tropical trees, past fires may have left ecological legacies in modern forest composition in Amazonia. The goal of this thesis is to investigate how past fire events impact successional trajectories of past vegetation change and whether these fire events and related human impacts have left ecological legacies in modern Amazonian forests. I specifically focus on western Amazon and changes in palm abundances and composition through time, as palms were an economically important plant family to past peoples. I compared lake charcoal records across the Amazon Basin and found fire was least prevalent in western Amazonia. On a local scale, very limited evidence of past disturbances was present in forest plots in northwestern Amazonia. Palm abundances have been increasing since the mid-Holocene, but this increase is not related to past fire events. Past fire likely have left low to none ecological legacies in these forest plots. Modern trait composition across western Amazonia is associated with past fire events, but more research is necessary to disentangle relationships between past fire, soils, and modern vegetation. Overall, western Amazonia likely contains the least intense ecological legacies in comparison with the rest of Amazonia."--
Download or read book Amazonian Rain Forests written by R.J. Buschbacher and published by Springer. This book was released on 1987 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Case Studies of Exosystem Dynamics Under a Spectrum of Land Use-Intensities
Download or read book Plant environment Associations and Forest Structure in the Southern Amazon Basin written by Stefan Jirka and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Tropical Forests written by Padmini Sudarshana and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2012-03-14 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The astounding richness and biodiversity of tropical forests is rapidly dwindling. This has severely altered the vital biogeochemical cycles of carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen etc. and has led to the change in global climate and pristine natural ecosystems. In this elegant book, we have defined "Tropical Forests" broadly, into five different themes: (1) tropical forest structure, synergy, synthesis, (2) tropical forest fragmentation, (3) impact of anthropogenic pressure, (4) Geographic Information System and remote sensing, and (5) tropical forest protection and process. The cutting-edge synthesis, detailed current reviews, several original data-rich case studies, recent experiments/experiences from leading scientists across the world are presented as unique chapters. Though, the chapters differ noticeably in the geographic focus, diverse ecosystems, time and approach, they share these five important themes and help in understanding, educating, and creating awareness on the role of "Tropical Forests" for the very survival of mankind, climate change, and the diversity of biota across the globe. This book will be of great use to the students, scientists, ecologists, population and conservation biologists, and forest managers across the globe. The publication of this book was supported by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations
