Download or read book Mediterranean Type Ecosystems written by George W. Davis and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human activities are causing species extinctions at a rate and magnitude rivaling those of past geologic extinction events. Exploring mediterranean-type ecosystems - the Mediterranean Basin, California, Chile, Australia, and South Africa - this volume addresses the question whether biological diversity plays a significant role in the functioning of natural ecosystems, and to what extent that diversity can be reduced without causing system malfunction. Comparative studies in ecosystems that are similar in certain respects, but differ in others, offer considerable scope for gaining new insights into the links between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Download or read book Mediterranean Type Ecosystems written by Francesco di Castri and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No other disjunct pieces of land present such striking similarities as the widely sepa 1 rated regions with a mediterranean type of climate, that is, the territories fringing the Mediterranean Sea, California, Central Chile and the southernmost strips of South Mrica and Australia. Similarities are not confined to climatic trends, but are also reflected in the physiognomy ofthe vegetation, in land use patterns and frequently in the general appearance of the landscape. The very close similarities in agricultural practices and sometimes also in rural settlements are dependent on the climatic and edaphic analogies, as well as on a certain commonality in qdtural history. This is certainly true for the Mediterranean Sea basin which in many ways represents a sort of ecological-cultural unit; this is also valid for CaUfornia and Chile, which were both settled by Spaniards and which showed periods of vigorous commercial and cultural interchanges as during the California gold rush. One other general feature is the massive interchange of cultivated and weed species of plants that has occurred between the five areas of the world that have a mediterranean-type climate, with the Mediterranean basin region itself as a major source. In spite of their limited territorial extension, probably no other parts of the world have played a more fundamental role in the history of mankind. Phoenician, Etruscan, Hellenic, Jewish, Roman, Christian andArab civilizations, among others,haveshapedmanyofman's present attitudes, including his position and perception vis-a-vis nature.
Download or read book The Biology of Mediterranean type Ecosystems written by Karen J. Esler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a concise but comprehensive introduction to Mediterranean-type ecosystems with the emphasis being on the organisms that dominate these regions although their management, conservation, and restoration will also be considered.
Download or read book Mediterranean Type Ecosystems written by F.J. Kruger and published by Springer. This book was released on 2011-12-07 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The theory of ecological convergence underlies the biogeographers' maps of world biome-types. It also determines the degree to which ecological principles, derived from research on particular populations, communities or ecosystems, are generally valid, and hence also to what extent resource management principles are general. To quote Di Castri and Mooney (1973): "In effect, in order to assess the transfer of technology, it is essential to know to what extent information acquired from studying one particular ecosystem is applicable to another ecosystem of the same type but situated in a different location. " The five relatively small, isolated, mediterranean-climate zones of the earth, each with its distinct fauna and flora, have provided the ideal testing grounds for this theory. A heritage of precisely focused ecosystems research has resulted, beginning with the international comparative analyses conducted by Specht (l969a, b) but with antecedents in earlier studies in South Australia (Specht and Rayson 1957, Specht 1973). Cody and Mooney (1978) reviewed the information available at the time for the four zones excepting Australia and concluded that the arrays of strategy-types to be found among the different biotas were so similar that they could be explained only in terms of the convergence hypothesis; nevertheless, evident differences in community organization and dynamics, especially phenol ogy, required closer study of resource availability and resource-use patterns to better explain relations between form and function overall, and to assess the degree of convergence at higher levels of organization than the population.
Download or read book Landscape Disturbance and Biodiversity in Mediterranean Type Ecosystems written by Philip W. Rundel and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human impact on natural landscapes through urbanization and agricultural expansion are becoming more and more dramatic and are the cause of serious environmental problems. This volume examines the effect of landscape disturbance on plant and animal diversity in the five mediterranean-climate regions of the world. It begins with three introductory chapters broadly reviewing the issues of landscape degradation. Further contributions describe regional land use conflicts in each of the five regions. Landscape disturbance and plant diversity, and landscape disturbance and animal diversity are treated in separate chapters. Four contributions deal with demography and ecophysiology in vegetation succession following disturbance. The volume closes with a consideration of the future addressing aspects of environmental politics.
Download or read book Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems written by Jon E. Keeley and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 523 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the role of fire in Mediterranean-type climate ecosystems, providing unique insights into the assembly and evolutionary convergence of ecosystems.
Download or read book Global Change and Mediterranean Type Ecosystems written by Jose Moreno and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 547 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Regions with Mediterranean-type climates include parts of California, South America, Australia, and of course, Europe. The effect of global climate change on these heavily populated areas will have major social and political ramifications. This volume addresses issues in these areas, from processes at the leaf level to the individual, ecosystem, and landscape levels. This book will serve to raise awareness on the significance of these types of ecosystems, and on their sensitivity to the threat that global change represents.
Download or read book The Mediterranean region under climate change written by Collectif and published by IRD Éditions. This book was released on 2018-11-19 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book has been published by Allenvi (French National Alliance for Environmental Research) to coincide with the 22nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) in Marrakesh. It is the outcome of work by academic researchers on both sides of the Mediterranean and provides a remarkable scientific review of the mechanisms of climate change and its impacts on the environment, the economy, health and Mediterranean societies. It will also be valuable in developing responses that draw on “scientific evidence” to address the issues of adaptation, resource conservation, solutions and risk prevention. Reflecting the full complexity of the Mediterranean environment, the book is a major scientific contribution to the climate issue, where various scientific considerations converge to break down the boundaries between disciplines.
Download or read book The Climate of the Mediterranean Region written by P. Lionello and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-04-19 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mediterranean region contains a diverse and interesting climate ranging from areas with permanent glaciers to areas of subtropical, semiarid regions. The region is potentially sensitive to climate change and its progress has environmental, social, and economic implications within and beyond the region. Produced by the Mediterranean Climate Variability and Predictability Research Networking Project, this book reviews the evolution of the Mediterranean climate over the past two millennia with projections further into the twenty-first century as well as examining in detail various aspects of the Mediterranean region's climate including evolution, atmospheric variables, and oceanic and land elements. Integrated with this, the book also considers the social and economic problems or vulnerabilities associated with the region. Written and reviewed by multiple researchers to ensure a high level of information presented clearly, Mediterranean Climate Variables will be an invaluable source of information for geologists, oceanographers, and anyone interested in learning more about the Mediterranean climate. Written by leading experts in the field Presents clear, compelling, and concise evidence Includes the latest thinking in Mediterranean climate research
Download or read book Biogeography of Mediterranean Invasions written by R. H. Groves and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1991-11-07 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an initiative of a subcommittee of SCOPE (Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment) which realized that the integrity of many natural ecosystems was being threatened by the ingress of invasive species.
Download or read book Ecosystems of California written by Harold Mooney and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2016-01-19 with total page 1008 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This long-anticipated reference and sourcebook for CaliforniaÕs remarkable ecological abundance provides an integrated assessment of each major ecosystem typeÑits distribution, structure, function, and management. A comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge about this biologically diverse state, Ecosystems of California covers the state from oceans to mountaintops using multiple lenses: past and present, flora and fauna, aquatic and terrestrial, natural and managed. Each chapter evaluates natural processes for a specific ecosystem, describes drivers of change, and discusses how that ecosystem may be altered in the future. This book also explores the drivers of CaliforniaÕs ecological patterns and the history of the stateÕs various ecosystems, outlining how the challenges of climate change and invasive species and opportunities for regulation and stewardship could potentially affect the stateÕs ecosystems. The text explicitly incorporates both human impacts and conservation and restoration efforts and shows how ecosystems support human well-being. Edited by two esteemed ecosystem ecologists and with overviews by leading experts on each ecosystem, this definitive work will be indispensable for natural resource management and conservation professionals as well as for undergraduate or graduate students of CaliforniaÕs environment and curious naturalists.
Download or read book Mediterranean Climate Variability written by P. Lionello and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2006-08-22 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This multi-authored book provides an updated description of climate variability in the Mediterranean basin, focusing on decadal and centennial time scales and on the results available on the impact of future emission scenarios at regional scale. The authors describs both local physical processes responsible for these variability - such as changes in the surface properties and land use- and globalprocesses - such as changes in the large scale atmospheric circulation associated to global warming, NAO, tropical monsoon and ENSO. Regional climate change issues are also addressed. Mediterranean Climate Variability aims to review the research on this region and to provide at the same time both an introduction and a reference for researchers. It covers topics typical of Climatology, Climate history, Meteorology, Oceanography, Environmental Science but the information here provided would also be useful for research in agriculture, social and economic studies. It is addressed to scientists and students interested in the Mediterranean climate and environment. Some topics have interesting connections to nearby regions: Northern Atlantic, West Africa, central and Eastern Europe. Each chapter will contain a summary meant to provide information to policy makers, researchers from other fields, and in general to a wide audience without a technical expertise on climate. * Provides an updated analysis of the Mediterranean climate features and guidelines for future research * Considers both oceanographic and atmospheric aspects * Analyzes the Mediterranean climate in a global perspective
Download or read book Global Warming and Biological Diversity written by Robert L. Peters and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1992-01-01 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The biological effects of global warming should be of concern to all thinking individuals, for warming could cause profound disruption of natural ecosystems and could threaten many species with extinction. This important book--the first to discuss in detail the consequences of global warming for ecosystems--includes commentary by distinguished scientists on many aspects of this critical problem. Experts describe responses of animals and plants to previous climate changes, interactions between various environmental components (precipitation and soil chemistry, for example), and synergisms between climate change and human activities such as deforestation. They consider many specific ecosystems, including tropical forests, the deciduous forests of eastern North America, the forests of the Pacific Northwest, Mediterranean-type ecosystems in California, arctic tundra, and arctic marine systems. Offering discussions that are both factual and speculative, the volume points the way to future investigations of the implications of global warming.
Download or read book The Regional Impacts of Climate Change written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Working Group II. and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Download or read book Invasive Species in Forests and Rangelands of the United States written by Therese M. Poland and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-02-01 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book describes the serious threat of invasive species to native ecosystems. Invasive species have caused and will continue to cause enormous ecological and economic damage with ever increasing world trade. This multi-disciplinary book, written by over 100 national experts, presents the latest research on a wide range of natural science and social science fields that explore the ecology, impacts, and practical tools for management of invasive species. It covers species of all taxonomic groups from insects and pathogens, to plants, vertebrates, and aquatic organisms that impact a diversity of habitats in forests, rangelands and grasslands of the United States. It is well-illustrated, provides summaries of the most important invasive species and issues impacting all regions of the country, and includes a comprehensive primary reference list for each topic. This scientific synthesis provides the cultural, economic, scientific and social context for addressing environmental challenges posed by invasive species and will be a valuable resource for scholars, policy makers, natural resource managers and practitioners.
Download or read book Convergent Evolution in Chile and California written by Harold A. Mooney and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plant Response to Stress written by John D. Tenhunen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 650 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is dedicated to international cooperation, understanding and peace. It is the end result of several years of cooperative work between scientists of three countries: the United States, Germany, and Portugal. The work presented, however, draws from a much broader base, hopefully achieving the objective of NATO Advanced Research Workshops, which have been established to allow and stimulate the exchange of new ideas and the synthesis of information by scientists of NATO countries. The tasks of the workshop were several; to review established methodologies that have provided insight into ecosystem function and adaptations of plants in mediterranean climate zones; to examine new methodologies that have recently been applied in ecological studies and have provided new types of information; to summarize recent studies in mediterranean regions of plant water relations, photosynthesis and production, mineral nutrition, plant growth and development, and response to fire; to stimulate in particular an exchange of information among scientists of European Mediterranean countries; and to discuss means by which all of these objectives might be even more effectively achieved in the future through cooperative international research efforts. This variety of themes is clearly evident in the layout of the book. Held in Sesimbra, Portugal in October of 1985, the workshop took place in a ..
