Download or read book Standard Soil Methods for Long Term Ecological Research written by G. Philip Robertson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1999-10-28 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Standardized methods and measurements are crucial for ecological research, particularly in long-term ecological studies where the projects are by nature collaborative and where it can be difficult to distinguish signs of environmental change from the effects of differing methodologies. This second volume in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Series addresses these issues directly by providing a comprehensive standardized set of protocols for measuring soil properties. The goal of the volume is to facilitate cross-site synthesis and evaluation of ecosystem processes. Chapters cover methods for studying physical and chemical properties of soils, soil biological properties, and soil organisms, and they include work from many leaders in the field. The book is the first broadly based compendium of standardized soil measurement methods and will be an invaluable resource for ecologists, agronomists, and soil scientists.
Download or read book The Challenges of Long Term Ecological Research A Historical Analysis written by Robert B. Waide and published by Springer. This book was released on 2022-04-22 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the challenges of sustaining long-term ecological research through a historical analysis of the Long Term Ecological Research Program created by the U.S. National Science Foundation in 1980. The book examines reasons for the creation of the Program, an overview of its 40-year history, and in-depth historical analysis of selected sites. Themes explored include the broader impact of this program on society, including its relevance to environmental policy and understanding global climate change, the challenge of extending ecosystem ecology into urban environments, and links to creative arts and humanities projects. A major theme is the evolution of a new type of network science, involving comparative studies, innovation in information management, creation of socio-ecological frameworks, development of governance structures, and formation of an International Long Term Ecological Research Network with worldwide reach. The book’s themes will interest historians, philosophers and social scientists interested in ecological and environmental sciences, as well as researchers across many disciplines who are involved in long-term ecological research.
Download or read book Long Term Ecological Research written by Felix Müller and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-06-21 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecosystems change on a multitude of spatial and temporal scales. While analyses of ecosystem dynamics in short timespans have received much attention, the impacts of changes in the long term have, to a great extent, been neglected, provoking a lack of information and methodological know-how in this area. This book fills this gap by focusing on studies dealing with the investigation of complex, long-term ecological processes with regard to global change, the development of early warning systems, and the acquisition of a scientific basis for strategic conservation management and the sustainable use of ecosystems. Within this book, theoretical ecological questions of long-term processes, as well as an international dimension of long-term monitoring, observations and research are brought together. The outcome is an overview on different aspects of long-term ecological research. Aquatic, as well as terrestrial ecosystems are represented.
Download or read book Long Term Socio Ecological Research written by Simron Jit Singh and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-11-13 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors in this volume make a case for LTSER’s potential in providing insights, knowledge and experience necessary for a sustainability transition. This expertly edited selection of contributions from Europe and North America reviews the development of LTSER since its inception and assesses its current state, which has evolved to recognize the value of formulating solutions to the host of ecological threats we face. Through many case studies, this book gives the reader a greater sense of where we are and what still needs to be done to engage in and make meaning from long-term, place-based and cross-disciplinary engagements with socio-ecological systems.
Download or read book Design and Analysis of Long term Ecological Monitoring Studies written by Robert A. Gitzen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-06-07 with total page 779 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To provide useful and meaningful information, long-term ecological programs need to implement solid and efficient statistical approaches for collecting and analyzing data. This volume provides rigorous guidance on quantitative issues in monitoring, with contributions from world experts in the field. These experts have extensive experience in teaching fundamental and advanced ideas and methods to natural resource managers, scientists and students. The chapters present a range of tools and approaches, including detailed coverage of variance component estimation and quantitative selection among alternative designs; spatially balanced sampling; sampling strategies integrating design- and model-based approaches; and advanced analytical approaches such as hierarchical and structural equation modelling. Making these tools more accessible to ecologists and other monitoring practitioners across numerous disciplines, this is a valuable resource for any professional whose work deals with ecological monitoring. Supplementary example software code is available online at www.cambridge.org/9780521191548.
Download or read book Long term Dynamics of Lakes in the Landscape written by John J. Magnuson and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2006 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Two whole lake experiments are describes : experimental acidification at Little Rock Lake and the response of Lake Mendota to a natural experiment involving agricultural and urban development. Readers will learn the benefits of doing long-term ecological research, and limnologists will discover the richness of new information derived from studying suites of neighboring lakes across time."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book The Ecology of Agricultural Landscapes written by Stephen K. Hamilton and published by Long-Term Ecological Research. This book was released on 2015 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evidence has been mounting for some time that intensive row-crop agriculture as practiced in developed countries may not be environmentally sustainable, with concerns increasingly being raised about climate change, implications for water quantity and quality, and soil degradation. This volume synthesizes two decades of research on the sustainability of temperate, row-crop ecosystems of the Midwestern United States. The overarching hypothesis guiding this work has been that more biologically based management practices could greatly reduce negative impacts while maintaining sufficient productivity to meet demands for food, fiber and fuel, but that roadblocks to their adoption persist because we lack a comprehensive understanding of their benefits and drawbacks. The research behind this book, based at the Kellogg Biological Station (Michigan State University) and conducted under the aegis of the Long-term Ecological Research network, is structured on a foundation of large-scale field experiments that explore alternatives to conventional, chemical-intensive agriculture. Studies have explored the biophysical underpinnings of crop productivity, the interactions of crop ecosystems with the hydrology and biodiversity of the broader landscapes in which they lie, farmers' views about alternative practices, economic valuation of ecosystem services, and global impacts such as greenhouse gas exchanges with the atmosphere. In contrast to most research projects, the long-term design of this research enables identification of slow or delayed processes of change in response to management regimes, and allows examination of responses across a broader range of climatic variability. This volume synthesizes this comprehensive inquiry into the ecology of alternative cropping systems, identifying future steps needed on the path to sustainability.
Download or read book Sea Secrets written by Mary M. Cerullo and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-04-25 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Journey across the Pacific Ocean and investigate the mystery connecting three different animals from the California Current to the polar waters west of the Antarctic Peninsula. Become an ocean detective and discover the connection between a seabird, a whale, and a penguin; and maybe you'll uncover the sea secret that links them all. This book invites young readers to explore ocean ecosystems and their food webs. Field sketches, watercolors, and photographs combine to reveal the clues.
Download or read book Alaska s Changing Boreal Forest written by F. Stuart Chapin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006-01-12 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The boreal forest is the northern-most woodland biome, whose natural history is rooted in the influence of low temperature and high-latitude. Alaska's boreal forest is now warming as rapidly as the rest of Earth, providing an unprecedented look at how this cold-adapted, fire-prone forest adjusts to change. This volume synthesizes current understanding of the ecology of Alaska's boreal forests and describes their unique features in the context of circumpolar and global patterns. It tells how fire and climate contributed to the biome's current dynamics. As climate warms and permafrost (permanently frozen ground) thaws, the boreal forest may be on the cusp of a major change in state. The editors have gathered a remarkable set of contributors to discuss this swift environmental and biotic transformation. Their chapters cover the properties of the forest, the changes it is undergoing, and the challenges these alterations present to boreal forest managers. In the first section, the reader can absorb the geographic and historical context for understanding the boreal forest. The book then delves into the dynamics of plant and animal communities inhabiting this forest, and the biogeochemical processes that link these organisms. In the last section the authors explore landscape phenomena that operate at larger temporal and spatial scales and integrates the processes described in earlier sections. Much of the research on which this book is based results from the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research Program. Here is a synthesis of the substantial literature on Alaska's boreal forest that should be accessible to professional ecologists, students, and the interested public.
Download or read book Grassland Dynamics written by Alan K. Knapp and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 1998 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first volume in the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Series. Established in 1980, the LTER program is exploring a wide variety of biomes characteristic of the United States and developing a baseline for ecosystem dynamics over long time periods and broad spatial scales. The volumes in this series will include both comprehensive reviews of research from particular sites and topical overviews which use data from many sites to examine important questions in ecology. This volume, which focuses on the Konza Prairie in northeastern Kansas, is a synthesis of over 15 years of research in pristine tallgrass prairie. It gives a comprehensive site description and summarizes the key long-term studies that form the basis for the Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research Program. It then presents a synthesis of the many research areas involved and develops a foundation for future ecological studies in tallgrass prairie. With over 150 figures and tables, chapters that encompass microbial through landscape scales, and an emphasis on lessons learned from long-term studies, this volume provides a unique and comprehensive perspective on the structural and functional ecology of the grassland ecosystem that once covered most of central North America.
Download or read book Ecology of the Shortgrass Steppe written by W. K. Lauenroth and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-08-28 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecology of the Shortgrass Steppe: A Long-Term Perspective summarizes and synthesizes more than sixty years of research that has been conducted throughout the shortgrass region in North America. The shortgrass steppe was an important focus of the International Biological Program's Grassland Biome project, which ran from the late 1960s until the mid-1970s. The work conducted by the Grassland Biome project was preceded by almost forty years of research by U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers-primarily from the Agricultural Research Service-and was followed by the Shortgrass Steppe Long-Term Ecological Research project. This volume is an enormously rich source of data and insight into the structure and function of a semiarid grassland.
Download or read book One Day in the Desert written by Anna Keener and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-11-15 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mariana is a third grader living in Las Cruces, New Mexico at the northern fringe of the Chihuahuan Desert. One day her class visits Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park to hike to the top of an extinct volcano and see the plant and animal life that is special to this desert. Led by Dr. Whitford, the nature park scientist, the children are challenged to find as many signs of animals living along the trail as they can. Mariana is amazed at all the life around her that was difficult to see at first glance. Adapting to the desert environment, many animals were camouflaged or sought shelter from the sun in burrows. At last atop the volcano, Dr. Whitford tells the children that “This is a great example of an ecosystem that has shifted.” Once grassland, the landscape is now mostly covered in shrubs like creosote bush and mesquite. Suddenly a storm comes up with little warning, and the children rush back to their bus. As the rain subsides the bus driver delivers the unwelcome news that the bus will have to be pulled out of the now muddy road. While waiting for help the children get out of the bus and head for a nearby Playa, a special kind of shallow lake that is formed after a heavy rain. As Mariana wades through the Playa she notices small animals in the water, and scoops one up. Dr. Whitford identifies it as a tadpole shrimp, animals that hatch only when water fills the lakes. At last the bus is pulled out of the mud by a rancher’s tractor, and Mariana returns home to write to her friends about her day in the desert.
Download or read book Kupe and the Corals written by Jacqueline L. Padilla-Gamiño and published by Taylor Trade Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-13 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kupe and the Corals is the story of Kupe, a young boy who undertakes an amazing voyage of discovery to learn about corals and the importance of coral reefs to all of the many animals that depend upon them. One night while he is fishing with his father, Kupe observes an astonishing event, thousands and thousands of tiny “bubbles” rising to the surface of the waters in the lagoon near where he lives. Kupe is amazed by this sight and wants to learn more about the “strange pink bubbles” that he has captured in an old jam jar. Kupe visits with an elder from his village and a scientist from the nearby marine lab in an attempt to learn more about what he has seen. During his conversations, Kupe learns that what he has captured are tiny coral larvae, baby corals that are produced in the millions over just a few nights each year by the adult corals living in the lagoon. Kupe then goes on to learn more about how corals grow and the importance of corals in building the reefs that provide homes for all of the other wonderful animals that he sees while snorkeling in the lagoon. Now, realizing how important the larvae he has captured are to the health of the coral reef, Kupe happily returns his larvae to the sea. Kupe and the Corals, is the sixth book in the Long Term Ecological Research Network Series.
Download or read book Seeking the Wolf Tree written by Natalie Cleavitt and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-11-01 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Old-time New England foresters coined the term “wolf tree” for trees they saw as having the ability to “eat” the sun and nutrients and prevent the growth of other trees. Today, however, we understand how wolf trees benefit wildlife. Join Aurora and Orion as they search for a wolf tree in the 3500-acre forest managed by Harvard University near Petersham, Massachusetts, looking for such clues as a large trunk, low branches, wildlife activity, and nearby smaller trees.
Download or read book One Night in the Everglades written by Ph. D. Larsen and published by Taylor Trade Publications. This book was released on 2012-06-16 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Follow two scientists as they spend a night in the Everglades collecting water samples, photographing wildlife, and sloshing through marshes in an attempt to understand this mysterious ecosystem. Part of a long-term effort to return the Everglades to a natural state after a century of development, the scientists try to figure out what the “river of grass” was like prior to human settlement. Along the way, they deal with razor-sharp sawgrass and alligators and turtles and are even surprised by the sudden presence of what is known in the Everglades as a “frog gigger”—one who hunts and collects frogs for food! Published in cooperation with the Long Term Ecological Research Network, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Download or read book Alaska s Changing Arctic written by John E. Hobbie and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-04 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Lost Seal written by Diane McKnight and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2006-07-01 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research scientists camped at the desolate McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica studying the local lakes and streams are one day surprised to find a young Weddell seal in their midst. Tired and hungry, and perhaps lured by the smell of the group's cheeseburger dinner, the young male is a long way from his natural habitat on the sea ice of McMurdo Sound. Bound by the Antarctic Conservation Act, the scientists know they cannot provide it with sustenance, but instead contact seal scientists who, after some thought, decide they can provide assistance so the seal can return to the sea ice. The seal gets the ride of its life back to its natural habitat, and the scientists name one of their newly found streams to commemorate their unlikely campmate. Published in cooperation with the Long-Term Ecological Research Network, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.
