Download or read book Long Term Experiments with Acid Rain in Norwegian Forest Ecosystems written by Gunnar Abrahamsen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acid rain is a serious international environmental problem. Scandinavian forests have suffered especially severe damage, and have been the focus of considerable research on the causes and impacts of atmospheric pollution. This book presents the results of long-term studies on acid rain in Norwegian forests. This research examined soil chemistry and biology; the impacts of acid rain on tree growth and nutrition; and its influence on ground vegetation, fungi, and seedling germination and development. Long-Term Experiments with Acid Rain in Norwegian Forest Ecosystems is a lasting contribution to the literature on acid precipitation, and will be of interest to researchers in ecology, air pollution, forestry and environmental chemistry.
Download or read book Predation in Vertebrate Communities written by Bogumila Jedrzejewska and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Predation, one of the most dramatic interactions in animals' lives, has long fascinated ecologists. This volume presents carnivores, raptors and their prey in the complicated net of interrelationships, and shows them against the background of their biotic and abiotic settings. It is based on long-term research conducted in the best preserved woodland of Europe's temperate zone. The role of predation, whether limiting or regulating prey (ungulate, rodent, shrew, bird, and amphibian) populations, is quantified and compared to parts played by other factors: climate, food resources for prey, and availability of other potential resources for predators.
Download or read book Ecology and Conservation of Great Plains Vertebrates written by Fritz L. Knopf and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The frontier images of America embrace endless horizons, majestic herds of native ungulates, and romanticized life-styles of nomadie peoples. The images were mere reflections of vertebrates living in harmony in an ecosystem driven by the unpre dictable local and regional effects of drought, frre, and grazing. Those effects, often referred to as ecological "disturbanees," are rather the driving forces on which species depended to create the spatial and temporal heterogeneity that favored ecological prerequisites for survival. Alandscape viewed by European descendants as monotony interrupted only by extremes in weather and commonly referred to as the "Great American Desert," this country was to be rushed through and cursed, a barrier that hindered access to the deep soils of the Oregon country, the rich minerals of California and Colorado, and the religious freedom sought in Utah. Those who stayed (for lack of resources or stamina) spent a century trying to moderate the ecological dynamics of Great Plains prairies by suppressing fires, planting trees and exotic grasses, poisoning rodents, diverting waters, and homogenizing the dynamies of grazing with endless fences-all creating bound an otherwise boundless vista. aries in Historically, travelers and settlers referred to the area of tallgrasses along the western edge of the deciduous forest and extending midway across Kansas as the "True Prairie. " The grasses thlnned and became shorter to the west, an area known then as the Great Plains.
Download or read book Vertical Food Web Interactions written by Konrad Dettner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past years, much work has been carried out on either life-history evolu tion or structure and function of food webs. However, most studies dealt with only one of these areas and often touched upon the other only marginally. In this volume, we try to synthesize aspects of both disciplines and will concen trate on how the interactions between organisms depend on their life-history strategies. Since this is a very comprehensive topic, this volume will focus on vertical interactions to remain within a clearly arranged field. We present some scenaria based on life-history variation of resource and consumer, and show how particular patterns of life-history combinations will lead to particular patterns in trophic relationships. We want to deal with the selective forces underlying these patterns: the degree of specificity of the consumers deter mines the dependence on its resource, and its adaptation to the spatial and temporal availability of the resource. In this respect, the spatial structure of the resource and its "quality" may play an important role. The impact of natural enemies is another important selective force which may influence the evolu tion of interactions between species and the structure of communities. Here, the acquirement of an enemy-free space may provide selective adavantages. The importance of the impact of enemies is also expressed by the development of numerous and sometimes very subtle defense strategies. This will be dem onstrated especially for various aspects of chemical ecology.
Download or read book Activity Patterns in Small Mammals written by S. Halle and published by Springer. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental conditions change considerably in the course of 24 h with respect to abiotic factors and intra- and interspecific interactions. These changes result in limited time windows of opportunity for animal activities and, hence, the question of when to do what is subject to fitness maximisation. This volume gives a current overview of theoretical considerations and empirical findings of activity patterns in small mammals, a group in which the energetic and ecological constraints are particularly severe and the diversity of activity patterns is particularly high. Following a comparative ecological approach, for the first time activity timing is consequently treated in terms of behavioural and evolutionary ecology, providing the conceptual framework for chronoecology as a new subdiscipline within behavioural ecology. An extensive Appendix gives an introduction to methods of activity modelling and to tools for statistical pattern analysis.
Download or read book Pelagic Nutrient Cycles written by Tom Andersen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of the interactions between pelagic food web processes and element cycling in lakes. While some findings are examined in terms of classical concepts from the ecological theory of predator-prey systems, special emphasis is placed on exploring how stoichiometric relationships between primary producers and herbivores influence the stability and persistence of planktonic food webs. The author develops simple dynamic models of the cycling of mineral nutrients through plankton algae and grazers, and then goes on to explore them both analytically and numerically. The results thus obtained are of great interest to both theoretical and experimental ecologists. Moreover, the models themselves are of immense practical use in the area of lake management.
Download or read book The Central Amazon Floodplain written by Wolfgang J. Junk and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Floodplains are ecosystems which are driven by periodic inundation and oscillation between terrestrial and aquatic phases. An understanding of such pulsing systems is only possible by studying both phases and linking the results into an integrated overview. This book presents the results of a 15-year study of the structure and function of one of the largest tropical floodplains, the Amazon River floodplain. It covers qualitative aspects, e.g., adaptations of aquatic and terrestrial organisms to the flood pulse as well as quantitative aspects, e.g., studies of biomass, primary production, decomposition, and nutrient cycles. The authors interpret their findings and the most important data from other studies under an integrating scientific concept, the Flood Pulse Concept.
Download or read book Marine Benthic Vegetation written by Winfried Schramm and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1996-07-04 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates the impact of eutrophication on marine benthic macrophytes in eight different locations along the Baltic, North Sea, Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.
Download or read book The Structuring Role of Submerged Macrophytes in Lakes written by Erik Jeppesen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rapid growth of the discipline of aquatic ecology has been driven both by scientific interest in the complexities of aquatic ecosystems and by their enormous environmental importance and sensitivity. This book focuses on the remarkably diverse roles played by underwater plants, and is divided into three parts: 10 thematic chapters, followed by 18 case studies, and rounded off by three integrative chapters. The topics range from macrophytes as fish food to macrophytes as mollusc and microbe habitat, making this of interest to aquatic ecologists as well as limnologists, ecosystem ecologists, microbial ecologists, fish biologists, and environmental managers.
Download or read book Vegetation of the Tropical Pacific Islands written by Dieter Mueller-Dombois and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-26 with total page 905 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by the leading authorities on the plant diversity and ecology of the Pacific islands, this book is a magisterial synthesis of the vegetation and landscapes of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. It is organized by island group, and includes information on geography, geology, phytogeographic relationships, and human influences on vegetation. Vegetation of the Tropical Pacific Islands features over 400 color photographs, plus dozens of maps and climate diagrams. The authors’ efforts in assembling the existing information into an integrated, comprehensive book will be welcomed by biogeographers, plant ecologists, conservation biologists, and all scientists with an interest in island biology.
Download or read book Coral Reef Ecology written by Yuri I. Sorokin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-12 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Coral reef communities are among the most complex, mature and productive ecosystems on earth. Their activity resulted in the creation of vast lime constructions. Being extremely productive and having the function of a powerful biofilter, coral reefs play an important role in global biogeochemical processes and in the reproduction of food resources in tropical marine regions. All aspects of coral reef science are covered systematically and on the basis of a holistic ecosystem approach. The geological history of coral reefs, their geomorphology as well as biology including community structure of reef biota, their functional characteristics, physiological aspects, biogeochemical metabolism, energy balance, environmental problems and management of resources are treated in detail.
Download or read book Freshwaters of Alaska written by Alexander M. Milner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alaska's great size is mirrored by the large number and diversity of its freshwater ecosystems. This volume reviews and synthesizes research on a variety of Alaskan freshwaters including lakes, rivers and wetlands. The vast range of Alaskan habitats ensures that the chapters in this book will provide valuable information for readers interested in freshwaters, particularly nutrient dynamics, biotic adaptations, recovery mechanisms of aquatic biota, stream succession and the management of human-induced changes in aquatic habitats.
Download or read book Landscape Function and Disturbance in Arctic Tundra written by James F. Reynolds and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the discovery of large petroleum reserves in northern Alaska, the US Department of Energy implemented an integrated field and modeling study to help define potential impacts of energy-related disturbances on tundra ecosystems. This volume presents the major findings from this study, ranging from ecosystem physiology and biogeochemistry to landscape models that quantify the impact of road-building. An important resource for researchers and students interested in arctic ecology, as well as for environmental managers concerned with practical issues of disturbances.
Download or read book Islands written by Peter Vitousek and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-08 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Oceanic islands represent a set of systems in which biological diversity varies as a consequence of remoteness or size, not environment; they are also generally simpler than continental ecosystems. Islands therefore provide an opportunity to determine the direct effects of biological diversity on ecosystem function. The volume addresses the components of biological diversity on islands and their patterns of variation; the modern threats to the maintenance of biological diversity on islands; the consequences of island biology and its modification by humanity regarding aspects of ecosystem function; the global implications of islands for conservation; and how islands can help one to understand the processes inducing changes throughout the world.
Download or read book Peatland Forestry written by Eero Paavilainen and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides a review and synthesis of boreal mire ecosystems including peat soil properties, mire hydrology, carbon and nutrient cycling, and classification of mire sites. The emphasis, however, is on peatland forests as a renewable natural resource. The approach originated in northern Europe, because there, especially in Finland, operational scale forest drainage has a long tradition based on research aiming to maintain and increase wood production on peatlands. Whenever relevant, a closer look is also given to other countries in Europe, Canada, and the USA. The results of recent studies on different environmental effects of peatland forestry are also discussed in detail.
Download or read book Microbial Ecology of Lake Plu see written by Jürgen Overbeck and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lake Plußsee is a small eutrophic kettle lake in northern Germany. Because it is sheltered and has no inflow from rivers, the Plußsee exhibits stable stratification and is especially suitable for limnological studies. This book presents the results of extensive research conducted on the ecophysiology of microorganisms - principally bacteria - at the Plußsee over the past several decades. It begins with three chapters on the general limnological state of the lake: physical factors, inorganic nutrients, plankton composition and succession, fish fauna, etc. These chapters are followed by discussions of dissolved organic matter and photosynthetic production of organic matter by phytoplankton. The remainder of the book addresses the dynamics of structure, function and metabolism of the microorganisms in the Plußsee.
