Download or read book Plant Community Composition Soil Community Structure and Ecosystem Function written by Keith Michael Vogelsang and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Microbial Community Structure and Ecosystem Function in a Changing World written by Melissa Ann Cregger and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding the effects climate change will have on the structure and function of global ecosystems is a pressing ecological and social issue. Global change driven changes in atmospheric warming and precipitation régimes have begun to alter the distribution of plants and animals in, as well as the function of, ecosystems. Using two large-scale climate change manipulations, I assessed the effect of changing precipitation and temperature regimes on soil microbial community structure and function. Soil microbial communities regulate decomposition and nutrient cycling rates in ecosystems, thus understanding their response to climatic changes will enable scientists to better predict carbon feedbacks to the atmosphere as well as functional shifts within ecosystems. My first two chapters took advantage of a large-scale precipitation manipulation in a semi-arid woodland. My first chapter aimed to understand how changing precipitation amounts altered the structure and abundance of soil bacteria and fungi; while my second chapter measured how changing precipitation altered soil nitrogen cycling. Overall, I found that soil microbial community composition and function were responsive to changes in precipitation, but these responses were contingent upon seasonal variability in precipitation and the aboveground plant community. My final experiment examined how changing temperature altered soil microbial community structure and function in two temperate forests. Using a large scale warming experiment at two locations, I examined how changes in temperature altered microbial composition, abundance, potential enzyme activity, and decomposition. I found that the effects of warming were contingent upon location; microbial community composition responded to alterations in soil temperature and soil moisture at the warmer site, but not at the cooler site. Unexpectedly, the change in microbial community composition did not result in changes in the rate of decomposition. I conclude that the soil is relatively buffered from atmospheric warming thus changes in microbial community structure and function may take longer than a few years to develop. Taken together, my research demonstrates that understanding the effects of climate change on microbial community structure and function is complex and contingent upon the background abiotic and biotic variability within an ecosystem.
Download or read book Linking Plant Communities to Soil Microbial Communities and Processes in Old fields written by Laura C. Broughton and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Soil Microbial Community Structure and Allocation are Critical Drivers of Ecosystem Functioning written by Colin Averill and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The functioning of terrestrial ecosystems is entirely dependent on the activity of autotrophic primary producers and microbial decomposers, and how they are affected by climate, mineralogy and anthropogenic change. Ecosystem ecology has classically focused on how allocation and community composition of plant primary producers may alter predictions of future ecosystem functioning in the face of environmental change. Little attention has been paid to allocation and community composition of microbial decomposers. The functioning of microbial decomposers has been considered implicitly, in the context of plant traits; primarily plant biomass chemistry. However, soil microbial communities represent a vast diversity of taxa spanning multiple kingdoms of life and an array of functional groups. It is not only likely, but probable that understanding ecological aspects of soil microbial community structure, activity, and allocation will fundamentally change how we understand and predict ecosystem function in the future. In chapters 1-3 of this dissertation, I explicitly considered how microbial activities varied based on microbial community structure and the resulting impacts for biogeochemical cycling. Specifically, in chapters 1 and 2, I manipulated the relative abundance of symbiotic root fungi to demonstrate that competition between symbionts and free-living decomposers for nitrogen slowed soil carbon cycling. In chapter 3, I scaled how nitrogen is partitioned between plants, mycorrhizas and free-living decomposer microbes to demonstrate how shifts in microbial community structure could explain how forests productivity is sustained over centuries. In chapter 4, I developed a microbial allocation framework that explicitly considers microbial resource environments. I demonstrated that past microbial allocation frameworks based on plant ecological mechanisms cannot explain allocation patterns of decomposer microbial life. Throughout this dissertation I attempt to put soil microbial life in an explicit ecological context that challenges current understanding of ecosystem process and will allow for deeper understanding and prediction of ecosystem functioning. Incorporating microbial community structure, allocation, and simple ecological mechanisms into models will improve the predictive power of ecosystem ecology.
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 Methods in Soil Biology written by Franz Schinner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In terrestrial ecosystems, soil microorganisms and soil animals are essential for litter degradation, soil formation and the availability of nutrients and trace elements. The measurement of biological soil parameters allows a rapid evaluation of the effects of chemical and physical influences due to pollutants or soil management. This book introduces a number of well proved methods for the analysis of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur cycles. It focuses further on the determination of the number and biomass of microorganisms, algae and animals in the soil. Particular emphasis is placed on the comprehensible and complete description of the experimental procedures.
Download or read book The Biology of Soil written by Richard Bardgett and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005-06-02 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soil science has undergone a renaissance with increasing awareness of the importance of soil organisms and below-ground biotic interactions as drivers of community and ecosystem properties.
Download or read book Plant Functional Diversity written by Eric Garnier and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biological diversity, the variety of living organisms on Earth, is traditionally viewed as the diversity of taxa, and species in particular. However, other facets of diversity also need to be considered for a comprehensive understanding of evolutionary and ecological processes. This novel book demonstrates the advantages of adopting a functional approach to diversity in order to improve our understanding of the functioning of ecological systems and theircomponents. The focus is on plants, which are major components of these systems, and for which the functional approach has led to major scientific advances over the last 20 years. PlantFunctional Diversity presents the rationale for a trait-based approach to functional diversity in the context of comparative plant ecology and agroecology. It demonstrates how this approach can be used to address a number of highly debated questions in plant ecology pertaining to plant responses to their environment, controls on plant community structure, ecosystem properties, and the services these deliver to human societies. This research level text will be of particular relevance and use tograduate students and professional researchers in plant ecology, agricultural sciences and conservation biology.
Download or read book Land Use Intensification written by Saul Cunningham and published by CSIRO PUBLISHING. This book was released on 2012-07-18 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There can be little doubt that there are truly colossal challenges associated with providing food, fibre and energy for an expanding world population without further accelerating already rapid rates of biodiversity loss and undermining the ecosystem processes on which we all depend. These challenges are further complicated by rapid changes in climate and its additional direct impacts on agriculture, biodiversity and ecological processes. There are many different viewpoints about the best way to deal with the myriad issues associated with land use intensification and this book canvasses a number of these from different parts of the tropical and temperate world. Chapters focus on whether science can suggest new and improved approaches to reducing the conflict between productive land use and biodiversity conservation. Who should read this book? Policy makers in regional, state and federal governments, as well as scientists and the interested lay public.
Download or read book Plant Microbiomes for Sustainable Agriculture written by Ajar Nath Yadav and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-03-06 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book encompasses the current knowledge of plant microbiomes and their potential biotechnological application for plant growth, crop yield and soil health for sustainable agriculture. The plant microbiomes (rhizospheric, endophytic and epiphytic) play an important role in plant growth, development, and soil health. Plant and rhizospheric soil are a valuable natural resource harbouring hotspots of microbes, and it plays critical roles in the maintenance of global nutrient balance and ecosystem function. The diverse group of microbes is key components of soil–plant systems, where they are engaged in an intense network of interactions in the rhizosphere/endophytic/phyllospheric. The rhizospheric microbial diversity present in rhizospheric zones has a sufficient amount of nutrients release by plant root systems in form of root exudates for growth, development and activities of microbes. The endophytic microbes are referred to those microorganisms, which colonize in the interior of the plant parts, viz root, stem or seeds without causing any harmful effect on host plant. Endophytic microbes enter in host plants mainly through wounds, naturally occurring as a result of plant growth, or through root hairs and at epidermal conjunctions. Endophytes may be transmitted either vertically (directly from parent to offspring) or horizontally (among individuals). The phyllosphere is a common niche for synergism between microbes and plant. The leaf surface has been termed as phyllosphere and zone of leaves inhabited by microorganisms as phyllosphere. The plant part, especially leaves, is exposed to dust and air currents resulting in the establishments of typical flora on their surface aided by the cuticles, waxes and appendages, which help in the anchorage of microorganisms. The phyllospheric microbes may survive or proliferate on leaves depending on extent of influences of material in leaf diffuseness or exudates. The leaf diffuseness contains the principal nutrients factors (amino acids, glucose, fructose and sucrose), and such specialized habitats may provide niche for nitrogen fixation and secretions of substances capable of promoting the growth of plants. The microbes associated with plant as rhizospheric, endophytic and epiphytic with plant growth promoting (PGP) attributes have emerged as an important and promising tool for sustainable agriculture. PGP microbes promote plant growth directly or indirectly, either by releasing plant growth regulators; solubilization of phosphorus, potassium and zinc; biological nitrogen fixation or by producing siderophore, ammonia, HCN and other secondary metabolites which are antagonistic against pathogenic microbes. The PGP microbes belong to different phylum of archaea (Euryarchaeota); bacteria (Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Deinococcus-Thermus, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria) and fungi (Ascomycota and Basidiomycota), which include different genera namely Achromobacter, Arthrobacter, Aspergillus, Azospirillum, Azotobacter, Bacillus, Beijerinckia, Burkholderia, Enterobacter, Erwinia, Flavobacterium, Gluconoacetobacter, Haloarcula, Herbaspirillum, Methylobacterium, Paenibacillus, Pantoea, Penicillium, Piriformospora, Planomonospora, Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, Serratia and Streptomyces. These PGP microbes could be used as biofertilizers/bioinoculants at place of chemical fertilizers for sustainable agriculture. The aim of “Plant Microbiomes for Sustainable Agriculture” is to provide the current developments in the understanding of microbial diversity associated with plant systems in the form of rhizospheric, endophytic and epiphytic. The book is useful to scientist, research and students related to microbiology, biotechnology, agriculture, molecular biology, environmental biology and related subjects.
Download or read book Biological Diversity and Function in Soils written by Richard Bardgett and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-09-22 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dynamic nature of current research into soil biodiversity is reflected in this excellent volume.
Download or read book Soil Biological Communities and Ecosystem Resilience written by Martin Lukac and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-10-06 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores current knowledge and methods used to study soil organisms and to attribute their activity to wider ecosystem functions. Biodiversity not only responds to environmental change, but has also been shown to be one of the key drivers of ecosystem function and service delivery. Soil biodiversity in tree-dominated ecosystems is also governed by these principles, the structure of soil biological communities is clearly determined by environmental, as well as spatial, temporal and hierarchical factors. Global environmental change, together with land-use change and ecosystem management by humans, impacts the aboveground structure and composition of tree ecosystems. Due to existing knowledge of the close links between the above- and belowground parts of terrestrial ecosystems, we know that soil biodiversity is also impacted. However, very little is known about the nature of these impacts; effects on the overall level of biodiversity, the magnitude and diversity of functions soil biodiversity generates, but also on the present and future stability of tree ecosystems and soils. Even though much remains to be learned about the relationships between soil biodiversity and tree ecosystem functionality, it is clear that better effort needs to be made to describe and understand key processes which take place in soils and are driven by soil biota.
Download or read book Tropical Forest Census Plots written by Richard Condit and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1998-06-26 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By way of a summary of all the data collected by the mapping teams, I will review what is entered on each of the data sheets. The map sheet was already de scribed in some detail (Fig. 2.2.1A), and includes a circle or a point for the location of each tree and the tree's tag number (the last three or four digits) written next to it. The range of tag numbers used in the quadrat should be written at the top of the sheet. The main data sheet is where most other information about each individual is recorded (Fig. 2.2.1B). As for all sheets, the quadrat number, the first date a quadrat is censused, and the mappers' names are recorded at the top. For each plant, there are blanks for the following information: subquadrat number, tag number, species name, dbh, codes, and problems. Subquadrat number and tag number are straight forward. Size in millimeters is entered in the dbh column, except for multiple stemmed plants or big trees, which get a blank dbh on the main data sheet. Species identification will be handled by separate taxonomy teams (chapter 2.3), but map pers should enter a species name if they know it.
Download or read book Microorganisms in Soils Roles in Genesis and Functions written by Francois Buscot and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-01-04 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For this third volume of the series Soil Biology, internationally renowned scientists shed light on the significant roles of microbes in soil. Key topics covered include: bioerosion, humification, mineralization and soil aggregation; Interactions in the mycorrhizosphere; microbes and plant nutrient cycling; Microbes in soil surface or toxic metal polluted soils; Use of marker genes and isotopes in soil microbiology, and many more.
Download or read book Plant Invasion and the Soil Microbial Community written by Katharine Margaret Batten and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Nature of Plant Communities written by J. Bastow Wilson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-21 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a comprehensive review of the role of species interactions in the process of plant community assembly.
Download or read book Modern Soil Microbiology Second Edition written by Jan Dirk van Elsas and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2006-12-21 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the ten years since the publication of Modern Soil Microbiology, the study of soil microbiology has significantly changed, both in the understanding of the diversity and function of soil microbial communities and in research methods. Ideal for students in a variety of disciplines, this second edition provides a cutting-edge examination of a fascinating discipline that encompasses ecology, physiology, genetics, molecular biology, and biotechnology, and makes use of biochemical and biophysical approaches. The chapters cover topics ranging from the fundamental to the applied and describe the use of advanced methods that have provided a great thrust to the discipline of soil microbiology. Using the latest molecular analyses, they integrate principles of soil microbiology with novel insights into the physiology of soil microorganisms. The authors discuss the soil and rhizosphere as habitats for microorganisms, then go on to describe the different microbial groups, their adaptive responses, and their respective processes in interactive and functional terms. The book highlights a range of applied aspects of soil microbiology, including the nature of disease-suppressive soils, the use of biological control agents, biopesticides and bioremediation agents, and the need for correct statistics and experimentation in the analyses of the data obtained from soil systems.
