Download or read book Plants in Changing Environments written by F. A. Bazzaz and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996-10-13 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forces of nature and human intervention lead to innumerable local, regional and sometimes global changes in plant community patterns. Regardless of the causes and the intensity of change, ecosystems are often naturally able to recover most of their attributes through natural succession. In this thoughtful and provocative new book, Fakhri Bazzaz integrates and synthesizes information on how disturbance changes the environment, how species function, coexist, and share or compete for resources in populations and communities, and how species replace each other over successional time. It illustrates how a diverse array of plant species have been used to examine fundamental questions in plant ecology by integrating physiological, population and community ecology. Graduate students and research workers in plant ecology, global change, conservation and restoration will find the perspective and analysis offered by this book an exciting contribution to the development of our understanding of plant successional change.
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 Plant Location and Community Changes written by Kenneth E. Merrill and published by . This book was released on 1961 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plant Community Changes as Criteria of Environmental Changes written by S. Bråkenhielm and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plant Community and Environmental Change written by Jonathan Henn and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding the forces that govern plant community structure, function, and response to change is a central question in ecology. Theory predicts that plant communities assemble as a result of a species ability to disperse, tolerate the environment, and interact with other organisms. Recently, there has been a strong focus on predicting the success of species within communities based on their ability to disperse, tolerate stress, successfully compete, and survive as measured by their phenotypic and functional characteristics, or "traits". In an era of global change, trait-based ecology offers the promise of predicting community responses without studying each species individually. The aim of my dissertation is to understand how plant traits mediate species responses to climate change, species introductions, disturbance regimes, and habitat loss and fragmentation. My first chapter describes how functional traits of native and non-native plants differ and how environmental gradients affect these differences. Theory predicts that differences in species should affect the extent to which native and non-native species compete and fill different niches, both of which can be mechanisms of invasion. I considered both intra- and interspecific variation in traits across a strong natural environmental climate gradient in Hawaii. Non-native species have different characteristics than native species overall, but these differences are minimized in cool, wet conditions. This suggests that native and non-native species compete more strongly in cool, wet conditions and that invaders in hot, dry conditions are filling different niches. My second chapter asks how ontogeny affects commonly measured plant functional traits. Using a greenhouse experiment with eight common prairie perennial plants, I measured traits every two weeks throughout the growing season to investigate how much within-species variation in phenotype is due to age alone. My findings demonstrate that plant traits do change through time with the fastest changes occurring in younger plants. As plants age, they generally shift from acquisitive resource-use strategies to conservative resource-use strategies, however, faster-growing species change more than slower-growing species. Since most trait-based studies rely on functional traits measured from adult plants, my results suggest that it may be important to also incorporate traits of younger individuals, especially when evaluating assembling communities. My third chapter investigates plant strategies for early spring survival and growth following disturbance by fire in tallgrass prairie. I measured cold tolerance and specific leaf area (leaf carbon content) as metrics of stress tolerance and leaf area as a metric of growth to determine how plant strategies change through time and whether there are tradeoffs between growth and tolerance. Disturbance timing affects tolerance traits such that fall burns promote more tolerant leaves early in the spring while spring burns promote more tolerant leaves late in the season. There is weak evidence for a tradeoff where increased tolerance results in a reduction in growth. Overall, these results suggest that plants exhibit strategies for spring survival and growth that vary from cold avoidance with rapid growth to cold tolerance with slower growth. My fourth chapter explores how disturbance and winter climate change interact to affect prairie plant growth, phenology, and community composition. I established a three-year field experiment that manipulates fire timing and winter snow depth in restored prairies. Plots that have reduced snow and that are burned in the fall have substantially colder winter soil temperatures and thaw earlier in spring. The disturbance treatments change the magnitude and direction of response to snow depth treatments for most species and have species-specific effects on plant growth and phenology. These results provide clear evidence that disturbance regimes can set the stage for climate change responses in grassland plant communities.
Download or read book Responses of Submersed Vascular Plant Communities to Environmental Change written by Graham J. Davis and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plant Community History written by J.H. Tallis and published by Springer. This book was released on 1990-11-30 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plant Strategies and the Dynamics and Structure of Plant Communities written by David Tilman and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1988-03-21 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this new approach to understanding the dynamics occurring among plant populations at the community level, Tilman sets forth an exciting hypothesis to aid in explaining the factors operative in vegetation change. He emphasizes nutrient allocation, especially nitrogen and light, as a critical factor in addition to others in accounting for what is referred to as "succession" by most ecologists. Tilman initially presents some basic concepts--plant competition, resource allocation, and succession--followed by his extensive old field experiments on the Minnesota sand plain. These add support to his hypothesis concerning the role of nutrient allocation as a factor involved in vegetation change. Illustrations, including tables and figures, greatly enhance the text. A most readable book, and students of vegetation science will find it a welcome addition to their libraries. It also should find its way to all academic libraries since it is aimed primarily at professional plant ecologists. W.A. Niering Connecticut College--Choice Reviews.
Download or read book Positive Plant Interactions and Community Dynamics written by Francisco Pugnaire and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2010-02-09 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since the concept of the "struggle for life" became the heart of Darwin's theory of evolution, biologists have studied the relevance of interactions for the natural history and evolution of organisms. Although positive interactions among plants have traditionally received little attention, there is now a growing body of evidence showing the ef
Download or read book Positive Plant Interactions and Community Dynamics written by Francisco Pugnaire and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2010-02-09 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since the concept of the "struggle for life" became the heart of Darwin's theory of evolution, biologists have studied the relevance of interactions for the natural history and evolution of organisms. Although positive interactions among plants have traditionally received little attention, there is now a growing body of evidence showing the ef
Download or read book Assessment and Management of Plant Invasions written by James O. Luken and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biological invasion of native plant communities is a high-priority problem in the field of environmental management. Resource managers, biologists, and all those involved in plant communities must consider ecological interactions when assessing both the effects of plant invasion and the long-term effects of management. Sections of the book cover human perceptions of invading plants, assessment of ecological interactions, direct management, and regulation and advocacy. It also includes an appendix with descriptive data for many of the worst weeds.
Download or read book A Model and Experimental Data on Changes in Plant Community Structure During a Growing Season written by J. Ares and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Functional Seed Ecology From Single Traits to Plant Distribution Patterns Community Assembly and Ecosystem Processes written by Sergey Rosbakh and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2022-07-28 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Grassland Invertebrate Interactions Plant Productivity Resilience and Community Dynamics written by Ivan Hiltpold and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2017-10-13 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Natural and anthropogenic grasslands such as prairies, meadows, rangelands, and pastures cover more than 40% of the planet’s surface and provide a wealth of ecological services. Grasslands alone store one third of the global carbon stocks and grass roots, through their specific architectures, ensure water cycling and prevent the erosion of fertile topsoil. In addition, grasslands are of vital importance for human food production as vast areas of rangelands and pastures provide feed for livestock. Pastoral legumes mobilize atmospheric nitrogen and improve fertility of arable soils. Not least, grasslands are an essential genetic resource. The three major crop species that feed half of the global population have been bred from wild grasses. Ancestors of our contemporary turf cultivars, common components of urban landscapes and recreation spaces, originated from wild grasslands. Although natural and managed grasslands represent pivotal ecosystems, many aspects of how they function are poorly understood. To date, most attention has focused on grassland primary producers (i.e. forage plants) and mammalian grazers but invertebrates are likely to play an equally, if not more important role in grassland ecosystem functioning. In Australian pastures, for example, the biomass of root-feeding scarab beetles can often exceed that of sheep and plant damage caused by invertebrates is sometimes equivalent to an average dairy cow’s grass consumption. Indeed, grasslands are one of the most densely populated ecosystems with invertebrates being probably the most important engineers that shape both plant communities and the grassland as a whole. In a rapidly changing world with increasing anthropogenic pressure on grasslands, this Research Topic focuses on: 1. How grassland habitats shape invertebrate biodiversity 2. Impacts of climate change on grassland-invertebrate interactions 3. Plant and invertebrate pest monitoring and management 4. Plant-mediated multitrophic interactions and biological control in grasslands 5. Land use and grassland invertebrates 6. Plant resistance to invertebrate pests Given the increasing demand for food and land for human habitation, unprecedented threats to grasslands are anticipated. Resilient to some extent, these key ecosystems need to be better comprehended to guarantee their sustainable management and ecosystem services.
Download or read book Rocky Mountains Regional Plan Standards and Guidelines written by and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plant Communities of New Jersey written by Beryl Robichaud and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book portrays New Jersey as an ecosystem--its geology, topography and soil, climate, plant-plant and plant-animal relationships, and the human impact on the environment. The authors describe in detail the twelve types of plant habitats distinguished in New Jersey and suggest places to observe good examples of them.
Download or read book Woody Plant Communities written by T.T. Kozlowski and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-12-02 with total page 598 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Water Deficits and Plant Growth, Volume VI: Woody Plant Communities focuses on the water relations of woody plants in a community context. Organized into eight chapters, this book begins with a quantitative overview of sources of water available to woody plants. Separate chapters follow that discuss the water relations of coniferous, temperate hardwood, and tropical and subtropical forests and woodlands; apple and citrus orchards; closely related woody plants; and tea plantations. For each of these plant communities, emphasis is placed on hydrological cycles; water use and transpiration; absorption of water; and effects of environmental factors on soil and plant water balance. The effects of water deficits on physiological processes; vegetative and reproductive growth; yield of harvested products; drought resistance; and cultural practices affecting plant water balance and yield are also emphasized in this book. This volume will be useful to both researchers and those involved in the practice of growing woody plants for wood and fruit crops and for esthetic values.
