Download or read book Rainfall Variation Life Form and Phenology in California Serpentine Grassland written by Juli Kaye Armstrong and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Serpentine written by Susan Harrison and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-02-02 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Serpentine soils have long fascinated biologists for the specialized floras they support and the challenges they pose to plant survival and growth. This volume focuses on what scientists have learned about major questions in earth history, evolution, ecology, conservation, and restoration from the study of serpentine areas, especially in California. Results from molecular studies offer insight into evolutionary patterns, while new ecological research examines both species and communities. Serpentine highlights research whose breadth provides context and fresh insights into the evolution and ecology of stressful environments.
Download or read book Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function written by Ernst-Detlef Schulze and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 527 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The biota of the earth is being altered at an unprecedented rate. We are witnessing wholesale exchanges of organisms among geographic areas that were once totally biologically isolated. We are seeing massive changes in landscape use that are creating even more abundant succes sional patches, reductions in population sizes, and in the worst cases, losses of species. There are many reasons for concern about these trends. One is that we unfortunately do not know in detail the conse quences of these massive alterations in terms of how the biosphere as a whole operates or even, for that matter, the functioning of localized ecosystems. We do know that the biosphere interacts strongly with the atmospheric composition, contributing to potential climate change. We also know that changes in vegetative cover greatly influence the hydrology and biochemistry ofa site or region. Our knowledge is weak in important details, however. How are the many services that ecosystems provide to humanity altered by modifications of ecosystem composition? Stated in another way, what is the role of individual species in ecosystem function? We are observing the selective as well as wholesale alteration in the composition of ecosystems. Do these alterations matter in respect to how ecosystems operate and provide services? This book represents the initial probing of this central ques tion. It will be followed by other volumes in this series examining in depth the functional role of biodiversity in various ecosystems of the world.
Download or read book Biotic and Abiotic Determinants of Invasibility in California Grassland written by Jeffrey Schuyler Dukes and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Serpentine written by Susan Patricia Harrison and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-02-02 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This outstanding volume brings together leading experts across a broad range of disciplines to bring serpentine into focus, as never before, as a window to understanding major natural processes and patterns in nature. By doing so, the authors illuminate exciting questions and challenges that will serve to inspire and direct much future study of these fascinating systems."—Bruce G. Baldwin, University of California, Berkeley
Download or read book Grassland Invasion Management and Multifunctionality written by Jae R. Pasari and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 698 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Effects of Above and Belowground Resource Distribution on the Ecology of Vesicular arbuscular Mycorrhizas written by Julie Lynn Whitbeck and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Effects of Temporal Variation in Precipitation on Plant Coexistence in an Annual Grassland Community written by Mary N. Van Dyke and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation aims to contribute to our understanding of plant coexistence and explore how global change could disrupt these dynamics thus altering the composition of future communities. I have attempted to answer these broad ecological questions by studying the coexistence mechanisms operating in an annual grassland in coastal southern California that experiences high interannual variability in climate, particularly in precipitation. I have explored multiple mechanisms of coexistence operating in the community and the physiological bases of the interacting plant species to make my results more broadly applicable. Each chapter also discusses how the results can inform our predictions about how plant communities will continue to respond to global change. Chapter one explores how interactions between neighboring species are altered by changes in rainfall. Precipitation patterns have long been known to shape plant distributions but how changes in these patterns effect species interactions and thus community composition is less understood. As precipitation patterns across the globe are altered by global change, understanding how interactions like competition between plants is impacted will help us anticipate potential community composition changes. We studied how changes in precipitation altered competitive dynamics by studying the direct effects of changes on individual species, as well as, by the changing strength of competitive interactions between species. We grew six annual species under two rainfall conditions with varying densities and identities of competitors. We parameterized a population growth model that allowed us to determine stabilizing niche differences and fitness differences between species pairs which determine their ability to coexist. We found that reduced precipitation had little direct impact on species grown alone, but it qualitatively shifted predicted competitive outcomes for 10 of 15 species pairs. We also found that species that were more similar in their functional traits were less likely to experience changes in their competitive outcomes than species that were less similar. In chapter 2, we investigated the mechanism that might be driving the changes in species competitive interactions that we found with changes in precipitation. We hypothesized that species flowering phenology (timing) might contribute to species ability to coexist by separating resource intensive periods for species over the growing season. These critical temporal dynamics could be disturbed if changes in precipitation affect the flowering phenology of some species and not others. We found that changes in rainfall shift some species flowering phenology, but sensitivity differed among neighboring species. Four of seven species we studied started and/or peaked flowering earlier in response to reduced water availability. The idiosyncratic responses among neighboring species has the potential to disrupt temporal coexistence mechanisms because it alters the flowering overlap between species pairs. We found the species pairs whose competitive interactions changed in the experiment described in chapter one had larger differences in their phenological responses to reduced rainfall than pairs whose competitive outcomes did not change. This shows that species pairs whose flowering time overlap changed more, were more likely to experience a change in their competitive interaction. Therefore, current temporal spacing between peak flowering times likely contributes to coexistence in the community and if changes in rainfall disrupt this, species may lose their ability to coexist, altering the composition of the community. Chapter 3 explores coexistence at a broader timescale and investigates how multiple mechanisms of coexistence operate simultaneously. Southern coastal California experiences high interannual variation in rainfall. Modern coexistence theory suggests that coexistence mechanisms, such as the temporal storage effect, may be important in communities experiencing fluctuating abiotic conditions. To examine the effects of temporal variation in abiotic conditions on coexistence, we studied an annual grassland community that experiences high interannual variation in precipitation. We found that species demographic rates from the last 15 years, including germination rate and low-density fecundity, are rarely strongly positively correlated with other species in the community, indicating that species differ in which years they perform best, and therefore likely specialize on distinct abiotic conditions. Variation in response to interannual differences in rainfall concentrates intraspecific interactions relative to interspecific interactions and favors coexistence. Additionally, we found that species differences in functional traits, especially rooting depth, water use efficiency, and leaf nitrogen were well correlated with differences in species demographic responses, such that species with similar traits did best in the same years. Taken together this deepens our understanding of coexistence in the community and provides greater context for how plant communities may respond to future increases in climatic variability.
Download or read book Reconstruction of Fragmented Ecosystems written by Denis A. Saunders and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Restoration Management Notes written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Annual Commencement written by Stanford University and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book American Doctoral Dissertations written by and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 724 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
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 Plants and Climate Change written by Jelte Rozema and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-01-19 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on how climate affects or affected the biosphere and vice versa both in the present and in the past. The chapters describe how ecosystems from the Antarctic and Arctic, and from other latitudes, respond to global climate change. The papers highlight plant responses to atmospheric CO2 increase, to global warming and to increased ultraviolet-B radiation as a result of stratospheric ozone depletion.
Download or read book California Grasslands written by Mark R. Stromberg and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2007-12-03 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This highly synthetic and scholarly work brings together new and important scientific contributions by leading experts on a rich diversity of topics concerning the history, ecology, and conservation of California's endangered grasslands. The editors and authors have succeeded admirably in drawing from a great wealth of recent research to produce a widely accessible and compelling, state-of-the-art treatment of this fascinating subject. Anyone interested in Californian biodiversity or grassland ecosystems in general will find this book to be an invaluable resource and a major inspiration for further research, management, and restoration efforts."—Bruce G. Baldwin, W. L. Jepson Professor and Curator, UC Berkeley "Grasses and grasslands are among the most important elements of the California landscape. This is their book, embodying the kind of integrated view needed for all ecological communities in California. Approaches ranging across an incredibly broad spectrum -- paleontology and human history; basic science and practical management techniques; systematics, community ecology, physiology, and genetics; physical factors such as water, soil nutrients, atmospherics, and fire; biological factors such as competition, symbiosis, and grazing -- are nicely tied together due to careful editorial work. This is an indispensable reference for everyone interested in the California environment."—Brent Mishler, Director of the University & Jepson Herbaria and Professor of Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley "The structure and function of California grasslands have intrigued ecologists for decades. The editors of this volume have assembled a comprehensive set of reviews by a group of outstanding authors on the natural history, structure, management, and restoration of this economically and ecologically important ecosystem."—Scott L. Collins, Professor of Biology, University of New Mexico
