Download or read book The Effects of El Ni o and Exotic Plant Invasion on the Two way Interactions Between Small Mammals and Plants in a Southern California Coastal Sage Scrub Food Web written by Jessica Dawn Braswell and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small mammals are among the many taxa in the diverse southern Californian coastal sage scrub and chaparral ecosystems that are threatened by the exotic plant invasions, habitat destruction and fragmentation that have accompanied continued urbanization. Many small mammals not only rely on coastal sage scrub vegetation for shelter but also eat shrub seeds, and therefore depend upon their habitat while also having the ability to shape it. The studies presented here examine the effects of an El Niño-associated heavy rainfall event and invasion by exotic grasses on the small mammal community as well as the role of small mammals in mediating competition between native and exotic plants via selective seed predation. A 4 yr study that included the 1997-1998 El Niño (ENSO) rainfall event investigated changes in density and spatial distribution for 11 rodent species. In the period during and immediately after ENSO, 7 species increased in density and showed range expansions into previously unoccupied areas. The endangered kangaroo rat Dipodomys stephensi declined in abundance and spatial distribution during ENSO. A principle components analysis qualitatively showed changes in small mammal community composition that resulted from differences in relative abundance due to differing magnitudes of species' responses to high precipitation. Most species returned to pre-ENSO population densities and range sizes within 2 yr after El Niño. In addition to the transitory responses to the additional resources available after periods of high precipitation, small mammals also responded to longer-term, perhaps permanent, habitat changes resulting from disturbance-facilitated exotic grass invasions. At higher levels of invasion, abundance of shrub-associated small mammals declined while grass-associated species increased, and overall density of all small mammal species declined. Although no species exhibited a threshold response to invasion, invaded areas supported a depauperate mammal community largely composed of generalist species. Finally, a seed predation study found that rodents preferentially consumed seeds of exotic grasses and forbs over those of native shrubs and grasses. Total mass of seed removed and rates of seed tray visitation varied by season and small mammal density, but a preference for exotic seeds showed that small mammals might slow rates of exotic plant invasion

Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 868 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 Effects of the Exotic Shrub Lonicera Maackii on the Plant Animal Interactions in the Invaded Habitat written by Humberto de Paula Dutra and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding the effects of invasive plants on native consumers is important because cosumer-mediated indirect effects have the potential to alter the dynamics of coexistence in native communities. Invasive plants may promote changes in consumerpressure due to changes in protective cover (i.e. the architectural complexity of the invaded habitat) and in food availability (i.e. subsidies of fruits and seeds). No experimental studies have evaluated the relative interplay of these two effects. In a factorial experiment, we manipulated cover and food provided by the invasive shrub Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) to evaluate whether this plant alters the foraging activity of native mammals. Using tracking plates to quantify mammalian foraging activity, we found that removal of honeysuckle cover, rather than changes in fruit resources it provides, reduced the activity of important seed consumers, mice in the genus Peromyscus. Two mesopredators, Procyon lotor and Didelphis virginiana, were affected as well. Moreover, we found rodents used L. maackii for cover only on cloudless nights, indicating that the effect of honeysuckle was weather-dependent. Our work provides experimental evidence that this invasive plant species changes habitat characteristics, and in so doing, alters the behavior of small- and medium-sized mammals. Changes in seed predator behavior may lead to cascading effects on the seeds that mice consume.

Download or read book The Community level and Ecosystem level Consequences of Feedbacks Between the Soil Ecosystem and the Plant Community During Forest Understory Invasion written by Kenneth John Elgersma and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation addresses the consequences of reciprocal interactions between the plant and the soil microbial communities, and how those interactions affect nutrient cycling and plant competition during exotic plant invasion. Each chapter is linked by the common theme of evaluating the importance of these feedbacks to the rate of plant invasion in the forest understory. In the first two chapters, I utilize microcosms to evaluate the importance of leaf litter inputs for plant-soil feedback. The first chapter demonstrates that leaf litter from native and exotic plants create divergent soil microbial communities, altering soil enzyme activities and nitrogen cycling, which in turn affects the growth of native and invasive plants. However, while this plant-soil interaction affects growth rate, it does not change the competitive hierarchy or the success of the invasive plant. The second chapter shows how the effect of an exotic species' leaf litter on soil microbes varies over a range of invasion severity. Using litter mixtures ranging from 0% to 100% exotic litter, I show that ecosystem-level effects of invasion on carbon and nitrogen cycling are linearly related to the exotic plant density, while community-level effects on soil microbes are non-linear and very sensitive to low levels of invasion. In the final chapters, I extend these results to examine whole-plant effects in more natural plant communities. The third chapter uses a large-scale field experiment to explore the temporal dynamics of invasion impacts. I show that the short-term impact of native and invasive plants on soil microbes is weak, while long-term effects are much stronger. However, after restoration of native plants, the legacy effect of invasion remains strong. Using experimental litter-removal, I also show that belowground plant litter more strongly influences the soil microbial community than aboveground litter. The fourth chapter examines how the diversity of the native community influences the invasion impact on soils. I show that while diversity has little direct effect, individual native plant species can influence how an exotic invasive shrub affects the soil ecosystem. Together, these results show that the importance of plant-soil feedbacks for exotic invasion is context- and scale-dependent, exhibiting nonlinear dynamics that depend on the native community and the degree of invasion, and vary in strength over time.

Download or read book Ecology written by Charles J. Krebs and published by Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company. This book was released on 2001 with total page 695 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This best-selling majors ecology book continues to present ecology as a series of problems for readers to critically analyze. No other text presents analytical, quantitative, and statistical ecological information in an equally accessible style. Reflecting the way ecologists actually practice, the book emphasizes the role of experiments in testing ecological ideas and discusses many contemporary and controversial problems related to distribution and abundance. Throughout the book, Krebs thoroughly explains the application of mathematical concepts in ecology while reinforcing these concepts with research references, examples, and interesting end-of-chapter review questions. Thoroughly updated with new examples and references, the book now features a new full-color design and is accompanied by an art CD-ROM for instructors. The field package also includes The Ecology Action Guide, a guide that encourages readers to be environmentally responsible citizens, and a subscription to The Ecology Place (www.ecologyplace.com), a web site and CD-ROM that enables users to become virtual field ecologists by performing experiments such as estimating the number of mice on an imaginary island or restoring prairie land in Iowa. For college instructors and students.

Download or read book California Range Brushlands and Browse Plants written by Arthur William Sampson and published by University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources. This book was released on 1981 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Using Patchy Plant Invasions to Understand how Diffuse Interactions Modify Facilitation and Competition written by Kerry Lee Metlen and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indirect interactions among plants promote conditionality in competitive outcomes that affect plant community structure and function. I utilized spatially patchy distributions of two invasive exotic plants, Centaurea stoebe and Bromus tectorum, to explore conditionality in plant interactions and the implications of this conditionality for community invasibility. Additionally, I expanded this research to investigate how these two invaders interact with each other as they overrun native ecosystems. Throughout intermountain prairie of western Montana Centaurea was found at high abundances in open prairie, but was a relatively minor component of the plant community under isolated Pinus ponderosa. In contrast, Bromus was also common in open prairie, but it was most dominant under Pinus canopies. I then experimentally investigated the complex dynamics potentially driving apparent biotic resistance by Pinus to one exotic species but facilitation of a second. I found that Pinus directly inhibited Centaurea growth through shade and litter effects and attenuated the competitive effects of Centaurea. While Pinus litter strongly suppressed Centaurea establishment, Festuca and Bromus where much less effected. The native plant community and Bromus were thereby indirectly facilitated. Additionally, the allelochemical (ł)-catechin that is exuded by Centaurea roots was more phytotoxic to Festuca in open prairie than under Pinus canopies and in prairie soils than in conifer soils when tested in a greenhouse. Plant-soil feedbacks were important as well. When Centaurea was grown in full sunlight it "cultivated" the soil such that legacy effects inhibited recruitment of Festuca long after Centaurea had been removed, but these feedback effects did not occur when Centaurea cultivated soil in experimentally shaded plots. Bromus was directly facilitated by Pinus shade and soil but these effects were highly moderated by the native grass Festuca idahoensis. While many relatively straightforward pair-wise studies have shown direct facilitative effects of one species on another, these results demonstrate another form of biotic conditionality; strong facilitative effects manifest in pair-wise experiments can be eliminated or diminished by the presence of other competitors. In general, my results illustrate the importance of the competitive and facilitative interactions that occur among natives and exotics ultimately structuring plant communities on natural landscapes.

Download or read book M ui the Mischief Maker written by Lilikalā Kame'eleihiwa and published by Steve Parish. This book was released on 1991 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hawiian versions of the birth and exploits of Maui, taken from the ancient creation chants.

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

Download or read book Conservation Biology for All written by Navjot S. Sodhi and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2010-01-08 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conservation Biology for All provides cutting-edge but basic conservation science to a global readership. A series of authoritative chapters have been written by the top names in conservation biology with the principal aim of disseminating cutting-edge conservation knowledge as widely as possible. Important topics such as balancing conversion and human needs, climate change, conservation planning, designing and analyzing conservation research, ecosystem services, endangered species management, extinctions, fire, habitat loss, and invasive species are covered. Numerous textboxes describing additional relevant material or case studies are also included. The global biodiversity crisis is now unstoppable; what can be saved in the developing world will require an educated constituency in both the developing and developed world. Habitat loss is particularly acute in developing countries, which is of special concern because it tends to be these locations where the greatest species diversity and richest centres of endemism are to be found. Sadly, developing world conservation scientists have found it difficult to access an authoritative textbook, which is particularly ironic since it is these countries where the potential benefits of knowledge application are greatest. There is now an urgent need to educate the next generation of scientists in developing countries, so that they are in a better position to protect their natural resources.

Download or read book Climate Intervention written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-06-23 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The growing problem of changing environmental conditions caused by climate destabilization is well recognized as one of the defining issues of our time. The root problem is greenhouse gas emissions, and the fundamental solution is curbing those emissions. Climate geoengineering has often been considered to be a "last-ditch" response to climate change, to be used only if climate change damage should produce extreme hardship. Although the likelihood of eventually needing to resort to these efforts grows with every year of inaction on emissions control, there is a lack of information on these ways of potentially intervening in the climate system. As one of a two-book report, this volume of Climate Intervention discusses albedo modification - changing the fraction of incoming solar radiation that reaches the surface. This approach would deliberately modify the energy budget of Earth to produce a cooling designed to compensate for some of the effects of warming associated with greenhouse gas increases. The prospect of large-scale albedo modification raises political and governance issues at national and global levels, as well as ethical concerns. Climate Intervention: Reflecting Sunlight to Cool Earth discusses some of the social, political, and legal issues surrounding these proposed techniques. It is far easier to modify Earth's albedo than to determine whether it should be done or what the consequences might be of such an action. One serious concern is that such an action could be unilaterally undertaken by a small nation or smaller entity for its own benefit without international sanction and regardless of international consequences. Transparency in discussing this subject is critical. In the spirit of that transparency, Climate Intervention: Reflecting Sunlight to Cool Earth was based on peer-reviewed literature and the judgments of the authoring committee; no new research was done as part of this study and all data and information used are from entirely open sources. By helping to bring light to this topic area, this book will help leaders to be far more knowledgeable about the consequences of albedo modification approaches before they face a decision whether or not to use them.

Download or read book Foundations of Restoration Ecology written by Society for Ecological Restoration International and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2016-11 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Society for Ecological Restoration"--Cover.

Download or read book Kumeyaay Ethnobotany written by Michael Wilken-Robertson and published by Sunbelt Publications. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For thousands of years, the Kumeyaay people of northern Baja California and southern California made their homes in the diverse landscapes of the region, interacting with native plants and continuously refining their botanical knowledge. Today, many Kumeyaay Indians in the far-flung ranches of Baja California carry on the traditional knowledge and skills for transforming native plants into food, medicine, arts, tools, regalia, construction materials, and ceremonial items. Kumeyaay Ethnobotany explores the remarkable interdependence between native peoples and native plants of the Californias through in-depth descriptions of 47 native plants and their uses, lively narratives, and hundreds of vivid photographs. It connects the archaeological and historical record with living cultures and native plant specialists who share their ever-relevant wisdom for future generations. Book jacket.

Download or read book Global Biodiversity in a Changing Environment written by Osvaldo E. Sala and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2001-08-24 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climatic change, conservation biology

Download or read book Seedling Ecology and Evolution written by Mary Allessio Leck and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-09-18 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seedlings are highly sensitive to their environment. After seeds, they typically suffer the highest mortality of any life history stage. This book provides a comprehensive exploration of the seedling stage of the plant life cycle. It considers the importance of seedlings in plant communities; environmental factors with special impact on seedlings; the morphological and physiological diversity of seedlings including mycorrhizae; the relationship of the seedling with other life stages; seedling evolution; and seedlings in human altered ecosystems, including deserts, tropical rainforests, and habitat restoration projects. The diversity of seedlings is portrayed by including specialised groups like orchids, bromeliads, and parasitic and carnivorous plants. Discussions of physiology, morphology, evolution and ecology are brought together to focus on how and why seedlings are successful. This important text sets the stage for future research and is valuable to graduate students and researchers in plant ecology, botany, agriculture and conservation.

Download or read book Biological Invasions written by Wolfgang Nentwig and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-02-13 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This new volume on Biological Invasions deals with both plants and animals, differing from previous books by extending from the level of individual species to an ecosystem and global level. Topics of highest societal relevance, such as the impact of genetically modified organisms, are interlinked with more conventional ecological aspects, including biodiversity. The combination of these approaches is new and makes compelling reading for researchers and environmentalists.