Download or read book Phenology of Ecosystem Processes written by Asko Noormets and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-06-19 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Terrestrial carbon balance is uncertain at the regional and global scale. A significant source of variability in mid-latitude ecosystems is related to the timing and duration of phenological phases. Spring phenology, in particular, has disproportionate effects on the annual carbon balance. However, the traditional phenological indices that are based on leaf-out and flowering times of select indicator species are not universally amenable for predicting the temporal dynamics of ecosystem carbon and water exchange. Phenology of Ecosystem Processes evaluates current applications of traditional phenology in carbon and H2O cycle research, as well as the potential to identify phenological signals in ecosystem processes themselves. The book summarizes recent progress in the understanding of the seasonal dynamics of ecosystem carbon and H2O fluxes, the novel use of various methods (stable isotopes, time-series, forward and inverse modeling), and the implications for remote sensing and global carbon cycle modeling. Each chapter includes a literature review, in order to present the state-of-the-science in the field and enhance the book’s usability as an educational aid, as well as a case study to exemplify the use and applicability of various methods. Chapters that apply a specific methodology summarize the successes and challenges of particular methods for quantifying the seasonal changes in ecosystem carbon, water and energy fluxes. The book will benefit global change researchers, modelers, and advanced students.
Download or read book The Effects of Climate Change on the Phenology of Plants and Insects of Massachusetts written by Caroline A. Polgar and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Phenology, the timing of biological events, is a common metric used to measure the effect of climate change on ecosystems. Leaf out timing is a particularly important indicator because it is highly sensitive to temperature, represents a critical transition point of annual seasonality, and is an important driver of ecosystem processes. The mechanisms behind this have recently gained attention, and I wrote a literature review on the topic that surveyed what is known and identified topics that require further investigation (Chapter 1). In the next chapter, I focused on specific aspects of leaf out phenology using observation and experimentation. To examine the effects of climate change on leafing, I utilized historical records (1852-1860) and made observations (2009-2012) of leaf out in Concord, Massachusetts (Chapter 2). Leafing is now an average of 19 days earlier than in the past. Recently published studies suggest that the continued advance of leaf out is uncertain; with continued warming, unmet chilling requirements may lead to delays in leafing. To address this, I experimentally investigated chilling requirements of local species (Chapter 2). I compared the sensitivity of leaf out to spring temperature as measured by field observations, remotely sensed data, and experimental warming to determine differences resulting from these methods (Chapter 3). Earlier leaf out with warmer temperatures was found with all methods; however, leafing was more than twice as sensitive to temperature in the field study as under experimental warming, with remote sensing intermediate.To better understand the effects of climate change on ecosystems, we must obtain reliable information about multiple trophic levels. I examined the effects of temperature on the flight dates of ten species of Massachusetts butterflies (1895-2009) using both museum specimen records and citizen science data: the response of these species is similar to that of flowering and bee flight times and significantly greater than changes in bird arrival (Chapter 4). As long as investigators are aware of the limitations of each data source, historical data, remote sensing, experiments, and citizen science data are all effective tools for studying the effect of climate change on phenology.
Download or read book Phenology An Integrative Environmental Science written by Mark D. Schwartz and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-04-28 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Phenology is the study of plant and animal life cycle events, which are triggered by environmental changes, especially temperature. Wide ranges of phenomena are included, from first openings of leaf and flower buds, to insect hatchings and return of birds. Each one gives a ready measure of the environment as viewed by the associated organism. Thus, phenological events are ideal indicators of the impact of local and global changes in weather and climate on the earth's biosphere. Assessing our changing world is a complex task that requires close cooperation from experts in biology, climatology, ecology, geography, oceanography, remote sensing and other areas. This book is a synthesis of current phenological knowledge, designed as a primer on the field for global change and general scientists, students and interested members of the public. With contributions from a diverse group of over fifty phenological experts, covering data collection, current research, methods and applications, it demonstrates the accomplishments and potential of phenology as an integrative environmental science.
Download or read book Resource Strategies of Wild Plants written by Joseph M. Craine and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-04-27 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over millions of years, terrestrial plants have competed for limited resources, defended themselves against herbivores, and resisted a myriad of environmental stresses. These struggles have helped generate more than a quarter million terrestrial plant species, each possessing a unique strategy for success. Yet, as Resource Strategies of Wild Plants demonstrates, the constraints on plant growth are universal enough that a few survival strategies hold true for all seed-producing plants. This book describes the five major strategies of growth for terrestrial plants, details how plants succeed when resources are scarce, delves into the history of research into plant strategies, and resets the foundational understanding of ecological processes. Drawing from recent findings in plant-herbivore interactions, ecosystem ecology, and evolutionary ecology, Joseph Craine explains how plants attain available nutrients, withstand the immense stresses of drying soils, and flourish in the race for light. He shows that the competition for resources has shaped plant evolution in newly discovered ways, while the scarcity of such resources has affected how plants interact with herbivores, wind, fire, and frost. An understanding of the major resource strategies of wild plants remains central to learning about the ecology of plant communities, global changes in the biosphere, methods for species conservation, and the evolution of life on earth.
Download or read book Phenological Research written by Irene L. Hudson and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-11-24 with total page 525 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As climate change continues to dominate the international environmental agenda, phenology – the study of the timing of recurring biological events – has received increasing research attention, leading to an emerging consensus that phenology can be viewed as an ‘early warning system’ for climate change impact. A multidisciplinary science involving many branches of ecology, geography and remote sensing, phenology to date has lacked a coherent methodological text. This new synthesis, including contributions from many of the world’s leading phenologists, therefore fills a critical gap in the current biological literature. Providing critiques of current methods, as well as detailing novel and emerging methodologies, the book, with its extensive suite of references, provides readers with an understanding of both the theoretical basis and the potential applications required to adopt and adapt new analytical and design methods. An invaluable source book for researchers and students in ecology and climate change science, the book also provides a useful reference for practitioners in a range of sectors, including human health, fisheries, forestry, agriculture and natural resource management.
Download or read book Phenology and Seasonality Modeling written by H. Lieth and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The pulse of life with the seasons is a classic theme of biology, equally cap turing every man's curiosity about early and late milestones of every year's cycle and the critical physiologist's inquiry into life's subtle signals and responses. Natural historians of ancient and renaissance time as well as today have charted the commonsense facts behind inspired traditions of poetry and practical rules for growing food and fiber. This volume brings together several ways of organizing the basic principles of phenology. These find order in the otherwise overwhelming mass of detail that captures our fleeting attention, like the daily newspaper, and then tends to fade into the overstuffed archives of history. Is this order so obvious and understandable that there is no longer any scien tific challenge to "phenology" as a tradition? Or does apparent simplicity mask a complex and ultimately baffling obstacle to the understanding of seasonality in even those few indicator plants and animals we know best, not to men tion the less known species or races making up the rest of each major land scape unit or ecosystem? Denying both these hasty opinions, we think that this volume well illustrates a range of questions and answers-from soundly established (but not trivial) doctrine to exciting inquiry about how ecosystems are organized.
Download or read book The Neurobiology of Circadian Timing written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading authors review the state-of-the-art in their field of investigation, and provide their views and perspectives for future researchChapters are extensively referenced to provide readers with a comprehensive list of resources on the topics coveredAll chapters include comprehensive background information and are written in a clear form that is also accessible to the non-specialist Leading authors review the state-of-the-art in their field of investigation, and provide their views and perspectives for future research Chapters are extensively referenced to provide readers with a comprehensive list of resources on the topics covered All chapters include comprehensive background information and are written in a clear form that is also accessible to the non-specialist
Download or read book Handbook of Trait Based Ecology written by Francesco de Bello and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-03-11 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Trait-based ecology is rapidly expanding. This comprehensive and accessible guide covers the main concepts and tools in functional ecology.
Download or read book Impacts of Climate Change on the Phenology of Temperate Forest Plants and Birds in Massachusetts and Japan written by Abraham J. Miller-Rushing and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The timing of phenological events such as flowering and bird migrations is highly sensitive to changes in climate. Phenology affects many physiological, community, and ecosystem processes, but availability of long-term data is limited. I examined historical records of plant phenology in Massachusetts and Japan, beginning with observations made in the 1850s by Henry David Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts. By combining these records with my own observations and experiments, I found that flowering in Massachusetts shifted forward by approximately one day each decade over the past century because of warming temperatures. Importantly, these changes varied among species; some changed more, some less, and others did not change. Plants flowering early in the spring responded more to warming temperatures than did summer flowering plants. Records from Mt. Takao, Japan showed that early flowering cherry species and individual trees were the most responsive to warming temperatures. Experimental evidence showed that structural and physiological traits, such as xylem vessel diameter and inflorescence water content, might explain why some closely related species responded differently to climate change. Novel data sources such as photographs and herbarium specimens from Concord and the Arnold Arboretum showed changes in flowering times that were indistinguishable from changes indicated by conventional scientific observations.
Download or read book Climate Change and Terrestrial Ecosystem Modeling written by Gordon Bonan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-21 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an essential introduction to modeling terrestrial ecosystems in Earth system models for graduate students and researchers.
Download or read book Insects and Ecosystem Function written by W.W. Weisser and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-05 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Insects are a dominant component of biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and play a key role in mediating the relationship between plants and ecosystem processes. This volume examines their effects on ecosystem functioning, focusing mainly, but not exclusively, on herbivorous insects. Renowned authors with extensive experience in the field of plant-insect interactions, contribute to the volume using examples from their own work.
Download or read book Ecosystem Dynamics written by Richard H. W. Bradshaw and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-03-21 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecosystem Dynamics focuses on long-term terrestrial ecosystems and their changing relationships with human societies. The unique aspect of this text is the long-time scale under consideration as data and insights from the last 10,000 years are used to place present-day ecosystem status into a temporal perspective and to test models that generate forecasts of future conditions. Descriptions and assessments of some of the current modelling tools that are used, along with their uncertainties and assumptions, are an important feature of this book. An overarching theme explores the dynamic interactions between human societies and ecosystem functioning and services. This book is authoritative but accessible and provides a useful background for all students, practitioners, and researchers interested in the subject.
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 Physiological Plant Ecology IV written by O. L. Lange and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: O. L. LANGE, P. S. NOBEL, C. B. OSMOND, and H. ZIEGLER In the last volume of the series 'Physiological Plant Ecology' we have asked contributors to address the bases of ecosystem processes in terms of key plant physiological properties. It has often been suggested that it is not profitable to attempt analysis of complex living systems in terms of the properties of component individuals or populations, i. e. , the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Nevertheless, assessments of ecological research over the last century show that other approaches are seldom more helpful. Although it is possible to describe complex systems of living organisms in holistic terms, the most useful descriptions are found in terms of the birth, growth and death of individ uals. This allows analysis of performance of the parts of the whole considering their synergistic and antagonistic interrelationships and is the basis for a synthe sis which elucidates the specific properties of a system. Thus it seems that the description of ecosystem processes is inevitably anchored in physiological under standing. If enquiry into complex living systems is to remain a scientific exercise, it must retain tangible links with physiology. Of course, as was emphasized in Vol. 12A, not all of our physiological understanding is required to explore ecosystem processes. For pragmatic purposes, the whole may be adequantely represented as a good deal less than the sum of its parts.
Download or read book Root Ecology written by Hans de Kroon and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2003-05-21 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the course of evolution, a great variety of root systems have learned to overcome the many physical, biochemical and biological problems brought about by soil. This development has made them a fascinating object of scientific study. This volume gives an overview of how roots have adapted to the soil environment and which roles they play in the soil ecosystem. The text describes the form and function of roots, their temporal and spatial distribution, and their turnover rate in various ecosystems. Subsequently, a physiological background is provided for basic functions, such as carbon acquisition, water and solute movement, and for their responses to three major abiotic stresses, i.e. hard soil structure, drought and flooding. The volume concludes with the interactions of roots with other organisms of the complex soil ecosystem, including symbiosis, competition, and the function of roots as a food source.
Download or read book Under the Weather written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2001-06-29 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the dawn of medical science, people have recognized connections between a change in the weather and the appearance of epidemic disease. With today's technology, some hope that it will be possible to build models for predicting the emergence and spread of many infectious diseases based on climate and weather forecasts. However, separating the effects of climate from other effects presents a tremendous scientific challenge. Can we use climate and weather forecasts to predict infectious disease outbreaks? Can the field of public health advance from "surveillance and response" to "prediction and prevention?" And perhaps the most important question of all: Can we predict how global warming will affect the emergence and transmission of infectious disease agents around the world? Under the Weather evaluates our current understanding of the linkages among climate, ecosystems, and infectious disease; it then goes a step further and outlines the research needed to improve our understanding of these linkages. The book also examines the potential for using climate forecasts and ecological observations to help predict infectious disease outbreaks, identifies the necessary components for an epidemic early warning system, and reviews lessons learned from the use of climate forecasts in other realms of human activity.
Download or read book Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology written by F Stuart Chapin III and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-04-10 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Features review questions at the end of each chapter; Includes suggestions for recommended reading; Provides a glossary of ecological terms; Has a wide audience as a textbook for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students and as a reference for practicing scientists from a wide array of disciplines
