Bøker i Ecological Studies-serien

This is the first truly ecosystem-oriented book on peatlands. It adopts an ecosystems approach to understanding the world's boreal peatlands. A recurring theme is the legacy of boreal peatlands as impressive accumulators of carbon as peat over millennia.

This book covers the wider aspects of the microbiology of hot desert soil ecosystems, compiling disparate information from a range of relevant desert soil microbial fields.The reader learns about microbial ecology of the more dominant and possibly most important desert habitats, detailing the phylogenetic and functional diversity of these different habitats as well as their potential role in desert ecosystem ecology. Particular attention is also given to microbial stress adaptation in hot desert soils. Furthermore, it is the first volume in this particular field to cover modern metagenomics technologies that can be applied to studies of all aspects of desert microbial communities. Additionally, the book explores viruses and viral communities, which are among the least studied (and little understood) components of desert soil microbial communities. Particular attention is also given to the roles of desert microbial communities in biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Through this book the reader discovers how desert microbiology has been at the forefront of Astrobiology and how it may be used conceptually in future terraforming strategies. Desert ecosystems are increasingly coming into focus given the impacts of climate change and desertification trends, making this volume particularly timely. Each of the chapters is authored by leading international researchers and is a must-read for microbial ecologists. 

This edited volume summarizes multidisciplinary work on wildlife conservation in the Tarangire Ecosystem of northern Tanzania. By drawing together human-centered, wildlife-centered, and interdisciplinary research, this book contributes to furthering our understanding of the often complex mechanisms underlying human-wildlife interactions in dynamic landscapes. By synthesizing the wealth of knowledge generated by anthropologists, ecologists, conservationists, entrepreneurs, geographers, sociologists, and zoologists over the last decades, this book also highlights practicable and locally adapted solutions for shaping human-wildlife interactions towards coexistence.Readers will discover the reciprocal and often unexpected direct and indirect dynamics between people and wildlife. While boundaries (e.g. between people and wildlife, between protected and un-protected areas, and between different groups of people) are a common theme throughout the different chapters, this book stresses the commonalities, links, and synergies between seemingly disparate disciplines, opinions, and conservation approaches. The chapters are divided into clear sections, such as the human dimension, the wildlife dimension  and  human-wildlife interactions,  representing a detailed summary of anthropological, ecological, and interdisciplinary research projects that have been conducted in the Tarangire Ecosystem over the last decades. Beyond, this work contributes to the debate about land-sharing versus land-sparing and provides an in-depth case study for understanding the complexities associated with human-wildlife coexistence in one of the few remaining ecosystems that supports migratory populations of large mammals.The topic of this book is particularly relevant for students, scholars, and practitioners who are interested in reconciling the needs of human populations with those of the environment in general and large mammal populations in particular.    

Climate change is one of the most severe dangers for mankind worldwide. Beside the temperature increase, the sea level will rise and flood wide coastal areas, which is already remarkable today. The effects will be dramatic, in particular, at coasts with low elevation gradients such as at the German coasts of the North and Baltic Sea. The impact will be not only severe for coastal people, but still more for the unique coastal ecosystems, which harbors many plant and animal species that are already endangered today.This book focuses on the coastal terrestrial ecosystems of the German North and Baltic Sea. It describes the reactions of plants and animals (i.e. spiders, carabid beetles, bees and nematodes) on the future temperature and sea level increase. The combination of field and experimental studies is unique for Europe and for many parts of the world. It not only studies the actual elevation gradients and the climatic and saline gradients fromWest to East, but also the historical changes to document processes at coastal ecosystems that were already passed. In contrast to many books that studied the marine processes with similar backgrounds, this book concerns the terrestrial coastal ecosystems that were overall rarely studied and, in particular, never studied under this specific viewpoint.

Human-driven greenhouse emissions are increasing the velocity of climate change and the frequency and intensity of climate extremes far above historical levels. These changes, along with other human-perturbations, are setting the conditions for more rapid and abrupt ecosystem dynamics and collapse.This book presents new evidence on the rapid emergence of ecosystem collapse in response to the progression of anthropogenic climate change dynamics that are expected to intensify as the climate continues to warm. Discussing implications for biodiversity conservation, the chapters provide examples of such dynamics globally covering polar and boreal ecosystems, temperate and semi-arid ecosystems, as well as tropical and temperate coastal ecosystems.Given its scope, the volume appeals to scientists in the fields of general ecology, terrestrial and coastal ecology, climate change impacts, and biodiversity conservation.

Douglas then explores the impacts caused by logging, the extreme pulses of sedimentation and the effects of log removal and logging road construction, examining the effects of major storms in the 20 years after tree harvesting.

This book discusses the water and carbon cycle system in the permafrost region of eastern Siberia, Providing vitalin sights into how climate change has affected the permafrost environment in recent decades.

Domestic and wild large mammalian herbivores occur on every continent except Antarctica. Through their browsing and grazing, they affect the structure and distribution not only of vegetation, but also of associated fauna. Consequently, the interactions between management practices and herbivore populations influence the biodiversity, structure and dynamics of ecosystems across vast expanses around the globe: signs of human activity that will be detectable for epochs to come.As a follow-up work to The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing, published in 2008, this new volume presents cutting-edge research on the behaviour, distribution, movement, and direct and indirect impacts of domestic and wild herbivores on terrestrial ecosystems. The respective chapters highlight strategic and applied research on cross-cutting issues in palaeontology and ecology, and provide concrete recommendations on the management of large herbivores to integrate production andconservation in terrestrial systems. Given its scope, the book will appeal to students, researchers and anyone interested in understanding these fascinating wild animals and how they shape the natural world.

This volume explores major wetland ecosystem services, such as climate cooling and water quality improvement, and discusses the recent wetland conservation and restoration activities in China and neighboring countries.

Domestic and wild large mammalian herbivores occur on every continent except Antarctica. Through their browsing and grazing, they affect the structure and distribution not only of vegetation, but also of associated fauna. Consequently, the interactions between management practices and herbivore populations influence the biodiversity, structure and dynamics of ecosystems across vast expanses around the globe: signs of human activity that will be detectable for epochs to come.As a follow-up work to The Ecology of Browsing and Grazing, published in 2008, this new volume presents cutting-edge research on the behaviour, distribution, movement, and direct and indirect impacts of domestic and wild herbivores on terrestrial ecosystems. The respective chapters highlight strategic and applied research on cross-cutting issues in palaeontology and ecology, and provide concrete recommendations on the management of large herbivores to integrate production and conservation in terrestrial systems. Given its scope, the book will appeal to students, researchers and anyone interested in understanding these fascinating wild animals and how they shape the natural world.

Drawing on a diverse pool of global expertise, the authors present diverse approaches that span a range of scales and levels of complexity. The respective chapters provide in-depth information on the current state of research, and outline future prospects in the field of aboveground-belowground community ecology.

Dendroecologists apply the principles and methods of tree-ring science to address ecological questions and resolve problems related to global environmental change. In this fast-growing field, tree rings are used to investigate forest development and succession, disturbance regimes, ecotone and treeline dynamics and forest decline. This book of global scope highlights state-of-the-science dendroecological contributions to paradigm-shifts in our understanding of ecophysiology, stand dynamics, disturbance interactions, forest decline and ecosystem resilience to global environmental change and is fundamental to better managing our forested ecosystems for the full range of ecosystem goods and services that they provide.

This volume presents recent advances in the research on meromictic lakes and a state-of-the art overview of this area. The result is a broad picture of the ecology and biochemistry of meromictic lakes in tropical and cold regions, in man-made pit lakes and euxinic marine lakes, and in freshwater as well as hypersaline lakes.

This book offers a panorama of recent scientific achievements produced through the framework of the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere programme (LBA) and other research programmes in the Brazilian Amazon.

In addition to the many experimental studies, the book also applies model studies such as higher-order closure models, Large-Eddy Simulations, and runoff models for the catchment and compares them with the experimental data.

This volume explores major wetland ecosystem services, such as climate cooling and water quality improvement, and discusses the recent wetland conservation and restoration activities in China and neighboring countries.

This book is an open access publication.Forest ecosystems in Central Europe are changing as a result of anthropogenic influences and changing climate conditions. As such, a large-scale monitoring programme was undertaken in order to understand the influence of site modification, deposition of air pollutants, and climate.This book presents the scientific findings of this study for Germany, including the major challenges with regard to the future preservation and management of forest ecosystems under environmental change. In addition, it addresses a number of central questions: what are the main factors affecting forest stands and soil integrity? How, and how rapidly, are forest ecosystems changing? How diverse are the changes across Germany? What will be the main risks in sustainable forest management in the future? And how can policy support the development and maintenance of adaptive and resilient forests that provide essential ecosystem services, today and in the future?Helping readers understand the importance of soils and related ecosystem processes for future sustainable forestry, and sharing essential findings on environmental change and related changes in forest status and dynamics, the book is a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers interested in science-based decisions.

Large terrestrial mammalian herbivores play critical roles in ecosystems by acting as regulators of energy and nutrient cycles, modulators of plant community composition and grassland-woodland transitions, agents of seed dispersal, and as prey for large carnivores.

This work analyzes vegetation and soils, and investigates the influence of climate change, insect pests, grazing pressure by sheep and reindeer, construction of roads and other consequences of increasing tourism in the Nordic mountain birch forests.

This volume quantifies carbon storage in managed forest ecosystems not only in biomass, but also in all soil compartments.

Drawing on a diverse pool of global expertise, the authors present diverse approaches that span a range of scales and levels of complexity. The respective chapters provide in-depth information on the current state of research, and outline future prospects in the field of aboveground-belowground community ecology.

Dendroecologists apply the principles and methods of tree-ring science to address ecological questions and resolve problems related to global environmental change. In this fast-growing field, tree rings are used to investigate forest development and succession, disturbance regimes, ecotone and treeline dynamics and forest decline. This book of global scope highlights state-of-the-science dendroecological contributions to paradigm-shifts in our understanding of ecophysiology, stand dynamics, disturbance interactions, forest decline and ecosystem resilience to global environmental change and is fundamental to better managing our forested ecosystems for the full range of ecosystem goods and services that they provide.

Large terrestrial mammalian herbivores play critical roles in ecosystems by acting as regulators of energy and nutrient cycles, modulators of plant community composition and grassland-woodland transitions, agents of seed dispersal, and as prey for large carnivores.

This is the first truly ecosystem-oriented book on peatlands. It adopts an ecosystems approach to understanding the world's boreal peatlands. A recurring theme is the legacy of boreal peatlands as impressive accumulators of carbon as peat over millennia.

To write a handbook of methods is surely to invite criticism, as has already been said several times. To be useful to the reader, such a manual must provide a broad review of the methods available and describe them in sufficient detail to permit preliminary selection and judgement.

Whereas comprehensive information on the fire ecology of the northern boreal, the temperate, and the mediter ranean biotas is meanwhile available, it was recognized that conside rable gaps in information exist on the role of fire in tropical und sub tropical ecosystems.

Inselbergs are isolated rock outcrops that stand out abruptly from surrounding plains. Despite the widespread occurrence of granite inselbergs throughout all climatic and vegetational zones, their remarkably rich plant life was largely neglected in the recent literature.