Author: Lea HeidrichPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
The Effect of Environmental Heterogeneity on Communities
Author: Lea HeidrichThe Ecological Consequences of Environmental Heterogeneity
Author: British Ecological Society. SymposiumPublisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521549356
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 454
Book Description
A wide-ranging review of the effects of heterogeneity on individuals, populations, communities and biodiversity.
The Ecological Consequences of Environmental Heterogeneity
Author: Michael J. HutchingsPublisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521549356
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The last decade has seen countless advances in the measurement and interpretation of the impacts of environmental heterogeneity upon organisms and ecological processes. This volume discusses the effects of environmental heterogeneity; the effects of spatial and temporal heterogeneity on individuals, populations, communities and biodiversity; and the management and conservation implications of environmental heterogeneity.
Scale, Heterogeneity, and the Structure and Diversity of Ecological Communities
Author: Mark E. RitchiePublisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400831687
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 240
Book Description
Understanding and predicting species diversity in ecological communities is one of the great challenges in community ecology. Popular recent theory contends that the traits of species are "neutral" or unimportant to coexistence, yet abundant experimental evidence suggests that multiple species are able to coexist on the same limiting resource precisely because they differ in key traits, such as body size, diet, and resource demand. This book presents a new theory of coexistence that incorporates two important aspects of biodiversity in nature--scale and spatial variation in the supply of limiting resources. Introducing an innovative model that uses fractal geometry to describe the complex physical structure of nature, Mark Ritchie shows how species traits, particularly body size, lead to spatial patterns of resource use that allow species to coexist. He explains how this criterion for coexistence can be converted into a "rule" for how many species can be "packed" into an environment given the supply of resources and their spatial variability. He then demonstrates how this rule can be used to predict a range of patterns in ecological communities, such as body-size distributions, species-abundance distributions, and species-area relations. Ritchie illustrates how the predictions closely match data from many real communities, including those of mammalian herbivores, grasshoppers, dung beetles, and birds. This book offers a compelling alternative to "neutral" theory in community ecology, one that helps us better understand patterns of biodiversity across the Earth.
Exploitation of Environmental Heterogeneity by Plants
Author: Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0323139272
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 429
Book Description
There is a new emerging interest in the effects of gaps and patches on succession and biodiversity. This innovative volume is a synthesis of studies of plant responses to temporal and spatial heterogeneity, the exploitation of resources from pulses and patches by plants, and their competition with neighbors in the face of this variability. Aboveground, the book focuses upon the nature of canopy patchiness, consequences of this heterogeneity for the light environment, and the mechanisms by which plants respond to and exploit this patchiness. Belowground, the text explores the heterogeneity of soil environments and how root systems obtain nutrients and water in the context of this temporal and spatial variability. As a new reference in an evolving and growing field, this text is sure to be a valuable tool for researchers and advanced students in plant physiology, ecology, agronomy, and forestry alike.
The Ecological Consequences of Environmental Heterogeneity
Author: British Ecological Society. SymposiumPublisher: Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN: 9780632057139
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 434
Book Description
Presents advances in the measurement and interpretation of the impacts of environmental heterogenity upon organisms and ecological processes. The 18 contributions from the March 1999 symposium discuss the effects of spatial and temporal heterogeneity on individuals, populations, communities and biodiversity; and the management and conservation implications of environmental heterogeneity. Topics include plant response to patchy soils, heterogeneity in plant quality and its impact on the population ecology of insect herbivores, and genetic variation and adaptation in tree populations. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR
Ecological Heterogeneity
Author: Jurek KolasaPublisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461230624
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344
Book Description
An attractive, promising, and frustrating feature of ecology is its complex ity, both conceptual and observational. Increasing acknowledgment of the importance of scale testifies to the shifting focus in large areas of ecology. In the rush to explore problems of scale, another general aspect of ecolog ical systems has been given less attention. This aspect, equally important, is heterogeneity. Its importance lies in the ubiquity of heterogeneity as a feature of ecological systems and in the number of questions it raises questions to which answers are not readily available. What is heterogeneity? Does it differ from complexity? What dimensions need be considered to evaluate heterogeneity ade quately? Can heterogeneity be measured at various scales? Is heterogeneity apart of organization of ecological systems? How does it change in time and space? What are the causes of heterogeneity and causes of its change? This volume attempts to answer these questions. It is devoted to iden tification of the meaning, range of applications, problems, and methodol ogy associated with the study of heterogeneity. The coverage is thus broad and rich, and the contributing authors have been encouraged to range widely in discussions and reflections. vi Preface The chapters are grouped into themes. The first group focuses on the conceptual foundations (Chapters 1-5). These papers exarnine the meaning of the term, historical developments, and relations to scale. The second theme is modeling population and interspecific interactions in hetero geneous environments (Chapters 6 and 7).
Phylogenetic Diversity
Author: Rosa A. SchersonPublisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319931458
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 217
Book Description
“Biodiversity” refers to the variety of life. It is now agreed that there is a “biodiversity crisis”, corresponding to extinction rates of species that may be 1000 times what is thought to be “normal”. Biodiversity science has a higher profile than ever, with the new Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services involving more than 120 countries and 1000s of scientists. At the same time, the discipline is re-evaluating its foundations – including its philosophy and even core definitions. The value of biodiversity is being debated. In this context, the tree of life (“phylogeny”) is emerging as an important way to look at biodiversity, with relevance cutting across current areas of concern – from the question of resilience within ecosystems, to conservation priorities for globally threatened species – while capturing the values of biodiversity that have been hard to quantify, including resilience and maintaining options for future generations. This increased appreciation of the importance of conserving “phylogenetic diversity”, from microbial communities in the human gut to global threatened species, has inevitably resulted in an explosion of new indices, methods, and case studies. This book recognizes and responds to the timely opportunity for synthesis and sharing experiences in practical applications. The book recognizes that the challenge of finding a synthesis, and building shared concepts and a shared toolbox, requires both an appreciation of the past and a look into the future. Thus, the book is organized as a flow from history, concepts and philosophy, through to methods and tools, and followed by selected case studies. A positive vision and plan of action emerges from these chapters, that includes coping with inevitable uncertainties, effectively communicating the importance of this “evolutionary heritage” to the public and to policy-makers, and ultimately contributing to biodiversity conservation policy from local to global scales.
Bird Atlas 2007-11: The Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland
Author: Dawn BalmerPublisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007593015
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 720
Book Description
Recommended for viewing on a colour tablet. The Bird Atlas 2007–2011 is the definitive statement on breeding and winter bird distributions in Britain and Ireland.
U.S. Health in International Perspective
Author: National Research CouncilPublisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309264146
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 421
Book Description
The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.