Resource Competition and Community Structure. (MPB-17), Volume 17

Resource Competition and Community Structure. (MPB-17), Volume 17

Author: David Tilman

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-03-31

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 0691209650

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

One of the central questions of ecology is why there are so many different kinds of plants and animals. Here David Tilman presents a theory of how organisms compete for resources and the way their competition promotes diversity. Developing Hutchinson's suggestion that the main cause of diversity is the feeding relations of species, this book builds a mechanistic, resource-based explanation of the structure and functioning of ecological communities. In a detailed analysis of the Park Grass Experiments at the Rothamsted Experimental Station in England, the author demonstrates that the dramatic results of these 120 years of experimentation are consistent with his theory, as are observations in many other natural communities. The consumer-resource approach of this book is applicable to both animal and plant communities, but the majority of Professor Tilman's discussion concentrates on the structure of plant communities. All theoretical arguments are developed graphically, and formal mathematics is kept to a minimum. The final chapters of the book provide some testable speculations about resources and animal communities and explore such problems as the evolution of "super species," the differences between plant and animal community diversity patterns, and the cause of plant succession.


The Global Carbon Cycle

The Global Carbon Cycle

Author: Martin Heimann

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 596

ISBN-13: 3642846084

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is the outcome of a NAill Advanced Study Institute on the contemporary glo bal carbon cycle, held in n Ciocco, Italy, September 8-20, 1991. The motivation for this ASI originated from recent controversial findings regarding the relative roles of the ocean and the land biota in the current global balance of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Consequently, the pur pose of this institute was to review, among leading experts in the field, the multitude of known constraints on the present day global carbon cycle as identified by the fields of meteorology, physical and biological oceanography, geology and terrestrial biosphere sciences. At the same time the form of an Advanced Study Institute was chosen, thus providing the opportunity to convey the information in tutorial form across disciplines and to young researchers entering the field. The first three sections of this book contain the lectures held in II Ciocco. The first sec tion reviews the atmospheric, large-scale global constraints on the present day carbon cycle including the emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel use and it provides a brief look into the past. The second section discusses the role of the terrestrial biosphere and the third the role of the ocean in the contemporary global carbon cycle.


The Ecology of Phytoplankton

The Ecology of Phytoplankton

Author: C. S. Reynolds

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-05-04

Total Pages: 437

ISBN-13: 1139454897

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This important new book by Colin Reynolds covers the adaptations, physiology and population dynamics of phytoplankton communities. It provides basic information on composition, morphology and physiology of the main phyletic groups represented in marine and freshwater systems and in addition reviews recent advances in community ecology.


Primary Productivity and Biogeochemical Cycles in the Sea

Primary Productivity and Biogeochemical Cycles in the Sea

Author: Paul G. Falkowski

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-11-22

Total Pages: 544

ISBN-13: 1489907629

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Biological processes in the oceans play a crucial role in regulating the fluxes of many important elements such as carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, phosphorus, and silicon. As we come to the end of the 20th century, oceanographers have increasingly focussed on how these elements are cycled within the ocean, the interdependencies of these cycles, and the effect of the cycle on the composition of the earth's atmosphere and climate. Many techniques and tools have been developed or adapted over the past decade to help in this effort. These include satellite sensors of upper ocean phytoplankton distributions, flow cytometry, molecular biological probes, sophisticated moored and shipboard instrumentation, and vastly increased numerical modeling capabilities. This volume is the result of the 37th Brookhaven Symposium in Biology, in which a wide spectrum of oceanographers, chemists, biologists, and modelers discussed the progress in understanding the role of primary producers in biogeochemical cycles. The symposium is dedicated to Dr. Richard W. Eppley, an intellectual giant in biological oceanography, who inspired a generation of scientists to delve into problems of understanding biogeochemical cycles in the sea. We gratefully acknowledge support from the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Special thanks to Claire Lamberti for her help in producing this volume.


Phaeocystis, major link in the biogeochemical cycling of climate-relevant elements

Phaeocystis, major link in the biogeochemical cycling of climate-relevant elements

Author: M.A. van Leeuwe

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-06-24

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1402062141

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume offers a selection of papers presented at the final meeting of Working Group # 120 "Phaeocystis, major link in the biogeochemical cycling of climate-relevant elements", of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR). It features papers by various top authors in the field, covering topics that reach from the organism level to ecosystem dynamics. It also includes a synthesis of all the presentations of the meeting.