Disturbance and Ecosystems
Disturbance and Ecosystems

Author: H. A. Mooney

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 307

ISBN-13: 3642691374

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The earth's landscapes are being increasingly impacted by the activities of man. Unfortunately, we do not have a full understanding of the consequences of these disturbances on the earth's productive capacity. This problem was addressed by a group of French and U.S. ecologists who are specialists at levels of integration extending from genetics to the biosphere at a meeting at Stanford, California, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. With a few important exceptions it was found at this meeting that most man-induced disturbances of ecosystems can be viewed as large scale patterns of disturbances that have occurred, generally on a small scale, in ecosystems through evolutionary time. Man has induced dramatic large-scale changes in the environment which must be viewed at the biosphere level. Acid deposition and CO increase are two 2 examples of the consequences of man's increased utilization of fossil fuels. It is a matter of considerable concern that we cannot yet fully predict the ecological consequences of these environmental changes. Such problems must be addressed at the international level, yet substantive mechanisms to do this are not available.

Fire Ecology and Management: Past, Present, and Future of US Forested Ecosystems
Fire Ecology and Management: Past, Present, and Future of US Forested Ecosystems

Author: Cathryn H. Greenberg

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-10-01

Total Pages: 513

ISBN-13: 3030732673

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This edited volume presents original scientific research and knowledge synthesis covering the past, present, and potential future fire ecology of major US forest types, with implications for forest management in a changing climate. The editors and authors highlight broad patterns among ecoregions and forest types, as well as detailed information for individual ecoregions, for fire frequencies and severities, fire effects on tree mortality and regeneration, and levels of fire-dependency by plant and animal communities. The foreword addresses emerging ecological and fire management challenges for forests, in relation to sustainable development goals as highlighted in recent government reports. An introductory chapter highlights patterns of variation in frequencies, severities, scales, and spatial patterns of fire across ecoregions and among forested ecosystems across the US in relation to climate, fuels, topography and soils, ignition sources (lightning or anthropogenic), and vegetation. Separate chapters by respected experts delve into the fire ecology of major forest types within US ecoregions, with a focus on the level of plant and animal fire-dependency, and the role of fire in maintaining forest composition and structure. The regional chapters also include discussion of historic natural (lightning-ignited) and anthropogenic (Native American; settlers) fire regimes, current fire regimes as influenced by recent decades of fire suppression and land use history, and fire management in relation to ecosystem integrity and restoration, wildfire threat, and climate change. The summary chapter combines the major points of each chapter, in a synthesis of US-wide fire ecology and forest management into the future. This book provides current, organized, readily accessible information for the conservation community, land managers, scientists, students and educators, and others interested in how fire behavior and effects on structure and composition differ among ecoregions and forest types, and what that means for forest management today and in the future.

Fire in California's Ecosystems
Fire in California's Ecosystems

Author: Jan W. van Wagtendonk

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2018-06-08

Total Pages: 567

ISBN-13: 0520961919

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Fire in California’s Ecosystems describes fire in detail—both as an integral natural process in the California landscape and as a growing threat to urban and suburban developments in the state. Written by many of the foremost authorities on the subject, this comprehensive volume is an ideal authoritative reference tool and the foremost synthesis of knowledge on the science, ecology, and management of fire in California. Part One introduces the basics of fire ecology, including overviews of historical fires, vegetation, climate, weather, fire as a physical and ecological process, and fire regimes, and reviews the interactions between fire and the physical, plant, and animal components of the environment. Part Two explores the history and ecology of fire in each of California's nine bioregions. Part Three examines fire management in California during Native American and post-Euro-American settlement and also current issues related to fire policy such as fuel management, watershed management, air quality, invasive plant species, at-risk species, climate change, social dynamics, and the future of fire management. This edition includes critical scientific and management updates and four new chapters on fire weather, fire regimes, climate change, and social dynamics.

Ecology and Management of Forest Soils
Ecology and Management of Forest Soils

Author: Dan Binkley

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-11-05

Total Pages: 487

ISBN-13: 1118422325

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Forest soils are the foundation of the entire forest ecosystem and complex, long-term interactions between trees, soil animals, and the microbial community shape soils in was that are very distinct from agricultural soils. The composition, structure, and processes in forest soils at any given time reflect current conditions, as well as the legacies of decades (and even millennia) of interactions that shape each forest soil. Reciprocal interactions are fundamental; vegetation alters soil physical properties, which influence soil biology and chemistry, which in turn influence the growth and success of plants. These dynamic systems may be strongly influenced by intentional and unintentional management, ranging from fire to fertilization. Sustaining the long-term fertility of forest soils depends on insights about a diverse array of soil features and changes over space and time. Since the third edition of this successful book many new interests in forest soils and their management have arisen, including the role of forest soils in sequestering carbon, and how management influences rates of carbon accumulation. This edition also expands the consideration of how soils are sampled and characterized, and how tree species differ in their influence on soil development. Clearly structured throughout, the book opens with the origins of forest soil science and ends with the application of soil science principles to land management. This new edition provides: A completely revised and updated Fourth Edition of this classic textbook in the field A coherent overview of the major issues surrounding the ecology and management of forest soils Global in scope with coverage of soil types ranging from the tropical rainforest soils of Latin America to the boreal forest soils of Siberia New chapters on Management: Carbon sequestration; Evidence-based approaches and applications of geostatistics, GIS and taxonomies A clear overview of each topic, informative examples/case studies, and an overall context for helping readers think clearly about forest soils An introduction to the literature of forest soil science and to the philosophy of forest soil science research This coherent overview of the major issues surrounding the ecology and management of forest soils will be particularly useful to students taking courses in soil science, forestry, agronomy, ecology, natural resource management, environmental management and conservation, as well as professionals in forestry dealing with the productivity of forests and functioning of watersheds.

Fire Monks
Fire Monks

Author: Colleen Morton Busch

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2011-07-07

Total Pages: 365

ISBN-13: 1101516941

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The "vivid" and "electrifying" true story of how five monks saved the oldest Zen Buddhist monastery in the United States from wildfire (San Francisco Chronicle). When a massive wildfire surrounded Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, five monks risked their lives to save it. A gripping narrative as well as a portrait of the Zen path and the ways of wildfire, Fire Monks reveals what it means to meet a crisis with full presence of mind. Zen master and author of the classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi established a monastery at Tassajara Hot Springs in 1967, drawn to the location's beauty, peace, and seclusion. Deep in the wilderness east of Big Sur, the center is connected to the outside world by a single unpaved road. The remoteness that makes it an oasis also makes it particularly vulnerable when disaster strikes. If fire entered the canyon, there would be no escape. More than two thousand wildfires, all started by a single lightning storm, blazed across the state of California in June 2008. With resources stretched thin, firefighters advised residents at Tassajara to evacuate early. Most did. A small crew stayed behind, preparing to protect the monastery when the fire arrived. But nothing could have prepared them for what came next. A treacherous shift in weather conditions prompted a final order to evacuate everyone, including all firefighters. As they caravanned up the road, five senior monks made the risky decision to turn back. Relying on their Zen training, they were able to remain in the moment and do the seemingly impossible-to greet the fire not as an enemy to defeat, but as a friend to guide. Fire Monks pivots on the kind of moment some seek and some run from, when life and death hang in simultaneous view. Novices in fire but experts in readiness, the Tassajara monks summoned both intuition and wisdom to face crisis with startling clarity. The result is a profound lesson in the art of living.

Protocol for Somatic Embryogenesis in Woody Plants
Protocol for Somatic Embryogenesis in Woody Plants

Author: Shri Mohan Jain

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2005-05-23

Total Pages: 604

ISBN-13: 9781402029844

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World population is increasing at an alarming rate and this has resulted in increasing tremendously the demand for tree products such as wood for construction materials, fuel and paper, fruits, oils and medicines etc. This has put immense pressure on the world’s supplies of trees and raw material to industry and will continue to do so as long as human population continues to grow. Also, the quality of human diet, especially nutritional components, is adversely affected due to limited genetic improvement of most of fruit trees. Thus there is an immediate need to increase productivity of trees. Improvement has been made through conventional breeding methods, however, conventional breeding is very slow due to long life cycle of trees. A basic strategy in tree improvement is to capture genetic gain through clonal propagation. Clonal propagation via organogenesis is being used for the production of selected elite individual trees. However, the methods are labour intensive, costly, and produce low volumes. Genetic gain can now be captured through somatic embryogenesis. Formation of embryos from somatic cells by a process resembling zygotic embryogenesis is one of the most important features of plants. In 1958, Reinert in Germany and Steward in USA independently reported somatic embryogenesis in carrot cultures. Since then, tremendous progress in somatic embryogenesis of woody and non-woody plants has taken place. It offers a potentially large-scale propagation system for superior clones.