Symposium of the Working Group for Succession Research on Permanent Plots, and Data-Processing of the International Society for Vegetation Sciences, Held at Montpellier, France, September 1980
Holm oak (Quercus ilex L.) forests and woodlands have been considered as a paradigm for Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems. In the western part of the Mediterranean Basin, these forests and woodlands occupy large areas and thus play a very important role in the landscape. A number of research projects from the Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), the Centre de Recerca Ecológica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), and from many other laboratories are currently focusing on Q. ilex ecosystems, and a number of problems have appeared concerning not only basic knowledge but also management aspects. For this reason, the CEFE and the CREAF decided to jointly organize the workshop on Quercus ilex L. Ecosystems, which was held in Montpellier and Barcelona in September 1990. The present volume consists of a selection of papers presented during the workshop and other papers contributed after the workshop. The papers are divided into five sections: Biogeography and History; Structure, Productivity and Dynamics; Water Relationships; Nutrient Cycling; and Management.
This book is about ideas on the nature and causes of temporal change in the species composition of vegetation. In particular it examines the diverse processes of inter action of plants with their environment, and with one another, through which the species composition of vegetation becomes established. The first chapter considers the general nature of vegetation and the ways in which vegetation change is perceived by ecologists. Chapters 2 and 3 provide essential background about the relationships between plants and their abiotic and biotic environment. Anyone who is familiar with the fundamentals of plant ecology may prefer to pass over Chapters 2 and 3 which, of necessity, cover their subject matter very briefly. Sequences of development of vegetation on new volcanic rocks, sand dunes and glacial deposits, respectively, are outlined in Chapters 4, 5 and 6. Chapter 7 is about the patterns of vegetation change which occur in severe habitats around the world, and Chapter 8 discusses wetlands. Chapter 9 discusses the diverse responses of temperate forests to a variety of disturbing influences, and Chapter 10 deals with change in the species-rich forests of the Tropics. Chapter 11 treats, in detail, the empirical and inferential data on the biological processes occurring during vegetation change sequences. Chapter 12 considers the plant community phenomena which are implicated in the development of theory about vegetation change. The final chapter, Chapter 13, draws the diverse themes together into a unified theoretical structure by which the vegetation change phenomena may be understood.
This text presents edited key papers from the International Symposium on Grassland Ecophyisiology and Grazing Ecology held in Curitiba, Brazil in August 1999. It considers how plants within grasslands respond to and are adapted to grazing animals.
This abundantly illustrated book provides a fundamental introduction to the ecological zones of the geosphere. The revised edition includes more than 70 new figures and tables, plus detailed maps of agricultural regions and soil classification. A large number of new Anglo-American ecological studies are included, along with a discussion of the correlation between northern ecosystems and the carbon dioxide balance in the global atmosphere.
Current phase-out schedules of the production and emission of CFC's indicate that chlorine loading in the stratosphere is not yet at its maximum. The recovery of stratospheric ozone is estimated to take time and ele vated levels of UV-B radiation are expected to occur throughout most of the next century. Despite numerous physiological studies of UV-B effects on plants, often grown in climate chambers, knowledge of UV-B effects on organisms and processes in natural aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems is poor. Currently it appears that UV-B radiation is not just an environmental stress' factor to plants. In various ways, which are incompletely understood, UV-B affects a wide range of physiological and ecological processes. Remarkably, recent field studies indicate that enhanced UV-B does not markedly affect photosynthesis, growth and primary production, but rather interferes with plant morphogenesis and plant and ecosystem functions relating to the secondary metabolism. This special issue and book UV-B and Biosphere is an attempt to cover this range and to report the progress made in the research of ecological effects of enhanced solar UV-B radiation. The papers in this book formed the basis of an international workshop entitled' UV-B and Biosphere' , December 15-18, 1995, in Wageningen, The Netherlands. A first reaction of Hans de Boois on the number of papers and sessions scheduled from Friday to Sunday morning was: far too many.
The Encyclopedia of the Biosphere features comprehensive coverage of the earth's greatest ecosystems, their characteristics and their operations. The Encyclopedia explains how these ecosystems have been transformed by human activity, while presenting the main species inhabiting each region. The text in each volume is clearly organized into four distinct sections covering the ecosystem's environmental factors, plants and animal ecology, human influences and biosphere reserves. Eleven fully-illustrated, 4-color volumes present in a contemporary, dynamic manner, the earth's principal ecosystems and the better known species of flora and fauna.