Books in the Ecological Studies series

This synthesis of the biology of soil crusts and their importance as an ecosystem component discusses composition and functioning of different soil-crust types. Case studies show the impact of crusts on landscape hydrology, soil stability, nutrient cycles, and land management.

Having been the fourth largest lake on the globe roughly 50 years ago, today the Aral Sea no longer exists. The first section provides an overview of the physical characteristics of the area and covers geological, pedological, geomorphological and climatological aspects and their dynamics, especially dust-storm dynamics.

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.

In 1973, a herd of Camargue horses was released into a nature reserve in the Rhone delta of France. The book also provides insight into the consequences of the hind-gut fermentation system for equid behavior and ecology and contrasts this feeding strategy with that of the recently evolved, highly successful grazing bovids.

Five years of research carried out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Services' Northern Global Change Program, contributing to our understanding of the effects of multiples stresses on forest ecosystems over multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Topics treated are - methods in multivariate analyses, ordination and classification, - modeling of temporal and spatial aspects of air- and soilborne diseases, - methods to analyse and describe competition among subpopulations, e.g.

With contributions by numerous experts

The vast range of Alaskan habitats ensures that the chapters in this book will provide valuable information for readers interested in freshwaters, particularly nutrient dynamics, biotic adaptations, recovery mechanisms of aquatic biota, stream succession and the management of human-induced changes in aquatic habitats.

In this volume the dynamic patterns of human density and distribution are examined in relation to the viability of native species and the integrity of their habitats.

Based in extensive research in geology, atmospheric science, and paleontology, this book offers a detailed history of CO2 in the atmosphere, and an understanding of factors that have influenced changes in the past.

Both fire and climatic variability have monumental impacts on the dynamics of temperate ecosystems. Contributions come from fire ecology, paleoecology, biogeography, paleoclimatology, landscape and ecosystem ecology, ecological modeling, forest management, plant community ecology and plant morphology.

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 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.

The inclusion of forests as potential biological sinks in the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1997 has attracted international attention and again has put scientific and political focus on the world's forests, regarding their state and development.

Research in Antarctica in the past two decades has fundamentally changed our perceptions of the southern continent. It includes aspects of climate change, soil development and biology, as well as above- and below-ground results of interdisciplinary research projects combining data from botany, zoology, microbiology, pedology, and soil ecology.

As stated in the European Community Biodiversity Strategy, "the global scale of biodiversity reduction or losses and the interdependence of different species and ecosystems across national borders demands concerted international action".

Increased stratospheric ozone depletion and the corresponding increase in ground levels of UV radiation as well as ambient, "natural" UV radiation as a key ecological factor in the Arctic spring and summer are discussed in detail.

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 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 is the first integrative book on the functioning and ecologically oriented use of floodplain forests in the tropics and sub-tropics. It provides fundamental knowledge for professionals and students on their distribution, evolution and phytogeography.

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.

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.