Ecological Communities and Processes in a Mojave Desert Ecosystem PDF Download

Author: Philip W. Rundel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521021418
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
The Mojave Desert is a winter-rainfall desert, experiencing drought in the summer months and occasional rain during the cooler winter months. For many years it has attracted the attention of ecologists and conservation biologists concerned with maintaining the unique status of this region. This book provides a broad overview of plant and animal ecology in the Mojave Desert, with a focus on data from Rock Valley, Nevada. The data from many major research projects is organized into a synthesis describing community structure and dynamics in desert ecosystems.

Author: Robert H. Webb
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780874177763
Category : Desert ecology
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"This title presents new research on the Mojave Desert and the contributors discuss the desert from several perspectives including regional threats such as expanding human populations, climate change, atmospheric nitrogen deposition and invasive plants, the impact of roads in a desert ecosystem, soils and plant communities, shrinking aquifers and the monitoring and sustainability of this fragile ecosystem." --NHBS Environment Bookstore.

Author: Lawrence R. Walker
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816538417
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
The Mojave Desert has a rich natural history. Despite being sandwiched between the larger Great Basin and Sonoran Deserts, it has enough mountains, valleys, canyons, and playas for any eager explorer. Ancient and current waterways carve the bajadas and valley bottoms. This diverse topography gives rise to a multitude of habitats for plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. A Natural History of the Mojave Desert explores how a combination of complex geology, varied geography, and changing climate has given rise to intriguing flora and fauna—including almost 3,000 plant species and about 380 terrestrial vertebrate animal species. Of these, one quarter of the plants and one sixth of the animals are endemic. The authors, who, combined, have spent more than six decades living in and observing the Mojave Desert, offer a scientifically insightful and personally observed understanding of the desert. They invite readers to understand how the Mojave Desert looks, sounds, feels, tastes, and smells. They prompt us to understand how humans have lived in this desert where scant vegetation and water have challenged humans, past and present. A Natural History of the Mojave Desert provides a lively and informed guide to understanding how life has adapted to the hidden riverbeds, huge salt flats, tiny wetlands, and windswept hills that characterize this iconic desert.

Author: Walter G. Whitford
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0081026552
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
Nearly one-third of the land area on our planet is classified as arid or desert. Therefore, an understanding of the dynamics of such arid ecosystems is essential to managing those systems in a way that sustains human populations. This second edition of Ecology of Desert Systems provides a clear, extensive guide to the complex interactions involved in these areas. This book details the relationships between abiotic and biotic environments of desert ecosystems, demonstrating to readers how these interactions drive ecological processes. These include plant growth and animal reproductive success, the spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation and animals, and the influence of invasive species and anthropogenic climate change specific to arid systems. Drawing on the extensive experience of its expert authors, Ecology of Desert Systems is an essential guide to arid ecosystems for students looking for an overview of the field, researchers keen to learn how their work fits in to the overall picture, and those involved with environmental management of desert areas. - Highlights the complexity of global desert systems in a clear, concise way - Reviews the most current issues facing researchers in the field, including the spread of invasive species due to globalized trade, the impact of industrial mining, and climate change - Updated and extended to include information on invasive species management, industrial mining impacts, and the current and future role of climate change in desert systems

Author: Harold Mooney
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520278801
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 1008

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Book Description
This long-anticipated reference and sourcebook for CaliforniaÕs remarkable ecological abundance provides an integrated assessment of each major ecosystem typeÑits distribution, structure, function, and management. A comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge about this biologically diverse state, Ecosystems of California covers the state from oceans to mountaintops using multiple lenses: past and present, flora and fauna, aquatic and terrestrial, natural and managed. Each chapter evaluates natural processes for a specific ecosystem, describes drivers of change, and discusses how that ecosystem may be altered in the future. This book also explores the drivers of CaliforniaÕs ecological patterns and the history of the stateÕs various ecosystems, outlining how the challenges of climate change and invasive species and opportunities for regulation and stewardship could potentially affect the stateÕs ecosystems. The text explicitly incorporates both human impacts and conservation and restoration efforts and shows how ecosystems support human well-being. Edited by two esteemed ecosystem ecologists and with overviews by leading experts on each ecosystem, this definitive work will be indispensable for natural resource management and conservation professionals as well as for undergraduate or graduate students of CaliforniaÕs environment and curious naturalists.

Author: Sven Erik Jørgensen
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0444534679
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 537

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Book Description
Jorgensen's Ecosystem Ecology provides a thorough and comprehensive overview of the world's aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. This derivative volume based on the best-selling Encyclopedia of Ecology (published 2008) is the only book currently published that provides an overview of the world's ecosystems in a concise format. - Provides an overview of the world's ecosystems in a concise format - Covers aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems - Based on the best-selling Encyclopedia of Ecology - Full-color figures and tables support the text and aid in understanding

Author: Brian D. Fath
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0444641300
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 2786

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Book Description
Encyclopedia of Ecology, Second Edition, Four Volume Set continues the acclaimed work of the previous edition published in 2008. It covers all scales of biological organization, from organisms, to populations, to communities and ecosystems. Laboratory, field, simulation modelling, and theoretical approaches are presented to show how living systems sustain structure and function in space and time. New areas of focus include micro- and macro scales, molecular and genetic ecology, and global ecology (e.g., climate change, earth transformations, ecosystem services, and the food-water-energy nexus) are included. In addition, new, international experts in ecology contribute on a variety of topics. Offers the most broad-ranging and comprehensive resource available in the field of ecology Provides foundational content and suggests further reading Incorporates the expertise of over 500 outstanding investigators in the field of ecology, including top young scientists with both research and teaching experience Includes multimedia resources, such as an Interactive Map Viewer and links to a CSDMS (Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System), an open-source platform for modelers to share and link models dealing with earth system processes

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 896

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Book Description

Author: Brian R. Chapman
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118971574
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
North America contains an incredibly diverse array of naturalenvironments, each supporting unique systems of plant and animallife. These systems, the largest of which are biomes, formintricate webs of life that have taken millennia to evolve. Thisrichly illustrated book introduces readers to this extraordinaryarray of natural communities and their subtle biological andgeological interactions. Completely revised and updated throughout, the second edition ofthis successful text takes a qualitative, intuitive approach to thesubject, beginning with an overview of essential ecological termsand concepts, such as competitive exclusion, taxa, niches, andsuccession. It then goes on to describe the major biomes andcommunities that characterize the rich biota of the continent,starting with the Tundra and continuing with Boreal Forest,Deciduous Forest, Grasslands, Deserts, Montane Forests, andTemperature Rain Forest, among others. Coastal environments,including the Laguna Madre, seagrasses, Chesapeake Bay, and barrierislands appear in a new chapter. Additionally, the book covers manyunique features such as pitcher plant bogs, muskeg, the polar icecap, the cloud forests of Mexico, and the LaBrea tar pits.“Infoboxes” have been added; these include biographiesof historical figures who provided significant contributions to thedevelopment of ecology, unique circumstances such as frogs andinsects that survive freezing, and conservation issues such asthose concerning puffins and island foxes. Throughout the text,ecological concepts are worked into the text; these includebiogeography, competitive exclusion, succession, soil formation,and the mechanics of natural selection. Ecology of North America 2e is an ideal first text forstudents interested in natural resources, environmental science,and biology, and it is a useful and attractive addition to thelibrary of anyone interested in understanding and protecting thenatural environment.

Author: L.R. Walker
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080550843
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 881

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Book Description
As the human population inexorably grows, its cumulative impact on the Earth's resources is hard to ignore. The ability of the Earth to support more humans is dependent on the ability of humans to manage natural resources wisely. Because disturbance alters resource levels, effective management requires understanding of the ecology of disturbance. This book is the first to take a global approach to the description of both natural and anthropogenic disturbance regimes that physically impact the ground. Natural disturbances such as erosion, volcanoes, wind, herbivory, flooding and drought plus anthropogenic disturbances such as foresty, grazing, mining, urbanization and military actions are considered. Both disturbance impacts and the biotic recovery are addressed as well as the interactions of different types of disturbance. Other chapters cover processes that are important to the understanding of disturbance of all types including soil processes, nutrient cycles, primary productivity, succession, animal behaviour and competition. Humans react to disturbances by avoiding, exacerbating, or restoring them or by passing environmental legislation. All of these issues are covered in this book.Managers need better predictive models and robust data-collections that help determine both site-specfic and generalized responses to disturbance. Multiple disturbances have a complex effect on both physical and biotic processes as they interact. This book provides a wealth of detail about the process of disturbance and recovery as well as a synthesis of the current state of knowledge about disturbance theory, with extensive documentation.