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Author: Grant Garrison Thompson Publisher: ISBN: Category : Biological control systems Languages : en Pages : 293
Book Description
A generalized mathematical model of ecosystems is developed. The model begins with the general class of systems known as state-determined systems, in which the time-derivative of each state variable is a function of some subset of the set of all system state variables and .environmental parameters. A formal basis is presented for considering the steady-state behavior of such systems in terms of isoclines, drawing upon the fields of graph theory, linear algebra, and differential equations. The simplifying capabilities of hierarchy theory are invoked to mitigate the adverse effects of model complexity. Like the theory of isocline analysis, the particular formulation of hierarchy theory presented is phrased in graph-theoretic terms, enabling the model to be developed as a technique for analyzing the steady-state behavior of hierarchical systems. The role of inter-level time scale heterogeneity in hierarchical organization is discussed. As an illustration of its ability to portray the behavior of spatially-nested hierarchies, the model is used to provide a perspective on data from the climax vegetation of the Great Smoky Mountains. The effects of time scale heterogeneity are also illustrated by using the model to organize data sets from several vegetation/avian communities across the United States. The vegetation is taken to behave with a lower characteristic frequency than the relatively rapidly-developing avian subcommunity, thus constraining the latter in a hierarchical fashion. In order to understand in a more general way the role such a model might play in advancing ecological understanding, a broad framework is presented for analyzing the role of conceptual structures in science and the place of models in these structures. A view of models as scientific metaphors is advanced as an alternative to the pictorial/realist interpretation of models. Given this understanding of models in general, the proposed model and its underlying assumptions are compared and contrasted with a set of four partial conceptual structures drawn from the fields of systems ecology, plant ecology, natural resource economics, and organismic systems theory.
Author: Grant Garrison Thompson Publisher: ISBN: Category : Biological control systems Languages : en Pages : 293
Book Description
A generalized mathematical model of ecosystems is developed. The model begins with the general class of systems known as state-determined systems, in which the time-derivative of each state variable is a function of some subset of the set of all system state variables and .environmental parameters. A formal basis is presented for considering the steady-state behavior of such systems in terms of isoclines, drawing upon the fields of graph theory, linear algebra, and differential equations. The simplifying capabilities of hierarchy theory are invoked to mitigate the adverse effects of model complexity. Like the theory of isocline analysis, the particular formulation of hierarchy theory presented is phrased in graph-theoretic terms, enabling the model to be developed as a technique for analyzing the steady-state behavior of hierarchical systems. The role of inter-level time scale heterogeneity in hierarchical organization is discussed. As an illustration of its ability to portray the behavior of spatially-nested hierarchies, the model is used to provide a perspective on data from the climax vegetation of the Great Smoky Mountains. The effects of time scale heterogeneity are also illustrated by using the model to organize data sets from several vegetation/avian communities across the United States. The vegetation is taken to behave with a lower characteristic frequency than the relatively rapidly-developing avian subcommunity, thus constraining the latter in a hierarchical fashion. In order to understand in a more general way the role such a model might play in advancing ecological understanding, a broad framework is presented for analyzing the role of conceptual structures in science and the place of models in these structures. A view of models as scientific metaphors is advanced as an alternative to the pictorial/realist interpretation of models. Given this understanding of models in general, the proposed model and its underlying assumptions are compared and contrasted with a set of four partial conceptual structures drawn from the fields of systems ecology, plant ecology, natural resource economics, and organismic systems theory.
Author: Publisher: Newnes ISBN: 0444594051 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 595
Book Description
In the application of statistics to ecological inference problems, hierarchical models combine explicit models of ecological system structure or dynamics with models of how ecological systems are observed. The principles of hierarchical modeling are applied in this book to a wide range of problems ranging from the molecular level, through populations, ecosystems, landscapes, networks, through to the global ecosphere. Provides an excellent introduction to modelling Collects together in one source a wide range of modelling techniques Covers a wide range of topics, from the molecular level to the global ecosphere
Author: Robert V. O'Neill Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 0691236607 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 266
Book Description
"Ecosystem" is an intuitively appealing concept to most ecologists, but, in spite of its widespread use, the term remains diffuse and ambiguous. The authors of this book argue that previous attempts to define the concept have been derived from particular viewpoints to the exclusion of others equally possible. They offer instead a more general line of thought based on hierarchy theory. Their contribution should help to counteract the present separation of subdisciplines in ecology and to bring functional and population/community ecologists closer to a common approach. Developed as a way of understanding highly complex organized systems, hierarchy theory has at its center the idea that organization results from differences in process rates. To the authors the theory suggests an objective way of decomposing ecosystems into their component parts. The results thus obtained offer a rewarding method for integrating various schools of ecology.
Author: Luigi Naselli-Flores Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 9401726663 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 403
Book Description
This volume summarises the outcome of the 13th Workshop of the International Association of Phytoplankton Taxonomy and Ecology (IAP) on if, and if so under what conditions phytoplankton assemblages reach equilibrium in natural environments. Quite a number of ecological concepts use terms such as: ecological equilibrium, stability, steady-state, climax, stable state, etc. However, these ecological concepts often have been "translations" of scientific theories developed in physics or chemistry but they almost always lack scientific corroboration, the problem being that often these concepts remain vague and they are not formally defined. Here an attempt to formally recognize what "equilibrium" is in phytoplankton ecology is traced. The book also contains papers by leading scientists on the taxonomy of two selected key groups: cryptomonads and filamentous cyanoprokaryotes. This volume is addressed to all those involved in phytoplankton taxonomy and ecology and in ecology itself.
Author: Robert J. Beyers Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 1461393442 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 566
Book Description
Ecological Microcosms is a seminal work which reviews the expanding field of enclosed ecosystem research, and relates the results and models of microcosm studies to general concepts in ecology. Microcosms are miniaturized pieces of our biosphere, ranging from streams and lakes to terraria, agroecosystems, and waste systems. The study of these simplified ecosystems is providing provocative insights into ecological principles as well as issues of environmental management and global stability. The authors have used the well-known thermodynamic approach of H.T. Odum and numerous computer simulations. The book also includes an evaluation of alternative mesocosm approaches for the support of humans in space, as well as appendices to aid in the teaching of environmental concepts using student-created microcosms. Ecological Microcosms will be of interest to ecologists, environmental engineers, policy makers and environmental managers, space scientists, and educators. Robert J. Beyers is a Professor of Biology at the University of South Alabama. Howard T. Odum is Graduate Research Professor of Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida, and was awarded, with Eugene Odum, the 1987 Crafoord Prize in the Biosciences.
Author: Brook Muller Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317812085 Category : Architecture Languages : en Pages : 162
Book Description
By including ecological concerns in the design process from the outset, architecture can enhance life. Author Brook Muller understands how a designer’s predispositions and poetic judgement in dealing with complex and dynamic ecological systems impact the "greenness" of built outcomes. Ecology and the Architectural Imagination offers a series of speculations on architectural possibility when ecology is embedded from conceptual phases onward, how notions of function and structure of ecosystems can inspire ideas of architectural space making and order, and how the architect’s role and contribution can shift through this engagement. As an ecological architect working in increasingly dense urban environments, you can create diverse spaces of inhabitation and connect project scale living systems with those at the neighborhood and region scales. Equipped with ecological literacy, critical thinking and collaboration skills, you are empowered to play important roles in the remaking of our cities.
Author: Sven Erik Jørgensen Publisher: Academic Press ISBN: 0444534679 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 537
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: Publisher: Princeton University Press ISBN: 9780691088617 Category : Mathematics Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
What makes populations stabilize? What makes them fluctuate? Are populations in complex ecosystems more stable than populations in simple ecosystems? In 1973, Robert May addressed these questions in this classic book. May investigated the mathematical roots of population dynamics and argued-counter to most current biological thinking-that complex ecosystems in themselves do not lead to population stability. Stability and Complexity in Model Ecosystems played a key role in introducing nonlinear mathematical models and the study of deterministic chaos into ecology, a role chronicled in James Gleick's book Chaos. In the quarter century since its first publication, the book's message has grown in power. Nonlinear models are now at the center of ecological thinking, and current threats to biodiversity have made questions about the role of ecosystem complexity more crucial than ever. In a new introduction, the author addresses some of the changes that have swept biology and the biological world since the book's first publication.
Author: T. F. H. Allen Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 022648971X Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 424
Book Description
Although complexity surrounds us, its inherent uncertainty, ambiguity, and contradiction can at first make complex systems appear inscrutable. Ecosystems, for instance, are nonlinear, self-organizing, seemingly chaotic structures in which individuals interact both with each other and with the myriad biotic and abiotic components of their surroundings across geographies as well as spatial and temporal scales. In the face of such complexity, ecologists have long sought tools to streamline and aggregate information. Among them, in the 1980s, T. F. H. Allen and Thomas B. Starr implemented a burgeoning concept from business administration: hierarchy theory. Cutting-edge when Hierarchy was first published, their approach to unraveling complexity is now integrated into mainstream ecological thought. This thoroughly revised and expanded second edition of Hierarchy reflects the assimilation of hierarchy theory into ecological research, its successful application to the understanding of complex systems, and the many developments in thought since. Because hierarchies and levels are habitual parts of human thinking, hierarchy theory has proven to be the most intuitive and tractable vehicle for addressing complexity. By allowing researchers to look explicitly at only the entities and interconnections that are relevant to a specific research question, hierarchically informed data analysis has enabled a revolution in ecological understanding. With this new edition of Hierarchy, that revolution continues.
Author: Grant Garrison Thompson
Author: Grant Garrison Thompson
Author: 
Author: Robert V. O'Neill
Author: Luigi Naselli-Flores
Author: Robert J. Beyers
Author: Brook Muller
Author: Wayne R. Ott
Author: Sven Erik Jørgensen
Author: 
Author: T. F. H. Allen