Acid rain is a serious international environmental problem. Scandinavian forests have suffered especially severe damage, and have been the focus of considerable research on the causes and impacts of atmospheric pollution. This book presents the results of long-term studies on acid rain in Norwegian forests. This research examined soil chemistry and biology; the impacts of acid rain on tree growth and nutrition; and its influence on ground vegetation, fungi, and seedling germination and development. Long-Term Experiments with Acid Rain in Norwegian Forest Ecosystems is a lasting...

Lake Plusee is a small eutrophic kettle lake in northern Germany. Because it is sheltered and has no inflow from rivers, the Plusee exhibits stable stratification and is especially suitable for limnological studies. This book presents the results of extensive research conducted on the ecophysiology of microorganisms - principally bacteria - at the Plusee over the past several decades. It begins with three chapters on the general limnological state of the lake: physical factors, inorganic nutrients, plankton composition and succession, fish fauna, etc. These chapters are followed by...

Rocky Mountain National Park was established in 1915, one year before the creation of the National Park Service. The mandate of the National Park Service is to preserve and protect areas of exquisite beauty and cultural value for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations. National parks mean many things to many people, and, in often stirring words, a National Parks and Conservation Association report states the National Park System is a magnificent and uniquely American gift to the American people and the world. In the early years of the Service, park superintendents actively promoted...

The emergence of landscape ecology during the 1980s represents an impor- tant maturation of ecological theory. Once enamored with the conceptual beauty of well-balanced, homogeneous ecosystems, ecologists now assert that much of the essence of ecological systems lies in their lumpiness. Patches with differing properties and behaviors lie strewn across the land- scape, products of the complex interactions of climate, disturbance, and biotic processes. It is the collective behavior of this patchwork of eco- systems that drives pattern and process of the landscape. is not an end point This...

Over the past decade there has been considerable interest in the effects of atmospheric deposition on forest ecosystems. This volume summarizes the results of the Integrated Forest Study (IFS), one of the most comprehensive research programs conducted. It involved intensive measurements of deposition and nutrient cycling at seventeen diverse forested sites in the United States, Canada, and Norway. The IFS is unique as an applied research project in its complete, ecosystem-level evaluation of nutrient budgets, including significant inputs, outputs, and internal fluxes. It is also noteworthy as...

In the early 1980s there were several published reports of recent, unexplained increases in mortality of red spruce in the Adirondack Mountains and the northern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. These reports coincided with documentation of reductions in radial growth of several species of pine in the southeastern United States, and with the severe, rapid, and widespread decline of Norway spruce, silver fir, and some hardwoods in central Europe. In all of these instances, atmospheric deposition was hypothesized as the cause of the decline. (Throughout this volume, we use the...

John Sculley In the short history of personal computing, the task of the software programmer has been one of the least recognized-but one of the most significant-in the industry. In addition to defining the prob- lems, and presenting the solutions, the software programmer is con- fronted with the challenge of having to predict what combination of ideas and technologies will move the industry forward in the most compelling way. Even though we've seen the development of tremendous applications in a surprisingly short period of time, the most difficult problems often surface when we try to...

This book addresses basic questions concerning the ecological relationships and current conditions of the major river systems in Florida . . There have been relatively few comprehensive studies made of the rivers of Florida. There is, to be sure, voluminous information that addresses various aspects of riverine ecology. However, little such information has been collected in a way that allows even a preliminary understanding of the driving forces that determine how the diverse freshwater and associated brackish systems function. This lack of useful data is the product of a fundamental...

An attractive, promising, and frustrating feature of ecology is its complex- ity, both conceptual and observational. Increasing acknowledgment of the importance of scale testifies to the shifting focus in large areas of ecology. In the rush to explore problems of scale, another general aspect of ecolog- ical systems has been given less attention. This aspect, equally important, is heterogeneity. Its importance lies in the ubiquity of heterogeneity as a feature of ecological systems and in the number of questions it raises- questions to which answers are not readily available. What is...

Harold A. Mooney and Richard J. Hobbs At present there is enormous concern about the changes that are occurring on the surface of the earth and in the earth's atmosphere, primarily as a result of human activities. These changes, particularly in the atmosphere, have the potential for altering the earth's habitability. International pro- grams unprecedented in scope, including the International Geosphere- Biosphere Program, have been initiated to describe and understand these changes. The global change program will call for coordinated measure- ments on a global scale of those interactive...