At present, roughly half of the world's population lives in urban centers. There are now more than 20 cities with a population of over 10 million inhabitants, compared to less than 5 about 50 years ago. This tendency toward urbanization is expected to continue, particularly in the developing world. A consequence of this growing trend is that millions of people are being exposed to harmful levels of urban air pollutants caused mainly by emissions from motor vehicles and from industrial and domestic activities involving the combustion of fossil fuels. The driving force for the design and...
At present, roughly half of the world's population lives in urban centers. There are now more than 20 cities with a population of over 10 million inha...
The tidal coastline presents a fascinating ecological world. Rocky shores with their recurrent zonation of algae and sessile invertebrates demonstrate the orderliness of nature, apparently obeying general explan- atory principles. The niche theory could just as well have hatched out of the tight species-packing on the coral reef flats. Fluxes of carbon and nitrogen are best studied in mangroves and salt marshes with their outstanding primary productivity; the bare mud and sands of the tidal flats are different. Their ecological treasures are well concealed, and perhaps not to everybody's...
The tidal coastline presents a fascinating ecological world. Rocky shores with their recurrent zonation of algae and sessile invertebrates demonstrate...
The Guayana Highlands in northeastern tropical America, rising from lowland rain forests and savannas up to 3000 m elevation, are characterized by ancient tablelands called tepuis. The peatlands that developed on the tepuis constitute unique and fascinating ecosystems and are the focus of this volume, which starts with an overview of tropical and subtropical peats, followed by an introduction to the geo-ecological features of the Guayana region as a whole, with special emphasis on the diversity of the vegetation cover from lowlands to uplands to highlands. The core subject centers...
The Guayana Highlands in northeastern tropical America, rising from lowland rain forests and savannas up to 3000 m elevation, are characterized by ...
To write a handbook of methods is surely to invite criticism, as has already been said several times. On the other hand, there is a great need for methodological manuals in all fields of science. It was therefore decided to compile this book, written in good faith to help scientists, teachers and students who will, it is hoped, use it and judge it good. 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. It has to give - at least for selected methods - a suffi-...
To write a handbook of methods is surely to invite criticism, as has already been said several times. On the other hand, there is a great need for met...
Seaweeds, also known as macroalgae, are among the most important primary producers and act as ecological engineers on rocky coasts of the world's oceans. In addition to their extreme ecological importance they are also of high economic relevance. Complementing available textbooks with its more research-oriented approach, this volume contains 22 chapters by renowned experts, grouped in five parts. In Part I fundamental processes and acclimation strategies of seaweeds towards the abiotic environment are covered. Part II focuses on the multitude of biotic interactions in seaweed communities,...
Seaweeds, also known as macroalgae, are among the most important primary producers and act as ecological engineers on rocky coasts of the world's o...
Having been the fourth largest lake on the globe roughly 50 years ago, today the Aral Sea no longer exists. Human activities caused its desiccation and the formation of a huge new desert, the Aralkum, which can be regarded as one of the greatest ecological catastrophes and - at the same time - the largest primary succession experiment of mankind.
This volume brings together the results of international and interdisciplinary long-term studies on the new desert ecosystem and is divided into four main sections. The first section provides an overview of the physical characteristics of...
Having been the fourth largest lake on the globe roughly 50 years ago, today the Aral Sea no longer exists. Human activities caused its desiccation...
The pulse of life with the seasons is a classic theme of biology, equally cap- turing every man's curiosity about early and late milestones of every year's cycle and the critical physiologist's inquiry into life's subtle signals and responses. Natural historians of ancient and renaissance time as well as today have charted the commonsense facts behind inspired traditions of poetry and practical rules for growing food and fiber. This volume brings together several ways of organizing the basic principles of phenology. These find order in the otherwise overwhelming mass of detail that captures...
The pulse of life with the seasons is a classic theme of biology, equally cap- turing every man's curiosity about early and late milestones of every y...
Fire is a major agent of disturbance in many biomes of the world but is a particularly important feature of tropical savannas. Up to 50% of the ext- sive tropical savanna landscapes of northern Australia are burnt each year. This includes prestigious conservation reserves such as World Heritage- listed Kakadu National Park, in the Top End of the Northern Territory. As in other savanna regions of the world, the responses of biota to different ?re regimes are poorly understood, such that ?re management represents one of the greatest challenges to conservation managers and researchers alike....
Fire is a major agent of disturbance in many biomes of the world but is a particularly important feature of tropical savannas. Up to 50% of the ext- s...
This study brings together decades of research on the modern natural environment of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, reviews past research on paleoenvironmental change since the Late Pleistocene, and finally presents paleoecological records of changing forest composition and fire over the last 14,000 years. The focus of this study is on the authors' studies of five pollen records from the Olympic Peninsula. Maps and other data graphics are used extensively. Paleoecology can effectively address some of these challenges we face in understanding the biotic response to climate change and other...
This study brings together decades of research on the modern natural environment of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, reviews past research on paleoenvi...
A series of concise books, each by one or several authors, will provide prompt, world-wide information on approaches to analyzing ecological systems and their interacting parts. Syntheses of results in turn will illustrate the effectiveness, and the limitations, of current knowledge. This series aims to help overcome the fragmen- tation of our understanding about natural and managed landscapes and water- about man and the many other organisms which depend on these environments. We may sometimes seem complacent that our environment has supported many civilizations fairly well - better in some...
A series of concise books, each by one or several authors, will provide prompt, world-wide information on approaches to analyzing ecological systems a...
