Drawing from a decade-long collaboration between Japan and Russia, this important volume presents the first major synthesis of current knowledge on the ecophysiology of the coniferous forests growing on permafrost at high latitudes. It presents ecological data for a region long inaccessible to most scientists, and raises important questions about the global carbon balance as these systems are affected by the changing climate.
Making up around 20% of the entire boreal forests of the northern hemisphere, these 'permafrost forest ecosystems' are subject to particular...
Drawing from a decade-long collaboration between Japan and Russia, this important volume presents the first major synthesis of current knowledge on...
Each tree ring contains an image of the time when the ring formed, projected onto the ring's size, structure, and composition. Tree rings thus are natural archives of past environments, and contain records of past climate. While dendrochronologists have investigated the impact of climate on tree-ring growth by empirical-statistical methods, this volume presents a process-based model complementing previous approaches. Basic ideas concerning the biology of tree-ring growth and its control by environmental factors are treated, especially for conifers. The use of the model is illustrated by...
Each tree ring contains an image of the time when the ring formed, projected onto the ring's size, structure, and composition. Tree rings thus are ...
This book synthesizes knowledge from several fields that are crucial to sustainable rural development: the physical environment, biological and agricultural production, rural sociology and economics. It takes a systems perspective incorporating systems analysis, landscape analysis and soil, water, and land planning. Directed toward graduate students and professionals, it provides a source of information and concepts for those concerned with land and water policies and practice. It presents an integrated approach using practical and applicable models and methods and takes a middle position...
This book synthesizes knowledge from several fields that are crucial to sustainable rural development: the physical environment, biological and agricu...
Central Amazonian floodplain forests are an unique and endangered ecosystem. The forests grow in areas that are annually flooded by large rivers during mean periods of up to 8 months and at depths of up to 10 m. Despite this severe stress, these forests consist of over 1,000 species and are by far the most species-rich floodplain forests worldwide. The trees show a broad range of morphological, anatomical, physiological, and phenological adaptations that enable them not only to survive the adverse environmental conditions, but also to produce large amounts of biomass when the nutrient levels...
Central Amazonian floodplain forests are an unique and endangered ecosystem. The forests grow in areas that are annually flooded by large rivers durin...
Mangrove ecosystems are being increasingly threatened by human activities. Their biotic productivity supplies food and other resources to the human populations that inhabit or make use of them. This volume highlights the results of a ten-year German / Brazilian research project, called MADAM, in one of the largest continuous mangrove areas of the world, located in northern Brazil. Based on the analysis of the ecosystem dynamics, management strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of mangroves are presented and discussed. Beyond the scientific results, this book also provides...
Mangrove ecosystems are being increasingly threatened by human activities. Their biotic productivity supplies food and other resources to the human po...
Synthesizing recent research on the interaction of forest management and water regimes of forests in Europe and beyond, this book is an important contribution to the discourse between scientists dealing with different scales of forest-water correlations.
Synthesizing recent research on the interaction of forest management and water regimes of forests in Europe and beyond, this book is an important c...
Rain Forest Biology and the Canopy System, Sarawak, 1992-2002 The rain forest takes an immense breath and then exhales, once every four or ?ve years, as a major global weather pattern plays out, usually heralded by El Nin o-Southern Oscillation. While this powerful natural cycle has occurred for many millennia, it is during the past decade that both the climate of Earth and the people living on it have had an increasing in?uence on the weather pattern itself, with many biological consequences. In Southeast Asia, as also in most of the Neotropics, El Nin o accompanies one of the most...
Rain Forest Biology and the Canopy System, Sarawak, 1992-2002 The rain forest takes an immense breath and then exhales, once every four or ?ve years, ...
Photosynthetic Adaptation: Chloroplast to Landscape thoroughly studies photosynthetic mechanisms at each structural level, from cells to leaves, crown, and canopy. The authors question whether photosynthetic adaptations take place primarily at the metabolic and biochemical level or through changes in structure and form, or both. In the interest of genetic engineering and agricultural applications, the authors analyze the relative importance of genes that control both metabolic and light reactions as well as the structure, arrangement, and orientation of photosynthesis.
Photosynthetic Adaptation: Chloroplast to Landscape thoroughly studies photosynthetic mechanisms at each structural level, from cells...
Coral reefs around the world are sustaining massive damage at an alarming rate. Geological Approaches to Coral Reef Ecology provides a uniquely historical perspective on the destruction--through both natural and human processes--of coral reef ecosystems. Chapters applying the principles of geophysics, paleontology, geochemistry, and physical and chemical oceanography supply novel insights into the workings of coral reefs, complementing real-time ecological studies and providing critical information for crafting realistic environmental policy.
By reconstructing the...
Coral reefs around the world are sustaining massive damage at an alarming rate. Geological Approaches to Coral Reef Ecology provides a uni...
A well-structured and comprehensive summary of the strategies and several case studies for applying molecular plant genomics in the fields of plant ecotoxicology and plant ecology. With an increasing number of plant genome projects now being completed, there arises the need to develop plant functional genomics. The book concentrates on ecological functions and relates molecular stress responses and signalling pathways to environmental interactions. This paves the way for uncovering new mechanisms of plant fitness, population dynamics and evolution, and new possibilities for plant breeding...
A well-structured and comprehensive summary of the strategies and several case studies for applying molecular plant genomics in the fields of plant...
