Green Planet: How Plants Keep the Earth Alive

315 Pages·2009·3.17 MB·English

by  Stanley A.

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GREEN PLANET
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GREEN PLANET
How Plants Keep the Earth Alive
stanley a. rice
rutgers university press
new brunswick,new jersey,and london
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-Publication Data
Rice, StanleyA., 1957-
Green planet: how plantskeep the Earth alive / StanleyA. Rice.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesand index.
ISBN 978-0-8135-4453-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Plantecology. 2. Vegetation and climate. 3. Plants, Useful. I. Title.
QK901.R53 2009
581.7—dc22
2008013964
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for thisbookisavailable from the British Library.
Copyright© 2009 byStanleyA. Rice
Allrightsreserved
No partofthisbookmaybe reproduced or utilized in anyform or byanymeans, electronicor
mechanical, or byanyinformation storage and retrievalsystem, withoutwritten permission from the
publisher. Please contactRutgersUniversityPress, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ
08854–8099. The onlyexception to thisprohibition is“fair use” asdefined byU.S. copyrightlaw.
Visitour Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Thisbookisprinted on recycled paper.
Manufactured in the United StatesofAmerica
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dedicated to
Fakhri A.Bazzaz
(1933–2008)
Who helped a young graduate student
to recognize the many interacting roles
that plants play in the world
and
Rev.A.Luke Fritz
(1918–1996)
Who taught a young boy
how to closely observe
and think about the world of nature
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contents
List ofIllustrations ix
List of Tables xi
Acknowledgments xiii
introduction
3
Remnants of Paradise
chapter one
9
An Injured Paradise
chapter two
28
Plants Put the Oxygen in the Air
chapter three
Greenhouse Earth
41
Plants Help to Keep the Earth from Overheating
chapter four
Shade
81
Trees Make Good Air Conditioners
chapter five
The Water Cycle
93
Plants Prevent Droughts and Floods
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contents
chapter six
110
Plants Feed the World
chapter seven
127
Plants Create Soil
chapter eight
138
Plants Create Habitats
chapter nine
171
Plants Heal the Landscape
chapter ten
196
How Agriculture Changed the World
chapter eleven
211
Why We Need Plant Diversity
chapter twelve
228
What Can We Do?
Notes 249
Bibliography 268
Index 287
[viii]
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illustrations
I.1. Seaside alders 4
1.1. GeneralSherman Tree 12
1.2. Chaco Canyon 19
3.1. Temperaturesduring the pastcentury 44
3.2. Bristlecone pine growth rings 47
3.3. Temperaturesduring the pasttwo millennia 48
3.4. Ice core layers 50
3.5. Vostokice core temperature and carbon dioxide
measurements 51
3.6. Carbon dioxide measurementsatMauna Loa 67
4.1. Tsalagi, a reconstructed Cherokee village 82
5.1. Deforestation and the water cycle 95
5.2. Deforestation in Haiti and the Dominican Republic 97
5.3. Hubbard Brookwatershed 99
5.4. Rootpressure 107
6.1. Kansasroadside sign 111
6.2. Lindeman trophicpyramid 114
6.3. Ecosystem cycles 124
7.1. Componentsofsoil 129
7.2. Perennialvs. annualroots 135
8.1. Productivityofplanthabitats 140
8.2. Conditionsofplanthabitats 140
8.3. Timberline whitebarkpine 143
8.4. Bristlecone pine 148
8.5. Postoak 151
8.6. Sonoran Desertcacti and shrubs 158
8.7. Sonoran Desertwildflower 159
8.8. Contrasting mountain slopes 162
8.9. Rain shadow 163
8.10. Oaksand boulders 168
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