Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology: Principles and Applications PDF
Preview Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology: Principles and Applications
Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology Human activities impact the environment and modify the cycles of important elements such as carbon and nitrogen from local to global scales.Inordertomaintainlong-termandsustainableuseoftheworld’s naturalresourcesitisimportantthatweunderstandhowandwhyecosys- temsrespondtosuchchanges. Thisbookexplainsthestructureandfunctioningofterrestrialecosystems, usingexamplesrangingfromthearctictothetropicstodemonstratehow theyvaryunderdifferentconditions.Thisknowledgeisdevelopedintoa setofprinciplesthatcanbeusedasstartingpointsforanalysingquestions about ecosystem behaviour. Ecosystem dynamics are also considered, illustratinghowecosystemsdevelopandchangeoverarangeoftemporal andspatial scales,and howthey reacttoperturbations, whethernatural orman-made.Throughoutthebook,descriptivestudiesaremergedwith simplemathematicalmodelstoreinforcetheconceptsdiscussedandaid thedevelopmentofpredictivetools. go¨ran i. a˚gren isProfessorofSystemsEcologyattheSwedishUniversity ofAgriculturalSciencesandhasbeenteachingecosystemecologyandthe useofmathematicalmodelsinecologyformorethan30years.Hisresearch focuses on carbon and nitrogen cycles in terrestrial ecosystems and how theseprocessescanbemostefficientlyexpressedinmathematicalterms. folke o. andersson is Emeritus Professor of Ecosystem Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. He has been active in ecosystem research and teaching since the 1960s. His research includes areassuchasdescriptiveplantecologyandappliedissuessuchastheeffects of air pollution and management on forests, including field experiments withacidification,fertilisationandliming. Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology Principles and Applications ˚ Go¨ran I. Agren SwedishUniversityofAgriculturalSciences Folke O. Andersson SwedishUniversityofAgriculturalSciences CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown, Singapore,S˜aoPaulo,Delhi,Tokyo,MexicoCity CambridgeUniversityPress TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107011076 #CambridgeUniversityPress2012 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout thewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2012 PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData A˚gren,Go¨ranI. Terrestrialecosystemecology:principlesandapplications/Go¨ranI.A˚gren, FolkeO.Andersson. p. cm. ISBN978-1-107-01107-6(Hardback)–ISBN978-1-107-64825-8(Paperback) 1. Ecology. 2. Climaticchanges–Environmentalaspects. 3. Global environmentalchange. 4. Biologicalsystems. 5. Ecophysiology. I. Andersson,Folke,1933– II. Title. QH541.A3262011 577–dc23 2011019454 ISBN978-1-107-01107-6Hardback ISBN978-1-107-64825-8Paperback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate. “Wemustnotforgetthatwhenradiumwas discoverednooneknew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science. And this is a proof that scientific work must not be con- sidered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must bedonefor itself,forthebeautyofscience, andthenthereisalways the chance that a scientific discovery may become like the radium a benefitforhumanity.” MarieCurie(1867–1934), LectureatVassarCollege, May14,1921 Contents Listofboxes pagexiii Preface xv Prologue Environmental changes and ecosystem effects: 1 two historical examples Acidrain 1 Globalwarming 4 Approachestosolutions 5 Furtherreading 6 SECTION I HISTORYAND CONCEPTS 7 1 History of ecology 8 Protoecology 8 Earlyecology 9 Theecosystemconcept 11 Modernecology 12 Biomeecology 13 Alternativebiomeecology:theHubbardBrookproject 14 Postbiomeecosystemresearch 14 Laterecosystemresearch 15 Ecosystemresearchrequireslong-termobservationsandaspects 16 Landscapeecology 16 Gaiaandnon-equilibriumecology 16 Sustainabilityandbiodiversity 17 Furtherreading 17 2 Ecology, ecosystem and ecosystem science 18 Ecology 18 Ecosystem 20 Ecosystemscienceorecosystemecology? 21 Furtherreading 24 3 Ecosystem ecology: cornerstones and scientific 25 methodology Anoteonterminology 25 Understandingprocesses 25 Basicprinciplesandscientificmethodology 29 Cornerstones 30 Massbalance 30 Steadystate 31 viii CONTENTS Limitingnutrients 32 Optimality 32 Oneequationsaysmorethanathousandwords 34 Understandingthecornerstones 35 Furtherreading 38 SECTION II ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE 39 AND FUNCTION 4 Ecosystem structure: site factors, soil and vegetation 40 Terrestrialecosystemsandsitefactors 40 Soilphysicsandchemistry 41 Thesoilinanecosystemcontext 41 Soilphysicalproperties 42 Soilair 45 Soilwater 46 Soilchemicalproperties,mineralnutrientsandplants 46 Soilreactionsandavailabilityofmineralnutrients 47 Soiltypes 49 Ecosystemlayering 51 Terrestrialbiomes 55 Vegetation 55 Featuresofterrestrialbiomesandecosystems 56 Furtherreading 62 5 Energy and water 64 Solarenergy 64 Waterbalance 72 Evapotranspiration 75 Potentialandactualevapotranspiration 78 SPAC:Thesoil–plant–atmospherecontinuum 82 Furtherreading 87 6 Plant production 88 Photosynthesisatleaflevel 88 C3,C4andCAMphotosynthesis 92 Leafareaindexandspecificleafarea 95 Lightextinctionwithinacanopy 98 Photosynthesisatcanopylevel 102 Light-useefficiency 103 Water-useefficiency 105 Plantrespiration 106 Growthrespiration 106 Maintenancerespiration 108 Rootrespirationandionuptake 108 Plantnutrientrelationships 108 CONTENTS ix Nutrientproductivity 109 Nutrient-useefficiency 111 Plantallocation 112 Plantnutrientuptake 117 Steady-statenutrition 121 Globalplanttraits 121 Furtherreading 123 7 Soil organic matter dynamics 124 Litterandsoilorganicmatter 124 Amodeloflitterdecomposition 125 Litterquality 130 Abioticcontrols 135 Extracellularenzymes 137 Othercontrollingfactors 139 Elementconcentrationindecomposers 139 Soilfoodwebs 140 Modelsofsoilorganicmatter 141 Furtherreading 144 8 Organisms and ecosystem processes 145 Speciesandecosystems 145 Conceptsofstability 145 Speciesmatter 147 ...Ormaybenot 149 Furtherreading 150 9 Element cycles 151 Ecosystemscale 153 Thecarboncycle 153 Thenitrogencycle 161 Thephosphoruscycle 169 Thepotassiumcycle 171 Thecalciumcycle 172 Themagnesiumcycle 173 Thesulfurcycle 174 ElementcyclinginatemperateNorwayspruceforest 175 Comparisonofelementcyclingindifferentterrestrial ecosystems 180 Biomass 180 Production 180 Plantbiomassturnover 182 Nitrogen-useefficiency:NUE 183 Degreeofopenness 184 Turnovertimeofsoilcarbon 185 Turnovertimeofsoilnitrogen 185 Soilcarbon/plantcarbonratio 186 Soilnitrogen/plantnitrogenratio 186
The list of books you might like
