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At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

PubMed2001

Ecosystem respiration in a young ponderosa pine plantation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California.

We estimated total ecosystem respiration from a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) plantation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Georgetown, California, from June to October, 1998. We apportioned ecosystem respiration among heterotrophic, root, stem and foliage based on relationships for each component that considered microclimate and vegetation characteristics. We measured each respiration component at selected sampling points, and scaled the measurements up to the ecosystem based on modeled relationships. Over the study period, total mean ecosystem respiration was 5.7 +/- 1.3 mumol m-2 s-1 (based on daily mean), comprising about 67% from soil-surface CO2 efflux, 10% from stem and branch respiration and 23% from foliage respiration. Shrub leaves contributed about 24% to total foliage respiration, and current-year needles (1998 age class) accounted for 40% of total tree needle respiration. Root respiration accounted for 47% of soil-surface CO2 efflux. We conclude that ecosystem respiration can be estimated based on daily mean air and soil temperatures through exponential relationships with r2 values of 0.85 and 0.87, respectively. When based on both air and soil temperatures, about 91% of the variation in total ecosystem respiration could be explained by a linear regression.

Biomass↗

PubMed2003

Recent advances in ecosystem-atmosphere interactions: an ecological perspective.

The atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems are fundamentally coupled on a variety of time-scales. On short time-scales, this bi-directional interaction is dominated by the rapid exchange of CO(2), water and energy between the atmosphere and the land surface; on long time-scales, the interaction involves changes in ecosystem structure and composition in response to changes in climate that feed back through biophysical and biogeochemical mechanisms to influence climate over decades and centuries. After briefly describing some early pioneering work, I focus this review on recent advances in understanding long-term ecosystem-atmosphere interactions through a discussion of three case studies. I then examine how efforts to assess the stability and resilience of ecosystem-atmosphere interactions over these long time-scales using Dynamic Global Vegetation Models are hampered by the presence of important functional diversity and heterogeneity within plant communities. Recent work illustrates how this issue can be addressed through the use of Structured Ecosystem Models that more accurately scale between the short-term physiological responses of individual plants and the long-term, large-scale dynamics of heterogeneous, functionally diverse ecosystems.

Atmosphere↗

PubMed2001

Ecosystem processes and nitrogen export in northern U.S. watersheds.

There is much interest in the relationship of atmospheric nitrogen (N) inputs to ecosystem outputs as an indicator of possible "nitrogen saturation" by human activity. Longer-term, ecosystem-level mass balance studies suggest that the relationship is not clear and that other ecosystem processes may dominate variation in N outputs. We have been studying small, forested watershed ecosystems in five northern watersheds for periods up to 35 years. Here I summarize the research on ecosystem processes and the N budget. During the past 2 decades, average wet-precipitation N inputs ranged from about 0.1 to 6 kg N ha(-1) year(-1) among sites. In general, sites with the lowest N inputs had the highest output-to-input ratios. In the Alaska watersheds, streamwater N output exceeded inputs by 70 to 250%. The ratio of mean monthly headwater nitrate (NO3-) concentration to precipitation NO3- concentration declined with increased precipitation concentration. A series of ecosystem processes have been studied and related to N outputs. The most important appear to be seasonal change in hydrologic flowpath, soil freezing, seasonal forest-floor inorganic N pools resulting from over-winter mineralization beneath the snowpack, spatial variation in watershed forest-floor inorganic N pools, the degree to which snowmelt percolates soils, and gross soil N mineralization rates.

Alaska↗

PubMed2002

Recent trends in the development of ecological models applied on aquatic ecosystems.

This paper presents an overview of the application of models on aquatic ecosystems. More than 17% of the models published in the focal journal in the field, Ecological Modelling, are aquatic ecosystem models. An increasing number of papers are dealing with the theoretical aspects of modeling--new modeling approaches and techniques, how models can be used to reveal ecosystem properties, and how models can better reflect the properties of ecosystems. This development implies that today we have more types of models. The characteristics, the advantages, and the disadvantages of these model types are presented briefly. The selection criteria for the presented model types are discussed, and the application of these types to models for aquatic ecosystems is reviewed. A recent improvement in model calibration of particular interest for aquatic ecosystems is presented, and the perspectives resulting from this new calibration procedure and from possible hybrids of the presented model types are discussed.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2006

Using continuous stable isotope measurements to partition net ecosystem CO2 exchange.

Ecosystem-scale estimation of photosynthesis and respiration using micrometeorological techniques remains an important, yet difficult, challenge. In this study, we combined micrometeorological and stable isotope methods to partition net ecosystem CO2 exchange (FN) into photosynthesis (F(A)) and respiration (F(R)) in a corn-soybean rotation ecosystem during the summer 2003 corn phase. Mixing ratios of (12)CO2 and (13)CO2 were measured continuously using tunable diode laser (TDL) absorption spectroscopy. The dynamics of the isotope ratio of ecosystem respiration (R), net ecosystem CO2 exchange (deltaN) and photosynthetic discrimination at the canopy scale (delta canopy) were examined. During the period of full canopy closure, F(N) was partitioned into photosynthesis and respiration using both the isotopic approach and the conventional night-time-derived regression methodology. Results showed that deltaR had significant seasonal variation (-32 to -11% per hundred) corresponding closely with canopy phenology. Daytime deltaN typically varied from -12 to -4% per hundred, while delta canopy remained relatively constant in the vicinity of 3% per hundred. Compared with the regression approach, the isotopic flux partitioning showed more short-term variations and was considerably more symmetric about F(N). In this experiment, the isotopic partitioning resulted in larger uncertainties, most of which were caused by the uncertainties in deltaN. and the daytime estimate of deltaR. By sufficiently reducing these uncertainties, the tunable diode laser (TDL)-micrometeorological technique should yield a better understanding of the processes controlling photosynthesis, respiration and ecosystem-scale discrimination.

Carbon Dioxide↗

PubMed2004

Self-organized patchiness and catastrophic shifts in ecosystems.

Unexpected sudden catastrophic shifts may occur in ecosystems, with concomitant losses or gains of ecological and economic resources. Such shifts have been theoretically attributed to positive feedback and bistability of ecosystem states. However, verifications and predictive power with respect to catastrophic responses to a changing environment are lacking for spatially extensive ecosystems. This situation impedes management and recovery strategies for such ecosystems. Here, we review recent studies on various ecosystems that link self-organized patchiness to catastrophic shifts between ecosystem states.

Ecosystem↗

PubMed2006

Habitat loss, trophic collapse, and the decline of ecosystem services.

The provisioning of sustaining goods and services that we obtain from natural ecosystems is a strong economic justification for the conservation of biological diversity. Understanding the relationship between these goods and services and changes in the size, arrangement, and quality of natural habitats is a fundamental challenge of natural resource management. In this paper, we describe a new approach to assessing the implications of habitat loss for loss of ecosystem services by examining how the provision of different ecosystem services is dominated by species from different trophic levels. We then develop a mathematical model that illustrates how declines in habitat quality and quantity lead to sequential losses of trophic diversity. The model suggests that declines in the provisioning of services will initially be slow but will then accelerate as species from higher trophic levels are lost at faster rates. Comparison of these patterns with empirical examples of ecosystem collapse (and assembly) suggest similar patterns occur in natural systems impacted by anthropogenic change. In general, ecosystem goods and services provided by species in the upper trophic levels will be lost before those provided by species lower in the food chain. The decrease in terrestrial food chain length predicted by the model parallels that observed in the oceans following overexploitation. The large area requirements of higher trophic levels make them as susceptible to extinction as they are in marine systems where they are systematically exploited. Whereas the traditional species-area curve suggests that 50% of species are driven extinct by an order-of-magnitude decline in habitat abundance, this magnitude of loss may represent the loss of an entire trophic level and all the ecosystem services performed by the species on this trophic level.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Progressive nitrogen limitation of ecosystem processes under elevated CO2 in a warm-temperate forest.

A hypothesis for progressive nitrogen limitation (PNL) proposes that net primary production (NPP) will decline through time in ecosystems subjected to a step-function increase in atmospheric CO2. The primary mechanism driving this response is a rapid rate of N immobilization by plants and microbes under elevated CO2 that depletes soils of N, causing slower rates of N mineralization. Under this hypothesis, there is little long-term stimulation of NPP by elevated CO2 in the absence of exogenous inputs of N. We tested this hypothesis using data on the pools and fluxes of C and N in tree biomass, microbes, and soils from 1997 through 2002 collected at the Duke Forest free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) experiment. Elevated CO2 stimulated NPP by 18-24% during the first six years of this experiment. Consistent with the hypothesis for PNL, significantly more N was immobilized in tree biomass and in the O horizon under elevated CO2. In contrast to the PNL hypothesis, microbial-N immobilization did not increase under elevated CO2, and although the rate of net N mineralization declined through time, the decline was not significantly more rapid under elevated CO2. Ecosystem C-to-N ratios widened more rapidly under elevated CO2 than ambient CO2 indicating a more rapid rate of C fixation per unit of N, a processes that could delay PNL in this ecosystem. Mass balance calculations demonstrated a large accrual of ecosystem N capital. Is PNL occurring in this ecosystem and will NPP decline to levels under ambient CO2? The answer depends on the relative strength of tree biomass and O-horizon N immobilization vs. widening C-to-N ratios and ecosystem-N accrual as processes that drive and delay PNL, respectively. Only direct observations through time will definitively answer this question.

Bacteria↗

PubMed2001

[Assessment of ecosystem health--concept framework and indicator selection].

Based on the concept framework of ecosystem health, this paper discussed the suitable indicators to synthetically assess the ecosystem health in governed landscape. Healthy ecosystem means not only ecological health itself, but also the long-term maintenance of healthy human population and the beneficial promotion of social and economic development. Resilience, biodiversity and productivity are the characteristics of healthy ecosystem. The first step in the structure of indicators to assess ecosystem health should be the determination of precise indicator principles. According to the purpose of assessment and the principles of selecting indicator, the indicator system for assessing ecosystem health can be divided into three categories, namely, biophysical indicators, ecological indicators, and social and economic indicators.

Air↗

PubMed2001

[Species and species diversity in relation with restoration and persistence of degraded ecosystem functions].

Species diversity is an important character of an ecosystem, and keeps it to function. Species diversity and their communities provide human with essential ecosystem services, including nutrient cycling, biological productivity, trophic function, etc. Species diversity is tightly related with the ecosystem's ability to withstand stress and disturbance. Increasing biodiversity could enhance system stability. Compared to individual species and species number, functional group and functional diversity impose larger impact on system functioning, and are good approaches used to measure stability and to predict community change. Several forms with which the species act on ecosystem functioning were proposed and discussed in this paper. Understanding the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem function could guide the practice of restoring degraded ecosystem and maintaining its functions. Particularly, it provides basic ecological theories for "species assemblage" at initial stage of restoration.

Ecosystem↗

PubMed2004

[Ecological service assessment of human-dominated freshwater ecosystem with a case study in Yangzhou Prefecture, China.

Freshwater ecosystems provide a host of services to humanity. These services are now rapidly being lost, not least because of the inability of making the impacts measurable. To overcome this obstacle, assessment frameworks for freshwater ecosystem services are needed. A simple water equivalent framework to assess the ecological services provided by freshwater ecosystems was developed in this study. It translated the occupation of freshwater ecosystem services into biologically freshwater volumes and then compares this consumption to the freshwater throughput, that is, the ecological capacity available in this region. In this way, we use the example of Yangzhou Prefecture, to account the main categories of human occupation of water ecosystem services. The result showed that there is a huge gap between the consumption and the supply of freshwater ecosystem services. This must encourage local government to make land-use and water management decisions both economically rational and environmentally sound.

China↗

PubMed2004

[Vegetation biomass distribution characteristics of alpine tundra ecosystem in Changbai Mountains].

Climate change is one of the hotspots in global environment concerns, while alpine tundra ecosystem is most sensitive to global climate change. Because of the relatively small area of tundra, researches on alpine tundra ecosystem were much less. Based on the measurement of species biomass, dominant species organ biomass and vegetation biomass, this paper discussed the biomass spatial variation in alpine tundra ecosystem of Changbai Mountains. The results showed that among 43 species investigated, the first five species in biomass were Rhododendron chrysanthum (159.01 kg x hm(-2)), Vaccinium uliginosum var. alpinum (137.52 kg x hm(-2)), Vaccinium uliginosum (134.7 kg x hm(-2)), Dryas octopetala var. asiatica (131.5 kg x hm(-2)) and Salix rotundifolia (128.4 kg x hm(-2)), which were the dominant species in the alpine tundra ecosystem of Changbai Mountains. Along with increasing altitude, the ratio of below-/above-ground biomass and below-ground/total biomass gradually increased, while the vegetation biomass gradually decreased. The vegetation biomass showed a significant correlation with altitude in typical alpine tundra ecosystem of Changbai Mountains, and the average vegetation biomass was 2.21 t x hm(-2). Alpine tundra ecosystem is very important for microclimate regulation, soil improvement, water-holding, soil conservation, nutrient cycling, carbon fixation and oxygen production, and currently, it is the CO2 sink of Changbai Mountains.

Biomass↗

PubMed2006

European environmental management: moving to an ecosystem approach.

The European Union has adopted several environmental directives, strategies, recommendations, and agreements that require a shift from local- or regional-based regulations to more ecosystem-based, holistic environmental management. Over the next decade, environmental management in Europe is likely to focus more on biological and ecological conditions rather than physical and chemical conditions, with ecosystem health at the center of regulation and management decision making. Successful implementation of this new ecosystem management and strategic assessment process in Europe will require the integration of regulatory and technical information and extensive collaboration from among European Union member countries, between agencies, and across disciplines to an unprecedented degree. It will also require extensive efforts to adapt current systems of environmental assessment and management to the basin and ecosystem level, across media and habitats, and considering a much broader set of impacts on ecosystem status than is currently addressed in most risk assessments. This will require the understanding, integration, and communication of economic, ecological, hydrological, and other processes across many spatial and temporal scales. This article discusses these challenges and describes some of the research initiatives that will help achieve integrated ecosystem management in Europe.

Decision Making↗

PubMed2006

[Emergy analysis of mulberry-silkworm ecosystem in China].

Mulberry-silkworm ecosystem is one of the important agro-ecosystems in China. Based on the principles and methods of emergy analysis, this paper studied the interior structure of mulberry-silkworm ecosystem and its relationship with exterior environment and economy. Some emergy indices for this ecosystem were quantitatively calculated, and compared with those of the agro-ecosystem in China. The results showed that the emergy investment ratio, emergy yield ratio, environmental loading ratio and emergy sustainability index was 3.78, 4.68, 0.18 and 26.0, respectively, suggesting the low environmental pressure and good ecological benefit in mulberry-silkworm ecosystem in China. Hi-technology was required to further decrease the labor force input and enhance the comprehensive utilization of sericultural resources.

Agriculture↗

PubMed1992

Fate and effects of the insecticide Dursban 4E in indoor Elodea-dominated and macrophyte-free freshwater model ecosystems: II. Secondary effects on community structure.

Secondary effects of a single dose of the insecticide Dursban 4E (active ingredient chlorpyrifos) were studied in indoor experimental freshwater ecosystems intended to mimic drainage ditches. Two experiments were performed, one in which all model ecosystems were dominated by the macrophyte Elodea muttallii, and one using systems devoid of macrophytes. In the Elodea-dominated and macrophyte-free model ecosystems, populations of primary producers, herbivores, carnivores and detritivores were indirectly affected via the loss of populations of Arthropoda as a direct result of insecticide application. However, the taxa in which secondary effects were observed differed considerably between these two types of model ecosystem. In macrophyte-dominated systems secondary effects were observed on populations of periphytic algae, the macrophyte Elodea nuttallii, the gastropod Bithynia tentaculata, Turbellaria, and sediment dwelling Oligochaeta. In open water systems it were populations of phytoplankton, the rotators Polyarthra and Asplanchna, bivalves (Sphaeriidae), Hirudinea, sediment dwelling Oligochaeta, and that of the isopod Proasellus coxalis in which secondary effects were observed. In aquatic ecosystems the presence or absence of a well-developed macrophyte vegetation may be a very important characteristic that determines the nature and route of secondary effects induced by pesticides. The differences in secondary effects observed between Elodea-dominated and macrophyte-free model ecosystems indicate that the system's structure and trophic dynamics should be taken into account when predicting ecological effects.

Chlorpyrifos↗

PubMed1996

Biodiversity and Industry Ecosystem Management

/ The term biodiversity describes the array of interacting, genetically distinct populations and species in a region, the communities they comprise, and the variety of ecosystems of which they are functioning parts. Ecosystem health, a closely related concept, is described in terms of a process identifying biological indicators, end points, and values. The decline of populations or species, an accelerating trend worldwide, can lead to simplification of ecosystem processes, thus threatening the stability and sustainability of ecosystem services directly relevant to human welfare in the chain of economic and ecological relationships. The challenge of addressing issues of such enormous scope and complexity has highlighted the limitations of ecology-as-science. Additionally, biosphere-scale conflicts seem to lie beyond the scope of conventional economics, leading to differences of opinion about the commodity value of biodiversity and of the services that intact ecosystems provide. In the face of these uncertainties, many scientists and economists have adopted principles that clearly assign burdens of proof to those who would promote the loss of biodiversity and that also establish "near-trump" (preeminent) status for ecological integrity. Electric utility facilities and operations impact biodiversity whenever construction, operation, or maintenance of generation, delivery, and support facilities alters landscapes and habitats and thereby impacts species. Although industry is accustomed to dealing with broad environmental concerns (such as global warming or acid rain), the biodiversity issue invokes hemisphere-wide, regional, local, and site-specific concerns all at the same time. Industry can proactively address these issues of scope and scale in two main ways: first, by aligning strategically with the broad research agenda put forth by informed scientists and institutions; and second, by supporting focused management processes whose results will contribute incrementally to the broader agenda of rebuilding or maintaining biodiversity.KEY WORDS: Biodiversity; Ecosystem management; Environmental economics; Electric utilities; Research

Journal Article↗

PubMed1998

FORUM: Defining Goals and Criteria for Ecosystem-Based Management

/ Identifying goals or targets for landscape and ecosystem management is now a widely recognized need that has received little systematic attention. At a micro-level most planners and managers of both ecosystems and economies continue to pursue traditional goals and targets that miss many desirable characteristics of ecosystem-based management goals. Desirable characteristics of ecosystem and landscape management goals and targets include: addressing complexity, transdisciplinarity, and the dynamic nature of natural systems; reflecting the wide range of interests and goals that exist; recognizing goals and values and limits; involving people and being explainable and implementable in a consistent way to different people and groups; and evolving adaptively as conditions and knowledge change. Substantive and procedural goals can be distinguished; the latter supporting the former. Substantive goals can be grouped according to their relationship to system structure, organization, and process/dynamics, and their disciplinary or subsystemic breadth. These discussions are illustrated by a review of the goals of biodiversity, sustainability, ecological health, and integrity. An example of a hierarchical framework of procedural goals and objectives that supports achievement of substantive goals is also provided. The conclusion is that a parallel, linked system of substantive and procedural goals at different levels of complexity and disciplinarity is needed to facilitate ecosystem-based management.KEY WORDS: Ecosystem management; Goals and objectives; Assessment criteria

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Spatial flows and the regulation of ecosystems.

Spatial flows of materials and organisms across ecosystem boundaries are ubiquitous. Understanding the consequences of these flows should be a basic goal of ecosystem science, and yet it has received scant theoretical treatment to date. Here, using a simple, open, nutrient-limited ecosystem model with trophic interactions, we explore theoretically how spatial flows affect the functioning of local ecosystems, how physical mass-balance constraints interact with biological demographic constraints in the regulation of this functioning, and how failure to consider these constraints explicitly can lead to models that are ecologically inconsistent. In particular, we show that standard prey-dependent models for trophic interactions may lead to implausible outcomes when embedded in an ecosystem context with appropriate mass flows and mass-balance constraints. Our analysis emphasizes the need for integration of population, community, and ecosystem perspectives in ecology and the critical consequences of assuming closed versus open systems.

Food Chain↗