Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems

Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems PDF Author: George W. Davis
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642788815
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 383

Get Book Here

Book Description
Human activities are causing species extinctions at a rate and magnitude rivaling those of past geologic extinction events. Exploring mediterranean-type ecosystems - the Mediterranean Basin, California, Chile, Australia, and South Africa - this volume addresses the question whether biological diversity plays a significant role in the functioning of natural ecosystems, and to what extent that diversity can be reduced without causing system malfunction. Comparative studies in ecosystems that are similar in certain respects, but differ in others, offer considerable scope for gaining new insights into the links between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems

Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems PDF Author: George W. Davis
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642788815
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 383

Get Book Here

Book Description
Human activities are causing species extinctions at a rate and magnitude rivaling those of past geologic extinction events. Exploring mediterranean-type ecosystems - the Mediterranean Basin, California, Chile, Australia, and South Africa - this volume addresses the question whether biological diversity plays a significant role in the functioning of natural ecosystems, and to what extent that diversity can be reduced without causing system malfunction. Comparative studies in ecosystems that are similar in certain respects, but differ in others, offer considerable scope for gaining new insights into the links between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

The Biology of Mediterranean-type Ecosystems

The Biology of Mediterranean-type Ecosystems PDF Author: Karen J. Esler
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198739133
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book provides a concise but comprehensive introduction to Mediterranean-type ecosystems with the emphasis being on the organisms that dominate these regions although their management, conservation, and restoration will also be considered.

Mediterranean Type Ecosystems

Mediterranean Type Ecosystems PDF Author: Francesco di Castri
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642655203
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 410

Get Book Here

Book Description
No other disjunct pieces of land present such striking similarities as the widely sepa 1 rated regions with a mediterranean type of climate, that is, the territories fringing the Mediterranean Sea, California, Central Chile and the southernmost strips of South Mrica and Australia. Similarities are not confined to climatic trends, but are also reflected in the physiognomy ofthe vegetation, in land use patterns and frequently in the general appearance of the landscape. The very close similarities in agricultural practices and sometimes also in rural settlements are dependent on the climatic and edaphic analogies, as well as on a certain commonality in qdtural history. This is certainly true for the Mediterranean Sea basin which in many ways represents a sort of ecological-cultural unit; this is also valid for CaUfornia and Chile, which were both settled by Spaniards and which showed periods of vigorous commercial and cultural interchanges as during the California gold rush. One other general feature is the massive interchange of cultivated and weed species of plants that has occurred between the five areas of the world that have a mediterranean-type climate, with the Mediterranean basin region itself as a major source. In spite of their limited territorial extension, probably no other parts of the world have played a more fundamental role in the history of mankind. Phoenician, Etruscan, Hellenic, Jewish, Roman, Christian andArab civilizations, among others,haveshapedmanyofman's present attitudes, including his position and perception vis-a-vis nature.

Global Change and Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems

Global Change and Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems PDF Author: Jose Moreno
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461241863
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 547

Get Book Here

Book Description
Regions with Mediterranean-type climates include parts of California, South America, Australia, and of course, Europe. The effect of global climate change on these heavily populated areas will have major social and political ramifications. This volume addresses issues in these areas, from processes at the leaf level to the individual, ecosystem, and landscape levels. This book will serve to raise awareness on the significance of these types of ecosystems, and on their sensitivity to the threat that global change represents.

Landscape Disturbance and Biodiversity in Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems

Landscape Disturbance and Biodiversity in Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems PDF Author: Philip W. Rundel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 366203543X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 460

Get Book Here

Book Description
Human impact on natural landscapes through urbanization and agricultural expansion are becoming more and more dramatic and are the cause of serious environmental problems. This volume examines the effect of landscape disturbance on plant and animal diversity in the five mediterranean-climate regions of the world. It begins with three introductory chapters broadly reviewing the issues of landscape degradation. Further contributions describe regional land use conflicts in each of the five regions. Landscape disturbance and plant diversity, and landscape disturbance and animal diversity are treated in separate chapters. Four contributions deal with demography and ecophysiology in vegetation succession following disturbance. The volume closes with a consideration of the future addressing aspects of environmental politics.

Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems

Fire in Mediterranean Ecosystems PDF Author: Jon E. Keeley
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521824915
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 523

Get Book Here

Book Description
Explores the role of fire in Mediterranean-type climate ecosystems, providing unique insights into the assembly and evolutionary convergence of ecosystems.

Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems

Mediterranean-Type Ecosystems PDF Author: F.J. Kruger
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783642689376
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The theory of ecological convergence underlies the biogeographers' maps of world biome-types. It also determines the degree to which ecological principles, derived from research on particular populations, communities or ecosystems, are generally valid, and hence also to what extent resource management principles are general. To quote Di Castri and Mooney (1973): "In effect, in order to assess the transfer of technology, it is essential to know to what extent information acquired from studying one particular ecosystem is applicable to another ecosystem of the same type but situated in a different location. " The five relatively small, isolated, mediterranean-climate zones of the earth, each with its distinct fauna and flora, have provided the ideal testing grounds for this theory. A heritage of precisely focused ecosystems research has resulted, beginning with the international comparative analyses conducted by Specht (l969a, b) but with antecedents in earlier studies in South Australia (Specht and Rayson 1957, Specht 1973). Cody and Mooney (1978) reviewed the information available at the time for the four zones excepting Australia and concluded that the arrays of strategy-types to be found among the different biotas were so similar that they could be explained only in terms of the convergence hypothesis; nevertheless, evident differences in community organization and dynamics, especially phenol ogy, required closer study of resource availability and resource-use patterns to better explain relations between form and function overall, and to assess the degree of convergence at higher levels of organization than the population.

The Mediterranean region under climate change

The Mediterranean region under climate change PDF Author: Collectif
Publisher: IRD Éditions
ISBN: 2709922207
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 736

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book has been published by Allenvi (French National Alliance for Environmental Research) to coincide with the 22nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) in Marrakesh. It is the outcome of work by academic researchers on both sides of the Mediterranean and provides a remarkable scientific review of the mechanisms of climate change and its impacts on the environment, the economy, health and Mediterranean societies. It will also be valuable in developing responses that draw on “scientific evidence” to address the issues of adaptation, resource conservation, solutions and risk prevention. Reflecting the full complexity of the Mediterranean environment, the book is a major scientific contribution to the climate issue, where various scientific considerations converge to break down the boundaries between disciplines.

Ecosystems of California

Ecosystems of California PDF Author: Harold Mooney
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520278801
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 1008

Get Book Here

Book Description
This long-anticipated reference and sourcebook for CaliforniaÕs remarkable ecological abundance provides an integrated assessment of each major ecosystem typeÑits distribution, structure, function, and management. A comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge about this biologically diverse state, Ecosystems of California covers the state from oceans to mountaintops using multiple lenses: past and present, flora and fauna, aquatic and terrestrial, natural and managed. Each chapter evaluates natural processes for a specific ecosystem, describes drivers of change, and discusses how that ecosystem may be altered in the future. This book also explores the drivers of CaliforniaÕs ecological patterns and the history of the stateÕs various ecosystems, outlining how the challenges of climate change and invasive species and opportunities for regulation and stewardship could potentially affect the stateÕs ecosystems. The text explicitly incorporates both human impacts and conservation and restoration efforts and shows how ecosystems support human well-being. Edited by two esteemed ecosystem ecologists and with overviews by leading experts on each ecosystem, this definitive work will be indispensable for natural resource management and conservation professionals as well as for undergraduate or graduate students of CaliforniaÕs environment and curious naturalists.

The Climate of the Mediterranean Region

The Climate of the Mediterranean Region PDF Author: P. Lionello
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0123914779
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 593

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Mediterranean region contains a diverse and interesting climate ranging from areas with permanent glaciers to areas of subtropical, semiarid regions. The region is potentially sensitive to climate change and its progress has environmental, social, and economic implications within and beyond the region. Produced by the Mediterranean Climate Variability and Predictability Research Networking Project, this book reviews the evolution of the Mediterranean climate over the past two millennia with projections further into the twenty-first century as well as examining in detail various aspects of the Mediterranean region's climate including evolution, atmospheric variables, and oceanic and land elements. Integrated with this, the book also considers the social and economic problems or vulnerabilities associated with the region. Written and reviewed by multiple researchers to ensure a high level of information presented clearly, Mediterranean Climate Variables will be an invaluable source of information for geologists, oceanographers, and anyone interested in learning more about the Mediterranean climate. - Written by leading experts in the field - Presents clear, compelling, and concise evidence - Includes the latest thinking in Mediterranean climate research