Ecology of Desert Systems PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download Ecology of Desert Systems PDF full book. Access full book title Ecology of Desert Systems by Walter G. Whitford. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Author: Walter G. Whitford
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0081026552
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Get Book Here
Book Description
Nearly one-third of the land area on our planet is classified as arid or desert. Therefore, an understanding of the dynamics of such arid ecosystems is essential to managing those systems in a way that sustains human populations. This second edition of Ecology of Desert Systems provides a clear, extensive guide to the complex interactions involved in these areas. This book details the relationships between abiotic and biotic environments of desert ecosystems, demonstrating to readers how these interactions drive ecological processes. These include plant growth and animal reproductive success, the spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation and animals, and the influence of invasive species and anthropogenic climate change specific to arid systems. Drawing on the extensive experience of its expert authors, Ecology of Desert Systems is an essential guide to arid ecosystems for students looking for an overview of the field, researchers keen to learn how their work fits in to the overall picture, and those involved with environmental management of desert areas. - Highlights the complexity of global desert systems in a clear, concise way - Reviews the most current issues facing researchers in the field, including the spread of invasive species due to globalized trade, the impact of industrial mining, and climate change - Updated and extended to include information on invasive species management, industrial mining impacts, and the current and future role of climate change in desert systems
Author: Walter G. Whitford
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0081026552
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476
Get Book Here
Book Description
Nearly one-third of the land area on our planet is classified as arid or desert. Therefore, an understanding of the dynamics of such arid ecosystems is essential to managing those systems in a way that sustains human populations. This second edition of Ecology of Desert Systems provides a clear, extensive guide to the complex interactions involved in these areas. This book details the relationships between abiotic and biotic environments of desert ecosystems, demonstrating to readers how these interactions drive ecological processes. These include plant growth and animal reproductive success, the spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation and animals, and the influence of invasive species and anthropogenic climate change specific to arid systems. Drawing on the extensive experience of its expert authors, Ecology of Desert Systems is an essential guide to arid ecosystems for students looking for an overview of the field, researchers keen to learn how their work fits in to the overall picture, and those involved with environmental management of desert areas. - Highlights the complexity of global desert systems in a clear, concise way - Reviews the most current issues facing researchers in the field, including the spread of invasive species due to globalized trade, the impact of industrial mining, and climate change - Updated and extended to include information on invasive species management, industrial mining impacts, and the current and future role of climate change in desert systems
Author: Gary A. Polis
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816552452
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 470
Get Book Here
Book Description
"Provides interesting and thought-provoking reading and is highly recommended to anyone interested in desert ecosystems or community ecology. The book . . . should serve as an inspiration to many for future research."—Journal of Biogeography "This book is not just about deserts; it is an update of the contributions that research in desert systems is making to community ecology. . . This book will provide a useful reference for desert ecologists, as well as indicate critical directions where progress needs to be made."—Ecology "This important book fills a significant gap in previous syntheses by presenting a detailed series of reviews of current understanding of community patterns and structure in desert environments. . . . Each chapter is thorough and well written and . . . closes with a discussion of suggested future research. . . . [T]hese ideas will do much to focus interest on the importance of desert systems in understanding community. Thus, this book has interest well beyond desert ecologists alone."—BioScience "Valuable reading and reference for ecology students, teachers and researchers."—Quarterly Review of Biology
Author: Maria C. Mandujano
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030449637
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332
Get Book Here
Book Description
Environmental and specific diversity in the Chihuahuan desert in general, and in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin in particular, has long been recognized as outstanding. This book provides a global ecological overview, together with in-depth studies of specific processes. The Chihuahuan desert is the warmest in North America, and has a complex geologic, climatic and biogeographical history, which affects today’s distribution of vegetation and plants and generates complex phylogeographic patterns. The high number of endemic species reflects this complex set of traits. The modern distribution of environments, including aquatic and subaquatic systems, riparian environments, gypsum dunes and gypsum-rich soils, low levels of phosphorous and organic matter, and high salinity combined with an extreme climate call for a range of adaptations. Plants are distributed in a patchy pattern based on punctual variations, and many of them respond to different resources and conditions with considerable morphological plasticity. In terms of physiological, morphological and ecological variability, cacti were identified as the most important group in specific environments like bajadas, characterized by high diversity values, while gypsophytes and gypsovagues of different phylogenies, including species with restricted distribution and endemics.
Author: John Sowell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 218
Get Book Here
Book Description
"Unlike books that merely identify which plants and animals live in the desert, Desert Ecology explores how these organisms live where they do.
Author: Siegmar-W. Breckle
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364259560X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 473
Get Book Here
Book Description
Changing desert areas for land use implies a lot of ecological problems. These and related ones are dealt with in this book covering various interdisciplinary and international aspects. Large areas in arid and semi-arid regions are already polluted in various ways. One of the biggest problems is the anthropogenic salinization by inadequate means of agriculture and irrigation. Additionally, most arid areas in the world are dramatically overgrazed. Methods and practices of a sustainable land use in deserts are urgently needed in many arid regions. This book gives a broad survey on some of the affected regions of the world as well as some case studies from elsewhere (Aral Sea, Negev desert, Namib desert etc.). Thus, basic and applied sciences are brought together. Water management in deserts, grazing systems or reclamation of desertified areas are among the topics of this book, as well as social and economic aspects.
Author: Richard Malloy
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000218848
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 623
Get Book Here
Book Description
Typical development in the American Southwest often resulted in scraping the desert lands of the ancient living landscape, to be replaced with one that is human-made and dependent on a large consumption of energy and natural resources. This transdisciplinary book explores the natural and built environment of this desert region and introduces development tools for shaping its future in a more sustainable way. It offers valuable insights to help promote ecological balance between nature and the built environment in the American Southwest-and in other ecologically fragile regions around the world.
Author: Eric R. Pianka
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780691628905
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book Here
Book Description
Eric Pianka offers a synthesis of his life's work on the comparative ecology of lizard assemblages in the Great Basin. Mojave and Sonoran deserts of western North America, the Kalahari semi-desert of southern Africa, and the Great Victoria desert of Western Australia. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Author: Joyce A. Quinn
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313087733
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Get Book Here
Book Description
This volume in the Greenwood Guides to Biomes of the World focuses on deserts, the seemingly desolate—but actually quite lively—regions that are home to some of the most interesting and beautiful flora and fauna in the world. Desert Biomes examines three different types of biomes: warm/hot deserts (such as the Mojave and Sahara deserts), cold deserts (such as Patagonia in South America), and the West Coast Fog Desert biomes, which occur on certain regions of the western edge of major continents. The volumes examines how these biomes are unique in terms of their vegetation, geographical distribution, soil, challenges posed by the environment, adaptation of the plants and animals to the environment, and conservation efforts. Maps, photos, diagrams, drawings, and tables accompany the text, as do sidebars that highlight habitats, species, and ecological relationships. The volume includes a bibliography of accessible resources for further research.
Author: Richard Kingsford
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521818257
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Get Book Here
Book Description
Summarises current understanding of desert river ecology and its dependence on unpredictable river flows.
Author: Brain F. Chabot
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400948301
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 704
Get Book Here
Book Description
Although, as W.D. Billings notes in his chapter in this book. the development of physiological ecology can be traced back to the very beginnings of the study of ecology it is clear that the modern development of this field in North America is due in the large part to the efforts of Billings alone. The foundation that Billings laid in the late 1950s came from his own studies on deserts and subsequently arctic and alpine plants, and also from his enormous success in instilling enthusiasm for the field in the numerous students attracted to the plant ecology program at Duke University. Billings' own studies provided the model for subsequent work in this field. Physiological techniques. normally confined to the laboratory. were brought into the field to examine processes under natural environmental conditions. These field studies were accompanied by experiments under controlled conditions where the relative impact of various factors could be assessed and further where genetic as opposed to environmental influences could be separated. This blending of field and laboratory approaches promoted the design of experiments which were of direct relevance to understanding the distribution and abundance of plants in nature. Physiological mechanisms were studied and assessed in the context of the functioning of plants under natural conditions rather than as an end in itself.
