Author: F.Stuart III Chapin
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783642789687
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book Here
Book Description
As human populations expand and have increasing access to technol ogy, two general environmental concerns have arisen. First, human pop ulations are having increasing impact on the earth system, such that we are altering the biospheric carbon pools, basic processes of elemental cycling and the climate system of the earth. Because of time lags and feedbacks, these processes are not easily reversed. These alterations are occurring now more rapidly than at any time in the last several million years. Secondly, human activities are causing changes in the earth's biota that lead to species extinctions at a rate and magnitude rivaling those of past geologic extinction events. Although environmental change is potentially reversible at some time scales, the loss of species is irrevo cable. Changes in diversity at other scales are also cause for concern. Habitat fragmentation and declines in population sizes alter genetic di versity. Loss or introduction of new functional groups, such as nitro gen fixers or rodents onto islands can strongly alter ecosystem processes. Changes in landscape diversity through habitat modification and frag mentation alter the nature of processes within and among vegetation patches. Although both ecological changes altering the earth system and the loss of biotic diversity have been major sources of concern in recent years, these concerns have been largely independent, with little concern for the environmental causes the ecosystem consequences of changes in biodiversity. These two processes are clearly interrelated. Changes in ecological systems cause changes in diversity.
Author: Surajit de Mandal
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0128212667
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 624
Get Book Here
Book Description
Microorganisms are a major part of the Earth’s biological diversity. Although a lot of research has been done on microbial diversity, most of it is fragmented. This book creates the need for a unified text to be published, full of information about microbial diversity from highly reputed and impactful sources. Recent Advancements in Microbial Diversity brings a comprehensive understanding of the recent advances in microbial diversity research focused on different bodily systems, such as the gut. Recent Advancements in Microbial Diversity also discusses how the application of advanced sequencing technologies is used to reveal previously unseen microbial diversity and show off its function. Gives insight into microbial diversity in different bodily systems Explains novel approaches to studying microbial diversity Highlights the use of omics to analyze the microbial community and its functional attributes Discusses the techniques used to examine microbial diversity, including their applications and respective strengths and weaknesses
Author: Oladele Ogunseitan
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405144483
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Get Book Here
Book Description
This book offers the first comprehensive, in-depth treatment of microbial diversity for undergraduate and graduate students. Using a global approach, Microbial Diversity illustrates the impact of microorganisms on ecological and Earth system phenomena. Accompanied by a devoted website with resources for both instructors and students: www.blackwellpublishing.com/ogunseitan Uses key ecological and global phenomena to show the continuity of microbial contribution. Illustrates the importance of microbial diversity for the understanding of global physiochemical and biological processes. Presents analyses of microscopic, culture, molecular, and phylogenetic systematic methods. Shows the relevance of microbial diversity to global environmental problems, such as climate change and ozone depletion. Features numerous illustrations, including over 60 4-color photographs of microbes.
Author: Anne E. Bernhard
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889199851
Category : Microbiology
Languages : en
Pages : 161
Get Book Here
Book Description
Understanding the link between microbial diversity and ecosystem processes is a fundamental goal of microbial ecologists, yet we still have a rudimentary knowledge of how changes in diversity affect nutrient cycling and energy transfer in ecosystems. Due to the complexity of the problem, many published studies on this topic have been conducted in artificial or manipulated systems. Although researchers have begun to expose some possible mechanisms using these approaches, most have not yet been able to produce conclusive results that relate directly to natural systems. The few studies that have explored the link between diversity and activity in natural systems have typically focused on specific nutrient cycles or processes, such as nitrification, denitrification, and organic carbon degradation pathways, and the microbes that mediate them. What we have learned from these studies is that there are often strong associations between the physical and chemical features of the environment, the composition of the microbial communities, and their activities, but the rules that govern these associations have not been fully elucidated. These earlier studies of microbial diversity and processes in natural systems provide a framework for additional studies to broaden our understanding of the role of microbial diversity in ecosystem function. The problem is complex, but with recent advances in sequencing technology, -omics, and in-situ measurements of ecosystem processes and their applications to microbial communities, making direct connections between ecosystem function and microbial diversity seems more tractable than ever.
Author: Aparna Gunjal
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 0323901492
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 394
Get Book Here
Book Description
Microbial Diversity in Hotspots provides an introduction to microbial diversity and microbes in different hotspots and threatened areas. The book gives insights on extremophiles, phyllosphere and rhizosphere, covers fungal diversity, conservation and microbial association, focuses on biodiversity acts and policies, and includes cases studies. Microbes explored are from the coldest to the hottest areas of the world. Although hotspots are zones with extremely high microbiology activities, the knowledge of microbial diversity from these areas is very limited, hence this is a welcome addition to existing resources. Provides an introduction to microbial biotechnology Addresses novel approaches to the study of microbial diversity in hotspots Provides the basics, along with advanced information on microbial diversity Discusses the techniques used to examine microbial diversity with their applications and respective pros and cons for sustainability Explores the importance of microbial genomes studies in commercial applications
Author: B J (Bland) Finlay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: D. Allsopp
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 504
Get Book Here
Book Description
Microorganisms are key components in the functioning of ecosystems and the importance of their role is being increasingly recognized. In this volume, more than 30 contributors, invited from around the world, cover a wide range of topics: the extent of microbial diversity, the impact of microorganisms on global ecology and nutrient cycling, microorganisms and ecosystem maintenance, extremophiles, inventorying and monitoring microorganisms and the microbiology resource base. The book is based on papers presented at an IUBS/IUMS/SCOPE/UNEP-sponsored workshop on Microorganisms and the Maintenance of Biodiversity held in the UK in August 1993. It provides an up-to-date review of concepts and concerns in this increasingly important area of biodiversity studies, and will interest a wide range of ecologists and microbiologists.
Author: Silvia Pajares
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889450678
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 175
Get Book Here
Book Description
Tropical ecosystems are different in important ways from those of temperate regions. They are a major reservoir of plant and animal biodiversity and play important roles in global climate regulation and biogeochemical cycling. They are also under great threat due to the conversion of tropical ecosystems to other uses. Thus, in the context of global change, it is crucial to understand how environmental factors, biogeographic patterns, and land use changes interact to influence the structure and function of microbial communities in these ecosystems. The contributions to this Research Topic showcase the current knowledge regarding microbial ecology in tropical ecosystems, identify many challenges and questions that remain to be addressed and open up new horizons in our understanding of the environmental and anthropological factors controlling microbial communities in these important ecosystems.
Author: Lunhui Lu
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2832539874
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 188
Get Book Here
Book Description
Dams or barriers are among the most significant anthropogenic threats to global freshwater ecosystems, although they provide invaluable services for shipping, hydropower generation, flood protection, and storage of drinking and irrigation water. River fragmentations due to dams and barriers lead the aquatic landscape into isolated river sections, resulting in hydromorphological discontinuities along longitudinal or lateral gradients. Fragmented river habitats are unstable. They experience uncertain disturbances in both time and space with random and complex hydrological and environmental processes, such as water flow, particulate matter sedimentation, reservoir regulation, and terrestrial input. The diversity, composition, functionality, and activity of microbial communities are important indicators of river ecosystem functions and services. Yet, river fragmentations are likely to disrupt and reconstruct microbial communities, redirecting the patterns of biogeochemical cycles of biogenic elements. Methodology, such as mathematical models, is still limited to describing and elucidating microbial processes under changing hydrological environments in the fragmented rivers. Thus, how do the riverine microbial communities and ecosystem functions respond to the fragmentation in rivers? This Research Topic represents a collective focus on microbial ecology, functional diversity, and new microbial modeling in fragmented rivers. We wish to present new findings in community assembly mechanisms, biotic interactions, functional diversity, and ecosystem functioning responses to the river fragmentations. New perspectives will also provide us with deep insights into the ecological effects of river fragmentation. This Research Topic aims to present the original research articles and reviews to provide new findings on microbial diversity and ecosystem functioning in fragmented rivers worldwide. We welcome original research, reviews, mini-reviews, opinions, methods, hypotheses and theories, and perspectives. The directions include but are not limited to the following aspects: - The continuum of the microbial community in responses to dams or barriers. - Novel microbial community assembly mechanisms, functional traits, and biotic interactions in fragmented rivers at local, regional, and global scales. - Functional genes, functional groups, and functional diversity in driving biogenic element cycles. - Mathematical modeling in aquatic microbial ecology.
Author: Jürg B. Logue
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889197239
Category : Microbiology
Languages : en
Pages : 263
Get Book Here
Book Description
Advances in next generation sequencing technologies, omics, and bioinformatics are revealing a tremendous and unsuspected diversity of microbes, both at a compositional and functional level. Moreover, the expansion of ecological concepts into microbial ecology has greatly advanced our comprehension of the role microbes play in the functioning of ecosystems across a wide range of biomes. Super-imposed on this new information about microbes, their functions and how they are organized, environmental gradients are changing rapidly, largely driven by direct and indirect human activities. In the context of global change, understanding the mechanisms that shape microbial communities is pivotal to predict microbial responses to novel selective forces and their implications at the local as well as global scale. One of the main features of microbial communities is their ability to react to changes in the environment. Thus, many studies have reported changes in the performance and composition of communities along environmental gradients. However, the mechanisms underlying these responses remain unclear. It is assumed that the response of microbes to changes in the environment is mediated by a complex combination of shifts in the physiological properties, single-cell activities, or composition of communities: it may occur by means of physiological adjustments of the taxa present in a community or selecting towards more tolerant/better adapted phylotypes. Knowing whether certain factors trigger one, many, or all mechanisms would greatly increase confidence in predictions of future microbial composition and processes. This Research Topic brings together studies that applied the latest molecular techniques for studying microbial composition and functioning and integrated ecological, biogeochemical and/or modeling approaches to provide a comprehensive and mechanistic perspective of the responses of micro-organisms to environmental changes. This Research Topic presents new findings on environmental parameters influencing microbial communities, the type and magnitude of response and differences in the response among microbial groups, and which collectively deepen our current understanding and knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of microbial structural and functional responses to environmental changes and gradients in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The body of work has, furthermore, identified many challenges and questions that yet remain to be addressed and new perspectives to follow up on.
