Fundamentals of Ecosystem Science

Fundamentals of Ecosystem Science provides a compact and comprehensive introduction to modern ecosystem science.

This book covers major concepts of ecosystem science, biogeochemistry, and energetics. It addresses, contrasts, and compares both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. It combines general lessons, concepts, frameworks, and challenges in highly accessible synthesis chapters. It presents firsthand case studies, written by leaders in the field, offering personal insights into how adopting an ecosystem approach led to innovations, new understanding, management changes, and policy solutions.

This book is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students who have had a general biology course, but not further training in ecosystems as well as researchers and professionals in ecology and environmental sciences.

• Addresses, contrasts, and compares both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
• Combines general lessons, concepts, frameworks, and challenges in highly accessible synthesis chapters
• Presents firsthand case studies, written by leaders in the field, offering personal insights into how adopting an ecosystem approach led to innovations, new understanding, management changes, and policy solutions

Advanced undergraduate and graduate students who have had a general biology course, but not further training in ecosystems. Researchers and professionals in ecology and environmental sciences

Preface

Chapter 1. Introduction to Ecosystem Science

What is an Ecosystem?

What are the Properties of Ecosystems?

Why Do Scientists Study Ecosystems?

How Do Ecosystem Scientists Learn about Ecosystems?

From There to Here: A Short History of the Ecosystem Concept in Theory and Practice

References

Section II. Ecological Energetics

Introduction

Units used in Studies of Ecological Energetics

Chapter 2. Primary Production: The Foundation of Ecosystems

Introduction

Components of Primary Production

Measuring Primary Production

Regulation of Primary Production

Rates and Patterns of Primary Production

Fates of Primary Production

A Tale of Scale

Summary

References

References for Table 2.1

Chapter 3. Secondary Production and Consumer Energetics

Introduction

Consumer Energetics

Secondary Production

Definition of Secondary Production

Methods to Estimate Secondary Production

Controls and Prediction of Secondary Production

Production of an Individual Species of Consumer

Production of a Guild of Consumers

Production of the Entire Community of Consumers

Conclusion

References

Chapter 4. Organic Matter Decomposition

Introduction

Decomposition of Plant-Derived Particulate Matter

Organisms Responsible for Decomposition

Controls on Decomposition

Interactions with Other Element Cycles

Summary

References

Chapter 5. Element Cycling

What is an Element Cycle?

The Importance of Chemical Properties

Move, Stick, and Change: A Simple Framework for Elemental Cycling

What Kinds of Questions are Associated with Element Cycles?

Some Characteristics Important for Understanding an Element’s Role in Ecosystems

References

Chapter 6. The Carbon Cycle: With a Brief Introduction to Global Biogeochemistry

Why Study the Carbon Cycle?

Biogeochemistry of Carbon

The Carbon Atom and Its Chemistry

The Present-Day Global Carbon Cycle and the Greenhouse Effect

The Holocene PreIndustrial Global Carbon Budget

The Carbon Cycle in Selected Ecosystems

Concluding Remarks

References

Chapter 7. The Nitrogen Cycle

Introduction

The Global Picture

Nitrogen Cycle Processes

Nitrogen Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems

Nitrogen Cycling in Aquatic Ecosystems

Nitrogen Balances: The Enigma of Missing Nitrogen

References

Chapter 8. The Phosphorus Cycle

Introduction

Background

The Importance of Phosphorus in Terrestrial Ecosystems

The Importance of Phosphorus in Agricultural Ecosystems

The Importance of Phosphorus in Aquatic Ecosystems

The Global Phosphorus Cycle

Human Alteration of the Global Phosphorus Cycle

The Phosphorus Cycle at the Watershed Scale

The Phosphorus Cycle at the Local Scale

Managing Human Interaction with the Phosphorus Cycle

Summary

References

Section IV. Synthesis

Chapter 9. Revisiting the Ecosystem Concept: Important Features That Promote Generality and Understanding

Introduction

Budgets and Boundaries

Inclusiveness and Flexibility

Generality and Prediction

References

Chapter 10. Ecosystems in a Heterogeneous World

Introduction

The Nature of Heterogeneity

Toward A Framework for Space and Time Heterogeneity

Internal and External Heterogeneity

First Principles for Assessing Heterogeneity

Conclusions: Ecosystems in Time and Space

References

Chapter 11. Controls on Ecosystem Structure and Function

What Do We Mean by “Control”?

Why Do We Care about Controls on Ecosystems?

How Are Ecosystems Controlled?

Complications

References

Section V. Case Studies

Chapter 12. From Global Environmental Change to Sustainability Science: Ecosystem Studies in the Yaqui Valley, Mexico

The Yaqui Valley Case Study

Lessons from the Yaqui Valley Ecosystems Study

References

Chapter 13. Ecology of Lyme Disease

Discovery

It’s the Deer

References

Chapter 14. Understanding Ecosystem Effects of Dams

References

Chapter 15. Acid Rain

References

Chapter 16. Streams and Their Valleys

References

Chapter 17. Frontiers in Ecosystem Science

Introduction

Pressures and Pace of Environmental Change

Conceptual Advances

Technological Advances

The Changing Culture of Science

Conclusion

References

Appendix. A Primer on Biologically Mediated Redox Reactions in Ecosystems

References

Glossary

Index