Louis F. Pitelka - Böcker

Human activities influence the chemical and physical properties of the atmosphere; examples are increases in troposphere concentrations of ozone, carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and sulfur, heavy metals and UV-B radiation. Many of these changes can alter the physiological status of terrestrial vegetation through either inhibition or enhancement of growth and reproduction, thereby influencing the ability of sensitive plants to compete for limited resources. As a result, air pollution stress may be changing the genetic structure of plant populations. In this book, leading researchers with a broad, interdisciplinary range of expertise discuss the known and measurable effects of pollution on terrestrial vegetation within the framework of ecological genetics, as well as suitable experimental methodologies to analyze the often novel or unusual effects of such environmental stresses. For environmental researchers and managers, Ecological Genetics and Air Pollution will be a welcomed introduction to this field of growing importance for long-term ecological studies.

Over 100 authors present 25 contributions on the impacts of global change on terrestrial ecosystems including:key processes of the earth system such as the CO2 fertilization effect, shifts in disturbances and biome distribution, the saturation of the terrestrial carbon sink, and changes in functional biodiversity,ecosystem services such the production of wheat, pest control, and carbon storage in croplands, and sensitive regions in the world threaten by rapid changes in climate and land use such as high latitudes ecosystems, tropical forest in Southeast Asia, and ecosystems dominated by Monsoon climate.The book also explores new research developments on spatial thresholds and nonlinearities, the key role of urban development in global biogeochemical processes, and the integration of natural and social sciences to address complex problems of the human-environment system.

In a very real sense, much of North American physiological plant ecol­ ogy began in the Basin and Range and has been researched there over the last four decades. However, we believe that this book may be the first attempt to bring together the full range of contemporary research into the fascinating plant biology of the Basin and Range Province. We have invited contributions from researchers presently working in and around the Province and asked them to review the major vegetation zones and distinctive environmental issues from a predominantly plant ecophysiological perspective. As researchers interested in plant physi­ ological and ecological processes, and in atmospheric processes affect­ ing vegetation, we have tended to emphasize the atmosphere, plant, soil continuum in structuring this book. After an introduction to the geography of the region, we deal with atmospheric processes and climates of the Great Basin, follow with chapters on the different vegetational zones, treated from ecophysiological perspectives, and then place emphasis on plant-soil relations. We have not treated plant­ animal interactions in the detail that the impacts of man and his domesticated animals on the desert ecosystem deserve. However we have included a review of a very promising technique (analysis of stable isotopes at natural abundance) for integration of these processes. We close with a compelling statement of the case for the Great Basin as a laboratory for climatic change research, prepared by a multidisciplinary team from the Desert Research Institute.