Tropical Ecosystems and Ecological Concepts/
Patrick L. Osborne
- New York Cambridge University Press c2000
- xi,464p.: ill.; 25cm
Table Table
Preface page xiii
Abbreviations and units xiv
Chapter 1: The tropical environment The tropics Climate in the tropics Biogeographical regions Chapter summary
Chapter 2 :Hot deserts and environmental factors The Sahara Desert and arid zones of northern Africa The Namib Desert Australian deserts Environmental factors Water Limiting factors Temperature Salinity Soils and nutrients Environmental factors and plant and animal distributions Desertification or land degradation? Chapter summary
Chapter 3: Grasslands and primary production Grass structure and biology Neotropical grasslands Light as an energy source Carbon dioxide uptake by plants Photosynthesis Photorespiration Photosynthetic strategies Respiration Environmental factors and photosynthesis Primary production Assessment of grassland primary production Effects of grazing on grass growth Seasonal variation in grassland primary production Primary production rates in terrestrial biomes Chapter summary
Chapter 4: Savanna and population dynamics 72 4.1 Fire and savanna vegetation 72 4.2 Savannas of the world 75 4.3 The Serengeti 78 4.4 Savanna plants and heterogeneity 80 4.5 Animal population dynamics in the Serengeti 81 4.6 Herbivores and herbivory 84 4.7 Principles of population growth 86 4.8 Factors determining population density 91 4.9 Density-dependent mortality factors 93 4.10 Competition theory and the competitive exclusion principle 99 4.11 Predation 100 4.12 Density-independent mortality factors 109 4.13 Reproductive strategies and population growth 109 4.14 Population age structure and life tables 110 4.15 Key factor analysis 117 4.16 Conservation of African wildlife 119 4.17 Ecosystem dynamics and ecological models 121 4.18 Chapter summary 126
Chapter 5:Lakes, energy flow and biogeochemical cycling Thermal stratification Pelagic zone production Littoral zone producers and primary production The catchment area concept Aquatic consumers The biota of tropical and temperate lakes: a comparison Food chains and energy flow Food chain energetics Trophic levels Limited length of food chains Food chain efficiencies Food web dynamics Biogeochemical cycles Quantitative aspects of nutrient supply and cycling Eutrophication Aquatic resource management Chapter summary
Chapter 6: Rivers, floodplains and estuaries: the flood-pulse and river continuum concepts 186 6.1 Nile River 188 6.2 Purari River 195 6.3 Amazon River 199 6.4 Ecological concepts 208 6.5 Estuaries 216 6.6 Chapter summary 219
Chapter 7: Wetlands and succession 221 7.1 What are wetlands? 221 7.2 Sudd communities of Lake Naivasha 222 7.3 Rooted emergent swamps of Lake Chilwa 223 7.4 Freshwater herbaceous wetlands: structure and function 225 7.5 Swamp forests 228 7.6 Wetland zonation 229 7.7 Wetland succession 231 7.8 Ecological succession 233 7.9 Community development and assembly 233 7.10 Wetland loss and conservation 234 7.11 Chapter summary 236
Chapter 8: Tropical rain forests and biodiversity 238 8.1 Biogeography of rain forests 239 8.2 Vegetation structure of tropical rain forests 242 8.3 Phenology and reproduction of tropical forest trees 245 8.4 Life-form concept of plants 247 8.5 Rain-forest animals 248 8.6 Convergent evolution 248 8.7 Plant-animal interactions 249 8.8 Co-evolution 253 8.9 Productivity and nutrient cycling in forests 254 8.10 Micro-climates and resource acquisition 256 8.11 Biological diversity 257 8.12 Why are rain forests so diverse? 262 8.13 Latitudinal gradients and species diversity 262 8.14 Gap theory — 264 8.15 Patch dynamics 266 8.16 Tropical deciduous forests and ecotones 269 8.17 Low-diversity tropical rain forests 270 8.18 Deforestation and the loss of biodiversity 270 8.19 Rain-forest conservation 273 8.20 Chapter summary 278
Chapter 9: Mountains, zonation and community gradients 280 9.1 Tropical mountains ' 280 9.2 Zonation on tropical mountains 280 9.3 Vegetation zonation on Mount Wilhelm, Papua New Guinea 281 9.4 Altitude zonation in Venezuela 287 9.5 Plant and animal ecophysiology: examples from Mount Kenya 289 9.6 Mountain zonation 294 9.7 Variation in plant and animal communities 296 9.8 Chapter summary 298
Chapter 10: Mangroves, seagrasses and decomposition 299 10.1 Mangroves of Australia and New Guinea 301 10.2 Ecological adaptations of mangroves 302 10.3 Mangrove animals 306 10.4 Mangrove productivity 309 10.5 Seagrasses 310 10.6 Coastal vegetation and organic matter export 311 10.7 Decomposition 313 10.8 Decomposition rates and environmental factors 315 10.9 Detritus food chains 316 10.10 Decomposition in other tropical systems 317 10.11 Coastal zone management 318 10.12 Chapter summary 318 Chapter11: Coral reefs and community ecology 320 11.1 Coral reef communities 320 11.2 Coral biology 322 11.3 Coral reefs 329 11.4 Coral reef algae 332 11.5 Coral reef herbivores 332 11.6 Coral reef biogeography and biodiversity 336 11.7 Community ecology 339 11.8 Coral reef management and conservation 344 11.9 Chapter summary 348 Chapter 12: Isolated habitats and biogeography: islands in the sea, air and land 349 12.1 Island ecosystems 349 12.2 Krakatau 349 12.3 Dispersal 352 12.4 Colonisation and community assembly 356 12.5 Island biogeography 358 12.6 Speciation 363 12.7 Extinction 368 12.8 Exotic species on islands 370 12.9 Chapter summary 372 Chapter 13: Cities and human ecology 373 13.1 Jakarta, Indonesia 373 13.2 Evolution of huma n societies 375 13.3 World population growth 377 13.4 Food production 382 13.5 Industrialisation, natural resource use and pollution 388 13.6 Human population growth: consequences and solutions 391 13.7 Conclusions 395 13.8 Chapter summary 395
Chapter 14: Global ecology: biodiversity conservation, climate change and sustainable development 397 Temperate and tropical environments Biodiversity loss Biodiversity conservation Global climate change Sustainable development Conclusions Chapter summary Glossary References