Tropical Ecosystems and Ecological Concepts/ Patrick L. Osborne

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

Index 442