Nutrient Cycling in Forest Ecosystems

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910557498503321
• Autore: Qualls Robert G
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Basel, Switzerland, : MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2020
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (218 p.)
• Soggetti: Biology, life sciences; Forestry industry; Research and information: general
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Sommario/riassunto: The long-term productivity of forest ecosystems depends on the cycling of nutrients. The effect of carbon dioxide fertilization on forest productivity may ultimately be limited by the rate of nutrient cycling. Contemporary and future disturbances such as climatic warming, N-deposition, deforestation, short rotation sylviculture, fire (both wild and controlled), and the invasion of exotic species all place strains on the integrity of ecosystem nutrient cycling. Global differences in climate, soils, and species make it difficult to extrapolate even a single important study worldwide. Despite advances in the understanding of nutrient cycling and carbon production in forests, many questions remain. The chapters in this volume reflect many contemporary research priorities. The thirteen studies in this volume are arranged in the following subject groups: • N and P resorption from foliage worldwide, along chronosequences and along elevation gradients; • Litter production and decomposition; • N and P stoichiometry as affected by N deposition, geographic gradients, species changes, and ecosystem restoration; • Effects of N and P addition on understory biomass, litter, and soil; • Effects of burning on soil nutrients; • Effects of N addition on soil fauna.

Mountains under Pressure

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910743269603321
• Autore: Marchant Rob
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2023
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (334 p.)
• Soggetti: Geography; Research & information: general; Research and information: general
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Sommario/riassunto: Mountain forests and alpine ecosystems are rich in biodiversity and endemism, and they are also large global carbon stores. They are highly threatened by climate change, population growth and land use change. Mountains represent an ideal natural laboratory in which the evolution of social-ecological systems can be investigated and to the current challenges and opportunities that this past evolution has created can be assessed. Mountains have been centres of past development and conduits for the spread of crops, populations and technologies. They were and remain a locus for cultural interaction, as manifested recently in many parts of the world at the local level through pastoral-agricultural-urban interactions over access to space and resources, particularly water. The relevance and impact of this Special Issue on mountains goes beyond academia, as practitioners and policymakers need key information on the dynamics and changes in threatened ecosystems to help design and implement appropriate management strategies for sustainable mountain futures.