Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems and Scale

Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems and Scale
Author: John E. Petersen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2010-01-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0387767673

Enclosed ecosystem experiments have gained in popularity as research tools in ecological science, particularly in the study of coastal aquatic environments. These systems provide scientists with a degree of experimental control that is not achievable through field experiments. Yet to date, techniques for systematically extrapolating results from small-scale experimental ecosystems to larger, deeper, more open, more biologically diverse, and more heterogeneous ecosystems in nature have not been well developed. Likewise, researchers have lacked methods for comparing and extrapolating information among natural ecosystems that differ in scale. Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems and Scale: Tools for Understanding and Managing Coastal Ecosystems provides scientists, managers, and policy makers with an introduction to what has been termed the "problem of scale", and presents information that will allow for improved design and interpretation of enclosed experimental aquatic ecosystems. The book integrates the results of a 10-year research project involving a multi-disciplinary team of scientists and students to explore scale-related questions in a variety of coastal habitats. Anticipating use as a reference, the book has been designed so that individual sections and individual pages can function as stand alone units.

Scaling and Uncertainty Analysis in Ecology

Scaling and Uncertainty Analysis in Ecology
Author: Jianguo Wu
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2006-07-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402046634

This is the first book of its kind – explicitly considering uncertainty and error analysis as an integral part of scaling. The book draws together a series of important case studies to provide a comprehensive review and synthesis of the most recent concepts, theories and methods in scaling and uncertainty analysis. It includes case studies illustrating how scaling and uncertainty analysis are being conducted in ecology and environmental science.

Experimental Ecology

Experimental Ecology
Author: William J. Resetarits
Publisher:
Total Pages: 492
Release: 2001
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780195150421

Experimentation is a dominant approach in contemporary ecological research, pervading studies at all levels of biological organization and across diverse taxa and habitats. Experimental Ecology assembles an eminent group of ecologists who synthesize insights from these varied sources into a cogent statement about experimentalism as an analytical paradigm, placing experimentation within the larger framework of ecological investigation. The book discusses diverse experimental approaches ranging from laboratory microcosms to manipulation of entire ecosystem, illustrating the myriad ways experiments strengthen ecological inference. Experimental ecologists critique their science to move the field forward on all fronts: from better designs, to better links between experiments and theory, to more realism in experiments targeted at specific systems and questions.

Interactions Between Native and Nonnative Species

Interactions Between Native and Nonnative Species
Author: Julie Kay Henry Zimmerman
Publisher:
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2005
Genre: Brown trout
ISBN:

Although previous research has investigated competition between native and nonnative trout, few studies have examined effects of introduced trout on other species in coldwater stream communities. I designed a field experiment to examine interactions between native brook trout versus nonnative brown trout with native slimy sculpin to investigate whether introductions of nonnative trout affect food web relationships in small streams. I hypothesized that brown trout would compete with sculpin and reduce sculpin growth, whereas competition would not occur between brook trout and sculpin, based on the premise that brook tout and slimy sculpin have coevolved in Minnesota streams. Enclosures (1m2) were stocked with fish according to six treatments: combined-species treatments (juvenile brown trout with sculpin, juvenile brook trout with sculpin), single-species controls, and no fish. Fish were stocked at three densities to examine intraspecific versus interspecific competition. Replicates of each treatment were placed in riffles in Valley Creek, Minnesota, and six 38-day experiment trials were conducted over three summers (2002-2004). Enclosures did not reduce abundance of drifting invertebrate prey. Interactions between brown trout and sculpin led to reduced growth of both large sculpin and large brown trout in enclosures, whereas presence of brook trout was not associated with changes to sculpin growth. Presence of brown trout also led to indirect effects on food web dynamics that may have resulted in these observed changes in growth. Brown trout was the only species associated with a decrease in abundance of a benthic invertebrate taxon, suggesting that brown trout may feed in the benthos to a greater extent than brook trout. Brown trout were also associated with shifts in sculpin diets, indicating a change in sculpin feeding behavior when sculpin were with brown trout that was not evident when sculpin were alone or with brook trout. Feeding behavior and intraspecific interactions among brown trout, along with shifts in feeding behavior of sculpin when brown trout were present, likely was a mechanism underlying reduced growth of both species. My research shows that introduced brown trout have effects on the stream community in Valley Creek that are different than native brook trout.

The Species-Area Relationship

The Species-Area Relationship
Author: Thomas J. Matthews
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 503
Release: 2021-03-18
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1108477070

Provides a comprehensive synthesis of a fundamental phenomenon, the species-area relationship, addressing theory, evidence and application.

Spatially Explicit Influences on Northern Goshawk Nesting Habitat in the Interior Pacific Northwest

Spatially Explicit Influences on Northern Goshawk Nesting Habitat in the Interior Pacific Northwest
Author: Michael T. McGrath
Publisher:
Total Pages: 76
Release: 2003
Genre: Birds of prey
ISBN:

"We compared northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis atricapillus) nesting habitat within 1 ha of nest sites and at landscape scales of 10, 30, 60, 83, 120, 150, and 170 ha in 4 studies areas east of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington. Our objective was to describe goshawk nesting habitat at biologically relevant scales and to develop models capable of assessing the effects of forest management alternatives on habitat suitability"--Page 1.