Carbon and nitrogen in the terrestrial environment
Carbon and Nitrogen in the Terrestrial Environment is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary description of C and N fluxes between the atmosphere and the terrestrial biosphere; issues related to C and N management in different ecosystems and their implications for the environment and global climate change; and the approaches to mitigate emission of greenhouse gases.Drawing upon the most up-to-date books, journals, bulletins, reports, symposia proceedings and internet sources documenting interrelationships between different aspects of C and N cycling in the terrestrial environment, Carbon and Nitrogen in the Terrestrial Environment fills the gap left by most of the currently available books on C and N cycling. They either deal with a single element of an ecosystem, or are related to one or a few selected aspects like soil organic matter (SOM) and agricultural or forest management, emission of greenhouse gases, global climate change or modeling of SOM dynamics.
Biological Invasions Belowground : Earthworms as Invasive Species
he most conspicuous biological invasions in terrestrial ecosystems have been by exotic plants, insects and vertebrates. Less conspicuous but possibly of equal importance are invasions by soil invertebrates, which are occurring literally beneath our feet. Familiar examples include the South American fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) which has invaded North America and Australia, and the New Zealand flatworm (Arthurdendyus triangulatus) which has become wide-spread in the United Kingdom; both have caused considerable ecological and economic damage. There is now evidence that exotic earthworm invasions are increasing world-wide and may be having significant impacts on soil processes and plant communities in some regions. Much remains to be learned about these ‘cryptic’ biological invasions. The papers in this book are based on efforts by an international group of soil ecologists to assess the biological and ecological mechanisms of earthworm invasions, their geographic extent and impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, and possible means by which earthworm invasions might be mitigated.
Land-Use and Land-Cover Change : Local Processes and Global Impacts
The book presents recent estimates of the rates in changes of major land classes such as forest, cropland and pasture. Among the causative mechanisms behind land change, synergetic factor combinations are found to be more common than single key factor explanations. Aggregated globally, multiple impacts of local land changes are shown to significantly affect central aspects of Earth System functioning. Innovative developments and applications in the fields of modeling and scenario construction are presented. Finally, conclusions are drawn about the most pressing implications for the design of appropriate intervention policies, and on new directions and frontiers of research.
Chernobyl: Catastrophe and Consequences
The long-term effects of the Chernobyl incident on the environment are still becoming apparent, twenty years after the event. This book, written by two researchers with frontline experience in this field, provides a detailed review of these over a wide range of ecosystems. It also discusses the responses and countermeasures utilised to combat the effects of the accident, as well as considering the health, social, psychological and economic impacts on the human population. Chernobyl - Catastrophe and Consequences provides a comprehensive assessment of the Chernobyl accident and its long-term consequences draws on the most recent measurements of contamination in the terrestrial and aquatic food chains discusses the sociological consequences of such disasters in detail This book adds valuable weight to the debate about the environmental cost of nuclear power and the issue of nuclear safety.
Acid Rain - Deposition to Recovery
Acid rain is still with us. Although it is a problem that people have worked diligently to solve, there are still many problem areas throughout the world. In reality the focus of acid rain research has shifted, and this book adds new vision to the topic. It contains papers, selected from Acid Rain 2005, the 7th International Conference on Acid Deposition, that take a broad perspective of the issues, emphasizing a number of themes: - the emission, concentration and deposition of pollutants / - nitrogen and trace elements in ecosystems and their effects on forests, water and soil / - studies of material damage and recovery - critical loads / The book is aimed at scientists and researchers who are working in the area of acid rain and its effects, and on nutrient cycling. This latest research will be of value to those concerned with the mitigation of acid rain effects.




