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The large and rapidly expanding body ofliterature related to
nitrogen cycling in both managed and native terrestrial ecosystems
reflects the importance accorded to the behaviour of this vital and
often limiting nutrient. Research at the organism, ecosystem and
landscape levels commonly addresses questions concerning nitrogen
acquisition, internal cycling and retention. Goals for this
research include increased agricultural productivity and a better
understanding of human impact on local, regional and global
nitrogen cycles. Nitrogen cycle research in tropical regions has a
long and distinguished history. Research on different aspects of
nitrogen cycling in ecosystems of the tropics has been carried out
in many regions. In relatively few instances has there, however,
been a focus on the biogeochemical cycles at the ecosystem level.
The meeting resulting in this volume was an attempt to bring
together existing information on nitrogen cycling in ecosystems of
Latin America and the Caribbean and discuss this in an ecosystem
context.
The sustainability of both natural and managed ecosystems is
strongly influenced by soil biological processes. A major question
in soil biology and ecosystem ecology is the extent to which these
processes are affected by the function and structure of the soil's
biotic community. The Significance and Regulation of Soil
Biodiversity presents the discussions of a group of soil biologists
and ecosystem ecologists in which they synthesize available
information, present innovative methodologies, and develop
cross-taxa and cross-habitat collaborations to advance our
understanding of soil biodiversity. The volume addresses the extent
and regulation of soil biodiversity and describes initial
approaches to the linking of soil biodiversity and ecosystem
function. Audience: Researchers and students in a wide range of
environmental scientific disciplines.
Evidence has been mounting for some time that intensive row-crop
agriculture as practiced in developed countries may not be
environmentally sustainable, with concerns increasingly being
raised about climate change, implications for water quantity and
quality, and soil degradation. This volume synthesizes two decades
of research on the sustainability of temperate, row-crop ecosystems
of the Midwestern United States. The overarching hypothesis guiding
this work has been that more biologically based management
practices could greatly reduce negative impacts while maintaining
sufficient productivity to meet demands for food, fiber and fuel,
but that roadblocks to their adoption persist because we lack a
comprehensive understanding of their benefits and drawbacks. The
research behind this book, based at the Kellogg Biological Station
(Michigan State University) and conducted under the aegis of the
Long-term Ecological Research network, is structured on a
foundation of large-scale field experiments that explore
alternatives to conventional, chemical-intensive agriculture.
Studies have explored the biophysical underpinnings of crop
productivity, the interactions of crop ecosystems with the
hydrology and biodiversity of the broader landscapes in which they
lie, farmers' views about alternative practices, economic valuation
of ecosystem services, and global impacts such as greenhouse gas
exchanges with the atmosphere. In contrast to most research
projects, the long-term design of this research enables
identification of slow or delayed processes of change in response
to management regimes, and allows examination of responses across a
broader range of climatic variability. This volume synthesizes this
comprehensive inquiry into the ecology of alternative cropping
systems, identifying future steps needed on the path to
sustainability.
This book provides a standardized set of protocols for measuring soil properties, to facilitatte corss-site synthesis and evaluation of ecosystem processess. The book should be of interest to a rather broad range of ecologists, agronomists, and soil scientists. It is the second volume in the Long-term Ecological Research Network Series.
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