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Prescribed fire is widely applied for habitat management in coastal
ecosystems. Fire management plans typically list a variety of
objectives for prescribed burning, including succession management,
promotion of native flora and fauna, providing habitat for species
of importance, wildfire risk reduction (fuels management), as well
as reduction and/or prevention of invasive species. In most cases,
the information needed to determine the degree to which management
objectives are met is not available. This study sought to provide
an assessment of key objectives of fire management at the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Texas Mid-coast National Wildlife
Refuge Complex. The main purpose of this work was to provide
information and recommendations that will support Region 2 of the
USFWS in the conduct of their fire and habitat management
activities in the Western Gulf coast region. There were four main
components of this project: (1) a historical analysis of the role
of fire in this ecosystem, (2) the development of standard
methodology for assessing and monitoring fire effects in this
system, (3) an evaluation of the effects of prescribed burning on
the habitat being managed, and (4) an evaluation of the effects of
burning on select fauna of special concern. A team of researchers,
including some from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Southeast
Missouri State University, and Louisiana State University were
involved in the various components of this project. Extensive
support by USFWS personnel, both at the Texas Mid-coast National
Wildlife Refuge Complex and in the Regional Office (Region 2,
USFWS), was a key component in this work. Data from the three years
of this study were combined with the results of previous USGS
studies performed at the site to strengthen our conclusions.
Originally published in 1990, continued requests for copies of
Perspectives on Plant Competition by James B. Grace and David
Tilman have demonstrated its utility to practitioners and
especially to students. The dynamics and outcomes of plant
interactions are of increasingly great interest and importance to
ecologists and environmental biologists. Ever since the effects of
global environmental change have emerged as a major issue,
ecologists have increasingly focused their work on predicting the
responses of natural systems to environmental changes. This has
forced us to confront both the unknowns and the complexity of
species interactions. Simply put, it is now clear that, without a
better understanding of the mechanisms of plant interactions, we
will not be able to predict the responses of communities and
ecosystems to elevated nitrogen deposition, to changes in species
composition and diversity, to elevated atmospheric CO2, to climate
change, or to invasive exotic species. Work on plant interactions
has continued unabated of course since the original printing of
Perspectives on Plant Competition but the title is generally held
to have had a positive effect on subsequent work on plant
interactions, both by showcasing the variety of ways in which
competition can be approached and by substantially reducing some of
the confusion about issues that existed before its publication. It
still has an important role to play in guiding future research on
plant interactions. Perhaps an additional, continuing value is in
the example it serves for the maturation of an important ecological
topic. The lasting message of this book is that one cannot fully
understand an idea without understanding the perspective upon which
it is based, including the systems that have inspired the idea and
the finer details of the research goals of those involved. Plant
competition will continue to be a multifaceted topic. This book
will continue to provide useful guidance for the further
exploration of such interactions. "This is certainly a required
book for those working on plant competition, and an important
reference for ecologists and biologists in general. In many ways,
it will be a landmark, providing a snapshot of research at a
critical time in the development of this field." Science 249, 1054
"I strongly recommend this well-edited, thoughtful book to all
students of population biology and community ecology." Bioscience
41, 178 Jim Grace obtained his Ph.D. from Michigan State University
in 1980. He subsequently served on the faculty at the University of
Arkansas and Louisiana State University. He joined the US
Geological Survey - National Wetlands Research Center in 1992 and
currently holds an Adjunct Professorship in Biology at the
University of Louisiana in Lafayette. His basic research
specialization is in plant ecology, with an emphasis on species
interactions, biodiversity, invasive species, and conservation
biology. He has been elected to the positions of chair and
vice-chair of the Ecological Section of the Botanical Society of
America. David Tilman is an experimental and theoretical ecologist
interested in biodiversity, in the controls of ecosystem
composition, stability and productivity, and in the long-term
implications for society of human impacts on global ecosystems. He
received his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 1976. He
immediately came to the University of Minnesota where he now is
Regents Professor, holds the McKnight University Presidential Chair
in Ecology and is Director of Cedar Creek Natural History Area. He
has written two books, edited three books, and published more than
160 scientific papers. In 2001, he was designated the most highly
cited environmental scientist of the decade (1990-2000) by the
Institute for Scientific Information.
This book, first published in 2006, presents an introduction to the
methodology of structural equation modeling, illustrates its use,
and goes on to argue that it has revolutionary implications for the
study of natural systems. A major theme of this book is that we
have, up to this point, attempted to study systems primarily using
methods (such as the univariate model) that were designed only for
considering individual processes. Understanding systems requires
the capacity to examine simultaneous influences and responses.
Structural equation modeling (SEM) has such capabilities. It also
possesses many other traits that add strength to its utility as a
means of making scientific progress. In light of the capabilities
of SEM, it can be argued that much of ecological theory is
currently locked in an immature state that impairs its relevance.
It is further argued that the principles of SEM are capable of
leading to the development and evaluation of multivariate theories
of the sort vitally needed for the conservation of natural systems.
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