Resolving ecosystem complexity [electronic resource] / Oswald J. Schmitz.

ISBN:

9781400834174

Title:

Author:

Schmitz, Oswald J.

Personal Author:

Schmitz, Oswald J.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 173 pages) : illustrations.

Series:

Monographs in population biology ; 44

Contents:

Introduction -- Conceptualizing ecosystem structure -- Trophic dynamics: why is the world green? -- The green world and the brown chain -- The evolutionary ecology of trophic control in ecosystems -- The whole and the parts -- The ecological theater and the evolutionary ecological play.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Biotic communities.

Ecosystem management.

Biodiversity conservation.

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

Click here to view

Publication Date:

2010

Publication Information:

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
577.82 22	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

An ecosystem's complexity develops from the vast numbers of species interacting in ecological communities. The nature of these interactions, in turn, depends on environmental context. How do these components together influence an ecosystem's behavior as a whole? Can ecologists resolve an ecosystem's complexity in order to predict its response to disturbances? Resolving Ecosystem Complexity develops a framework for anticipating the ways environmental context determines the functioning of ecosystems.

Oswald Schmitz addresses the critical questions of contemporary ecology: How should an ecosystem be conceptualized to blend its biotic and biophysical components? How should evolutionary ecological principles be used to derive an operational understanding of complex, adaptive ecosystems? How should the relationship between the functional biotic diversity of ecosystems and their properties be understood? Schmitz begins with the universal concept that ecosystems are comprised of species that consume resources and which are then resources for other consumers. From this, he deduces a fundamental rule or evolutionary ecological mechanism for explaining context dependency: individuals within a species trade off foraging gains against the risk of being consumed by predators. Through empirical examples, Schmitz illustrates how species use evolutionary ecological strategies to negotiate a predator-eat-predator world, and he suggests that the implications of species trade-offs are critical to making ecology a predictive science.

Bridging the traditional divides between individuals, populations, and communities in ecology, Resolving Ecosystem Complexity builds a systematic foundation for thinking about natural systems.

Author Notes

Oswald J. Schmitz is the Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology in the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Within the fast-growing landscape of ecological literature, this book emerges as a rare yet inspiring attempt to explain ecosystem complexity. Schmitz (Yale) does this by introducing contingencies in nature and synthesizing up-to-date knowledge on species interactions, trophic structure, and ecosystem function and dynamics through stimulating questions, theoretical thinking, and empirical evidence. It is fascinating to see how the author achieved his goal of showing "how empirical research to explain contingent outcomes can lead to predictive understanding of ecosystem function." Each of the six chapters after the introduction offers stimulating thinking in sections including "Whole System vs. Building Blocks Approach," "The Green World and the Brown Chain," "Attacked Plants Attack Predators," "Trophic Interactions in a Changing Theater," etc. In an effort to bridge ecological theories from an individual to a system level, Schmitz challenges readers with a central question in resolving complexity: "Are processes operating at different organization scales tightly or weakly coupled?" He succeeds in conceptualizing the giant pieces of the puzzle (in ecosystem study) through the development of rules for fitting/assembling the pieces and actions. This is a model book in ecology, and should be used as a critical reference source for academics interested in ecological theory and recent developments in the field. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. J. Chen University of Toledo

List of Illustrations	p. ix
List of Tables	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
Chapter 1 Introduction	p. 1
Philosophical Musings	p. 2
Explaining Contingency: A Worldview	p. 4
Contingency and Emergence	p. 5
Preparing the Mind for Discovery	p. 7
Structure of the Book	p. 8
Chapter 2 Conceptualizing Ecosystem Structure	p. 10
Abstracting Complexity	p. 11
Whole System vs. Building Blocks Approach	p. 13
Defining Species Interaction Modules	p. 15
Identifying Interaction Modules in a Grassland Ecosystem	p. 16
Conception of Ecosystem Structure	p. 20
Chapter 3 Trophic Dynamics: Why Is the World Green?	p. 23
Trophic Control as an Emergent Property of Resource Limitation	p. 24
Explaining Contingency in Trophic Control of Ecosystem Function	p. 26
The Nature of Resource Limitation and Trophic Control of Food Chains	p. 28
The Mechanism Switching Hypothesis of Trophic Control	p. 32
Effects of Herbivore Feeding Mode	p. 36
Collective Effects of Herbivore Species with Different Feeding Modes	p. 38
Plant- Antiherbivore Defense and Strength of Trophic Control	p. 39
Herbivore Resource Selection and Ecosystem Function	p. 41
Stoichiometry and Herbivore Resource Use	p. 42
Resource Selection and Ecosystem Function	p. 43
Herbivore Indirect Effects and Engineering of Green Worlds	p. 46
Herbivore- Mediated Carnivore Indirect Effects on Ecosystems	p. 47
Carnivore Indirect Effects on Plant Diversity	p. 47
Carnivore Indirect Effects on Ecosystem Function	p. 50
Chapter 4 The Green World and the Brown Chain	p. 55
Conceptualizing Functions along Detritus- Based Chains	p. 56
Resource Limitation and Trophic Control	p. 57
Trophic Control of Decomposition	p. 59
Trophic Control of Mineralization	p. 61
Mechanisms of Top- Down Control	p. 62
Trophic Coupling between Detritus- Based and Plant- Based Chains	p. 64
Chapter 5 The Evolutionary Ecology of Trophic Control in Ecosystems	p. 68
Carnivore Species and the Nature of Trophic Interactions in an Old- Field System	p. 69
Carnivore Hunting Mode and the Nature of Trophic Interactions	p. 74
The Evolutionary Ecology of Trophic Cascades	p. 86
Chapter 6 The Whole and the Parts	p. 99
Developing Predictive Theory for Emergence	p. 100
Contingency and Carnivore Diversity Effects on Ecosystems	p. 101
Carnivore Diversity and Emergent Effects on Ecosystem Function	p. 106
Shifting Down One Trophic Level: Intermediate Species Diversity and Ecosystem Function	p. 110
Herbivore Diversity and Mediation of Top- Down Control of Ecosystem Function	p. 112
Detritivore Diversity and Mediation of Top- Down Control of Ecosystem Function	p. 117
The Basal Trophic Level: Plant Diversity and Ecosystem Function	p. 118
Functional Classifications	p. 119
Resource Identity Effects on Trophic Interactions	p. 121
Moving Forward on Functional Diversity and Ecosystem Function	p. 122
Chapter 7 The Ecological Theater and the Evolutionary Ecological Play	p. 125
Phenotypic Variation and State- Dependent Trade- Offs	p. 127
Attacked Plants Attract Predators	p. 129
Predators That Avoid Predation	p. 130
The Nonconsumptive Basis of Trophic Transfer Efficiencies	p. 132
Trophic Interactions in a Changing Theater	p. 133
Rapid Change in Hunting Strategy	p. 135
Landscapes of Fear and Ecosystem Management	p. 135
Closing Remarks	p. 139
References	p. 143
Index	p. 167

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

Table of Contents