Thomas J. Stohlgren
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195172331
- eISBN:
- 9780199790395
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195172331.003.0012
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
In arid environments, the patterns of native and non-native plant diversity may be affected by cryptobiotic crusts. This chapter is a detailed case study designed to: (1) quantify patterns of native ...
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In arid environments, the patterns of native and non-native plant diversity may be affected by cryptobiotic crusts. This chapter is a detailed case study designed to: (1) quantify patterns of native and non-native plant species, cryptobiotic crust habitats, rare/unique habitats, and soil characteristics at landscape scales; and (2) determine which habitats in the southeast portion of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument, Utah, were more invaded by exotic plant species. It provides an opportunity to evaluate the interactions between various components of vascular plant diversity, with non-vascular plants (crusts) in complex arid soil environments.Less
In arid environments, the patterns of native and non-native plant diversity may be affected by cryptobiotic crusts. This chapter is a detailed case study designed to: (1) quantify patterns of native and non-native plant species, cryptobiotic crust habitats, rare/unique habitats, and soil characteristics at landscape scales; and (2) determine which habitats in the southeast portion of the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument, Utah, were more invaded by exotic plant species. It provides an opportunity to evaluate the interactions between various components of vascular plant diversity, with non-vascular plants (crusts) in complex arid soil environments.
John L. Maron and Montserrat Vilà
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520251328
- eISBN:
- 9780520933828
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520251328.003.0020
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
The increasing movement of organisms to new regions by humans is enabling species to breach natural dispersal barriers that normally constrain their geographic distribution. Despite being introduced ...
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The increasing movement of organisms to new regions by humans is enabling species to breach natural dispersal barriers that normally constrain their geographic distribution. Despite being introduced to areas that may be very different from their home region, some exotics become spectacularly more successful in evolutionarily novel environments than in areas in which they evolved. How some exotics come to dominate these new habitats, despite being often inconspicuous members of their native community, is one of ecology's central mysteries. Unraveling this mystery involves understanding how introduced organisms faced with novel abiotic or biotic conditions make accommodations to their new environments. This chapter examines how exotic plants respond to the altered assemblage of natural enemies they face within their introduced ranges. It discusses the rapid evolution of exotics in response to enemy pressure, exotics as substrates for studying the evolutionary response of plants to natural enemies, hypotheses and evidence for plant defenses, evolution in exotics in response to biocontrol, experimental evidence for evolution of exotic plant defense, and the response of St. John's wort to an altered enemy landscape.Less
The increasing movement of organisms to new regions by humans is enabling species to breach natural dispersal barriers that normally constrain their geographic distribution. Despite being introduced to areas that may be very different from their home region, some exotics become spectacularly more successful in evolutionarily novel environments than in areas in which they evolved. How some exotics come to dominate these new habitats, despite being often inconspicuous members of their native community, is one of ecology's central mysteries. Unraveling this mystery involves understanding how introduced organisms faced with novel abiotic or biotic conditions make accommodations to their new environments. This chapter examines how exotic plants respond to the altered assemblage of natural enemies they face within their introduced ranges. It discusses the rapid evolution of exotics in response to enemy pressure, exotics as substrates for studying the evolutionary response of plants to natural enemies, hypotheses and evidence for plant defenses, evolution in exotics in response to biocontrol, experimental evidence for evolution of exotic plant defense, and the response of St. John's wort to an altered enemy landscape.
J. Hall Cushman
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520252202
- eISBN:
- 9780520933972
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520252202.003.0016
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
This chapter explores the ecology and management of feral pig populations California grasslands. It discusses the history, taxonomy, geography, and basic ecology of feral pigs; the response of native ...
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This chapter explores the ecology and management of feral pig populations California grasslands. It discusses the history, taxonomy, geography, and basic ecology of feral pigs; the response of native and exotic plant taxa from different functional groups to pig disturbances; the impacts of pig disturbances on ecosystem processes; and efforts to control or eradicate pig populations and manage grasslands in the face of invasion by these mammals.Less
This chapter explores the ecology and management of feral pig populations California grasslands. It discusses the history, taxonomy, geography, and basic ecology of feral pigs; the response of native and exotic plant taxa from different functional groups to pig disturbances; the impacts of pig disturbances on ecosystem processes; and efforts to control or eradicate pig populations and manage grasslands in the face of invasion by these mammals.
Douglas H. Johnson, Matthew J. Holloran, John W. Connelly, Steven E. Hanser, Courtney L. Amundson, and Steven T. Knick
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520267114
- eISBN:
- 9780520948686
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520267114.003.0018
- Subject:
- Biology, Ornithology
The Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), endemic to western North America, is of great conservation interest. Its populations are tracked by spring counts of males at lek sites. This ...
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The Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), endemic to western North America, is of great conservation interest. Its populations are tracked by spring counts of males at lek sites. This study explored the relations between trends of Greater Sage-Grouse lek counts from 1997 to 2007 and a variety of natural and anthropogenic features. The results show that trends were correlated with several habitat features, but not always similarly throughout the range. Lek trends were positively associated with proportion of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) cover, within five and eighteen kilometers. Lek trends had negative associations with the coverage of agriculture and exotic plant species. Trends also tended to be lower for leks where a greater proportion of their surrounding landscape had been burned. Lek trends were reduced where communication towers were nearby, whereas no effect of power lines was detected. Active oil or natural gas wells and highways, but not secondary roads, were associated with lower trends. These findings are important for identifying features that could threaten Greater Sage-Grouse populations.Less
The Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), endemic to western North America, is of great conservation interest. Its populations are tracked by spring counts of males at lek sites. This study explored the relations between trends of Greater Sage-Grouse lek counts from 1997 to 2007 and a variety of natural and anthropogenic features. The results show that trends were correlated with several habitat features, but not always similarly throughout the range. Lek trends were positively associated with proportion of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) cover, within five and eighteen kilometers. Lek trends had negative associations with the coverage of agriculture and exotic plant species. Trends also tended to be lower for leks where a greater proportion of their surrounding landscape had been burned. Lek trends were reduced where communication towers were nearby, whereas no effect of power lines was detected. Active oil or natural gas wells and highways, but not secondary roads, were associated with lower trends. These findings are important for identifying features that could threaten Greater Sage-Grouse populations.
Laura A. Ogden
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816670260
- eISBN:
- 9781452947372
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816670260.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Little in North America is wilder than the Florida Everglades—a landscape of frightening reptiles, exotic plants in profusion, swarms of mosquitoes, and unforgiving heat. And yet, even from the early ...
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Little in North America is wilder than the Florida Everglades—a landscape of frightening reptiles, exotic plants in profusion, swarms of mosquitoes, and unforgiving heat. And yet, even from the early days of taming the wilderness with clearing and drainage, the Everglades has been considered fragile, unique, and in need of restorative interventions. Drawing on a decade of fieldwork with hunters in the Everglades, this book explores the lives and labors of people, animals, and plants in this most delicate and tenacious ecosystem. Today, the many visions of the Everglades—protectionist, ecological, commercial, historical—have become a tangled web of contradictory practices and politics for conservation and for development. Yet within this entanglement, the place of people remains highly ambivalent. It is the role of people in the Everglades that this book focuses on, as it seeks to reclaim the landscape’s long history as a place of human activity and, in doing so, discover what it means to be human through changing relations with other animals and plant life. This book tells this story through the lives of poor rural whites, gladesmen, epitomized in tales of the Everglades’ most famous outlaws, the Ashley Gang.Less
Little in North America is wilder than the Florida Everglades—a landscape of frightening reptiles, exotic plants in profusion, swarms of mosquitoes, and unforgiving heat. And yet, even from the early days of taming the wilderness with clearing and drainage, the Everglades has been considered fragile, unique, and in need of restorative interventions. Drawing on a decade of fieldwork with hunters in the Everglades, this book explores the lives and labors of people, animals, and plants in this most delicate and tenacious ecosystem. Today, the many visions of the Everglades—protectionist, ecological, commercial, historical—have become a tangled web of contradictory practices and politics for conservation and for development. Yet within this entanglement, the place of people remains highly ambivalent. It is the role of people in the Everglades that this book focuses on, as it seeks to reclaim the landscape’s long history as a place of human activity and, in doing so, discover what it means to be human through changing relations with other animals and plant life. This book tells this story through the lives of poor rural whites, gladesmen, epitomized in tales of the Everglades’ most famous outlaws, the Ashley Gang.
Amanda D. Rodewald
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780520273092
- eISBN:
- 9780520953895
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520273092.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Ornithology
Although numerous studies have documented shifts in avian community structure in urbanizing landscapes, the ecological mechanisms that prompt these changes are poorly understood. I evaluated evidence ...
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Although numerous studies have documented shifts in avian community structure in urbanizing landscapes, the ecological mechanisms that prompt these changes are poorly understood. I evaluated evidence for five alternate hypotheses to explain the commonly reported negative responses of many neotropical migratory species and positive responses of many residents and temperate migrants to urbanization. An information-theoretic approach showed that the two hypotheses receiving the most support in explaining abundance of urban avoiders were heterospecific attraction and dominance of understory by Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii). In contrast, variation in abundances of urban adapters was explained by four hypotheses, each receiving roughly equivalent support. Results show that species-specific responses to urbanization are complex and may not be amenable to broad generalizations.Less
Although numerous studies have documented shifts in avian community structure in urbanizing landscapes, the ecological mechanisms that prompt these changes are poorly understood. I evaluated evidence for five alternate hypotheses to explain the commonly reported negative responses of many neotropical migratory species and positive responses of many residents and temperate migrants to urbanization. An information-theoretic approach showed that the two hypotheses receiving the most support in explaining abundance of urban avoiders were heterospecific attraction and dominance of understory by Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii). In contrast, variation in abundances of urban adapters was explained by four hypotheses, each receiving roughly equivalent support. Results show that species-specific responses to urbanization are complex and may not be amenable to broad generalizations.
Jim Meeker and Gary Fewless
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226871714
- eISBN:
- 9780226871745
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226871745.003.0014
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Some of Wisconsin's most majestic wetlands occur along the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior. This chapter describes these systems, noting that their diversity often hinges on regular disturbance ...
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Some of Wisconsin's most majestic wetlands occur along the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior. This chapter describes these systems, noting that their diversity often hinges on regular disturbance events including shifts in water depth. It notes the difficulty of separating changes in these wetlands that represent these natural cycles and “pulse stability” from those due to long-term directional changes. Habitat destruction has already eliminated half the wetlands in Wisconsin, and alterations in land use and hydrology continue to degrade many of those that persist. Wetlands are also experiencing unprecedented waves of invasion from exotic plant species like reed canary grass and purple loosestrife threatening native wetland species and wetlands along both lakeshores.Less
Some of Wisconsin's most majestic wetlands occur along the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior. This chapter describes these systems, noting that their diversity often hinges on regular disturbance events including shifts in water depth. It notes the difficulty of separating changes in these wetlands that represent these natural cycles and “pulse stability” from those due to long-term directional changes. Habitat destruction has already eliminated half the wetlands in Wisconsin, and alterations in land use and hydrology continue to degrade many of those that persist. Wetlands are also experiencing unprecedented waves of invasion from exotic plant species like reed canary grass and purple loosestrife threatening native wetland species and wetlands along both lakeshores.
