Paul I. Boon
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520247772
- eISBN:
- 9780520932890
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520247772.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Many studies fail to acknowledge that wetlands are by nature incredibly dynamic habitats in terms of hydrology, and that episodic wetting and drying has a profound influence on chemical reactions and ...
More
Many studies fail to acknowledge that wetlands are by nature incredibly dynamic habitats in terms of hydrology, and that episodic wetting and drying has a profound influence on chemical reactions and microbial ecology. This chapter addresses hydrologic dynamism in wetlands. Hydrologically dynamic wetlands are those with water levels that fluctuate widely and, in the most severe cases, dry out completely. For most purposes, they might just as accurately be called temporary wetlands, and the two terms are used interchangeably throughout the chapter, which also discusses the biogeochemistry and bacterial ecology of hydrologically dynamic wetlands. It then links the biogeochemistry and bacterial ecology of temporary wetlands with a wetland's most important physical driving force: its hydrology. The chapter briefly introduces bacterial diversity and wetland hydrology before considering the ways in which hydrology controls biogeochemical processes, by referring to the processes of organic matter decay and nutrient regeneration and cycling in temporary wetlands. Finally, it shows how bacterial populations and communities interact with soils and aquatic plants in temporary wetlands.Less
Many studies fail to acknowledge that wetlands are by nature incredibly dynamic habitats in terms of hydrology, and that episodic wetting and drying has a profound influence on chemical reactions and microbial ecology. This chapter addresses hydrologic dynamism in wetlands. Hydrologically dynamic wetlands are those with water levels that fluctuate widely and, in the most severe cases, dry out completely. For most purposes, they might just as accurately be called temporary wetlands, and the two terms are used interchangeably throughout the chapter, which also discusses the biogeochemistry and bacterial ecology of hydrologically dynamic wetlands. It then links the biogeochemistry and bacterial ecology of temporary wetlands with a wetland's most important physical driving force: its hydrology. The chapter briefly introduces bacterial diversity and wetland hydrology before considering the ways in which hydrology controls biogeochemical processes, by referring to the processes of organic matter decay and nutrient regeneration and cycling in temporary wetlands. Finally, it shows how bacterial populations and communities interact with soils and aquatic plants in temporary wetlands.
Lynn Margulis, Celeste A. Asikainen, and Wolfgang E. Krumbein (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262015394
- eISBN:
- 9780262312462
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262015394.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This book begins the inquiry into the evolution of the collective sensitivities of life. Chapters trace the emergence and evolution of consciousness. Complex behaviors and the social imperatives of ...
More
This book begins the inquiry into the evolution of the collective sensitivities of life. Chapters trace the emergence and evolution of consciousness. Complex behaviors and the social imperatives of bacteria and other life forms during 3,000 million years of Earth history gave rise to mammalian cognition. Awareness and sensation led to astounding activities; millions of species incessantly interacted to form our planet’s complex conscious system. Our planetmates, all of them conscious to some degree, were joined only recently by us, the aggressive modern humans. From social bacteria to urban citizens, all living beings participate in community life. Nested inside families within communities inside ecosystems, each metabolizes, takes in matter, expends energy, and excretes. Each of the members of our own and other species, in groups with incessantly shifting alliances, receives and processes information. Mergers of radically different life forms with myriad purposes—the “chimeras” of the title—underlie dramatic metamorphosis and other positive evolutionary change. Since early bacteria avoided, produced, and eventually used oxygen, Earth’s sensory systems have expanded and complexified. The chapters in this book serve to put sensitive, sensible life in its cosmic context.Less
This book begins the inquiry into the evolution of the collective sensitivities of life. Chapters trace the emergence and evolution of consciousness. Complex behaviors and the social imperatives of bacteria and other life forms during 3,000 million years of Earth history gave rise to mammalian cognition. Awareness and sensation led to astounding activities; millions of species incessantly interacted to form our planet’s complex conscious system. Our planetmates, all of them conscious to some degree, were joined only recently by us, the aggressive modern humans. From social bacteria to urban citizens, all living beings participate in community life. Nested inside families within communities inside ecosystems, each metabolizes, takes in matter, expends energy, and excretes. Each of the members of our own and other species, in groups with incessantly shifting alliances, receives and processes information. Mergers of radically different life forms with myriad purposes—the “chimeras” of the title—underlie dramatic metamorphosis and other positive evolutionary change. Since early bacteria avoided, produced, and eventually used oxygen, Earth’s sensory systems have expanded and complexified. The chapters in this book serve to put sensitive, sensible life in its cosmic context.
