Landscape Function and Disturbance in Arctic Tundra

✍ Scribed by J. F. Reynolds, J. D. Tenhunen (auth.), Professor Dr. James F. Reynolds, Professor Dr. John D. Tenhunen (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 446
• Series: Ecological Studies 120
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The discovery of large petroleum reserves in northern Alaska prompted the US National Research Council to recommend priorities for ecological research on disturbance effects in the Arctic. Subsequently, this led to the implementation of a field study by the Department of Energy, based in a small watershed on the North Slope of Alaska. This volume describes results by a research team charged with seeking answers to a number of questions related to disturbance in tundra regions: Will short-term disturbances have long-term ecological consequences? Will localized effects be transferred to adjacent systems, e.g., from terrestrial to aquatic? Is it possible to extrapolate understanding of impacts from one landscape to another? The results reported in this volume are an important contribution towards the goal of implementing ecosystem-based management in arctic tundra landscapes.

Landscape Function and Disturbance in Arctic Tundra covers a broad array of topics, from ecosystem physiology to landscape modeling. It is an important resource for researchers and students interested in arctic ecology, as well as for environmental managers concerned with practical issues of disturbance.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages I-XX
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Ecosystem Response, Resistance, Resilience, and Recovery in Arctic Landscapes: Introduction....Pages 3-18
Integrated Ecosystem Research in Northern Alaska, 1947–1994....Pages 19-33
Disturbance and Recovery of Arctic Alaskan Vegetation....Pages 35-71
Terrain and Vegetation of the Imnavait Creek Watershed....Pages 73-108
Vegetation Structure and Aboveground Carbon and Nutrient Pools in the Imnavait Creek Watershed....Pages 109-128
Front Matter....Pages 129-129
Energy Balance and Hydrological Processes in an Arctic Watershed....Pages 131-154
Shortwave Reflectance Properties of Arctic Tundra Landscapes....Pages 155-164
Isotopic Tracers for Investigating Hydrological Processes....Pages 165-182
Front Matter....Pages 183-183
Surface Water Chemistry and Hydrology of a Small Arctic Drainage Basin....Pages 185-201
Nutrient Availability and Uptake by Tundra Plants....Pages 203-221
Landscape Patterns of Carbon Dioxide Exchange in Tundra Ecosystems....Pages 223-256
Control of Tundra Methane Emission by Microbial Oxidation....Pages 257-274
Dynamics of Dissolved and Particulate Carbon in an Arctic Stream....Pages 275-289
Front Matter....Pages 291-291
Patch and Landscape Models of Arctic Tundra: Potentials and Limitations....Pages 293-324
Modeling Dry Deposition of Dust Along the Dalton Highway....Pages 325-345
Modeling Decomposition in Arctic Ecosystems....Pages 347-367
Hydrological Controls on Ecosystem Gas Exchange in an Arctic Landscape....Pages 369-386
Road-Related Disturbances in an Arctic Watershed: Analyses by a Spatially Explicit Model of Vegetation and Ecosystem Processes....Pages 387-415
Front Matter....Pages 417-417
Ecosystem Response, Resistance, Resilience, and Recovery in Arctic Landscapes: Progress and Prospects....Pages 419-428
Back Matter....Pages 429-440

✦ Subjects

Geoecology/Natural Processes; Nature Conservation; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environmental Monitoring/Analysis; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences