Ecologia Terrestre

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Research Research in Terrestrial Ecology concentrates on discovering more about the relationships between terrestrial species and their environment.

Much of the work is field-based with studies on woodlands of central western New South Wales, coastal wetlands and irrigation-based agriculture in the Riverina area.

An objective of this work is to provide information that will result in improved management of terrestrial species and habitats in New South Wales.

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Ecology is the study of living things and their interactions with their environments in the broadest sense.

Terrestrial Ecology works on land-based living things and those occurring in freshwater.

Major projects include:

Conservation of fauna and flora in the New South Wales wheat belt

The value of remnant vegetation for birds

Ecology of the Red-capped Robin in a fragmented landscape

Species diversity and genetic diversity of invertebrates in an agricultural/woodland

landscape

Frogs as bio-indicators of environmental quality and change

Ecology and management of frogs with emphasis on the Green and Golden Bell Frog, Southern

Bell Frog and Striped Marsh Frog

Ecology of birds in urban environments

Animal decomposition

Behavior of terrestrial ecosystems in a changing climate

ForClimSensePurpose: Furthering our understanding of the sensitivities of forest ecosystems in the Alps to climatic change and the associated

uncertainties. Approach: The dynamic forest patch-model ForClim has been developed to assess the impact of future climatic changes on forests, particularly in the alpine region. It simulates successional patterns in forest ecosystems by simulating explicitly all abiotic, i.e. mainly climatic,

factors. Currently ForClim is validated in past climatic change scenarios using various proxy data such as isotopes and pollen records for a time window covering the end of the last ice age. Results: Simulations at selected test sites revealed a large spectrum of forest responses to the same

changes in the climatic input, which range from primary successional growth to complete die-backs. Perspectives: The core of the current project is a systematic analysis of the sensitivity of species compositions to local climate change scenarios and the related uncertainties (see project ”Case

Studies in Bioclimatic Scenario Derivation’). Furthermore the cohort based stochastic model ForClim is aggregated to a structured population dynamics model. The latter will be used to describe tree species migration in a complex topography forced by a changing climate.

ForAgroClimPurpose: Modeling the carbon-dynamics in forest ecosystems under the influence of climatic change. Approach: The carbon fluxes exerted

by a terrestrial ecosystem play a major role as biospheric feed-backs in the climatic system. The forest gap-model ForClim provides a basis to simulate the elemental fluxes of C and N. Given the importance of carbon, both in the context of the global carbon cycle and as a key element in ecosystem functioning via coupling with nutrients, ForClim is presently refined to include the major fluxes driving the C-cycle. Results: Soil-borne processes and soil organic carbon in particular have been recognized as major components of the carbon balance of forests. Parameters were

identified and the structure of the soil carbon submodel has been improved. Perspectives: Integration of the soil submodel into the larger ForClim. Parametric sensitivity analysis. Validation of the new ForClim variant and model applications to assess quantitatively impacts of climatic change on

boreal and temperate forests. Bioclimatic Scenario Derivation

The project is aimed at developing, testing, and applying methods to derive future climate scenarios as required by specific ecosystem case studies in a mountainous region. Statistical ”downscaling’ techniques are developed to empirically link regional climatic changes to global climate variations, and then applied to estimate possible future shifts in regional climates from simulations with General Circulation Climate Models

(GCMs). Stochastic time series models and weather generators are used to describe climate and weather variability at different time scales. Interpolation techniques are developed to estimate base-line climate and climatic changes at any location of interest. In close collaboration with ecosystem modelers, the resulting application-specific bioclimatic scenarios are applied to study the sensitivities of ecosystem models, and to

assess possible future ecosystem responses in the European Alps.

The central theme that unifies the research interests and backgrounds of the Terrestrial Ecology Research Group members is an integrated approach to the sustainable use of natural and agricultural ecosystems for the conservation of biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services. The group's staff have complementary skills in soil, plant and animal sciences and this provides the foundation for a group with a distinctive identity and purpose.

Our main focus is the mechanistic understanding of plant and animal diversity at genetic, population, community, and environmental levels for application in conservation and sustainable crop production. Spatial processes in population dynamics, population genetics and behaviour as drivers of biodiversity underpin much of the group’s work. Our use of mathematical, statistical and simulation modelling enables us to test and develop ecological theory cost effectively and at hitherto intractable spatial and temporal scales.

Terrestrial Ecology Group

Our studies in terrestrial ecology focus on (1) the role of belowground mechanisms in controlling plant adaptations to environmental change, (2) the carbon sink strength of soils under elevated

concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and (3) methods for enhancing natural carbon sequestration by terrestrial ecosystems.

The work is sponsored by DOE's Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER), Global Change Research Division. The overall objective of our studies for the BER Program for

Ecosystem Research is to determine (1) the effects of multiple forcing factors on the allocation of photosynthate between the plant shoot and roots and (2) how this allocation affects growth and

allocation of biomass of the mycorrhizal fungus. Our studies for the BER Terrestrial Carbon Processes effort are pursuing a better understanding and improved quantitation of the mechanisms controlling soil carbon storage and turnover, information needed for ultimate determination of the potential carbon sink strength of terrestrial ecosystems. In addition, we participate with two other national laboratories in the DOE Consortium for Research on Enhancing Carbon Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems (CSiTE), which aims to develop and evaluate strategies for carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems as a

near-term method for controlling atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

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Terrestrial Ecology

Systematics, ecology, and zoogeography of amphibians and reptiles of New Guinea and the Pacific Region.

Terrestrial ecology on islands with emphasis on avian foraging ecology and population restoration; restoration of endangered Hawaiian lowland bird populations.

Llife history, ecology and conservation of Hawaiian birds, primarily geographic variation in morphology, genetics and behavior of endangered passerines in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Geographic and evolutionary origins of biological diversity of Pacific Island non-marine snails; issues of alien species and conservation ecology with respect to non-marine snails; snail shell coiling and asymmetry.

Evolutionary and behavioral ecology; life history theory, mating system theory, and optimal foraging theory; adaptation, particularly with bird species that display geographical variation in the characteristics of interest.

Demography and conservation biology of Hawaiian tree snails; effects of habitat alteration and introduced predators; comparing genetic identities of endemic tree snails, analyzing the degree of inbreeding in very small, remnant field populations, and devising breeding plans for captive-rearing.

The dynamics of sexual selection of Hawaiian Drosophilidae and the role it plays in the speciation process; the biology of small populations and the role of sexual selection in populations faced with extinction.

The effects of aspects of parasitoid biology on population dynamics, the effects of population spatial structure and metapopulation processes, and the application of these ideas to conservation biology and biological pest control.

NASA: Terrestrial Ecology and Biodiversity (Archived)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Research Announcement (NRA) for the NASA Terrestrial Ecology research addresses changes in Earth's carbon cycle and ecosystems using space-based observations. It focuses on land-based ecosystems and how their functions support human life and maintain planet Earth's habitability. This program of research addresses variability in terrestrial ecosystems, how terrestrial ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles respond to and affect global environmental change (including changes in biodiversity), and future changes in carbon cycle dynamics and terrestrial ecosystems. The research approach combines use of remote sensing to observe terrestrial ecosystems and their responses; field campaigns and related process studies to elucidate ecosystem function; and ecosystem and biogeochemical cycle modeling to predict responses.

Features of the terrestrial ecosystem

Moisture itself becomes a major limiting factor on land. Terrestrial organisms are constantly confronted with the problem of dehydration.

Transpiration or evaporation of water from plant surfaces is an energy dissipating process unique to the terrestrial environment.

Temperature variations and extremes are more pronounced in the air than in the water medium.

On the other hand, the rapid circulation of air throughout the globe results in a ready mixing and remarkably constant content of oxygen and

carbon dioxide. Although soil offers solid support, air does not. Storing skeletons have been evolved in both land plants and animals and also special means of

locomotion have been evolved in the latter.Land, unlike the ocean, is not continuous; there are important

geographical barriers to free movement. The nature of the substrate, although important in water is especially vital

in terrestrial environment. Soil, not air, is the source of highly variable nutrients; it is a highly developed ecological subsystem.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)

The ecosystem approach to ecology treats organisms and the physical elements of their environment as components of a single, integrated system.

The central processes that characterize terrestrial ecosystems, trace the flow of water, carbon, and nutrients from their abiotic origins to their cycles through plants, animals, and decomposer organisms.

As human activity becomes an increasingly dominant factor in natural processes around the globe, landscape dynamics over time and space have become the focus of recent attention.

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Ecologia Vegetal

Doenças das culturas

Economia e Biodiversidade

Ecologia e Biodiversidade

Recuperação e Gestão

Ciclos de nutrientes

Impacto do Ozono

Impacto dos UV

Ecologia da Vegetação

Aumento do CO2

Impacto da Poluição

Ecologia Vegetal

Dinâmica de Populações

Sucessão Ecológica

Decomposição

Sucessão Ecológica

Etnobotânica e Conservação

Do gene ou do indivíduo à comunidade ou ecossistema

Do microhabitat ao ecossistema ou à biosfera

Da sistemática à ecologia, incluindo o comportamento

Dos microorganismos aos vertebrados

Diferentes perspectivas, diferentes escalas espacio-temporais

Da teoria à aplicação

Dos modelos individuais aos modelos globais

Da variação diária, sazonal ou annual, à variação secular ou geológica

Ecologia Terrestre