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Full Description
The emergence of landscape ecology during the 1980s represents an impor tant maturation of ecological theory. Once enamored with the conceptual beauty of well-balanced, homogeneous ecosystems, ecologists now assert that much of the essence of ecological systems lies in their lumpiness. Patches with differing properties and behaviors lie strewn across the land scape, products of the complex interactions of climate, disturbance, and biotic processes. It is the collective behavior of this patchwork of eco systems that drives pattern and process of the landscape. is not an end point This realization of the importance of patch dynamics in itself, however. Rather, it is a passage to a new conceptual framework, the internal workings of which remain obscure. The next tier of questions includes: What are the fundamental pieces that compose a landscape? How are these pieces bounded? To what extent do these boundaries influence communication and interaction among patches of the landscape? Will con sideration of the interactions among landscape elements help us to under stand the workings of landscapes? At the core of these questions lies the notion of the ecotone, a term with a lineage that even predates ecosystem. Late in the nineteenth century, F. E. Clements realized that the transition zones between plant communi ties had properties distinct from either of the adjacent communities. Not until the emergence of patch dynamics theory, however, has central signif icance of the ecotone concept become apparent.
Contents
I General Patterns and Properties of Ecotones.- 1. The Environment and Development Crises as Determinants of Landscape Dynamics.- 2. Ecotone Dynamics in Space and Time.- 3. Ecological Functions in a Biome Transition Zone: Translating Local Responses to Broad-Scale Dynamics.- 4. Human Impact on Landscape Patterning: Mediterranean Examples.- 5. Quantitative Methods for Studying Landscape Boundaries.- II Biodiversity and Ecotones.- 6. Regional and Local Vegetation Patterns: The Responses of Vegetation Diversity to Subcontinental Air Masses.- 7. Local Extinctions, Habitat Fragmentation, and Ecotones.- 8. Avian Community Dynamics: The Interplay of Landscape Trajectories and Species Life Histories.- 9. Distribution and Dynamics of Soil Organisms Across Ecotones.- III Ecological Flows and Ecotones.- 10. Ecological Flows Across Landscape Boundaries: A Conceptual Overview.- 11. Theoretical Foundations for Understanding Boundaries in Landscape Mosaics.- 12. A Percolation Model of Ecological Flows.- 13. Energy and Material Flows Across Boundaries in Agricultural Landscapes.- 14. Changes in Plant Ecophysiology Across a Central European Hedgerow Ecotone.- 15. Landforms, Disturbance, and Ecotones.- IV Case Studies.- 16. Water Flows and the Dynamics of Desert Vegetation Stripes.- 17. Dynamics of Montane Treelines.- 18. Sharp and Gradual Mountain Timberlines as a Result of Species Interactions.- 19. Use of Simulation Models to Evaluate the Alteration of Ecotones by Global Carbon Dioxide Increases.- 20. Transitional Climate Zones and Biome Boundaries: A Case Study from China.- 21. Coastal Zone Ecotones.- V Synthesis.- 22. Epilogue: Biodiversity and Ecological Flows Across Ecotones.
