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The earth's landscapes are being increasingly impacted by the activities of man. Unfortunately, we do not have a full understanding of the consequences of these disturbances on the earth's productive capacity. This problem was addressed by a group of French and U.S. ecologists who are specialists at levels of integration extending from genetics to the biosphere at a meeting at Stanford, California, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. With a few important exceptions it was found at this meeting that most man-induced disturbances of ecosystems can be viewed as large scale patterns of disturbances that have occurred, generally on a small scale, in ecosystems through evolutionary time. Man has induced dramatic large-scale changes in the environment which must be viewed at the biosphere level. Acid deposition and CO increase are two 2 examples of the consequences of man's increased utilization of fossil fuels. It is a matter of considerable concern that we cannot yet fully predict the ecological consequences of these environmental changes. Such problems must be addressed at the international level, yet substantive mechanisms to do this are not available.
List of contents
Section 1 Biosphere.- 1.1 The Blue Planet: of Wholes and Parts and Man.- Section 2 Landscape.- 2.1 Landscape Modification and Changing Ecological Characteristics.- 2.2 Ecological Modeling of Landscape Dynamics.- Section 3 Ecosystem Functions.- 3.1 Research on the Characteristics of Energy Flows within Natural and Man-Altered Ecosystems.- 3.2 "Natural" Mixed Forests and "Artificial" Monospecific Forests.- 3.3 Disturbance and Basic Properties of Ecosystem Energetics.- 3.4 Ecosystem Water Balance.- 3.5 Some Problems of Disturbance on the Nutrient Cycling in Ecosystems.- 3.6 Mechanisms of Ion Leaching in Natural and Managed Ecosystems.- Section 4 Species Physiological Characteristics.- 4.1 The Determinants of Plant Productivity - Natural Versus Man-Modified Communities.- 4.2 Plant Growth and Its Limitations in Crops and Natural Communities.- 4.3 Patterns of Nutrient Absorption and Use by Plants from Natural and Man-Modified Environments.- 4.4 Comparisons of Water Balance Characteristics of Plant Species in "Natural" Versus Modified Ecosystems.- Section 5 Population Characteristics.- 5.1 Reproductive Strategies and Disturbance by Man.- 5.2 Demographic Strategies and Originating Environment.- 5.3 Genetic Characteristic of Populations.- 5.4 Characteristics of Populations in Relation to Disturbance in Natural and Man-Modified Ecosystems.
