Front Cover

Large-Scale Ecology: Model Systems to Global Perspectives

Copyright

Contents

Contributors

Preface

References

Part I: Large Spatial Scale Ecology

Chapter One: The Unique Contribution of Rothamsted to Ecological Research at Large Temporal Scales

1. Introduction to Long-Term Ecological Research at Rothamsted

1.1. The Rothamsted Classical Experiments

1.1.1. The Park Grass Experiment

1.1.2. The Broadbalk Wheat Experiment

1.2. Highfield, Fosters and Woburn Ley-Arable Experiments

1.3. Broadbalk and Geescroft Wildernesses

1.4. The Rothamsted Insect Survey

2. Monitoring the Impact of Environmental Change

2.1. Response of Plant Communities to Environmental Change

2.2. Response of Plant Pathogens to Environmental Change

2.3. Phenological Change and Trophic Asynchrony

3. Community Ecology

3.1. Value of the Rothamsted Experiments to Plant Community Ecology

3.1.1. Reconciling Resource Ratio and C–S–R Theories of Plant Community Assembly

3.2. Trophic Interactions

3.3. Environmental Drivers of Insect Abundance and Distribution

4. Ecosystem Stability and Resilience

4.1. Plant Community Stability

4.2. Resilience of Ecosystem Function

5. Evolutionary Ecology

5.1. Beyond Snaydon and Davies

5.2. Evolutionary Ecology of Pathogens and Weeds

6. Soil Microbial Ecology

6.1. Microbial Communities on the PGE

6.2. Microbial Communities on Broadbalk

7. Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter Two: How Agricultural Intensification Affects Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

1. Introduction

1.1. General Objective and Goals

2. The CAP and AI

2.1. CAP as a Driver of Agriculture in Europe

2.2. How Does CAP Affect AI?

2.3. How Does CAP Affect Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Through AI?

2.4. The AGRIPOPES Project—Examining the Multiple Effects of AI on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

2.4.1. General Methodology

2.4.1.1. Selection of Farms and Fields

2.4.1.2. Selection of Points for Biodiversity Sampling

2.4.1.3. Biological Control Potential

2.4.1.4. Field-Level Intensification Variables

2.4.1.5. Landscape-Level Intensification Variables

3. Local-Level and Landscape-Level Effects of AI

3.1. Local (Field)-Level Components of AI and Their Effect on Biodiversity

3.1.1. Relationships with Yield

3.1.2. Effects of Pesticides

3.1.2.1. Pending Questions in Pesticide Research

3.1.3. Effects of Fertilization

3.1.4. Effects of Tillage

3.1.5. Effects of Sowing Density

3.2. Landscape-Level Components of AI and Their Effect of Biodiversity

3.3. Farm-Level Components of AI

3.4. Comparing the Importance of Local- vs Landscape-Level Components of AI on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

4. Organic-Conventional Comparisons

4.1. Landscape Context

4.2. Functional and Taxon-Specific Responses of Biodiversity to Farming Practices

5. Linking AI to Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

5.1. General Model

5.2. Study Area, Biodiversity Surveys and Biocontrol Experiment

5.3. Structural Equation Modelling

5.4. Results and Discussion of SEM

6. Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter Three: Litter Decomposition as an Indicator of Stream Ecosystem Functioning at Local-to-Continental Scales: Insig ...

1. Introduction

2. Nutrient Enrichment Effects on Leaf Litter Decomposition

3. Effects of Riparian Forest Modifications on Leaf Litter Decomposition

3.1. Deciduous Broadleaf Plantations

3.2. Conifer Plantations

3.3. Eucalyptus Plantations

3.4. Invasion of Riparian Areas by Exotic Woody Species

3.5. Forest Clear Cutting

3.6. Pasture

4. Biodiversity-Related Mechanisms Underlying Altered Litter Decomposition

4.1. Is There a General Relationship Between Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning, and Which Aspects of Biodiversity Ar ...

4.2. How Does Biodiversity Influence the Stability of Decomposition Rates, Including Under Variable Environmental Conditions?

4.3. Implications for the Use and Interpretation of a Litter Decomposition Assay in Bioassessment

5. Accomodating Natural Variability When Using Litter Decomposition in Stream Assessment

5.1. Extrinsic Factors

5.2. Temporal Variability

5.3. Intrinsic Factors: Partitioning and Minimising Variability in Leaf Litter Resource Quality and Potential Alternatives

6. Towards the Integration of Ecosystem Functioning into Stream Management

6.1. Ecosystem Functioning and Stream Management

6.2. Rationale and Steps in the Use of Litter Decomposition for Functional Assessment

6.3. An Example of National Adoption

6.4. Proposed Metrics

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter Four: Unravelling the Impacts of Micropollutants in Aquatic Ecosystems: Interdisciplinary Studies at the Interfac ...

1. Large-Scale Ecology and Human Impacts on Ecosystems

1.1. Micropollutant (MP) Impacts at Different Levels of Biological Organization

2. Water Management as a Real-World Experiment

2.1. Making Use of Real-World Experiments to Understand MP Impacts

2.2. The EcoImpact Project as a Case Study

2.2.1. Design of the Field Survey

2.2.1.1. Quantifying Environmental Drivers

2.2.1.2. Biological Endpoints

2.2.1.3. First Insights

2.2.2. Inferring Causality (Flume Experiments)

3. Outlook: Potential of Combining Real-World and Research-Led Experiments

3.1. Planned Changes in Urban Infrastructure as Real-World Experiments

3.2. Real-World and Research-Led Experiments in Large-Scale Ecology

Acknowledgements

References

Part II: Large/Long Temporal Scale Ecology and Model Systems

Chapter Five: The Colne Estuary: A Long-Term Microbial Ecology Observatory

1. Introduction

1.1. Ecological Importance of Estuaries

1.2. Anatomy of a `Model Estuary—Microbial Ecology

2. Study Site Description

2.1. Description of the Catchment and Estuary

2.2. Nitrogen Inputs

2.3. Phosphate Inputs and N:P Ratios

2.4. Physical Factors

3. Functional Ecology of Estuarine Microbes

3.1. Primary Production

3.2. The Importance of MPB in Muddy Estuarine Systems

3.3. Organic Matter Breakdown and Recycling

3.4. Nitrate Respiration

3.5. Nitrification in the Colne Estuary

3.6. Archaea

4. Estuarine Saltmarshes

4.1. The Role of Saltmarshes

5. Estuaries and Climatically Important Trace Gases

5.1. Trace Gas Production in the Estuary

5.2. Sulphur Gases

5.3. Isoprene Cycling

6. Stressors and Pollution

6.1. Crude Oil Degradation

6.2. Engineered Nanoparticles

7. Future Directions

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter Six: Locally Extreme Environments as Natural Long-Term Experiments in Ecology

1. Introduction

2. Locally Extreme Environments as Long-Term Experiments

2.1. Space-for-Time Substitutions

2.2. Space for Space

2.3. Tractable Natural Model Systems

3. Case Study: Mofettes

3.1. Specific Abiotic Factors

3.1.1. Gaseous Regime

3.1.2. Soil pH

3.1.3. Mineral Nutrients

3.2. Mofettes as a Natural Long-Term Analogue to Free Air Carbon-Dioxide Enrichment (FACE) Experiments?

3.3. Plant Ecophysiology in Mofette Areas

3.3.1. Photosynthesis and Transpiration

3.3.2. Mineral Nutrition, Root Respiration and Aerenchyma Formation

3.4. Community Ecology

3.4.1. Flora

3.4.2. Fauna

3.4.3. Soil Microalgae

3.4.4. Fungi

3.4.5. Archaea and Bacteria

3.4.6. Advances in Community Ecology Research: Lessons from Mofette Environments

3.5. CCS: What Can We Learn from Mofettes?

3.6. Exploring Mofette Food Webs and Biological Networks

4. Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter Seven: Climate-Driven Range Shifts Within Benthic Habitats Across a Marine Biogeographic Transition Zone

1. Introduction

2. The Rise of Natural History and Species Recording

3. History and Development of Biogeographic Research in the Northeast Atlantic

4. Patterns of Change Across the Boreal–Lusitanian Biogeographic Breakpoint in the Northeast Atlantic

5. Factors Setting Biogeographic Range Limits

5.1. Environmental Conditions

5.2. Biological Processes

5.3. Ecological Factors

5.4. Defining the Habitat of a Species

6. Long-Term Time-Series for Benthic Ecosystems in the Northeast Atlantic and Regional Seas

6.1. Marine Biodiversity and Climate Change: MarClim

6.2. European Kelp Forests

6.3. North Sea Soft Sediment Benthos

7. Observed Changes in the Physical Environment

8. Impacts of Climate Change on Intertidal Benthic Species

8.1. Biogeographic Range Shifts

8.2. Changes in Population Dynamics

8.3. Biological Mechanisms

9. Future Advances in Quantifying and Modelling Distributional Responses to Climate Change

9.1. Standardizing the Recording and Availability of Data on Species

9.2. Developing Scientific Methodologies for Quantifying Previous, and Modelling Future Changes in Species Distributions ...

References

Chapter Eight: Cross-Scale Approaches to Forecasting Biogeographic Responses to Climate Change

1. Introduction

1.1. Gazing into the Crystal Ball: How Do We Forecast the Future by Looking at the Present and Past?

1.2. Ecological Forecasting and Inconsistent Conceptions of the Ecological Niche

1.3. Mechanism or Correlation?

2. Common Pitfalls and Their Unintended Consequences

2.1. Scale and Data Resolution

2.1.1. Site vs Body Temperature

2.1.2. Microhabitats

2.2. Inclusion of Relevant Biological Details

2.2.1. Weather, Climate and Climate Indices

2.2.2. Performance Curves

2.2.3. Multiple Stressors

2.2.4. Finding Common Currency: Energetics and Cumulative Stress

2.3. All the World´s a Stage: From Autecology to Synecology and Beyond

2.3.1. The Importance of Dispersal

2.3.2. Species Interactions

3. Moving Forward: How Do We Make Useful Forecasts While Recognizing Limitations?

3.1. Hybrid Models

3.2. Physiologically and Trait-Based Indicators

3.3. Transparency in Assumptions, Ensemble Forecasting and Tests of Model Skill: Accuracy Is in the Eye of the Stakeholder?

4. Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

Part III: Large SpatioTemporal Scale Ecology

Chapter Nine: Shifting Impacts of Climate Change: Long-Term Patterns of Plant Response to Elevated CO2, Drought, and Warm ...

1. Introduction

2. Methods for Data Analysis

2.1. Field Site Experiments

2.2. Treatment Effect Size and Certainty

2.3. Data Analysis

2.4. Accumulated Approach Across Sites

2.5. Piecewise Approach Within Sites

3. Results

3.1. Accumulated Patterns Across Sites

3.2. Sites Grouped by Climate Parameters

3.3. Piecewise Regression Within Sites

4. Discussion

4.1. Response Pattern Types

4.2. Responses to Drought

4.3. Responses to Warming

4.4. Responses to Elevated CO2

4.5. Biomass as a Response Parameter

5. Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Appendix A. Details of the Database I

Appendix B. Details of the Database II

Appendix C. Site Details

Appendix D. Site Groupings

References

Chapter Ten: Recovery and Nonrecovery of Freshwater Food Webs from the Effects of Acidification

1. Introduction

1.1. Food Web Recovery Research

1.2. Freshwater Acidification

1.3. The Recovery of Acidified Food Webs

1.4. The Acid Waters Monitoring Network

2. Methods

2.1. Sites

2.2. Chemistry

2.3. Biota

2.4. Food Web Construction

2.5. Network Metrics

2.6. Statistical Analyses

2.6.1. Effects of Acidity on Food Web Structure

2.6.2. Directional Change in Food Web Structure

2.6.3. Food Web Recovery from Acidification

3. Results

3.1. Effects of Acidity on Food Web Structure

3.2. Directional Change in Food Web Structure

3.3. Food Web Recovery from Acidification

4. Discussion

4.1. Food Web Recovery Across the AWMN Sites and Acidity Gradient

4.2. The Recovery of Freshwater Food Webs from Acidification

4.3. Caveats and Future Directions

5. Conclusion

Appendix

References

Chapter Eleven: Effective River Restoration in the 21st Century: From Trial and Error to Novel Evidence-Based Approaches

1. Introduction

1.1. A Brief Introduction to River Restoration

1.2. The Need for Restoration

1.3. Drivers of River Restoration

1.4. A Short Introduction to the REFORM Project and Scope of this Paper

2. Responses of River Biota to Hydrology and Physical Habitats

2.1. Can We Expect the Biota to Respond to River Restoration?

2.2. Importance of Local Physical Habitat Filters in Structuring Stream Biota

2.3. Are We Capable of Detecting Impacts of Hydromorphology on Biodiversity Using Standard Methods?

2.4. Which Are the Best Standard Indicator to Detect HYMO Stress and Recovery Through Restoration?

3. The Current Restoration Paradigm

3.1. The Many Ways of Restoring Rivers

3.2. Restoration Measures Are Dependent on River Type

3.3. Using Current Management Plans as Indicators of Restoration Practises

3.4. Limitations of Current and Planned Restoration Approaches

4. Effects of Restoration

4.1. General Effect: Does River Restoration Work in General?

4.2. Differences in Responses Among Organism Groups and Species Traits: Which Benefit Most?

4.3. Differences Between Restoration Measures: What to Do?

4.4. Confounding Factors: Why Do Some Restoration Projects Fail?

5. Future Directions

5.1. Future River Restoration Needs Better Planning

5.2. Project Planning at a Catchment Scale: A Necessity

5.3. Exploring the Full Potential of River Restoration

5.4. Project Identification

5.5. Project Planning at a Local Scale

5.6. Project Formulation

5.7. Monitoring, Evaluation and Project Success

5.8. Adjustment and Maintenance

5.9. The Future: Holistic and Process-Oriented Restoration

6. Conclusions

Acknowledgements

References

Part IV: A Look To the Future

Chapter Twelve: Recommendations for the Next Generation of Global Freshwater Biological Monitoring Tools

1. Introduction

2. Invertebrates as Indicators of Ecosystem State

3. Decomposition-Based Indicators

4. Fishery Indicators: Learning from the Marine Realm

5. Molecular-Based Indicators

6. Indicators of Change Across Space and Time

7. Conclusions and Future Directions

Acknowledgments

References

Index

Advances in Ecological Research Volume 1-55

Cumulative List of Titles

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