Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems and Scale

by Petersen, John E.; Kennedy, Victor S.; Dennison, William C.; Kemp, W. Michael; Berg, G. Mine

• ISBN13: 9780387767666
• ISBN10: 0387767665
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-05-01
• Publisher: Springer Verlag

Summary

Enclosed ecosystem experiments have gained in popularity as research tools in ecological science, particularly in the study of coastal aquatic environments. These systems provide scientists with a degree of experimental control that is not achievable through field experiments. Yet to date, techniques for systematically extrapolating results from small-scale experimental ecosystems to larger, deeper, more open, more biologically diverse, and more heterogeneous ecosystems in nature have not been well developed. Likewise, researchers have lacked methods for comparing and extrapolating information among natural ecosystems that differ in scale.Enclosed Experimental Ecosystems and Scale: Tools for Understanding and Managing Coastal Ecosystems provides scientists, managers, and policy makers with an introduction to what has been termed the "problem of scale", and presents information that will allow for improved design and interpretation of enclosed experimental aquatic ecosystems. The book integrates the results of a 10-year research project involving a multi-disciplinary team of scientists and students to explore scale-related questions in a variety of coastal habitats. Anticipating use as a reference, the book has been designed so that individual sections and individual pages can function as stand alone units.Experimental ecosystems represent a potentially powerful tool for testing and expanding our understanding of the mechanisms that drive ecological dynamics in the coastal zone. The information contained within the pages of this book is intended to help practitioners make the most of this promising approach to ecological research.

Table of Contents

ContentsPreface - Acknowledgements - Introduction - Coastal ecosystems, management, and research - Concepts of scale in ecology - Mesocosms and scaling patterns - Mesocosms studies and the effects of scale - Designing Experimental Ecosystem Studies - General principles - Spatial and temporal scaling - Physical factors: Mixing and flow - Physical factors: Materials exchange - Physical factors: Light - Physical factors: Walls - Physical factors: Temperature - Biogeochemical factors - Physical and ecological complexity - Biological factors: Aquatic grasses - Biological factors: Marshes - Tools for Design and Analysis of Experiments - Statistical considerations - The world is variable - Dimensional analysis - Modeling tools - Management Applications - Nutrient enrichment and aquatic grass restoration - Tidal marshes, nutrient fi ltration, and rising sea level - Nitrogen and phytoplankton blooms - Biofi ltration, water quality, and sediment processes - Food webs, trophic effi ciency, and nutrient enrichment - Toxicity and bioaccumulation in benthic organisms - Conclusions and recommendations