Global Biodiversity in a Changing Environment

by Chapin, F. Stuart, III; Sala, Osvaldo E.; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth

• ISBN13: 9780387952499
• ISBN10: 0387952497
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-10-01
• Publisher: Springer Nature

Summary

The scientific community has voiced two general concerns about the future of the earth. Climatologists and oceanographers have focused on the changes in our physical environment -- changes in the climate, the oceans, and the chemistry of the air we breathe. Environmental biologists, on the other hand, have addressed issues of conservation and the extinction of species. There is increasing evidence that these two broad concerns are intertwined and mutually dependent. Past changes in biodiversity have both responded to and caused changes in Earth's environment. In its discussions of ten key terrestrial biomes and freshwater ecosystems, this volume uses our broad understanding of global environmental change to present the first comprehensive scenarios of biodiversity for the twenty-first century. Combining physical earth science with conservation biology, Global Biodiversity in a Changing Environment provides a starting point for regional assessments on all scales. The book will be of interest to those concerned with guiding research on the changing environment of the earth and with planning future policy, especially in accordance with the Global Biodiversity Convention.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Contributors	ix
The Future of Biodiversity in a Changing World	1	(4)
F. Stuart Chapin III
Osvaldo E. Sala
Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald
Rik Leemans
Modeling the Response of Vegetation Distribution and Biodiversity to Climate Change	5	(18)
Martin T. Sykes
Alex Haxeltine
The Use of Global-Change Scenarios to Determine Changes in Species and Habitats	23	(24)
Rik Leemans
Soil Biodiversity	47	(36)
Diana H. Wall
Gina Adams
Andrew N. Parsons
Scenarios of Biodversity Changes in Arctic and Alpine Tundra	83	(18)
Marilyn D. Walker
William A. Gould
F. Stuart Chapin III
Boreal Forest	101	(20)
F. Stuart Chapin III
Kjell Danell
Temperate Grasslands	121	(18)
Osvaldo E. Sala
Tropical Savanna	139	(18)
Brian Walker
Mediterranean-Climate Ecosystems	157	(44)
Harold A. Mooney
Mary T. Kalin Arroyo
William J. Bond
Josep Canadell
Richard J. Hobbs
Sandra Lavorel
Ronald P. Neilson
Deserts	201	(22)
Laura Foster Huenneke
Temperate Forests of North and South America	223	(28)
Juan J. Armesto
R. Rozzi
J. Caspersen
Tropical Forests	251	(26)
Rodolfo Dirzo
Lakes	277	(38)
David M. Lodge
Fish Diversity in Streams and Rivers	315	(36)
N. LeRoy Poff
Paul L. Angermeier
Scott D. Cooper
P.S. Lake
Kurt D. Fausch
Kirk O. Winemiller
Leal A.K. Mertes
Mark W. Oswood
James Reynolds
Frank J. Rahel
Potential Biodversity Change: Global Patterns and Biome Comparisons	351	(18)
Osvaldo E. Sala
F. Stuart Chapin III
Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald
Index	369