Forest Ecosystems: Analysis at Multiple Scales

This book provides new methods of analysis by introducing new techniques to explore the changes in climatic cycles, the implications of wide-scale pollution, fire and other ecological disturbances that have a global effect on all life forms. It provides the reader with almost 40 percent new material in an attempt to organize principles and provide examples for expanding the horizon of ecosystem analyses. It also defines terms and explains concepts in a variety of ways by providing models, equations, graphs, and tabular examples. To help facilitate analysis, the book includes a CD-ROM with additional illustrations and Forest BGC software.

Table of Contents:
Forest Ecosystem Analysis at Multiple Time and Space Scales. Introduction to the Analysis of Seasonal Cycles of Water, Carbo, and Minerals Through Forest Stands: Water Cycle. Carbon Cycle. Mineral Cycles. Introduction to Temporal Scaling: Temporal Changes in Forest Structure and Function. Susceptibility and Response of Forest to Disturbance. Introduction to Spatial Scaling and Spatial/Temporal Modeling: Spatial Scaling Methods for Landscape and Regional Ecosystem Analysis. Regional and Landscape Ecological Analysis. The Role of Forests in Global Ecology. Epilogue. Bibliography.

About the Author :
www.fsl.orst.edu/~waring/ Dr. Waring is an accomplished writter and professor of forest science. His notable publications include the first edition of Forest Ecosystems written in 1985. Waring, R.H. and W.H. Schlesinger. 1985. Forest ecosystems: Concepts and management. Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, FL. 338 p Steven W. Running is trained as a terrestrial ecologist, receiving the B.S. (1972) and M.S. (1973) degrees from Oregon State University, and the Ph.D. (1979) degree in Forest Ecology from Colorado State University. He has been with the University of Montana, Missoula, since 1979, where he is a Professor of Ecology. His primary research interest is the development of global and regional ecosystem biogeochemical models by integration of remote sensing with climatology and terrestrial ecology. He is a Team Member for the NASA Earth Observing System, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and is responsible for the EOS global terrestrial net primary production and evaporative index datasets. He has published over 240 scientific articles. He currently serves on the standing Committee for Earth Studies of the National Research Council, and on the federal Interagency Carbon Cycle Science Committee. He is a Co-Chair of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate System Model Land Working Group, a Member of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program Executive Committee, and the World Climate Research Program, Global Terrestrial Observing System. Dr. Running is a chapter Lead Author for the 4th Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Prof. Running is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and is designated a Highly Cited Researcher by the Institute for Scientific Information.

Review :
"...very well written and esay-to-follow text. ...I recommend this text for graduate students and advanced professionals in forest ecology and ecosystem science with knowledge in plant physiology, biophysics, ecological modeling, soils, hydrology, and vegetation science." -J.Chen, Michigan Technological University, in FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT (1999) "This work adds critically important information on temporal and spatial scaling through modeling... A detailed treatment of concepts and tools that will shape forest science for decades to come." --CHOICE "The best part of the book is, undoubtedly, where the importance of forests in a landscape to global scale context are discussed, and modern techniques for analysing large-scale problems presented." --ANNALS OF BOTANY Praise for the First Edition "Forest Ecosystems is a compendium of information on the processes of forest communities. The book draws on and synthesizes ideas from many fields including forestry, ecology, geomorphology, hydrology, physiology, anatomy, and physics. Forest Ecosystems succeeds in bringing together much information on forest processes in a coherent manner and in one convenient source." --BIOSCIENCE "The authors have aimed their book at 'upper level students'. The book provides numerous reasoning exercises for 'upper-level' students. I will be using Forest Ecosystems as required reading in my graduate Forest Ecology course this fall." --FOREST SCIENCE "The organization and content of the book clearly suggest that the authors intend the book to be used in graduate or upper-level undergraduate courses in forest ecology. The book would provide an excellent introduction to forest ecosystems for beginning graduate students in both ecology and forestry." --ECOLOGY "Waring and Scheslinger set out to write a textbook for upper-level students who would appreciate a coherent treatment of 'key linkages between processes that operate in forests', and by golly I think they've done it! This compact book has lots of helpful figures and tables and a certain tidiness that confers confidence in the presentation." --Newsletter for the ORGANIZATION FOR TROPICAL STUDIES, INC. "Waring and Schlesinger make an important contribution to our understanding of forest physiology, productivity, water and nutrient cycling and global connectedness by integrating research from the International Biological Program, Hubbard Brook, and a multitude of independent studies. Over 1100 references are cited." --JOURNAL OF FORESTRY "This well-written, comprehensive book relates fundamental autecological processes to the management of complex synecological systems. This book is well illustrated, has a summary at each chapter end, and an extensive bibliography." --CHOICE Prepublication Reviews: "Represents a tour de force of modeling, synthesis and integration. I doubt there is anyone else who would be able to pull all this together in a credible way. The authors have succeeded admirably in capturing the essence of landscape processes, their description and simulation." --RON NEILSON, USDA Forest Service and Oregon State University, Corvallis "A nice synthesis and textbook for forest ecosystems. The depth and breadth of their synthesis is admirable, and the work is well balanced. The book will be a major contribution." --MICHAEL G. RYAN, USDA Forest Service, Fort Collins "There is a huge wealth of exciting information in this book. I loved the focus on models. This will be a great book and it will be widely used." --KATE LAJTHA, Oregon State University, Corvallis "The idea of putting this ecosystem textbook into a modeling framework is a very significant improvement over the 1985 book. Putting scaling as the over-arching theme makes this book most timely." --HANK MARGOLIS, NASA, Biospheric Sciences Branch